Photography and Branding

Photography is often a core element of a company's brand. But truth is, not every picture is worth 1,000 words. Too many companies use photography that can be characterized in four words: "What were they thinking?"

It isn't difficult to start a list of corporations that rely on outstanding photography to convey their essence to consumers: Nike, Target, Condé Nast. But your brand doesn't have to be a household name — and you don't have to be able to afford the world's most expensive photographer — to make photography work to your company's advantage.

Let's take a look at some examples of photography that are consistent, compelling, and on brand.

First create a Style
When creating your unique photographic style, start by thinking about your brand and your core attributes. Are you technical? Serious? Intelligent? Trustworthy? Helpful? Creative? Fun? Now look at your photography. Does it communicate these attributes? How you want customers to view you is the key to your photographic style.

You should also seek consistency by setting limits and narrowing your focus. Decide, for instance, if your photography will primarily be product-based, people-focused, scene-focused, or metaphorical. There are countless appropriate choices; which is right for your brand? Once you've decided, narrow again. If you decide to focus on people shots, maintain consistent lighting, background, and point of view so that all of your photography appears related. The reality is that the tighter you keep your parameters, the more interesting and consistent your images will be.

Please note: Consistency doesn't mean "sameness." No one wants to see the same photograph over and over. A consistent style is one where there are recognizable similarities between photos — in subject matter, background, color, lighting, and attitude.

• People Photography
  Photography using people can be highly effective if done purposefully and professionally. It's especially important when shooting people to have an overarching concept.
  If the people you are photographing are actual employees, your approach should be equally purposeful. What is the message you want to convey? Trust? Expertise? Competence? Friendliness?

• Product Photography
  Need to make your product look enticing? It can be done if you think more like a marketer and less like a product developer or an engineer. Surprise your audience. Shoot your product from different angles, use close ups. Place your product in an unlikely setting. Use lighting in creative ways. Product photography can be both accurate and beautiful.

• Metaphorical Photography
  A metaphorical approach can be highly imaginative and powerful. Whatever metaphor you choose, keep it simple and use it consistently.

A library of images
Once you have defined your unique photographic style, create a strong, deep library of images for various marketing venues — ads, brochures, websites, direct mail, packaging — wherever your brand appears.

By creating a simple, consistent, and creative style, you can help your audience move from "What were they thinking?" to "How did they do that?"

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*Image source: aussiegall
* available for use under THIS license

Speed Up

That is precisely what every one is crying for in India. Yes, you guessed it right…we are talking about our ‘slower-than-snail’ connection speed of broadband in the country.

We have got to admit that our broadband service and speed are abysmally poor. A recent international survey showed that we rank in the high eighties when it comes to the internet reach and speed, compared to more than 180 other nations in the world. Even a few relatively less developed African and Latin American countries have achieved a better ranking. This is a really disgraceful especially when we boast of us being one of the largest and fastest developing economies of the world.

For a company like Festoon Media which focuses in providing the latest new media services to our clients, we rely heavily on smooth and fast internet connectivity. Any blockage in that severely hampers our developmental activities. Moreover, it is indeed a well known that with out a proper, reliable, fast and efficient internet backbone no country can strive to achieve growth. Thus if we want to sustain our high GDP and economic growth rate, it is paramount that we invest heavily in creating just that.

Update: A neat infograph showing internet speeds + costs around the world.
[click on the image for a larger view]

*Image source: rodrigo.haenggi
* available for use under THIS license

Getting away with Murder

Desperate times call for for desperate measures...well we are not quite in this situation. But seriously..if you are still surfing the web using Internet Explorer 6 it's high time you upgraded or switched to another browser - that's faster and better. We can't force you.. but we are requesting you to kill IE 6. We guarantee you'll get away with it.

Of course here at Festoon Media we have the skills and give a high priority to ensure that whatever we develop is backwards compatible.... but we get that despairing feeling when we have to put in that extra bit of code just to ensure that things work smoothly on your antique browser - IE 6!!!

Antique furniture is cool. Antique browser - not. So, do yourself [and us] plus everyone who might be using your computer to surf the web by getting rid of IE 6.
Here are some points to help you in making this monumental change:

• IE 6 = Slow JavaScript engine {what is javascript? ...well lets just say it makes webpages cool and functional}
• IE 6 = Incorrect rendering of web pages
• IE 6 = Bad security
• Bill Gates will send you a free copy of Windows & Doors Vista Edition once you upgrade OR use a better browser. You will have to send them a mail with your browser update details. This is a strategy by Microsoft to reduce the amount of expense they have been incurring due to the millions of customer complaints from IE 6 users who lost data on their computers because of this ancient browser.

Consider the last point false. However this is true: IE 6 Funeral[s] have already been held world wide. Now go kill yours. Some browsers you might consider giving a try to help you in this task: Use Chrome, Firefox, Safari or upgrade to a newer version of IE. We stand strong in our mission to make the World wide web a better place for you to enjoy. Kill IE 6. Some people think you should dump IE all together but lets leave this for another day.

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*Image source: Mike Rohde
* available for use under THIS license