Konica Minolta’s Culture of Cool

Rick Taylor and Team Establish Industry’s New “It” Brand

For many of the dealers and press attending Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc.’s (Konica Minolta) meetings, the company’s charismatic, intuitive and progressive President and COO Rick Taylor is somewhat of the copier manufacturer’s version of a rock and pop-culture icon. Think The Beatles or The Rolling Stones. Taylor has deftly surveyed, embraced, navigated and leveraged today’s ongoing business challenges to Konica Minolta’s benefit.

Ultimately, Taylor has been establishing Konica Minolta as the industry’s new “it” brand among manufacturers “” an achievement and status cemented both in theme and execution of its dealer meeting in February: “The Art of Disruption: Konica Minolta 2015 Dealer Conference and Expo.” Taylor and Konica Minolta appear to understand just how critical it is to aid and empower dealers to differentiate themselves while also aligning with prevailing general business trends, individual skill sets and resources, and local market considerations. 

Barry Clark, CEO of PERRY ProTECH said, “Konica Minolta understands, and it is helping its dealers understand, that innovation and disruption are enormously important. It’s the only insurance against irrelevance, and it’s the only insurance for growth and prosperity.”

Blending core brand assets of irreverence, accessibility and community, Taylor’s approach is similar to the manner in which The Beatles and The Rolling Stones disrupted and forever-changed both music and pop culture. These bands transformed rock-and-roll into a new and open culture, bringing together what was an increasingly splintering and angst-ridden youth in the mid- to late-1960s. Konica Minolta has achieved something similar in today’s increasingly challenging and variable business environment by making dealers welcome, understood and a part of something fresh “” and by ultimately helping to facilitate a true camaraderie among them.

Also like The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, Taylor is not doing it alone. The Beatles had producer, arranger and keyboardist George Martin and original manager Brian Epstein, and The Stones had keyboardist Ian Stewart and original manager Andrew Loog Oldham to enhance and execute on their visions. Rick Taylor has a highly lauded and capable leadership team, including Sam Errigo, Senior Vice President, Business Intelligence Unit; Kevin Kern, SVP, Marketing; Kay Fernandes, VP, Strategic Business Development; and Todd Crouteau, President of Konica Minolta’s All Covered. 

Konica Minolta is bringing sexy back to business technology industry by taking a few pages from Apple’s playbook. Apple took a major step at the beginning of the computer juggernaut’s resurgence in the 1990s. Apple’s initial brand objective wasn’t to change the face of personal computers and devices; it was simply to become the king of cool. And that’s exactly what Taylor is helping Konica Minolta achieve within the manufacturing segment of the business technology industry. 

As I see it, Konica Minolta’s “culture of cool” is built on four pillars “” or the four “Ps”: people, products, partnerships and presentation. Let’s take a closer look at the role each plays in contributing to Konica Minolta’s premier brand status:

1. People 

The primary pillar of a brand, particularly in our relationship-centric business, is comprised of the people that support it. The Konica Minolta team is responsive, sincere and gregarious. 

“The people at Konica Minolta don’t take themselves too seriously. They are approachable, fun and easy to work with,” said Doug Pitassi, President, Pacific Office Automation, the largest independent dealer in the United States.

One of the most powerful examples of the Konica Minolta’s “culture of cool” was “The Art of Disruption” Club Nokia closing bash. The featured entertainment was a band comprising all-star musicians, featuring Steve Augeri (former lead vocalist of Journey from 1998″“2006 following Steve Perry), personally selected by Taylor. Everywhere I turned, the energy and camaraderie among attendees was infectious, especially when I looked at the audience from the stage toward the very end of the band’s set.

When Rick Taylor saw me rocking out in the front row during the first of a four-song block of Journey covers, including “Separate Ways (World’s Apart),” “Lights,” “Anyway You Want It” and “Don’t Stop Believin’,” he handed me a metallic VIP bracelet and ushered me toward the stage. During 30 euphoric minutes, I joined Fernandez, Kern (on guitar), Pitassi (who respectively contributed guitar and took over the drum kit at one point during the band’s set) and Sal Camilleri, Konica Minolta’s VP, Eastern Regional Sales, among others, while channeling my inner Stevie Nicks on tambourine. 

Most significantly evident throughout that experience, the audience was as enthusiastic as the concertgoers at the Fleetwood Mac show I attended a week earlier.

2. Products

Without a highly competitive line, prolific foresight and ingenuity, the company’s culture would not be enough to elevate the brand to its current stature. Core Konica Minolta products such as the 654 MFP, the bizhub press C11000 and the 1250 monochrome high-speed press have all played key roles. 

When it comes to products and other dealer offerings, Konica Minolta has been first to market in many key areas over the past couple of years. Most notably, Taylor was the first to dive into the deep end of the MNS world when Konica Minolta announced the acquisition of All Covered back in early 2011. 

