Lessons

Lesson Info

Collateral Idenitity

Okay, so it's, your photographs, photography style and your collateral identity right? So let's talk a little bit about that collateral identity while the brand personality personality okay of the business reflects the human or emotional connection to the business or brand the collateral your marketing pieces reflect how the business communicates those traits to its target clientele. Does that make sense? So the words the personality is who you are, how you act its personality right of the brand how how your client's emotionally respond to us as a business do they like you? They wanna be friends with you the collateral of a business the marketing pieces reflect how my company communicates our personality to my target audience so it's your logo it's your tag allies your fonts, it's your colors it's your tone of voice is your iconic iconography and your imagery as well as any video pieces that you may due to advertise that okay so video I'm just getting into and you guys are going to see...

our new brand new video here in a few minutes video has such a way of instilling emotion and that's what I hope our new video siri's is going to do for our clients but the collateral has to be consistent and I always say os is more the fewer words you can put on a page the better just make it simple there is no other way to do it if too much words and client just goes eyes just go glaze over I'm not gonna read that okay, so this is our old our current level okay, I saw you you were laughing so hard anyway I start off with just the jewel images part four years later I added the portrait design a couple years later at the well squiggle around the outside so I basically hash to my logo I had a professional designer she's incredible she is now off I can't afford it now it's like ten grand to have to redo your brand ashley jankowski whose prints are on a last name she's with get brazen design she did this logo for me years ago probably back in two thousand seven okay, jordan six maybe and I hashed it such a dumb move. Okay, I stuck with it it's been with us since then? I really haven't changed it since this is the new logo which was done by jane johnson design absolutely love her and it's so much more me why it's her handwriting? No one will ever be able to replicate this fault I had to have her right out each letter on the alphabet so that we could an illustrator make words out of her handwriting for other pieces in our collateral and in doing so I created a very unique handwriting look I wanted it to be long and slow because our work is handmade and slowly and deliberately done so the color is very soft it's all one color and it's very clean and that's pretty much how we show it on a white background so I'm about to show you our new brand video um this woman in the video is a client one of my dear I love her dearly she had me thomas's birthday is my birthday december twenty eight so I have a little heartstring tugger for thomas thomas when we shot this was six months old. Okay? Ben hartley from style store creative in ohio shot this video for us. He flew out to oregon and we spent the day in production with this family doing this video and then he put it together. So all the credit of how lovely this is is ben's. Ben is an incredible videographer and a really nice guy. So here it is and in joy wait wait video promoting our studio to clients there is nothing I am not in it hell no that's the last thing I wanted there you don't even know who I am in that video their god I am not what's important at all the only words you hear are her talking to her son and the love she has for him in her whispers of motherly sentiment what is the video I'm very curious to know because we've spent so long in this and I'm hoping the message got through what does this video say to you? Yeah anyone wanna chime in what did it make you feel? What did it make you think? What make you hope for me? All I could think about was love like just all around um the love that he has first mom that she has for him how she wants to share that with the world yeah very much so I did and I know he's got the most amazing wife that's the instant the instant feeling correct that's the instant thing you feel it really felt organic it really matched what you're trying to say with your brand because it didn't feel like it was a set up video you could really see the love and it was within a house that seemed really at propose and it just seemed to flow very well it heavenly light, ethereal feel to it didn't that house was picked on purpose very much so yeah kind of I just want to chime in the folks at home we've got a lot of people tearing up and I go people are you can feel it yeah you can feel the love yes beautiful yeah makes me miss the squishy little baby days yes who are perhaps moms or dads that was that's an important point to make they missed those days. I wanted them to do that if they were either, if ever mother that had a baby at that age or if your baby was already older. I wanted you to miss that. Okay? Why, though, is a good question and I'll come back to you. Why did I want them to miss it? Because you're capturing just that window. I had a moment that you're never gonna have again. Her hanging without a b at the end is the critical component of the entire piece. You know, that's thomas on the wall and, you know, he's a lot younger, right back to you. Yeah. No it's exactly what folks are saying, emily car photography do it before it's too late. Exactly. Exactly. Okay, we're e I do. I do though I do want toe ask you about not having yourself in the video because because you I do hear the theory that people want to get to know you or get to see the experience of what it might be like to be in that session with you. So this is very different. Can you talk a little bit about how you came to that conclusion? I have a strong and I've done this in other classes, I have an incredible purpose in my business why I do what I do why I gotta be in the morning and why any of you should