McLean, VA—In the wake of leading North American mass retailers temporarily shutting down their photo websites due to a reported data breach at a third-party service provider, the Photo Marketing Association (PMA) called for an industry initiative to provide consumers with intuitive, interoperable platforms to order photo products securely and efficiently.
“The recent breach brought the online photo business of some of North America’s top brands to a complete halt,” said Georgia McCabe, CEO and executive director of PMA. “As the only international photo association representing the creative and photo product industries, PMA stands ready to lead and to facilitate the transition to more attractive business and technological solutions.”
PMA’s InnovationNow Photo Business and Technology Summit, to be held September 27–28, 2015 at the Hilton Parc 55 San Francisco, will address this issue. The summit will provide a platform for top executives from imaging and retailing companies, independent experts, photographers and Silicon Valley technology firms to discuss new business models as well as unique ways of serving consumers who experience their pictures on social and mobile networks.
“When the mass adoption of digital cameras began in 2000, many mass retailers relied on specialty companies to quickly start their online photo retailing activities, without the need to deal with the actual transactions, merchandising models and hosting services,” explained McCabe. “As a result, there has been no mass retailer taking the lead to drive these services forward. This temporary security issue should be taken as a wake-up call highlighting to the whole industry that a comprehensive business model is now long overdue. The rapidly evolving demand for providing relevant services to the exploding population of connected smartphone consumers is only a further call to action.”
PMA designed the InnovationNow Photo Business and Technology Summit as the necessary first step on a journey to inform, ideate and implement the kind of products, services, mass-market awareness and ease of participation that were responsible for driving the analog photo business to historical levels of sales and profitability. For summit details, visit pmai.org/overview.
PMA represents members worldwide who actively contribute to the imaging industry. As photo-imaging continues to evolve, the association has grown to represent the diversity in imaging: photo retailers and processors, manufacturers, commercial imaging labs, sports and event photography, and custom picture frame shops. According to its mission statement, PMA is committed to helping these segments increase their profitability and expand their consumer, commercial and industrial markets. pmai.org
