Jan 8 2010
KMG Digital announced today that Eastman Kodak Company has designated KMG as the exclusive worldwide licensee for Kodak branded optical blank media products and media accessories. Under this agreement, KMG will market Kodak branded products including recordable optical blank CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs and media accessories.
Memorex and Maxell Industry veteran Michael Golacinski established KMG Digital for worldwide sales and marketing of Kodak optical blank media. KMG Digital is based in Rochester, New York and will also have worldwide sales and marketing operations in Los Angeles, California.
The goal of the new KMG organization is to increase the worldwide distribution and sales of Kodak branded optical media and accessory products, with a focus on office superstores, electronic specialty, discount, member club stores as well as strategic online partners.
"We see a tremendous opportunity to bring both innovation and efficiency back to the optical media business while we evaluate other CE categories that we'll develop and market with the Kodak brand name," stated KMG Digital President and CEO Michael Golacinski. "Without any burden of legacy issues and with our experience in the industry, we've put together a veteran team to bring excitement, and value back into the media business. Look for more on our plans at CES."
The new KMG organization will be managed and operated by a well-known group of industry veterans headed by Michael Golacinski. Mr. Golacinski previously was the CEO of Memorex Products Inc. prior to its successful sale to Imation Corporation. During this time, the brand was instrumental in establishing and marketing recordable CD and DVD media and recording technology. Under Golacinski's tenure, the Memorex brand was revitalized into a market leader. Mike was also the Executive Vice-President of Maxell Corporation of America prior to his leadership of Memorex. Mr. Golacinski will be based in KMG Digital's Los Angeles office.
Industry veterans Steven Mizelle, Jim Gordon and Robby Williams will be retained by KMG Digital. Steven Mizelle will be Vice President and COO of KMG Digital. Mizelle will manage the Rochester sales and operations facility. Jim Gordon will be Vice President, International Sales of KMG Digital. Mr. Gordon will direct sales to Latin America, Asia and Australia. Operations Director for KMG Digital will be run by 10-year veteran Robby Williams.
Pete Steriti, longtime Memorex VP Sales Central Region, also joins KMG's sales organization as Sr. Vice President Sales, U.S. Region. Ed Coughenour has been retained to handle the western region as VP Sales. When at Memorex as VP Sales, Ed managed the Walmart and Sam's Club accounts among many other key customers.
Europe will be managed by Jean-Paul Eekout. Jean-Paul will be the Managing Director based in The Netherlands. Mr. Eekout previously was the Worldwide Director for the TDK brand.
Former Memorex Products Director of Product Planning Brad Yeager is the new Director of Marketing for KMG Digital. During his 10 years with Memorex and working with Golacinski, Brad was instrumental in the growth of branded optical media. Brad will be based in the Los Angeles office.