OK, so it's another cliche, but cliches come
from somewhere!
When it's time to promote your message to your best potential customers,
it sometimes takes more than
words to get
their attention - it takes pictures.
In some
cases, words are all but ineffective.
Will reading about the hops and
barley really
get anybody to buy a Budweiser?
Or are people
driven by the image of an ice
cold bottle,
sweating in the hot afternoon
sun and waiting
to be consumed by some lucky,
lucky person
as they wish that person was
them?
OK, I think we've established
the importance of images to your message. Now lets talk about where those images
come from.
Photography used in ads generally
falls into
one of two categories:
Stock Images: These are images that have been made for
general use. They may be of a
perfect pepperoni
pizza, but it's not your pizza
- it's a generic
image, with no connection to
your specific
restaurant or pizza maker. These
images are
rented (known in the trade as
"licensed")
by the photographer or his/her
agency for
use in ads and other mediums.
Sometimes the
more common or lesser caliber
of these images
end up on "Stock" CDs
or Royalty
Free Image CDs" or they
are included
in software packages of clip-art.
Custom Commercial Photography: These images are made to order - you and your
photographer decided who in them,
what and
where they show. They are generally
more
expensive, but they are yours
and nobody
else can legally use them.
Putting any kind of image to work for you.
In some cases, either stock imagery
or royalty
free can be a cost effective
way to grab
your reader's attention.
Lets say you have an "Independence
Day
Sale" and you want to display
a majestic
eagle in your ad. Finding an
eagle in wild
and getting him (or her) to pose
for your
ad will be expensive at best
and impossible
a worst. For this kind of use,
stock or royalty
free is the way to go. It's a
one shot deal
with a specific need that is
way too expensive
to get on your own.
On the other hand, let's say
you've just
spent two weeks and ten's of
thousands of
dollars to renovate your new
dinning room
and your restaurant has never
looked better.
Is this the time to show a generic
image
in you ad? No way! Take advantage
of all
that hard work and money an put
a custom
picture of you, your dedicated
staff and
your new dinning room in you
ad. And while
you're at it, show a picture
of the outside
of your restaurant, too. That
way people
who drive by and see the outside
will start
to associate it with the nice
inside they
see in your pictures. This way,
your message
is specifically associated with
you, and
only you!
Stock images won't be of your business specifically,
so use them to create a mood that you want
associate with your message. |
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An important decision |
We can't make it without you... |
There are lots of ways you can
use stock
and custom photography to support
your marketing
efforts:
Advertisements in
Newspapers
Magazines
Websites |
Displayed in a portfolio
of your best work
Shown in a newsletter that demonstrates your
expertise in your field |
As part of your direct
mail effort
On point-of-purchase displays and signs in
your store or place of business |
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