Is Kodak studying a film subscription sales model?

[fdonadio]

I have just got an e-mail from Kodak (not Kodak-Alaris) asking me to answer a survey about a possible Kodak film subscription service. The message says:

Film at Your Doorstep

What if you could get film consistently delivered to your doorstep? Would you be interested?

We continue to look for ways to better serve our customers and provide convenience and ease of use. We would like to gather some information about your film usage and potential interest in a film subscription service and appreciate your feedback!

I answered the survey and wondered how many of you people also got this message.

Cheers,
Flavio

 

[faberryman]

I wonder why you got the email? Cutting out film retailers (your local camera store) doesn't seem like a way to grow the business.

 

[Agulliver]

I don't think it would suit me but it might suit people who use a regular, high volume of certain films.

 

[Cholentpot]

I would like them to sell film with included development and shipping.

I know it went to the courts a long time ago but maybe it can be revisited?

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I would like them to sell film with included development and shipping.

I know it went to the courts a long time ago but maybe it can be revisited?

That's what I was thinking. Of course, they could get a lot of objection from companies like B and H who want the film sales. Frankly, if they went this route, the courts may let them considering film, especially Kodak, is such a minor player now. Maybe what they're afraid of is that with film like Kodachrome, where people will send their film out, the developers may include second source reversal film from China. Then Kodak would lose it's Ektachrome "re-start".

 

[wyofilm]

I know it went to the courts a long time ago but maybe it can be revisited?

I must have been napping that week. What did the courts decide a long time ago?

 

[AgX]

I wonder why Kodal should offer such service. They only got 1 consumer film product, not yet even shipped to the dealers.
A product for a niche clientele, a new product. And before it is on the market Kodak offers already a subscription model? A model unique to the sector.

Surprising to say the least. My first thought was "That email is not bonafide"

 

[Cholentpot]

I must have been napping that week. What did the courts decide a long time ago?

United States vs. Eastman Kodak 1921 and 1954.

 

[Chan Tran]

Currently Kodak do not offer film developing. I wish they do as C41 and E6 (when Ektachrome is available) are better developed in a lab with good volume than DIY.

 

[AgX]

Google says there was such Kodak "Film at Your Doorstep" survey already in 2011, but does not deliver details...

(Flikkr 07.10.2011 - Kodak: Film At Your Doorstep survey 5 replies)

 

[MattKing]

If the email came from Eastman Kodak, and not Kodak Alaris, then the film reference is to motion picture film, not still film. Eastman Kodak does not sell still film to anyone other than Kodak Alaris.
Does the OP also work with motion picture products or is he on the email lists for them?
Eastman Kodak does sell its motion picture products directly as well as through retailers, so it wouldn't be particularly surprising to see such an email from them.
The anti-trust litigation referred to above was limited to the US. It arose in a US environment where there was the potential for robust competition for services like processing Kodachrome. Those circumstances are long gone. The consent decree referred to above was rendered void by subsequent consent decree several years ago.
Kodachrome continued to be sold with processing included in Canada and most of the rest of the world for almost as long as Kodachrome was being processed by Kodak. Ektachrome and print films were much more easily processed, so most of that film was sold without processing included.

 

[Prof_Pixel]

I must have been napping that week. What did the courts decide a long time ago?

The 1954 Consent Decree limited Kodak's ability to sell film with processing included in the US.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

I use to always process my Kodachrome by Kodak, in a New Jersey Kodak lab. I think I also continued that practice with Ektachrome slides. Negative color like Kodakcolor I usually had done at a local one-hour service that included prints. The "one-hour" joints were the predecessor to chimping and digital printing at home for the less patient.

 

[AgX]

Eastman Kodak does sell its motion picture products directly as well as through retailers, so it wouldn't be particularly surprising to see such an email from them.

Hardly any filmmaker using 16mm would use his cine camera today as done (in the past) with S-8, let alone in 35mm, and these few likely would prefer some rolls at hand than a subscription.
For any serious filming in 16mm or 35m the needed film supply is estimated and bought on a project to project base, not at subscription.

Thus only Super-8 remains for subscription.

 

[cmacd123]

If the email came from Eastman Kodak, and not Kodak Alaris, then the film reference is to motion picture film, not still film. .

the actual survey does ask about both. If their is interest I would guess that they could work out a deal to have a joint contract with whoever was doing fulfilment for them the Kodak web store was run at one time by a firm known as "Digital river".

 

[pentaxuser]

the actual survey does ask about both. .

So may we assume that you also got the e-mail? Unfortunately the OP has yet to reply with the kind of information that may explain why he was contacted. Perhaps you can help.
Digital River amongst possibly other things are now the company that collects subscriptions for Kaspersky Internet Security so if it specialises in subscription collection then maybe it is genuine but surely they have not picked people's names from thin air. There has to be a reason, surely?

pentaxuser

 

[macfred]

Here's the survey ... https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScEQkJfPmTJEp64WjNsWcIb0l6bdeynRV62uI3bbDFAN0tQZQ/viewform

 

[Helios 1984]

Survey + Film delivered at home = Kodachrome's return confirmed.

 

[RalphLambrecht]

I have just got an e-mail from Kodak (not Kodak-Alaris) asking me to answer a survey about a possible Kodak film subscription service. The message says:


I answered the survey and wondered how many of you people also got this message.

Cheers,
Flavio

I didn't get such email but, why not; worked for Adobe!(not with me, however)

 

[fdonadio]

I wonder why you got the email? Cutting out film retailers (your local camera store) doesn't seem like a way to grow the business.

