We are told over and over that creating a memorable brand experience for the customer is THE most important goal when developing a brand strategy. However, many new brands fall at the final hurdle for one key reason: branded photography, or rather a lack thereof.
In the initial stages of a brand’s development, this element is often sidelined as an expense that’s “not quite worth the money”. In some respects, it’s an understandable position, especially considering the costs that mount up when creating everything else. Going with stock images might feel like the best option for your budget, but it shouldn’t be a long-term solution for these three key reasons.
1. First impressions
Branded photography gives you complete control over how you communicate your brand’s unique personality to your audience. By creating images that are distinctly your own, you are immediately connecting your audience to your brand. How can I achieve this, you ask? Well, consider colours, as an example. According to Forbes “colour improves brand recognition by up to 80 percent” so, by developing uniquely branded photography, you can inject your brand’s colour palette into the images. As a result, your audience’s spidey-senses get tingling with the notion that it is in fact YOUR brand that is talking to them well before they’ve seen your logo or read your copy, aka instant brand recognition – the holy grail!
2. Consistency
You are near the finish line and hours of your time have been dedicated to poring over creative routes from your agency. You’ve reviewed iteration after iteration of your tone of voice, logo, colour palettes etc. until – hey presto! – a cohesive and distinct brand emerges. Well done. But, if your photography doesn’t completely align with everything you’ve just created, then this cohesion is already starting to unravel. Developing unique branded photography ensures that every image you post, whether it’s on Instagram, your website or even a billboard, consistently aligns to your brand’s values and story.
3. Authenticity
We’ve all been there before: you’re driving past a billboard advertising a local law firm only to later see the same image used for a local dentist – same smiling family, same big cheesy grins. Immediately, the authenticity of both brands comes into question as the same image is used to communicate entirely different messages. According to Stackla “86 percent of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding what brands they like and support”, so how comfortable are you with the exact same stock image chosen for your new app also advertising a company at odds with your brand values? The risk this creates for your brand’s authenticity is HUGE.
Placing branded photography on the priority list during strategy development is to set yourself up for a win. We all know there is no more important person in the business equation than the customer and instant recognition through branded photography can nurture a loyal relationship for the long haul.
We’d love to help you out with your brand’s unique photography. We have access to primo content creators and respected influencers, and we can work with any sized budget. If you’d like to find out more, please get in touch and let’s chat!
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