What’s the point?
(or, why is brand photography important?)
In my last post I explained what it was I do, what outdoor brand photography means to me, and why I choose to focus in this area.
One thing that I think is worth elaborating on is exactly why brand photography is important, and in particular why shooting outdoors is particularly important to me.
Bluemoosephotos written in the sand of a deserted beach
So, why is brand photography important? Well, let’s think about what’s important to companies and brands in todays marketplace. To stay in business, they need to have customers. To find customers, they need to be noticed. And to make sales, they want to connect to customers on as deep a level as possible.
Why? it has been well researched (by Gallup and other pollsters) that as much as 70% of decisions are made on an emotional level, as compared to 30% of decisions based purely on rational thought. Which makes sense. You only have to look at the rise of Apple products to see this in action. Competing brands can make compelling cases based on features, megapixels, ease of customisation, and many other factors, and yet time and again there is a long line outside every Apple store whenever a new product is released. Why? Because Apple have successfully marketed themselves as being ‘cool’, ‘hip’, ‘with it’, or whatever term young people use these days (‘lit’?). And so there is an emotional engagement with their products, and hence they sell very well and are well known throughout the industry.
Surfer watching the waves as the sun goes down
So how do you create that emotional pull, and stand out from the crowd? Well the first thing you do is use imagery in your marketing. Admittedly there are some advertising campaigns and promotional materials that work with text alone, but these are few and far between. The truth is, images help people identify and connect with your brand. They show your customers what your company is about, what they should associate your brand with, and help build a picture of what it means to do business with you. So companies need images.
But why not just use generic images, or existing, free to use images taken from the internet? and why not shoot their own pictures using a smartphone? Well, there’s a couple of reasons, but they all relate to the feeling and image that they want to portray. A company using generic images is going to come across as a generic company, not one that stands out. Images that look the same as, or very similar to, their competitors are also not going to help them create a meaningful impression in their customers minds. Generic images can also come across looking fake, staged, and not authentic, putting more barriers between them and their customers. This is also why I favour outdoor photography for outdoor brands, as it lends more authenticity and ‘realness’ to the images. For example, a shot of a surfboard in space might seem cool, but doesn’t help people connect the product to the beach experience.
Surfboards in the sand after an afternoon surfing session
And taking pictures themselves? I’m sure that with enough time and patience a company could take some pretty good shots using a smart phone and an image-savvy young person. But this could take a long time, give mixed results, and ultimately have a pretty low hit rate. There’s also the danger that at the end of the process they get very few useable shots, and they may not be appropriate for the intended use. They’re also not going to be high-quality enough for display at anything bigger than A4 size without some serious degradation of image quality (think jagged edges, obvious pixilation, or distorted proportions from resizing).
So what’s the best solution? Well, in no great surprise, the professional brand photographer is going to recommend using a professional brand photographer (hey, at least I’m honest). Not only do they have the equipment to take high-quality photographs that can easily be enlarged for bigger displays, but they have the experience to work with the company to understand, plan and execute the required photos as efficiently and effectively as possible. I’ll elaborate further on my own method for each shoot in a later post, but rest assured that it centers around working with each company to understand their business, their customers, their intended use, and their thoughts on exactly what is needed. Lastly, by using a professional brand photographer your company gets high quality images that really capture the heart and story of your company, allowing customers to properly engage and connect, which in turn leads to better outcomes.
And if that resonates with you and your business, maybe you should reach out so we can talk about your needs.
