A perfect storm of photographic innovation, marketing and consumer desire: Kodak's you-press-the-button camera ads

Abstract

This research examines adoption of the earliest Kodak cameras by consumers who quickly became fascinated with them. Early photography, such as daguerreotypes and ambrotypes, required sophisticated knowledge about photographic processes and chemistry. Up until August 1888, when the first Kodak cameras were marketed to the public, photographs were created by a relatively small number of professional photographers who possessed the combination of skills to take and process them. Shortly after advertising the Kodak No. 1 camera featuring his new roll film, George Eastman proved he was as adept at marketing as he was at photographic innovation. The nearly immediate success of the Eastman Kodak Company can be attributed to the perfect storm of photographic innovation, effective marketing and consumer desire.