COMPANIES in our 21st Century Stars series are given a score out of 100 using criteria such as financial strength and the quality of the management team.

Scores are calculated by The Times, except for strength of brand, which is assessed by FutureBrand, the global brand consultancy, which writes: “The name says it all — Photo-Me International is the world’s leading operator of automatic photo booths.

“In addition to their 27,000 vending machines, 20,000 of which are photo booths, Photo-Me International also manufactures a wide range of photo-processing equipment.

“Established in the UK in 1958, Photo-Me International is a truly innovative brand. The CEO is said to own over 100 patents in his name and in response to the digital revolution the company started the rollout of their award-winning digital media kiosks in May 2004.

“However, despite very high recognition in some of their markets (in France their brand name Photomaton has practically become the generic name for automatic photo booths), Photo-Me International has not managed to make the brand really aspirational for consumers.

“When Kodak sell their system, they do so under their own brand name. Is there an opportunity then for Photo-Me International to become a strong ingredient brand along the lines of Lycra or Intel?”

www.futurebrand.com

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