BUSINESS MARKETING: Kachunk! An icon has fallen ... don't make the same mistake

After struggling for the past few years, Kodak has declared bankruptcy. I might be revealing my age, but I fondly remember being given a Kodak Brownie camera as a birthday gift and saving allowance money for film and processing.

I recently came across a treasure trove of old photos I took back then and was awash in nostalgia. Kodak's big mistake was its nostalgia, trying to continue selling Brownies in the digital age.

While I don't know anything about the specifics of Kodak's issues, it's my guess the management has been wallowing in that nostalgia for years, remembering the glory days when it dominated the industry.

Some executives will even remember the company's big, fatal mistake of not embracing and leading the world into digital photography after Kodak invented it.

Its film and processing business was such a cash cow that it probably didn't want to encourage anyone to take photos differently, so its strategy was to stick its heads in the sand and pretend the future wasn't going to happen. The company might as well have tried to turn off the Internet trying to hold on to the past.

I see the same "hold on to the past" mentality among many other businesses and institutions. They see others profiting from innovation and technology but won't move into the future until the change has been proven and by the time they play catch–up, the innovators haven't stood still; they have moved on to the even–newer and continue to pull away from the laggards at an ever increasing velocity.

Kodak may turn itself around once it goes through the typical disruptive bankruptcy actions of downsizing by amputating underperforming parts of the business, selling assets to raise capital and returning as a different entity.

Small businesses, in general, don't have the same luxury of assets to sell and access to capital markets, We have to avoid the comfort of nostalgia by constantly looking forward, seeking new approaches, testing them using as much risk–avoidance as possible, and embracing those that work.

Sure old Brownie cameras bring a nostalgic smile, but won't sell any more. Forget nostalgia, embrace the future.

Opinions are solely the writer's. Larry Galler, of Larry Galler & Associates, is a marketing and management consultant for small and mid-size companies. Get Galler's free special report, "Four Steps to a Winning Marketing Strategy." To receive it, send an email to larry@larrygaller.com. Put "Marketing Strategy Report" in the subject line.