“Konica Minolta’s business model lines up well with ours,” said Steve Gau, Vice President of Sales at Marco, Inc. “This was the first copier manufacturer to acquire a traditional major MIT provider [All Covered] and it continues to invest in IT. As Marco is an IT company that happens to sell a lot of copiers, Konica Minolta is working hard to shape their organization in a similar format.” 

Another savvy move was fully embracing 3D printing, one of the most buzz-worthy business trends of the past two years and a potentially viable disruptive opportunity for many dealers. However, like virtually every other direction dealers may consider to compensate for declines in clicks, success depends on commitment. 

During Konica Minolta’s compelling seminar on 3D printing, Darren Metz, CEO of NovaCopy, Inc., the top Konica Minolta 3D printing sales organization, said, “It [3D printing] is very much a long-term investment. We started with 3D four years ago. Our goal for 2013 was $1 million in 3D revenue. We fell short of that by about $650,000. So, in year three, which was 2014, we shot for $1 million, and Melissa Ragsdale, President of Novacopy’s 3D Printing Solutions, blew it out of the park with $2 million in revenue. We are now tracking $4 million in revenue this year, so if you’re looking for a growth segment and you’re willing to hire people like Melissa to jump in with 3D, I assure you it will be a wild and exciting ride.”

Konica Minolta is so committed to the success of its dealers through product and services diversification that Taylor even spent some time speaking about some game-chaing product innovations from companies other than Konica Minolta and its partners. Among the most memorable was the SaviOne robot from Savioke, designed to service the hotel industry, which Taylor had arranged to deliver him a Snickers bar onstage. 

Naysayers may argue that promoting a product manufactured by an entity other than Konica Minolta or one of its partners across its dealer base is readily transparent as an indirect method to push more core Konica Minolta products as non-Konica Minolta products aid dealers’ growth in size and scope. But that is beside the point. It is not often a company is so confident in its own brand identity that it considers this type of non-linear, long-tail approach.

“Konica Minolta is always looking for new ways to reinvent themselves, and providing dealers with new opportunities for the future,” said Marco’s Gau. “They want to ensure their business partners have a solid future in over the long term.”

3. Partnerships

Acquisitions and partnerships are core elements of Konica Minolta’s overall brand strategy. “The Art of Disruption” featured announcements about an expanded partnership with EFI, and new partnerships with MWAi, Robin Powered and Clover Technologies Group (Clover).

EFI and Konica Minolta already work together in the development of digital front-ends that provide advanced color imaging and production capabilities on Konica Minolta digital presses and printers. Per the most recent arrangement, Konica Minolta will service and sell EFI’s (VUTEk)1625 via its authorized independent dealer.

Konica Minolta’s Business Innovation Center announced a new strategic partnership with Robin Powered, a technology company dedicated to establishing efficient workplace coordination, leveraging sensor-based technologies and office automation.

While Konica Minolta, along with its IT arm, All Covered, is still working through terms and conditions, Taylor did announce a new strategic alliance with MWAi and its FORZA ERP platform (built on SAP Business One). MWAi arguably has the best ERP system out there, as it enables dealers to build different businesses, such as cloud, MNS and security, without having to rely on plug-ins for outdated software they are still running. 

However, the many dealers moving toward FORZA were concerned that a smaller company like MWAi may not have the resources to fully support it. Given this new partnership, that should no longer be a concern. Dealers will now be able to benefit from MWAi’s implementation experience, aligned with OEM backing via resources allocated through a substantial IT business.

Konica Minolta’s partnership with Clover will enable the manufacturer to leverage full-service MPS capabilities that include setting up green initiatives (Clover is a zero-waste company), a full menu of software and auto-toner fulfillment. With the latter, Konica Minolta dealers can set customized parameters on customer machines. Dealers will then receive alerts that will enable them to notify customers when they need to replace their toner cartridges according to those pre-programed parameters 

As Image Systems’ Mike Schwartz, Senior Account Manager, said, “I’m excited for the new technologies and opportunities on the horizon with KMBS. They “˜get it.’ The partnerships they’re continually making are dynamic and aggressive.” 

Art Schwartz, President and CEO of Image Systems, commented, “I’ve been in this industry since 1973, so it’s hard to find something that’s new or “˜disruptive’ to discuss. However, Konica Minolta’s holistic approach to business and document communications is refreshing to say the least. We give their leadership a lot of credit for finding new products, applications and services that help to differentiate bizhub from everyone else’s equipment “˜noise.'” 

4. Presentation

“The Art of Disruption” Opening Session kicked off with an alluring and  accurate video homage to the role disruption has played toward advancing virtually every aspect of our society since the Industrial Revolution of the 1950s. The montage spotlighted art, business technology, consumer electronics, consumer package goods, fashion, film, music, politics, space exploration and transportation, and depicted how disruption across these and other areas aggregately evolved into what is collectively American culture today. 

Moving onto Konica Minolta’s product fair, the Expo evoked the look and feel of brands like Audi. It was sleek and modern, but clean and far from overdone. Unmatched by any that I have seen to date, the fair’s production design took cues from Apple with its spacious white surfaces with generous negative space in between. 

