| Release Date: 3 March
2003 Fujifilm Envisage Business Awards winners announced The winners of the inaugural Fujifilm Envisage Business Awards were announced at a ceremony at the recent Focus on Imaging exhibition. The winners were Grahame Jackson Photography and Oliver Jones Photography; each received £2,000 to invest in their business plus a unique Business Development Consultancy worth £1,500. The winners were chosen from a shortlist of six, which was drawn from the 30 original applicants. The proposal from Grahame Jackson was based around a radio commercial for his Hampshire studio on the Fareham based commercial station, Wave 105. Grahame explained the public's reaction to the promotion: "People seemed to be intrigued by hearing a radio advert to promote a visual medium like photography; it really seemed to catch their imagination. We tied the advert in with a promotion we ran via our website so we were able to quantify its success." Fujifilm Professional's Marketing Services Manager, Jeanette Beattie, was impressed with the fresh approach offered by the studio: "Grahame's ideas are really innovative and these coupled with his technical ability greatly impressed the judges. He is constantly looking for new ways to promote his business and I'm sure this Envisage Business Award will go a long way to help him realise his great potential." The proposal submitted by Oliver Jones and Ruth Reynolds from Oliver Jones Photography took the form of a marketing strategy. It involved a comprehensive approach to developing their studio into the future. After establishing a successful business over the last four years, it was decided that the way forward was to extend the portrait arm of the business. Oliver explained: "The original aim of the business was to be both a wedding and portrait studio. However, due to the continued success of our weddings, portraits became secondary and we felt it was time to channel our efforts in that direction." Jeanette Beattie said of the submission: "I was encouraged by the realistic and achievable aims proposed by Oliver and Ruth. They presented viable ideas for encouraging parents, young couples and families to participate in the enjoyment of being photographed." Mike Heudebourck from Tapestry, the London based professional laboratory, was one of the judges on the Envisage Business Awards judging panel. He summed up the quality of entries: "What pleased me most was the pro-active stance the entrants took to their businesses. They were all very aware that social photographers must change the way they promote themselves to compete in the modern marketplace. The standard of all the finalists was very high, which made the ultimate choice extremely difficult." Full details of the Envisage marketing initiative are available from http://www.fujifilmenvisage.co.uk ENDS Photo shows, left to right, Grahame Jackson, Polly Jarvis of Fujifilm Professional, Oliver Jones and Ruth Reynolds at the Fujifilm Envisage Business Awards ceremony held at Focus on Imaging recently. * Note: this news release is issued electronically and will not be duplicated with a posted copy ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Return to Fujifilm News Archive Home Page |