really give a poop whether I do or not right why do you care that I get out of bed in the morning as a customer my wife has very much to do with my own story and some of you have heard it I don't need to go into it in detail now but I wanted my why communicated in this video because people don't buy what you do they buy why you do it and I want clients who believe my same why? Because those clients are going to be evangelists for my business because my why defines my brand way more than I'm julia kelleher I grew up in switzerland I started shooting when I was fifteen years old this is what it's like to have a session with us yeah I mean I'm exaggerating clearly I mean but there's such a difference this the hole's mama in this makes mama go I can't do that what if I don't do that? This video tells her what will happen if she doesn't do it do you see what I'm saying so my brand messaging by leaving myself out of it and communicating from the deep gutter why we do what we do is way more powerful we sell emotion right? We don't sell a piece of paper with an image on it we sell the feeling associated with that I'm not going to reiterate this again later on but why don't we take pictures on vacation for pizza? Remember it the minute you look at the photograph oh, yeah we're that restaurant so funny remember what you told me? You love me and you ask me to marry you I mean that's why we take pictures on the obviously that's a big vacation but when we look at images they immediately bring us back to the experience of the moment the experience of the moment that's why stephanie story makes me sick because every time she looks at those images she's going to think how much she hated it and the fact that her young little sorry her young little boy's life first images of his life are going to be marred with that image in her head just breaks my heart I don't want you guys to make that same mistake but that's why I when ben and I were brainstorming we have played through for telephone call brainstorming skype's how we're gonna do this one thing he told me what he envisioned I told him what I wanted and we came up together with this collaboration that took about two months to plan and then when he came out and shot it brought when in a new direction a little bit and then when he said, I mean we did not make one change that video he sent it back to me and I'm like that is perfect not one change and we were all saying they're going way we're literally screaming like the tears were coming down all four of our faces you know and that's what I thought I shot the video I knew it was about I knew the family if it can do that to me what is it going to do to all my clients who now see it and my hope is that the image of the end really communicates that final just what the moment pass you by being a mother for the first time changes who you are it changes everything about why you exist on the planet it's a whole new reason for living how you have kids just not about half of you you have a child and you're like oh my god this is why god put me on the planet was to nurture this little thing and growing up and the love is like something you a I mean you can't even describe it like it's one of those things that you have experience and people try and try and try but mother see this and we'll go they it brings them back to that visceral feeling of being a mother for the first time and how overwhelming and scary and got wrenching and just your heart is on the floor in front of you what anybody could step on it in your child and you protect it with every fiber of your soul that isn't like telling my why I don't know what it is but that's pretty much it okay so to get back to count on subject here any kind of collateral that you used to communicate your brand your purpose is valuable stuff but you must be consistent jane made this wonderful style book for us it's not you know this thick like coca cola's maybe but it's very specific instructions on how we are color tones pantone rgb seem like hot wet all the color codes are right there we have strict rules on how we can use fonts okay, very strict you need to do the same thing your own business and don't swear by it that's what creates the consistency in the collateral it's basically a rule book for your brand it's bible which I really want you guys to think about producing for your own studios your brand is also the moral promise its moral values, the businesses, moral values and the promise it makes to its clients. Okay ah business as a business you promised to deliver a tangible good right you're in a tree however you made his liver digital files prince whatever when you pair that with the value experience and feelings your clients walk away with, you have a brand promise some expense it's what your client gets from your business your work, your products, your customer service experience your purpose your visual and sensory identity so like let's relate this to another business think of a good business that has a good solid brandt like you can actually walk into starbucks great. Okay, thank you. I was having a little brain fart right there starbucks you walk into starbucks most people no starbucks, its potential worldwide company right? So people across the world and I know what starbucks starbucks coffee company right? You walk in what you feel when you get out of the experience the business yeah, starbucks is sensory yeah, you smell it? Yep. You see it there's a consistent color there's a feel of that's welcoming impose you in you know what the product is their nose hear that since it's all right, what about how people treat you there sometimes it's good sometimes it's bad which the really great like dutch brothers how do you know judge brothers it's a northwest coffee company? Ok, I happen to love dutch brothers more than starbucks. Why their customer service man it's all drive ups I think there's one walk in they're all directors and the line is usually like five cars long it takes like two minutes to get through it and bam bam they serve you