Well, it came from Eastman Kodak and I have bought Super-8 and 35 cine film (Double-X) from them here in Brazil.

But they do talk about still film in the survey.

 

[fdonadio]

If the email came from Eastman Kodak, and not Kodak Alaris, then the film reference is to motion picture film, not still film. Eastman Kodak does not sell still film to anyone other than Kodak Alaris.
Does the OP also work with motion picture products or is he on the email lists for them?

Check message #20 above.

 

[cramej]

After looking at the survey, it seems highly suspect that Kodak proper sent this email and survey. Why would Kodak be using Google forms? And why is there no branding on the survey? Why do they use "e.x." (which isn't even a proper abbreviation) instead of "for example"? Kodak has more than enough resources to come up with a professional survey.

I would check the 'from' address for that survey again. It probably did not actually come from Kodak.

 

[wiltw]

Here's the survey ... https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScEQkJfPmTJEp64WjNsWcIb0l6bdeynRV62uI3bbDFAN0tQZQ/viewform

Hmm, natural ASSumption that the survey was commissioned by Kodak. But survey could just as easily have been another company (B&H, Amazon, Google, Safeway, CVS) looking for an opportunity to grow a business.

it came from Eastman Kodak

Hmmm...given the post origin, they wouldn't be concerned about US FTC (past) concerns about monopolization.

 

[fdonadio]

Well, I have just looked into the message headers. Looks legit. Here they are:

Return-Path: <kodak@emails.kodak.com>
Delivered-To: xxxxxx@xxxxxxx.com.br
Received: from imap79-farm64.kinghost.net
    by imap79-farm64.kinghost.net (Dovecot) with LMTP id gbOzE7fjt1t/gwEAlFxN0w
    for <xxxxxx@xxxxxxx.com.br>; Fri, 05 Oct 2018 19:20:39 -0300
Received: by imap79-farm64.kinghost.net (Postfix, from userid 1000)
    id 5064214F4A408; Fri,  5 Oct 2018 19:20:39 -0300 (-03)
Received: from mx-node-05-farm64.kinghost.net (unknown [10.17.64.44])
    (using TLSv1.2 with cipher AECDH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits))
    (No client certificate requested)
    by imap79-farm64.kinghost.net (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 41CB514F49306
    for <xxxxxx@xxxxxxx.com.br>; Fri,  5 Oct 2018 19:20:39 -0300 (-03)
Received: from kodak-167.kodak.postdirect.com (kodak-167.kodak.postdirect.com [206.165.246.167])
    (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits))
    (No client certificate requested)
    by mx-node-05-farm64.kinghost.net (Postfix) with ESMTPS id BF28F3E22F4A5
    for <xxxxxx@xxxxxxx.com.br>; Fri,  5 Oct 2018 19:20:34 -0300 (-03)
DomainKey-Signature: q=dns; a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws;
    s=ym1024; d=emails.kodak.com;
    h=DKIM-Signature:Date:From:Subject:To:X-Header-Versions:X-Header-CompanyDBUserName:List-Unsubscribe:Message-ID:X-Vitals:Reply-To:Feedback-ID:X-Header-MasterId:MIME-Version:Content-Type;
    b=cZ8Ey5JnZ32gAIgqMaWSb3PFhFaqjXRIgmT12DHhZvT+N74FYFwcszgIP2tMZQmz
    coNIUhI/7Xa4dHV2vdyM/YWyJfxPxvvBJ9MaL6FBzadrvin5Ugr2v6/JqtguJoV8
    4XNmKrMn8MnSOL2KZ1Akv6xIGkUwxIInTIJ1SCCuAIU=
DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha1; d=emails.kodak.com; s=ym1024; c=relaxed/simple;
    q=dns/txt; i=@emails.kodak.com; t=1538778027;
    h=From:Subject:Date:To:MIME-Version:Content-Type;
    bh=uSAIf038HoVfZKhTvKIlv0XtwrA=;
    b=SpE5uC1mPBXlGmao+Tq0EH1kk3jKgYTYVjmJK8J2DErTkV0+gJUfSpFGjHogRYTd
    6oVQacDgWFNw9KkUMZ26XQHrSOh5urXei4N9axX1/XtE1mNqcsXflXbqQxytz1+M
    7pchHhVrd29qWSWnMfgajJtjumX/4AmYnlVmu/HS8ZY=;
Date: Fri, 05 Oct 2018 15:20:27 PDT
From: Kodak <kodak@emails.kodak.com>
Subject: Film at your doorstep
To: "Flavio Donadio" <xxxxxx@xxxxxxx.com.br>
X-Header-Versions: Kodak.68byc5npg3.d4wk@emails.kodak.com
X-Header-CompanyDBUserName: eastmankodak
List-Unsubscribe: <mailto:eastmankodak68byc5npg3.6d4wk@emails.kodak.com?subject=unsubscribe>
Message-ID: <Kodak.68byc5npg3.d4wk@emails.kodak.com>
X-Vitals: 1.91687.57386925.1328718.9.f94c
Reply-To: Kodak.68byc5npg3.d4wk@emails.kodak.com
Feedback-ID: eastmankodak:1328718:Yesmail
X-Header-MasterId: 1328718

Please note my e-mail address is redacted (by myself). Postdirect.com's domain is owned by Pantheon, a firm specialized in digital marketing. I didn't check the DKIM signature, but I guess my provider's anti-spam would catch a fake signature. All links in the e-mail point to http://emailslink.kodak.com.

If this was to be fake, someone would be putting way too much effort to look legit.

 

[Nodda Duma]

Nothing wrong with using Google Docs for a survey. Many companies do so. It’s sort of the “in” thing.