Commercial and corporate photography
Living in the age of the “Digital Revolution” it may not come as a surprise the fact of ever growing demand for visual content, in particular professional photography. This is not to say that text has become obsolete, but visuals are catching up better with the ever growing speed and demand for better presented and faster to digest information.
Although demand may have sky rocketed, the age of Digital photography brought new challenges to the photography industry. One such, major, challenge is the fact that there are so much photographers out there, because of advances in accessible and affordable photographic technologies, that resulted in lowering the value of photography. For example, many people who want to become professional photographers are shooting for very low fees and do not provide great visual results as final product. The interesting thing here is that there is a segment in the market where people like are striving, it seems like there are many customers out there who are willing, instead of hiring reputable photographer to create quality content, to get the chipper “photographer I want to be” and get chipper rate but compromising on good quality and content.
Lets see if it is worth it to compromise on how your business will be viewed by the world and potential customers, or thinking of high quality photography as a long term investment my be the better idea.
Perception is The Brand’s Identity
Within the past decade research has been conducted in the name of finding out how we read and assimilate information through our nervous system. And there are quite a few interesting findings about the way in which the visual impact of imagery has for commercial and corporate business identity.
It is good to know that what we see has profound effect on what we do, how we feel, and who we are as individuals. Through experience and trial and error we continually increase our understanding of the visual world and how we are influenced by it. Some Psychologist demonstrates that 93% of communication is nonverbal, also, research has shown that we are able to process visuals 60,000 times faster than reading alone. Other studies have also shown that our brain deciphers image elements simultaneously, while language is decoded in a linear and sequential manner that takes longer to be processed.
We may need to look at findings from evolutionary point of view, and realize that the textual ubiquity is much newer to us. And thanks to the millions of years of evolution, our eyes are genetically wired to respond differently to visuals information as that has played a critical role for our survival here on earth.
But maybe, it will be much wiser to get an idea of how much large corporation spend on their photographic and graphical advertisement campaigns.
- In 2003 the USA military spent $598 million on advertising to increase its ”Brand Identity“ and help them achieve their goals.
- Nike spent $269 million in 2001 to improve their image and help the sale of their products
- And the list goes on not to mention the big companies like Pepsi or Coca Cola as their budgets on visual advertisement amounts to billions of dollars.
How Does Visually Constructed Imagery Help Businesses Achieve Their Objectives?
Images convey meaning and affirm a brand’s identity, the image of who the advertisers are, what they stand for, and how their potential customers may benefit from the brand. Basically the way businesses use corporate, commercial or editorial photography greatly will affect how the company and its services or products will be perceived by customers.
It’s Those Little Details That Can Make Businesses Stand Out.
Reading or hearing of how some business operates or how some a product is so good is completely different than seeing it. There are so many examples that prove the difference a professional photography and video work can do for all types of businesses. But the point here is that anyone wanting to build a reputable Public Profile and Brand Identity needs the help of a professional photographer to make the business stand out in the competitive corporate world – statistics are shown that 85% of the clients are more likely to purchase a product after seeing an ad or watching a product video, the same applies for companies offering services.
Although the market now days is saturated by amateur photographers offering their services, anyone who values quality will know that you just can’t beat many years of experience nor compromise the quality and look of your product, brand and profile.
Also, it seems that there is a huge difference between UK and USA markets in terms of how professional photography services has been appreciated. It tends to be the case that in United Kingdom, photography is, somehow, less popular and cheaper, most companies or business are looking for photographers who are ready to go out to do a project first without understanding the business requirements and objectives. But the problem then arises as to, the photos will be below professional standards.
There are so many other examples out there, particularly on internet with pages filled with text but very poor imagery. And because you value your business more than anyone else, you certainly don’t want to ruin your credibility by compromising the quality of the most crucial component for your business and public profile “Professional and quality images that represent your business identity and what it stands for”.
At the end of the day, all businesses should invest in hiring a professional photographer, because the rewards and benefits will always be more than the investment made for highest quality imagery for your “brand identity”.
For all your professional commercial photography needs, simply contact me to discuss your requirements.
Very nice article, as a very visual person I totally agree that visuals are incredibly important and can make or break a website for example, whenever I go on a website and I see either poor or blurred low res pictures it really puts me off and I think that they don’t care, or understand the importance of having good photography!
Thanks for the statistics which I enjoyed to!