so fast and they're always cute happy good morning day today what do you have to I mean, they these young, cute, adorable people college kids work in dutch mothers and they're always adorable I really wish I could look like some of those girls they're always so skinny butt they are just fun happy people and they ask you how you're doing and what you're up to that day and how can they help you and they give dog treats to your cookies in the back window porter now screens when we drive up to his dutch brother because he knows he's going to get a cookie my pug have a pug porter you guys think they seen him and he goes fricking crazy screams like a little child and I love it and dutch brothers to me has their coffee is good it's not like stellar seller okay, I'm a kind of a coffee snob, but the experience of going through judge brothers is fun my son loves in the back seat they always say hi to him and that customer service component adds so much to it. So what they lack in sensory because you're not walking into the store to to experience the brand they make up for in customer service and the speedy nous at which they go through the line so what I'm trying to get across to you is that every person, every customer of every business gets something out of the business emotionally sensor really personally convenience okay all those factors play into what you get out of the business so you ask yourself what your clients get out of coming to you for that for your work. It's not just about a product on the paper it's that's just ten percent of it at the most it's important to understand that marketing is tactical and branding is strategic branding is overall big picture looking at your business from forty thousand feet up and asking yourself if it's appealing. Okay, marketing is tactic. How are you going to get people interested in just looking at your brand, evaluating it, appreciating it? How can I get someone to see me and appreciate the brand that's the first? So the brand's gotta be solid, right? You do all the marketing you want, but people look at your business and go get that anywhere commodity, whatever don't eat it! You just failed in your marketing strategy and wasting a boatload of money not getting what you want. That's why I'm so passionate about making sure the brand comes first and protecting it like it's your child and being delivered with it and not changing it too much on a whim has to be consistent has to be reliable has to be trustworthy again, I do plastic face in my surgery every year going to think I'm not don't do that to your business less is more I have found that when I need sht and wanted to know where babies my business doubled. Weird. I know I was generalised pets, families, newborns, high school seniors, headshots, commercial work. I would do anything bad idea. Okay, the minute I said screw it, I just want to babies and families bam! My booking subbu it was weird it took about four months, but oh my gosh, all the phones are ringing! What is going on, tiffany? My old system? I don't know, but it's working so let's keep doing it. I think what it is is when people see a really focused brand ah, very niche tw expert it's something they trust it and they go dang, she must be good. Specializing is one of the most powerful thing you can do in any industry now, are there instances where you may be? You shouldn't specialize? Yeah, if you're in a podunk, tiny little town of, like five hundred people pro, chances are you probably cannot specialized. Okay there's not enough customers there's not enough target clientele I'm in a town of eighty eight thousand pretty small in the scheme of things I'm not in like a major metropolitan area. Those of you who are here in seattle, if you're not specialising, you're crazy, you should be specializing it will help your business a lot because then it targets your marketing efforts you spend less money marketing in on ly a specific spot which helps you to focus that be more organized be more efficient in your time you're getting the clients who actually want they look at you go dang she must really know what she's doing she's a specialist they are good I need them for my speciality they do my specialty marriage mean heaven okay, so specialising can really help you and I want you think about that for those of you who are generalists right now think about it got to do it jump in right away but ask yourself and really say could this be a good strategy for me? Because it can be very strategic ten ish james heaton said the brand is what remains after the marketing has swept through the room it's what sticks in your mind associated with a product service organization whether or not at that time that particular moment you decided to buy something. So when you walk in like when you walk into creative life you walk in the space you feel it you feel the brand you like it if you get inspired by it the brand is what sticks in your mind even when you click off line and go to google or whatever instead of creative life or leave this building it's what sticks in your mind whether or not used to decided to buy class that makes sense that's what james is saying the marketing effort is the tactical strategy to get you interest in the brand okay, the brand is what's left over how you feel about that particular company once the marketing is gone once you're there once you experience it whether or not you actually clicked by or not ok it's how you feel what you get from a company when you experience their brand so now let's market here is ready any questions before we move on to marketing I think it's really important that your discussion around niche with your brand because way often see a lot of people asking about that. So what do you would you consider so branding like if you did have to, like kind of distant britt yeah, different categories would you suggest having to websites to different looks and feels, you know, it's a sari in europe? It's again, it's a great question I there's a lot of schools of thought to him, I think if you're