The Role of Lifestyle Advertising Photographer in Product Marketing: An Evolving Conversation
Over the past few years, commercial lifestyle photography has attained immense popularity as an advertising tool. This has resulted in a complete re-thinking of how “lifestyle” photography should be perceived. It has also ignited interest in the role, that a lifestyle advertising photographer can play in exploring the marketing potential of a product.
From art directors to marketing executives, creatives across the spectrum are discovering the magnetic effect that a professional lifestyle advertising photographer can have on a marketing campaign. Understanding what an advertising photographer brings to the table, gives valuable insight into how their talent could be leveraged to the fullest.
The crux of Lifestyle advertising photography
One among several different types of advertising photographies, “lifestyle” in its narrow meaning could be understood as photography that aims to capture and present small, day-to-day moments of real life that convey significant emotion. In more comprehensive terms, it is the job of a lifestyle advertising photographer, to try and convey a story through every picture.
When the principals of lifestyle photography are incorporated into marketing or advertising of products and services, it is termed as lifestyle advertising photography.
How a lifestyle advertising photographer fits into product marketing?
A Lifestyle photographer adapts a host of brilliant photography methodologies that if applied, could easily enhance photographic work of any domain. This includes fashion, portraits, architectural or other such domains. However, the one area where the impact is most striking is the domain of product marketing or advertising.
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1. Putting the product in a more real-world environment
Conventionally, product or advertising photography revolves around putting the product in an artificial and saturated environment, exaggerating the focus on the product. Side-lining subtlety or nuance, the product was used to be captured in its full-blown glory under loud lighting, with absolutely no distractions.
However, Lifestyle Advertising photography aims to bring the product into the real world, under natural lighting. Here, the focus is to bring out and showcase the usability and utility of the product in a real-life scenario. This forces the audience to better relate to the product, as they can imagine themselves using it.
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2. Engaging viewers
Capturing well-staged lifestyle photos that equivocally convinces viewers of a non-staged environment, is the forte of a professional lifestyle advertising photographer. U.K. has become quite a hub of internationally renowned talent in the field of commercial lifestyle photography.
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3. Trust inducing
One of the principal advantages of utilising lifestyle advertising photography is that it is more trustworthy than the work of a commercial advertising photographer. According to research, product performance could be upgraded by a whopping 60% with the help of lifestyle advertising photographer.
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4. Convey brand narrative
The primary purpose of an advertising or marketing campaign is to put across the message of the brand in a manner that is accepted and understood by the users. This is the reason why deploying a professional lifestyle advertising photographer could prove incredibly useful.
A professionally taken lifestyle image would encapsulate the product in an emotionally potent manner. It will not only convey the brand narrative in a simple but effective way but will also emotionally move the viewers, building a stronger connection between the brand and its customers.
What marketers should keep in mind while adopting lifestyle advertising photography?
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1. It needs specialization and expertise
Just like any other domain of photography such as fashion or food, commercial lifestyle photography is its own beast. In order to tame the beast, marketers would need the help of an expert lifestyle photographer U.K., with its pool of talent in this field, is currently one of the hotspots for finding unique the skills that make a show come alive.
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2. You must know your audience and your platform
In the current day and age, having a great image is not enough. Marketers must know the digital space where the brand has a voice. And also, they must remain aware of their target audience.
Only by taking these factors into account, can a perfectly tailored image could be professionally shot. A lifestyle image, that would create an incredible impact and capture the attention of the viewers. Understanding the kind of image that would have the maximum influence, and the platform on which it must be marketed is crucial know-how that heavily determines the success of lifestyle advertising photography.
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3. The image should be consistent with the message
The finalised image should be in tandem with the overall message that the brand is trying to convey to its audience. Amalgamating with the larger narrative, the image should present a cohesive picture of the campaign, before the consumers like that of brands like Apple.
If there are multiple images that are being utilised in a single campaign than they all must have a common theme or thread connecting them. Inconsistency in tone can dampen the emotional impact and positive influence of lifestyle advertising photography to a considerable degree.
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4. The backdrop should be carefully chosen
In order to make the content of the image eye-catching but relatable at the same time, it is important for art directors and marketers to discuss the intent and message in detail with the lifestyle advertising photographer, before carefully selecting the props and backdrop for the image.
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5. Focus on authenticity
Capturing authenticity is the need of the hour for a lifestyle photographer. U.K., that is emerging as an epicentre of this arena, is witnessing an incredible growth because of this growing emphasis on authenticity and its adoption in marketing and advertising.
In the current times, advertising, like pretty much every other kind of media, relies heavily on the visual culture that covets immediacy and rewards authentic, real-world depictions. The images that checks the boxes of organic/natural depictions are increasingly and instantaneously gaining much accepted and attention.
Images that portray relatability and are considered attainable are achieving virality. This is in stark contrast to the past, where the focus was primarily on the depiction of fantasy or aspirational imagery. Therefore, the intent of commercial lifestyle photography should either be to become familiar and relatable or to be immensely creative and imaginative, to the point that it becomes harder for the audience to ignore.
What are the benefits that a lifestyle advertising photographer can bring to the table?
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1. Direct positive impact on ROI
The sign of a well-thought-out, professional lifestyle advertising photography campaign is its ability to connect with the audience. A connection that directly yields itself, by boosting ROIs. A truly skilled lifestyle advertising photographer can provide the marketing team with critical opportunities to scale the influence that a marketing campaign can generate. Brands can easily maximise the return on their advertising expenditure while capturing the attention of many new, potential consumers.
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2. Capable of crafting or even re-crafting the image of a brand
Instead of limiting the scope of the image to present the product in the most attractive manner, lifestyle advertising photography focuses on persuading the consumer to desire the product by making it seem relatable and attainable. This approach significantly determines the way in which consumer views and perceives a brand and its reputation. Hence, playing a crucial role in establishing, and in some cases, altering and revamping a certain image of a brand or company.
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3. Helps build brand loyalty
A capable and competent advertising photographer makes specific technical and stylistic choices. These choices are made to not highlight the product but to generate specific emotions or feeling in the viewer. This emotional bond helps create a sense of loyalty among customers. This ends up driving the numbers of repeat customers and clients, that keep coming back to the same brand to get the same experience.
What does the future look like for a lifestyle advertising photographer?
Even with the advent of social networks and content creation dominating the media sphere, there is still a considerable space in the domain for any capable lifestyle advertising photographer. The only pre-requisite is the willingness to work with social media influencers and content moderators, that are so prominently in the spotlight.
A competent Advertising photographer must be able to adapt himself/herself, into this new environment. It is possible for photographers to lose relevance if they miss out on the opportunity to leverage the power of social media in this digital age. The same should be recognised by marketers.
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Content is driving a groundbreaking transformation and photographers have to keep up, by showcasing their ingenuity and capabilities. They would have to market themselves by amalgamating their work into the current market norms such as promos, meetings, paid website search engines, while also engaging on social media. All of this must be done, keeping in mind and catering to, brand demands as well as consumer preferences.
There is an immense potential that still remains to be explored with the sphere of lifestyle advertising photography. Only a little creativity and inventiveness is required both on the part of professional lifestyle photographers, and the marketers that choose to leverage their skills.