Overall, this compelling and functional design approach aided in part to a product fair bustling with activity. Most importantly, Konica Minolta ultimately sold far more product than it forecasted during the event.

This year, Konica Minolta branded its dealer award show the “K-EMMY’s,” which added to the celebratory tone of the evening. After the award ceremony, guests were entertained to a dry, yet universally hilarious and tasteful stand-up performance by actor and comedian Larry Miller. (Clearly, Taylor and his team learned from Dennis Miller’s politically polarizing performance at 2013’s “Shape the Future” dealer meeting. While many in the audience enjoyed that show, it was far-removed from the positive and inclusive spirit of the Konica Minolta brand.) 

Other guest speakers more than substantively added to Konica Minolta’s overall presentation and style at and of the meeting while complementing the core of Konica Minolta’s brand essence. Robert Herjavek, one of North America’s most recognizable business leaders and co-star of the ABC reality series “Shark Tank,” was accessible and entertaining, while maintaining a blunt honesty. 

“[On “Shark Tank,”] we teach Americans that you just have to keep going,” said Herjavek. “It’s not what you say, it’s how you make people feel. All my sales people spend hours going through the minutiae of their PowerPoint [presentations]. And I say [to them], “˜Do you think at minute 16 the customer is going to remember what you said?’ But, I guarantee your customer is going to remember how you made them feel. A company like Konica is about innovation. It’s about comfort. It’s about security. That’s what you’re selling.”

David Feherty, a former professional golfer on the European Tour and PGA Tour who is currently both a writer and broadcaster with CBS Sports and Golf Channel, also spoke. Feherty personified the Konica Minolta brand modernity and irreverence. While he may have used language some may have found somewhat questionable (though I heard nothing but laughter throughout what was the final formal presentation of the event), it worked seamlessly because, much like Taylor himself, Feherty didn’t take himself or his performance too seriously, and his humor was extremely self-deprecating.

Herjavek’s Ten Tips for Business Leaders 

No. 1: Burn the ships.
“You’ve got to be all in. If you’re not, you are going to run across a guy like me who is.”

No. 2: Test before you jump in.
“Before jumping off a cliff, you want to be sure the water is deep enough or you’ll kill yourself. Business is the same way.” 

No. 3: Everyone lies.
“The easiest way to get rid of a sales person is to say yes. And once you leave the office, all the data changes.”

No. 4: Bring a compass.
“It’s not that you have to have a detailed plan, but you have to know where you want to go. You have to get to specific targets in order to move your business forward.” 

No. 5: If they can’t catch you, they can’t overtake you.
“You’ve got to move fast. Even a mouse cannot be crushed by an elephant “” until the minute the mouse stops moving.” 

No. 6: Train for a marathon.
“Building something great takes a long time. Sprint to the next opportunity and then treat it like a marathon.”

No. 7: Hunt for your dinner.
“The minute you’re not hungry, you’re going to starve.”

No. 8. There is no work/life balance.
“Your business doesn’t care about what you’re doing outside of the office.”

No. 9: It’s hard.
“Everything in life worth having should be hard [to obtain]. If it wasn’t, everyone would have everything. But, very few people are willing to pay the price “” because it’s really hard.”

No. 10: It’s all about the approach.
“Work hard, have fun, be nice, play fair and dream big.”

The Beat Goes On

Father-and-son team Al and David Scibetta, President and EVP, CIO, respectively, at Copier Fax Business Technology, Inc. [CFBT], underscored Konica Minolta’s brand position and culture of cool. “Culture and brand is everything to us at CFBT,” David Scibetta said. “We feel that KMBS is traveling down a parallel path with us as we continue to grow. When you have a true partner that is pulling in the same direction, and most importantly, traveling in the same direction, it compounds our growth capabilities.” 

Al Scibetta added, “I’ve done business with Konica Minolta for 25 years. Since Rick Taylor, I can truly say that Konica Minolta makes you feel like you’re part of the family.”

Dealers and The Cannata Report aren’t the only ones who feel Konica Minolta is the strongest brand in its category. As written in the story “2015’s Brands with the Most Loyal Customers” published on Forbes.com just last month, “Konica Minolta was one of 11 brands to maintain their No. 1 category positions in very challenging category environments, according to Brand Key’s 19th Annual Customer Loyalty Index (CLEI).”

While Konica Minolta may be the manufacturing “it” brand today, Taylor and his team continue moving forward because they understand that a competitor could cause a disruption in their momentum at anytime. Some dealers may also be somewhat concerned about Konica Minolta’s momentum and positioning if Taylor were to step down. However, given Taylor’s track record of employee empowerment, emphasis on continuity and the proven ability of other upwardly mobile senior executives like Errigo and Fernandez, this may very likely prove to be an unfounded concern.

It would likely take a revolutionary departure in brand strategy, of which culture plays a most critical role, to curtail Konica Minolta’s momentum with dealer loyalty. That’s something I just don’t see that happening any time in the foreseeable future.

Recommended Reading: Forbes.com: “2015’s Brands with the Most Loyal Customers“