doing like weddings and commercial work, yes separate them they're so different that they need to be on their own separate site if you're doing I there's a girl in san francisco, I forget her name, she does pets and weddings and she has beautifully intertwined her logo is like a bride walking a dog it's so cute, and I like she managed to make a brand out of her two specialties, and they're all in one site and it's beautifully done. I remember her name, it was a long time ago, but there is a totally opposite nisha's, right? But she still managed to make a cohesive single brand out of it. There are ways, and if you hire and I know it's a lot of money, but let me tell you, ah, branding expert can save you so much money in the long run, it's a lot to chew off right now. I know, trust me, I know, but the money I just spent on jane and ben and all these people to help me out is going to be so well spent five years down the road. So when you're starting out in business and you don't have a lot of money, I know it's hard, trust me, and I'm not about to tell you a bunch of market strategies that you're going to do in a serious budget, because that's, exactly what I did when I started and I had no money, but if you can, if it's valuable enough to you and this is all about perceived value, right? Same with our clients is it worth it to you to have your brand solid by an expert by a pro who knows what the heck they're doing it's a personal choice to perceive value thing you know I mean you have to decide if you do specialties that are completely different yeah, you might want to separate them out but if you can find a way to meld him like that wedding photographer in san francisco does with pets that's even stronger why go for whoever got a bigger target market if you've got both niches and yes you khun oh sorry spread out yeah ice cream cone right yeah don't don't like e I promise just it opens up your target market if you've got both of them tied into one you don't have to double up your marketing yes that's true your collaterals the same that's true. Very good point. What do you think he makes a great point I think that it would be incredibly ah remember ble to like to see that someone can put two things together like pets and weddings because they're so different delaney delaney nailed it unique selling point that girl in francisco whoa I remember that I don't know your name but I remember that kid a little boy and if I see that logo again I'm gonna be like oh my god she's the one who does it all who does both pets and weddings and she made this brand go seamlessly together and it makes her so unique we are targeting customers who see it as unique because nio consumers want authenticity quality design and they want something that's worth spending money on if they look at your product and your work as a commodity, they are going to act like joe blow traditional consumer over there and demand the best price because they can get it anywhere. So if you have something incredibly unique that no one else does, you will be able to charge a premium for it and people will pay out the nose for it because they can't find it anywhere else. Do you see where I'm going with that? So there is definitely a strategic a plan that you need to think long and hard about how do I make my brand unique and just by being authentic and true to who you are, you're on the right road because no one's like you, right? And then ask yourself about your work does my work look like everybody else is? If it does, you'd better change it and you better grow and you better come to places like creative live and make yourself stand out and be different god, I know it's hard trust me, I know it's hard and sometimes I look at my work looks like so in the street because I see so many photographers I see amazing work all over the world on my god there's something out there better than me way all do it I mean it's george on her shoulder going and you suck you suck it happens all the time right we all are owned that evil person on our shoulder who hates us and it's it's hard to stand out it's really hard and it's doing so meaning means layering little things on top of one another constantly to make the bigger picture more unique it's not just one thing you're gonna do that's gonna make you unique it's a lot of components that go into it and you just got to keep building over time and it takes a while and it takes as an entrepreneur constantly stepping out to forty thousand feet going how are you looking at it from a different perspective your client's perspective your parent's perspective your kid's perspective your dog's perspective was your dogs think about your business you know you gotta look at it from forty thousand feet up as an entrepreneur you gotta really own it and see it because it's so easy to just get dive into the tasks and the daily b s that you got to do on a consistent basis in the clients in the emails and the computer in the editing and echoing in the photo shop okay so step outside your business at least once a week and ask yourself what you're strategic goals are what the big picture is of your business. Has it field to consumers. Where is it going? You all started your business on a dream, right? Go back to that dream and write it down. Go back to when you first started, because when you first started that dream fueled everything. Didn't that dream kept you going through all kinds of crap? Right? And now, as you're into it, the clients are coming in a little stressed out, maybe have too many clients. Maybe you're just stretched so thin you can not spend time your family up till three in the morning editing you're you're dragged down, you're tired, go back to the dream, start reading your garden and getting rid of clients who aren't valuable to you anymore. Tossem, they're not worth it. Okay, raise your prices, do something to inject some life into what used to be that beautiful dream and assess your business from the big picture, because that's what's going to be truly what lasts over time, okay?