Konica Minolta – Go Big or Go Home

By Andy Slawetsky – They say Vail is where millionaires live and Aspen is where billionaires live. Konica Minolta just held their dealer conference in one of the most exclusive resort areas in the US – Aspen Colorado.

The entire event was a statement to dealers, customers and competitors as Konica Minolta tried to take the “typical” dealer meeting up a few notches. Mission accomplished.

Aspen doesn’t have a big hotel like Las Vegas or Orlando so attendees were spread out across four extremely nice hotels (St. Regis, Ritz Carlton, etc.). I think most of the town was booked with this conference as the partner companies and event sponsors took up even more rooms.

We were welcomed to the conference at a press/analyst cocktail event that led into the official kick off. President and CEO Rick Taylor and VP Kay Fernandez talked about what we were going to see and why they chose this unique location for their event.

Because there is no single hotel where they could hold this event, they chose the Aspen Institute – a “non-partisan forum for value-based leadership and the exchange of ideas.” This is an incredibly beautiful multi building campus with acres of space. Major corporations and political parties use this facility for their highest-level getaways.

The general sessions were held in a large tent, perfect for the roughly 1,000 attendees at this show. Unfortunately, the location restricted the overall number of people they could bring. It also created a significant logistics challenge that Konica Minolta handled incredibly well. I heard there were obstacles KM needed to overcome while setting up for this – inadequate power in certain areas, weight restrictions for stages, etc. If I hadn’t heard about them, I never would have known. KM had this place running like clockwork.

Rick opened up talking about branding and being the best. He referenced being the only company in our business to make the Forbes 2016 list of best American employers. Other slides compared Konica Minolta’s brand to that of Google, Apple and Nike. Branding is serious business to KM and they’re doing everything they can to show that they operate at a different level than everyone else.

Following Rick was President and CEO of KMI in Japan, Shoei Yamana who talked to us about the power of data and opportunities in areas such as care support systems, monitoring and security.

Then back to Rick who talked about the future of KM and their investment in robotics, automated systems (for admin, security, etc.). He then discussed Konica Minolta’s All Covered managed IT services company and major partnership initiatives with MWAi and their FORZA ERP product that is helping not only transform KM into a leaner, faster company but their dealers as well.

Rick also talked about the partnership with ESP Power protection and their importance going forward with the proliferation of the Internet of Things. enVisionSense is the custom branded monitoring analytics solution for KM by ESP.

KM has their irons in a lot of fires, many of which may seem like they have nothing to do with the traditional copier printer manufacturer. I like that thinking.

Most, if not all of the dealers in that room that have existed for 60 or more years started out as other things – many of them as typewriter dealerships. KM is ensuring that even if (heaven forbid) print does go away, this company will still be here working with dealers providing them with products that they can sell. “This business is a marathon, not a sprint. We signed on for a marathon,” Taylor told the crowd.

EVP Kevin Kern then reviewed some of the recently launched products and talked about a few that would come in November (C2070 Series Accurio Press). He also discussed Chameleon, KM’s ability to easily customize the user interface (UI) of their MFPs. Kevin told us Chameleon can help customers improve productivity at the UI by up to 90%.

Kevin then showed us KM’s new production print branding name – Accurio. There’s Accurio Pro, Accurio Press, Accurio Jet and Accurio Print. It’s still uncertain if this new brand will replace bizhub PRO or coexist with it. I was a bit confused by the addition of this second brand.

KM is still focused on 3D and feel there’s great opportunity with higher-ed, healthcare and manufacturing. During the press briefing, I asked Rick and his staff if things were going well with their 3D program and they were pretty candid. It’s not going as well as I think they’d like.

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Their attitude is that this will catch on, the market will want it and when it does, KM will be 10 steps ahead of everyone else just trying to get in. They’re learning their lessons now so they can own this market when it does finally explode.

After Kevin came Ekta Sahashi, managing director and VP of KM’s Innovation center. She talked to us about the Workplace of the Future pavilion that was set up as part of the product fair. It’s Ekta’s group that comes up with peripheral technologies that KM has invested in like robotics and others.

Finally, it was time to go see the products and partners. And that’s when the rain came down. And suddenly, I saw a bit of a problem with this layout. Much of it was outside and required us to walk long distances from place to place. Fortunately, there were a few golf carts to run people around, but there could never be enough and some of these stations were quite far from one another.

As the rain hit, people scattered for the few buildings where KM had some great product displays and showcases – Workplace of the Future, Production, etc. Many of the partners were set up in tents along the walk from the general session to these pavilion buildings. Without the rain, this would have been great and the following day (when it was perfectly sunny) I’m sure the vendors got more traffic but that first day was probably pretty light (and soggy) for the KM partners.

