I spoke to a group of designers and marketing professionals last week about photography being a strategic part of a marketing plan. Many marketing teams seem to only think about illustration and photography as the last part of the process. When they realize that the large black holes in the layout or website design need filled. Often that after thought has little or know strategic thread or budget attached to it. If your marketing budget does not allow for the licensing of images, than either they are not strategic or the budget is not in alignment with your marketing plan.

The buzzwords of brand and image often relate to logos and color swatches. By extension every image or photograph should be part of that thinking process as well. To quote Sidney Lumet, in his book Making Movies,, “ There are no small decisions in moviemaking”, which applies very well to photography and marketing. If the images you have selected do to not fit with your overall marketing message and brand then they are not the right images.

This is especially true when licensing stock. If you are selecting images for uses that will have high brand value, like the cover of an annual report or strategic marketing brochures touting your organizations uniqueness, how exclusive is that image to your company? Are you certain that your competitor may not be using the same images as well? Or worse another unrelated company that’s messaging may be counter to your own.

Custom photography offers a risk of it’s own, uncertain outcomes and of course the cost of production. Working with a photographer at the outset of your marketing strategy rather than just at the end, will offer better results. A photograph that is unique for your organization with your brand, your image, and your face at the core. Exclusivity for your industry or for the duration of your marketing plan, gives you the peace of mind that your unique message is only yours.

As many organizations have moved design decisions in-house from agencies, they often lose that important strategic thinking that connects concepts and plans to outcomes. In the past year I have been offering this additional service to some of my clients. Through more efficient communication and brainstorming we have been able to create more effective images that solve their visual communication problem. Creating unique and strategic images for their marketing efforts.