Educating The Consumer: Co Advertising

[RobyMD]

I’ve been reading this book it seems like forever "The Business of Studio Photography", in it the writer makes several mentions of educating consumers. Hew also says how we as photographers don't compete amongst one another but other things outside of photography. Most recently I read a story in the book about how milk producers got wise and instead of saying my milk is better then yours, they said milk is better for you than soda, wine, juice... So instead of just taking the same customers from one another they increased their costumers by adding more milk drinkers.

So in that same fashion, I was thinking of a Houston area co advertising venture. Educating costumers about what real studio (professional) photography is. Most people experience of a photographer is one a few things, kids school photos, sears \ jc pennys, their p&s digital camera.

What if we took the initiative to say hey come to pro's you get this customer service, your images will consistently be great, and everything will be right in the world. Ok maybe not that last part but I'm sure I made my point.

[jmoore01]

I think it's a great idea. Props to TPF, but I think the PPGH might be the better body for such an undertaking.

[LadyShutterBug]

honestly?

i think the people with money to spend already know that what you get from a pro is of a much higher quality than what you get from a mall portrait studio.

[jmoore01]

The effect of the advertising could have an additional impact though. Based on how the advertisement was worded/constructed, it could just bring the idea of getting photographs to the front of people's minds. I'm fairly new as a professional photographer, but as word gets out to friends and co-workers of mine and my wife that I'm a professional photographer, you'd be surprised how often we hear, "I haven't had family pictures in [x] years. Can I set up an appointment?" This is from people who probably would prefer an alternative to the department store or mall portrait studio, people currently in my target market. Plenty of folks are dissatisfied with the quality of Sears, Wal-Mart, etc., but instead of finding one of us, have simply decided not to go to Sears, Wal-Mart, etc. In so doing, they simply don't get family or individual portraits. I think the advertising spoken of by RobyMD could bring a lot of these folks out of the woodworks and to our front doors.

[everdreaming]

I think another part of the issue is that many people are photographically illiterate, so to speak. Though everyone will generally recognize a truly great photo when they see it, many people also call low-quality photos "great" because the person looks good in the shot. It's just easier to go out and take hundreds of photos of your friends with your P&S digital. (Getting back to Jeff's point about people simply not being motivated enough to seek out a pro photographer...)

As an example, I had recently agreed to do promo portraits for an emerging, local musician. However, as soon as I asked him to tell me more about what he needed (# of shots, web vs. print, etc.), I never heard from him again. A couple weeks later, new photos that were obviously taken at arm's length or by a random friend with a camera, showed up on his myspace profile. He looked fine in all of the shots, but as photos, they were horrible. (One that stands out in my mind was where the only thing in focus was a vein popping out of his arm reaching toward the camera.) And yet, he had hundreds of comments about what "great" photos they were. Many of the comments were probably from girls who wanted his attention, but I'm wondering if most people have become satisfied with seeing your average snapshot for anything besides major life events these days.

[RobyMD]

Yes people know many things, but have to be reminded from time to time. In the example of the milk ad people know that milk is better for you than soda. People know that Jared’s is better than Zale’s, Lexus better than Kia, on and on. But that's doesn't stop the Houston Area Lexus "Dealers", to pool there resources to remind people of this fact.

Maybe you're right PPGH is a better forum for this idea, but I think no matter where it starts or who gets involved it's will increase knowledge of the general public and increase the market for photographers.