Innovators, market shapers and memory makers praised at InnovationNow
(McLean, Va., September 30, 2015) – Photo Marketing Association International (PMA) has today announced the winners of the inaugural Out of the Box Awards at 2015 InnovationNow Photo Business & Technology Summit in San Francisco.
The awards recognize industry leading innovation, interoperability and interesting ideas. From photo yearbooks that “come alive” using augmented reality to a bespoke piece of proprietary software that has helped make a professional portrait photo business relevant to a growing customer base of millennials the industry is awash with creativity.
“It drives me crazy when I hear comments by certain people who don’t understand the photo business. They look at the developments that have taken place in digital imaging, and they incorrectly assume that new technology has come along and the photo business as we know it is a dinosaur playing out time until extinction. Our award winners today ably demonstrate that the photographic and digital imaging business is thriving, innovating and continuing to evolve. Technology is enabling those who move quickly to drive up opportunities across the board. These awards celebrate those companies across the whole spectrum of the photography and digital imaging industry that are leading the way in creating and delivering new products and services,” said Georgia McCabe, CEO and executive director, PMA.
The Out of the Box Awards recognize companies and individuals across 16 different categories and were selected by a cross section of industry stakeholders.
The winners of the 2015 Out of the Box Awards are:
Customer Experience Award
Mixbook
Mixbook’s intuitive solution simplifies the creation of high quality photobooks delivering an immensely enjoyable consumer experience.
Customer-focused productivity
DSP Photography
In recognition of DSP Photography’s unwavering dedication to serving the high volume sports photography business.
Meet the Master In Millennial Photography
The Artona Group
Praised for identifying and implementing new ways to extend the Artona portrait photography experience via mobile devices, social media and new proprietary software.
Engine of Innovation
Mediaclip
Highlighting Mediaclip’s cutting edge tools and applications that transform how customized product vendors engage with the consumer.
21st Century George Eastman Award
DNP
DNP’s WPS-1 wireless print server provides a simple way for digital event photographers to enhance their shoot-to-print business.
Driving Branded Consumer Photo Products
CEWE Color
CEWE “jump-started” the photo book market in Europe with an extensive marketing campaign and distribution of CEWE branded Photo Books through independent retailers.
High-Tech Company, Low-Tech Marketing
Atkins Photo Lab
A refocus with impressive personal customer service and Design Led Innovation has helped Atkins turn its business around.
High-Touch, High-Tech Marketing
Live Portrait
Live Portrait workflow and smartphone applications breathe new life into photography with an augmented reality experience that connects sound and video to printed photographs.
All Are Welcome
Glossy Prints by Lifetouch
Glossy Finish welcomes DIY shooters to make prints of their own images using its on-site mobile lab. Allowing consumers to compare their results to professional shots highlights the quality and skill of Glossy Prints’ shooters.
Education Leadership
H&H Color Lab
H&H has redefined customer service by actively working to further its customers’ success through an ongoing commitment to adopt advanced digital technology and with its extensive array of customer education programs.
Marketing Maverick
OIympus America
To promote the high quality, but low weight of the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark II, the manufacturer created a hilarious viral video mocking the weight of standard DSLRs.
Imaging Evangelist
Panasonic
Panasonic expanded its Lumix Lounge concept by putting a Lounge in a dealer store as a model concept for how it will support photo specialty dealers. The pilot program is at Unique Photo in NJ, and live streaming broadcasts of new product introductions and other events are now a regular part of its online marketing efforts.
Evangelizing the value of Photo History
Rachel LaCour Niesen
Rachel LaCour Niesen is the driving force behind Save Family Photos, an Instagram site with 23,000 followers that recognizes the power inherent in even a single family photo.
Unsung Hero
Peter Tahmin
Peter Tahmin is a lifelong photo-industry leader who has worked with some of the biggest names in the business including Kodak, Ritz Interactive and Ritz Camera & Image. Currently, Peter is the co-founder & COO at MailPix.com which also operates Winkflash. One of the reasons why Peter was chosen for this recognition was, throughout his career, he has navigated an astonishing array of technological and market changes.
Real Magic in the Magic Kingdom
Rob Mauldin, Director, Walt Disney World
With the launch of Memory Maker, Disney’s guests can get instant access to all of the images captured by on-site photographers at Disney World. Furthermore, consumers receive license to do whatever they want with their digital images forever.
Easy Access to every image no matter which cloud you use
Marc-Antoine Benglia, CEO & Founder, Kwilt
Using Kwilt a consumer always has quick and easy access to all of their photos, regardless of where they physically reside and without the need to download and upload them to a single cloud storage location.