To their credit, KM was prepared for it as they had KM umbrellas everywhere. They also had oxygen, which, at 8,000+ feet altitude was a pretty good idea. The O2 cans were, of course, customized with KM’s logo – printed on MGi printers I’m pretty sure.

This layout was the only thing I can think of to pick on KM for with respect to this event. Because the buildings weren’t very big, they could only put so much into each setting. And KM had a LOT to show.

That resulted in partners not necessarily being placed close to where you’d think they should be, like Rochester Software Associates and EFI in the production showcase or PaperCut/ACDI in the office area.

Clover Imaging was in a decent location downstairs from the production area but some more signage might have been helpful letting us know there what was downstairs. Most partners were in individual tents that lined the walk to the buildings.

This is the big trade-off. There’s a reason everyone goes to Las Vegas and Orlando. They can handle a show like this under one roof. KM did an amazing job of coordinating but in coming to Apsen, we were going to have to deal with a show that was different than what we were used to.

The only other issue is that because the Aspen Institute was a 15 minute shuttle from the hotels, we were pretty much there for 12 straight hours with no escape. Dealers who might just run to their room to make some calls or relax for a few minutes after lunch at another show might be more likely to come back. By the end of the day on both days the crowd seemed fairly light as dealers went back to their rooms and never returned.

A huge focus for KM at this show was production. While some competitors don’t think dealers can handle the super large inkjet presses, KM is doing everything they can to help dealers play, including bulking up (doubling) field support and programs.

Selling these devices will require dealers to work hand in hand with KM but they’ll have markets open to them that others won’t. Even smaller dealers can play at this level with KM’s support. And, KM has even made one of the MGi presses exclusive to their dealers. When was the last time anyone ever made a product available to their dealers and not their branches?

The All Covered managed services strategy seems to be gaining traction with about 1/3 of KM dealers now taking advantage of it. Even KM dealers that have their own managed services programs are starting to use All Covered to supplement their offerings. I spoke to three dealers who have younger reps that are leading with the MSP sale and pulling imaging hardware behind it. It’s a great approach and it’s putting money in the pockets of those that have jumped on board. And soon they will be doing the same with ECM, I have no doubt.

There was a great panel hosted by All Covered’s VP Nick Pagley. The panel, with Kay, Dealer Sales VP Don DuVall and EVP Sam Errigo talked about solutions like FORZA from MWAi as Don told us “we truly believe FORZA is the future of our dealers.”

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They also discussed Millenials and how to better market themselves to this increasingly critical demographic. During this chat, Kay reiterated something Rick said earlier – “the workplace of the future is about working anywhere, anytime.” Great quote.

There was another excellent panel the next day as well, this one discussing MGi production printers, presses, foil printers and more. VP Dino Pagliarello, VP Erik Holdo and VP Bill Troxil talked about the opportunities in production for dealers and how they’re making it easier for dealers to get in with almost no investment. These presses are too big to just set up in a show room. You need help selling it and KM has created a program to bring these products down to everyone’s level.

Like nearly all dealer conferences, this too had its awards session. It was pretty amazing to see dealers selling KM. They truly are some of the industry’s biggest. Marco, POA, All Copy, Impact, NovaCopy, etc.

When POA came up for their last and biggest award of the show, 47 people stood up and came on stage with Doug Pitassi. He used this Aspen event as an incentive trip. And you wonder why he keeps growing???

Entertainment at this event was also incredible with a intimate acoustic show from John Oates (think Hall and Oates) and a full fledge auction on the last night where dealers earned points for their purchases that could be used to bid on a Tesla, a BMW, a Super Bowl Trip or steak knives (that includes a full day blitz with the KM exec team and dinner at an amazing place with up to 50 reps).

After the auction we went to the barn (we were on a ranch) for the Kevin Kerns/Taylor Hicks concert. An amazing night for sure.

KM is a company like no other. Enjoy it because nothing lasts forever and someday we will be looking back saying “do you remember when KM went to Aspen for their dealer show?”

They’re clearly trying to impress. Some of my peers question the wisdom of spending on a show like this, which must have cost considerably more than traditional cities that host these shows. I think it’s worth every penny. Dealers left here impressed, fired up and even more loyal than ever.

They gave away a Tesla. A BMW. A trip to the Super Bowl. They held this show in Aspen. Dealers stayed at the St. Regis and the Ritz Carlton. They had Peyton Manning as the Key Note. In Colorado right after he won the Super Bowl for Denver. They had Steve Forbes as the OTHER Key Note.

Go through these pictures. Tell me this doesn’t look like a company you want to work for or do business with. Smiles everywhere. They’re great people having a good time and getting it done. Bravo KM, this was hands down the nicest dealer show I have ever attended in my 20 years doing this. You blew my socks off.

~Andy Slawetsky