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Richard Mottla, a life-long photographer, jumped into photo retailing less than 4 years ago. As the owner of DigiDog Photo, Escondido, Calif., Mottla discovered just how challenging this business can be.
"The price for 4-by-6 just keeps dropping," he says. "I found if I printed 4-by-6 prints at 1,000 prints a day for 17 cents or 18 cents each, I'd make only about $90. On the most expensive piece of equipment in my store, I was making less than $100 a day."
Seeking a way to enhance revenue on his 4-by-6 prints, Mottla came up with Picture-Plus -- a concept for putting ads on prints. Customers can choose to receive a discount on their prints if they are willing to provide a little information about their pictures, and receive targeted ads or coupons on their prints based on the information they provide.
He tested the idea for a month in his store, running coupons and ads from local businesses. For those customers who chose to participate, DigiDog Photo made 4-by-8 prints, adding a 2-by-4 inch ad onto the 4-by-6 prints.
"We wanted to see first if customers would accept something like that. We didn't know if people would feel funny about having coupons on their prints, but they liked it," Mottla says. "I had one lady come in just before we closed and ask for 25 prints. I told her we'd have them in the morning. She said, 'I have to have them today! One of the coupons on them is for a restaurant I am going to tonight.' So we did them for her, of course. We had a very good response to the trial."
He predicts advertisers will love the idea, too. "We feel it is a good fit for advertisers, because people have to see the ad. People who opt in accept there will be ads on their prints they will have to clip off. They can't help but see the ads. If they are looking at the picture of their baby, they are going to see the ad for Johnson & Johnson or whatever it may be. What better way for a pet food company to get its message out than to have its ad appear on a print of your new puppy?"
During the trial, DigiDog ran ads and coupons from 25 local businesses, and promoted the service on the radio. Mottla was surprised by the degree of success. During that month, 80 percent of 4-by-6 prints ordered were Picture-Plus prints, and 50 percent of Picture-Plus users were new customers to the store. Further, DigiDog had a 55 percent increase in 4-by-6 print revenue.
Mottla now plans on taking this idea, which he has patented, to other photo retailers and advertising brokers. While he hopes to see Picture-Plus make its way to the big online photofinishers, it could also work via kiosks or online services for small chains or single photo shops.
A photo retailer offering Picture-Plus would not have to include "advertising salesperson" in his already extensive list of job duties. Ads would be sold by brokers. In fact, the retailer would do almost nothing different, except make 4-by-8 prints rather than 4-by-6. They would be reimbursed for the discount provided to Picture-Plus customers, and would share in the advertising revenue.
For customers, the ordering process for Picture-Plus prints is only slightly different. They visit the photo printing website or kiosk, and choose Picture-Plus. They provide information about the content of their photos using keywords. There will be an incentive for providing a given number of keywords, such as a greater discount or entrance into a drawing. The value of the coupons they receive will exceed the cost of their prints, and the coupons will be tailored to their lifestyles. The coupons will be redeemable at local stores, national chain retailers, or online.
Mottla is currently exploring partnership opportunities and expects to offer Picture-Plus to photo retailers early next year.
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