For most consumers Hewlett-Packard Co means printers, toner cartridges and more toner cartridges. But with a new range of consumer-oriented digital devices such as cameras and photo- editing kit rolling out of its factories, HP wants to shed its stuffy office supply image and get itself more street appeal to take on Eastman Kodak Co directly in this market. HP is to spend $75m to create a new consumer brand for these and other products centered around a concept it calls expanding possibilities. $40m will be spent on a new advertising campaign – $15m of that in the US – to promote a less technical image. HP says news that the US photographic giant Kodak is to undergo a $2bn restructuring to address fundamental weaknesses in its business gives it even more reason to act quickly. It’s still smarting from Kodak CEO George Fisher’s quip that it has no chance because while everyone knows what a Kodak moment is but no-one’s ever heard of an HP moment. Consumers surveyed perceived HP as solid and trustworthy, but impersonal and overly technical. They did not associate it with innovation. We wait with baited breath for new graphics and color scheme. To help elevate its brand identity HP has new consumer-oriented schemes in hand. A new web-based service will enable customers to store pictures in a virtual shoe-box from which they will be able to print photographs at home and share them with net-enabled friends and family. It’s also got some fairly off-the-wall plans. Ever get that late night craving for a new toner cartridge? Well you’ll soon be able to get one from your handy inkjet vending machine HP is to install in supermarkets and college campuses.
