Tips for Incorporating Your Brand's Story into Your Photos
Brand shoot for Face Clinic London. Soho, London
As a brand photographer based in London, one of the most important areas of focus is to understand my client’s brand, and how to tell their brand story through my photos.
Your brand photography needs to create an emotional response in the mind of your target audience. Otherwise, the opportunity is missed.
What separates the legendary, cult-favourite brands from the dime-a-dozen forgettable ones? It's not their products or services necessarily. It's the human stories and experiences their brands represent.
Simply put, brand storytelling is the secret sauce.
As an experienced brand photographer, my goal is to translate your story into an evocative series of visuals that immediately hooks viewers' intrigue and interest.
From creative conceptualisation to technical execution on set, I've learnt a few tried-and-true methods for achieving this within my brand photoshoots. Here are my top tips for infusing your brand's tale into unforgettable imagery:
Focus on Origin Stories
Every brand arose from its founders confronting some form of void or struggle they were impassioned about overcoming. An experience that sparked this whole entrepreneurial journey into existence.
These deep-down "birth" moments are goldmines for establishing your overall brand archetype and personality. They lend richness, context and instantly relatability when visually represented.
Aim to symbolically recreate glimpses of your brand's origin story throughout the photoshoot. This could mean incorporating meaningful locations, styling props that metaphorically represent the struggle, or capturing the raw emotion of overcoming adversity through founder/employee portraits.
Create Visual Metaphors
Abstract ideas and philosophical brand tenants might seem incompatible with visual media at first. But the metaphor is your friend that will help us tell your story.
Look for clever ways to blend your core values and ideologies into creatively symbolic visuals. Don't just spell things out overtly. Less is more. Let your imagery become a visual form of poetry.
For instance,
perhaps your business is rooted in championing human creativity and individualism. We could achieve that conceptually by posing models interacting with vibrant splashes of paint, harnessing light to create captivating silhouettes, or capturing the cathartic tranquillity of an artist's personal studio space.
Creating a Dream World for Your Brand
The best brand images take people into a beautiful imaginary world. A world filled with the good feelings, benefits and lifestyles they want.
Every photo should make the viewer think "Yes, that's the kind of experience I want with this brand." Set up the scenery and looks that fit your brand's promises.
Use dream-like scenes or people living out those dreams to make viewers want to join your brand's quest.
Keep it Real and Human
These days, people really value genuine brand experiences they can trust. So keep your brand stories warm, honest and a bit imperfect.
Show the passionate people behind your mission. Give peeks behind-the-scenes of how you do things.
The more your images feel human and real instead of fake corporate stuff, the more loyal your audiences will become.
Build an Ongoing Visual Story
Don't try to tell your whole brand story in one photoshoot. That would be too much.
Instead, use each shoot to add another colourful thread to the overall tapestry surrounding your brand's world and ideas.
With each new set of images, you expand the metaphors, characters and emotional clues that reveal the full saga bit by bit. This keeps people curious and lets them piece it together themselves.
Telling layered visual stories over time is what makes brands truly iconic instead of forgettable.
The Real Benefits of Brand Storytelling Photos
Hopefully, you now see how important storytelling is for engaging brand imagery and how to actually bring stories into your photoshoots.
But beyond just great visuals, investing in intentional brand storytelling through photos provides major practical benefits:
Standing out from competitors
Creating buzz and sharing
Attracting investors/partners
Recruiting top talent
Increasing perceived value
As you can see, strategic visual brand storytelling gives you both marketing power and an X-factor that draws in like-minded people.
The true reward, though, is crafting an enduring iconic brand that inspires for generations. One that reminds people what's possible when united by a powerful vision.
For business owners, entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and influencers in London aspiring to build that level of legendary, unforgettable brand - they know the photographer they need to tell those first chapters.
Contact me for a free, no-obligation discovery call.
Brand Story FAQs
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Brand storytelling is the secret sauce that separates legendary, cult-favourite brands from forgettable ones. It allows brands to create an emotional response in the mind of their target audience through evocative visuals that hook viewers' intrigue and interest.
-
As an experienced brand photographer, my goal is to translate your story into an evocative series of visuals. From creative conceptualisation to technical execution on set, I focus on infusing your brand's tale into unforgettable imagery using methods such as focusing on origin stories, creating visual metaphors, and building an ongoing visual story.
-
Look for clever ways to blend your core values and ideologies into creatively symbolic visuals. For instance, if your business champions human creativity and individualism, we could achieve that conceptually by posing models interacting with vibrant splashes of paint, harnessing light to create captivating silhouettes, or capturing the cathartic tranquillity of an artist's personal studio space.
-
These days, people really value genuine brand experiences they can trust. Keeping your brand stories warm, honest, and a bit imperfect by showing the passionate people behind your mission and giving peeks behind-the-scenes of how you do things will make your audiences more loyal.
-
Beyond just great visuals, investing in intentional brand storytelling through photos provides major practical benefits such as standing out from competitors, creating buzz and sharing, attracting investors/partners, recruiting top talent, and increasing perceived value. Strategic visual brand storytelling gives you both marketing power and an X-factor that draws in like-minded clients and customers.
