At first I was deeply skeptical of Creative Memories is rebranding as Ahni & Zoe. I was fearful that, they too, had jumped on the pocket scrapbooking bandwagon. I think it is too soon to tell if they have or not.
I explored their new website and looked a little bit closer at the app. The inawink app shows some promise. It solves the problem of limited photo organization on a smartphone (though limited to iPhones only) combined with getting the photos printed. While the photo subscription plan runs a bit higher than I would like, it does offer convenience that I currently do not get with other camera apps. While other apps allow for seamless ordering of prints, I am not familiar with any with an auto-renewing subscription plan. This works for me, though it may not work for everyone.
While I am intrigued by their app, I remain cautious. I used their digi software but was burned by the company. I changed computers and can’t use my software on my newer computer because it was never activated through there system while they were on business. What happens to my photos, then, if Ahni & Zoe goes the way of Creative Memories?
I am also a bit perplexed by the app’s name. Google inawink. Yep, inawink is also part of the name for a cash store, a webdesign company, a salon, an ink cartridge refill company, and a cleaning company. I honestly do not know what CM’s Ahni & Zoe’s trademark claim is on the word inawink. I’m not a lawyer, but can they trademark the word “inawink” when it is being used by so many other companies already? I suppose they can if they are the only company using it to refer to a photography app, but I’m not sure.
Another challenge in their rebranding is that they are going for the exact same customer base as before. This failed once (well twice…how many times exactly did CM file for bankruptcy?).
As one former consultant says:
They kept the wrong stuff! Ditching loyal customers to seek out new, “time-starved Moms” = not such a good idea, in my opinion.
Exactly. I understand the need for a company to expand their customer base, but time and time again what companies do is alienate their loyal customers in the process in an attempt to attract customers they do not have and may never have. Risky.
If you look at their website, what you see is yet another scrapbooking company promoting memory keeping as something women do (it’s even in the mission!). I went out of town this weekend, and my husband took a lot of photos, too. The beauty of smartphones is that not only do you have a camera in your pocket, but everyone you are with also has a camera in their pocket. It’s time the scrapbook industry makes this realization and does something about it.
Stephanie Medley-Rath is a sociologist and scrapbooker who studies scrapbooking and memory keeping. Scrapworthy Lives is a blog focused on her sociological analysis of scrapbooking, with a sprinkling of posts about Stephanie's own scrapbooking projects.
