We have something a little different on the blog today from a good friend of mine who runs his own business and has strong views on marketing strategy, sales and life in general…here it is!
What is commercial photography?
While Wikipedia strictly defines photography as the art of recording light, commercial photography is much harder to define.
Wikipedia defines commercial photography as when payment is made for images that are not art, yet it could be argued that art and commercial photography are closely linked.
In truth the aim of both is to convey emotion, in itself a powerful advertising tool.
A good piece of art will stir up an emotional response, planting seeds of thought in the viewers mind. These seeds can influence a viewers opinion making an emotional response vital in modern day advertising.
To put this more simply, if I say the words Range Rover, what do you think of? Probably off road vehicles, British engineering and luxury interiors. That automatic response is a gut reaction, one which makes the Land Rover brand valuable and what every commercial photographer should strive to recreate.
Brands build their businesses on gut reactions, and so should commercial photographers.
When we had our first ever commercial shoot, we didn’t know anything about gut reactions or emotional responses. We believed a photo was about showing the product and took lots of angled shots instead of focusing on the reaction our images would bring. As a result, we had nice photos that didn’t influence customer buying decisions.
Commercial photography isn’t just about focusing on products. In fact the products are really secondary to the emotion we are trying to convey because it is that emotion that increases a photographs value.
From our own attempts at commercial photography here are two tips we think are vital when engaging in commercial photography:
1. 1. Understand the brand and more importantly the gut reaction it is after – once you understand the brand, find a background that will stir up that emotion without any product in the shot.
It’s highly likely that the customer won’t have heard of the brand you are trying to promote, so you will have to rely upon on your chosen background to produce the gut reaction to the chosen product you need.
If you’re lucky enough to be photographing a known brand, then use the background to reinforce that initial gut reaction.
Good commercial photography: The Range Rover Evoke uses modern architecture to reinforce its modern design image.
Bad Commercial Photography: The Hyundai i30 has blurred backgrounds that don’t convey any gut reaction, leaving you wondering what their brand represents.
2. 2. Understand the customer and show them the life they wish they could have – Everyone wants to live a better life, or at least people that buy into brands do.
Once you have worked out the gut reaction you need, learn about the customer you need to get the emotional response from and their dream lifestyle. You might get the same emotional reaction from two different lifestyles, but one life might be more effective at convincing the customer to buy your product than the other.
The reason for this is simple. A lifestyle can ooze luxury, but if it’s not the lifestyle the customer wants to lead then your gut reaction won’t have the desired effect on sales.
1. Bad Commercial Photography – Take our company, Dovcor Bathrooms, a middle to upper level brand that makes unique bathroom suites and designer bathroom furniture, we have pitched ourselves at the Range Rover sport level.
Our first foray into commercial photography created some nice photos but the settings for the designs didn’t resonate with the aspirations of the average woman over 45. As such our bathroom products were an option and did get a designer gut reaction, but they didn’t get the “this is my dream bathroom” reaction we should have wanted.
2. Good commercial photography – the Apple ipad. Apple is famous for marketing its products on emotions, not features.
All their photos connect with the viewer on an emotional level, showing them the perfect lifestyle they could lead if they bought an ipad, mixing the designer gut reaction with the “I must have this” gut reaction too.
Paris, happy kids, family holidays and not a mention of computer power in sight. Apple has mastered the use of emotive commercial photography in order to sell products.
Of course there are times when just a product shot will do, but if you combine emotion with a true understanding of the brand and the customers aspirations then your photos should become more than just an image, they will in fact be a work of art.
Blog Post by Will Ryles of www.dovcorbathrooms.co.uk/blog
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