Kodak: Loyal Sponsor to Stay with Olympics?

This is the latest in a series of profiles on the worldwide Olympic sponsors based on their activities at the Turin Games.

(ATR) With an Olympic partnership that dates back to 1896, Kodak has the oldest, if not most continuous, link to the Games of all 11 worldwide sponsors. But history may not count as the company considers its Olympics sponsorship post-2008.

Greg Walker, Kodak's vice president for Brand and Market Development, tells Around the Rings the company "is not discussing anything past 2008".

IOC marketing officials say they are optimistic that the Rochester, New York-based company is seriously considering keeping its sponsorship in the official category alive.

Kodak's new CEO visited Turin during the Olympics, meeting with Marketing Commission chair Gerhard Heiberg.

"They have been a good partner, and we hope to keep them with us," says Heiberg.

"I am more optimistic than I was a few months ago," says Heiberg.

The future aside, Walker says Kodak's current Olympics partnership is in good shape.

He says the company has maintained a low key profile without big advertising buys or other promotion. He says advertising placement was concentrated in Turin. Walker says it "seemed contra-seasonal" to go into heavy promotion for the Games.

"February is not a high buying time for photography," he says.

In Europe, Kodak sponsored and developed the EuroSport TV show "Daring Girls".

Walker says Kodak also had "terrific showcasing" by placing Kodak products with other sponsors. Kodak Image Makers installed at the Samsung Olympic Rendezvous produced personalized souvenirs of the Games.

Kodak's best-known Olympic project, the Kodak Image Center located in the Main Media Centre, proved itself as a valuable resource for photographers once again, says Walker.

The Image Center serves as a work area for accredited photographers, with space for 200 work areas where photos could be edited and processed.

In all, more than 3 million photos were processed at the Image Center. Around 90% of the photos were digital. Film processing services were provided and every image on film was converted to a digital file.

Kodak used these Olympics as "an opportunity to show the progress in digital imaging and technology," says Walker and not just in photography.

A growing area of Kodak's business is now in the field of medical and dental imagery. Kodak equipment and technicians provided this imaging service for the polyclinics at the Olympic Villages. Injuries ranging from simple muscle tears to major fractures can be examined on the Kodak Health Group products.

More than 800 medical imaging exams were conducted by 15 radiologists on Kodak equipment during the Games. The equipment will be given to local healthcare providers now that the Games are over.

Other Kodak services in Turin included the printing of credentials with Kodak technology utilizing the latest in high speed thermal printers and digital cameras. After 300,000 credentials, Walker said "there were no issues with production".

On the retail front, figures are still being compiled but according to Walker preliminary estimates are "very good". The retail sector was used to display new products for Kodak.

For hospitality, Kodak hosted some 240 guests at their hospitality pavilion. Walker says 60% of those were major customers and the rest were Kodak division managers and other executives.

Reported by Ed Hula III