Jan. 12, 2009—New for this year, Printing News is debuting a series called Executive Q&A. Here, we'll talk to the major movers and shakers that drive some of the most innovative companies in our industry, and hear directly from them about what trends they're watching, what they're worried about, and what advice they would like to give to printers.

In this first installment, we talked to Kodak's Jeff Hayzlett, chief business development officer, and vice president, as well as an active industry advocate. Hayzlett has nearly 25 years of international marketing, sales, and customer relations management experience. He joined Kodak in April 2006 as the chief marketing officer and vice president of the Graphic Communications Group (GCG).

PN: Tell us a little about your company, the segment of the market it serves, and what you consider to be your "core" users.

JH: Kodak is the world's foremost imaging innovator. In the graphic communications space, Kodak holds a unique position as the only provider of integrated solutions, spanning offset, flexo and digital technologies, within a unified workflow. As another important point of differentiation, we serve all segments of the market—commercial print, the enterprise, packaging, publishing and data centers. Print service providers represent our "core" users.

PN: How did you get involved with the company? What is your background before that?

JH: Prior to joining Kodak, I led a private business development and public relations firm specializing in the technology and visual communications industries. I also held senior management positions in strategic business development and marketing at several companies, including Cenveo, Webprint and Colorbus Inc. I joined Kodak in April 2006 as CMO and vice president of the Graphic Communications Group. In Sept. 2007, I was named chief business development officer, and in Oct. 2007, Kodak's board of directors elected me a corporate vice president. And I was recently named chief marketing officer for Kodak, effective Jan. 1.

PN: What do you consider your greatest achievement in this market to be?

JH: Kodak has truly transformed itself as a company. We've built on our legacy of innovation as the company that made taking pictures as simple as pressing a button, and established Kodak as a leading digital imaging company. We help people make, manage and move images and information in their lives and in their work.

One of our team's most important achievements to date has been bringing innovative marketing strategies and other fresh approaches to reaching customers, and showing the world what the New Kodak is all about. On the print side in particular, no other company in the market can claim the breadth of products and services we have.

PN: If there was anything you could change, either about your career in regards to the print industry, your company, or the market as a whole, what would it be and why?

JH: The economy is presenting challenges for all companies, but along with challenge comes opportunity. Now, more than ever, think about ways you can add real value to every project for every customer, and make their communications programs more effective.

That means adding new digitally driven services, such as VDP, versioning or short-run color, which make print pieces more effective by delivering personalized messages. It could involve offering Web to Print services that make it convenient and cost effective for customers to place orders or create customized pieces from anywhere in the world, 24/7. And it definitely means continuing to add new capabilities and expertise.

In challenging times, companies won't stop spending on marketing communications altogether. They will, though, rightly seek those strategies that give them the best return on their marketing investment—and give more of their business to vendors that recognize that. Commercial printers who understand how print and other marketing communications tools can work together to create an effective, integrated program—and those who in turn provide those services, are in a strong position.

PN: What do you consider the greatest challenge to be for the industry right now? Why?

JH: With print service providers embracing digital as the path to sustained growth, the challenge for them now lies in embracing a new way of thinking about the business they're in. Much more than putting ink on paper, making sure that jobs look nice, meeting delivery dates, and serving as a print expert—all of which remain important—print service providers need to move to the next higher level of capabilities and expertise. That means knowing how to best meet a customer's immediate need, as well as understanding the larger business goals.

By having that conversation, a printer may determine that a print ad alone won't be as likely to achieve the campaign's objectives as a print ad linked to a landing page. Perhaps a personalized direct mail piece can achieve even better results when it includes a PURL. These kinds of shifts can make a customer's program more effective, and allow printers and their customers to move beyond the traditional focus on cost per page to the much more meaningful metric of the value of the page. Making the transition from providing print services to providing integrated marketing services opens up a whole new world of possibilities.

PN: What do you consider the greatest asset to be for the industry right now? Why?

JH: The ability of digital technology to streamline production, improve quality, reduce cost, speed turnaround, and enhance message delivery through targeting and personalization. Marketers have an incredible opportunity to leverage the information they know about their customers, and design and deliver materials that connect with the purchase history and interests of the recipient. By embracing the potential of digital technology to create print centric, integrated campaigns that reach customers in a relevant way—and providing cross media services and capabilities to create the elements of those campaigns—print service providers can help achieve the type of results that strengthen loyalty and create more business opportunities.

PN: In your opinion, what have been the biggest changes to the way we communicate with one another in the past few years? How would you recommend this industry take advantage of that?

JH: A big change involves the tremendous increase in the number of media that deliver marketing messages to consumers on a daily basis. So much information is now available about a person's buying habits and interests. For print, this ability to strategically mine data, combined with advancements in software and digital press technology, makes it easier than ever to design and process personalized communications materials on the fly.

The ability to reach a recipient in a highly relevant way has changed the way a print service provider can help customers increase their communications to their customers. Print service providers need to continually educate themselves about everything from the latest trends in marketing and communications, to more tactical issues such as database management and the use of color to increase readership, to provide their customers with the best tools for their communications program.

PN: Looking ahead, what major innovations or technologies do you believe will shape the future of the industry? Why?

JH: Digital printing technology, whether toner based or inkjet, continues to shape the industry with features that complement the power and reputation of offset. Digital printing technologies must have the capabilities to produce what we refer to as offset class output, which means maximum reliability, productivity, total cost of ownership, and image quality.

Whatever features printers are looking for today—extended color gamut, unique glosses and coatings, diverse finishing options, higher speeds, or hybrid solutions—digital presses can deliver. Inkjet rightfully has created a lot of buzz as a key technology for the future of commercial print. The next generation of inkjet technology, which we will offer in our Kodak Stream Inkjet Technology solutions, fits well in a commercial print environment and brings inline variable data capabilities to the offset press.

PN: What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to printers and others involved in this industry?

JH: Marketing communications today is all about value, integration, and results. Against that backdrop, printers must continue to move beyond the mindset of cost per page, and show their clients how they can offer more value per page.

Through applications such as personalization, print on demand, Web to print, TransPromo and others, printers have a powerful set of tools and applications to provide to their customers. To put all of this together and deliver results that will drive new and repeat business to their shops, printers need to really get to know their customers' business and objectives, and demonstrate with every phone call, visit and job that they are a strategic partner focused on delivering value and results.

PN: Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

JH: We're all fortunate to work in the business of print, a medium that continues to evolve to meet the needs of companies, marketers, and consumers alike. While new digital and online technologies continue to become a bigger part of our lives, nothing else comes close to print's ability to effectively reach so many segments in so many ways as a standalone tool or as a vital part of an integrated campaign. I'm excited to see our customers continually advancing their businesses and the results they deliver to their customers, and honored that we can play an important role in an industry that will continue to impact future generations in a meaningful way.