A Photo Trove, a Mounting Challenge

By Katie Hafner "Corbis, a corporation founded and owned by Mr. Gates, who is better known for starting Microsoft. The photo of Rosa Parks sitting on the bus in Alabama is among the 11 million prints and negatives in the legendary Bettmann archive, which Corbis bought in 1995. Others include the famous picture of Einstein sticking his tongue out and Marilyn Monroe standing over the subway grate. These images are licensed for about $250 a piece. The archival photos bring in about half of Corbis’s sales, but the company also has a stable of professional photographers who generate stock photos for advertising and media clients What Corbis did not foresee was the rise of so-called microstock agencies like Fotolia and iStockPhoto." In order to keep up with the changing market Corbis is announcing their plans for a microstock business sometime this quater. This new business will be aimed at the consumer who would never envision using Corbis or Getty images, but rather a much cheaper alternative. "Corbis is also betting heavily on its Creative Resources division, which includes rights services and recorded 44 percent growth in revenue last year, to $30.1 million." I think this new expansion of the company is an excellent idea. In order for a company to keep up with the growing market in today's changing society they must be reactive. I think this will be beneficial to Corbis. Although there is some hesitation that this new division will canibalize their more expensive market, I do not think that will occur. As long as the their is a distinct marketing mix to each target I think it will work out well. Those customers who want the more expensive images from Corbis will still be willing to pay for them and the more generic images will be there for those who can't pay $250 for an image. Overall I think this new venture will in fact be succesful. I will definatly pay attention to how this plays out!

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By Alexanra Verni