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Ofoto's logo. Click here to visit the Ofoto website! Ofoto hires new president
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(Tuesday, January 14, 2003 - 16:41 EST)

Ofoto, Kodak's wholly-owned online photofinishing subsidiary, has announced that it's hired Mark Blecher as its new president.

I have to say that this one came as a bit of a surprise to me, since as far as I knew, Ofoto was doing just fine, businesswise. They're clearly one of the leaders in the online photofinishing space, and to all indications, former president (now executive vice-president) James Joaquin had been doing a good job of extending their reach and increasing profitability. It sounds like Mark Blecher perhaps has more mass-marketing background, which will clearly be important as digital photography continues to become more mainstream, and true "consumers" become the dominant market segment. I take it as good news though, that James Joaquin will remain with the company as an executive VP.

Original Source Press Release:

foto, a Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Eastman Kodak Company, Hires Mark Blecher as President

Seasoned Executive Brings Extensive Global Marketing Expertise to Ofoto as the Company Prepares for Next Level Growth

Ofoto, Inc. (www.ofoto.com), the leading online photo service, today announced that Mark Blecher has joined the company as President. Blecher will oversee Ofoto, Inc. from its Emeryville, California location and will report directly to the company's Board of Directors including Willy Shih, President, Digital and Applied Imaging and Senior Vice President, Eastman Kodak Company.

Blecher joins Ofoto with more than 16 years of marketing experience for consumer products and technology companies, including Electronic Arts, PepsiCo Inc., and Clorox. He will work with the Ofoto and Kodak management teams to design strategies and programs that will enable Ofoto to capitalize on the exponentially increasing popularity of digital cameras and achieve true mass-market penetration.

"Mark Blecher's extensive experience leading marketing and sales programs for global Fortune 500 companies such as Pepsi and Clorox comes at a great time for Ofoto," said Shih.

"Ofoto has emerged as the clear leader in the online photo-finishing industry," said Blecher. "I'm looking forward to helping make Ofoto the service of choice for everyone who wants an easy way to share and print their digital photos."

Most recently, Blecher was a top marketing executive for Electronic Arts, the world's largest interactive games company, where he lead the company's marketing efforts in transitioning interactive games from a niche product category to a mass-market business. Prior to EA, Blecher spent 12 years working for packaged goods companies holding management positions at PepsiCo and The Clorox Company.

Former President of Ofoto James Joaquin will remain with the company as Executive Vice President and will focus on the development of new products and new markets for Ofoto.

About Ofoto, Inc.

Ofoto, Inc. (www.ofoto.com), a wholly owned subsidiary of Eastman Kodak Company, is the leader in online photography with more than 6 million members. The Ofoto.com site provides consumers with a secure and easy way to store and share their pictures with friends and family and get high-quality Kodak prints of their images. Named "Best Overall Photo Site" by Yahoo! Internet Life magazine, "Best Photo Service" by Time magazine, and winner of a CNET Editors' Choice Award, Ofoto harnesses the convergence of imaging and information technology -- known as infoimaging -- to give consumers more ways than ever before to share their lives through pictures. The site provides free editing and creative tools, albums, picture frames, photo cards, and other merchandise. Ofoto prints for partners such as Amazon.com, Getty, Apple, and Sony's ImageStation. Ofoto, Inc. was founded in July 1999 and is based in Emeryville, California.

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