Marketing
How to create an image-based branding campaign on the cheap
Creating an image-based branding campaign isn't easy, but it doesn't have to be difficult. Starting small and working up creates consistency, is budget-friendly and cohesive.
October 22, 2021 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Networld Media Group
Creating an advertising campaign that is memorable and successful can be difficult for the largest brands, but for smaller brands without the budget or knowledge base it can be even more of a challenge. Photography and videography that work in tandem can build advertising that is effective, efficient, fun, sophisticated and successful. A good first step is to start small, using your social media to create an effective campaign, according to experts.
Jeff Amador, chief marketing officer for the Texas-based Cane Rosso family of pizzerias, personally handles all of the restaurants' social media. His goal for Cane Rosso is to keep up with the social media output founder Jay Jerrier started in 2011.
"When I came aboard, I certainly brought up the level of photography (I'm looking at you, 2011 Instagram filters), but have continued to try and maintain the same unique style of posting for consistency," Amador told Pizza Marketplace by email.
He has created videos for social media but Cane Rosso has not paid or partnered with a video company to shoot actual commercials yet.
"Video has certainly gained popularity and relevance when it comes to social media engagement and attention in recent times, and I have definitely seen that videos can make our food even more enticing than just still images," Amador said.
Choosing video production
Filmmaking duo Gilad Avnat and Stav Nahum own Bonamaze, a creative production video group. Avnat is a director, scriptwriter, actor and drummer, while Nahum is a video editor, composer, sound designer and drummer. Bonamaze's distinctive audio flare has enlivened campaigns for Tony Hawk's award winning "The Sound of Skateboarding", "The Sound of Berlin", Snickers and more.
"A good video production is important for many reasons, mainly, as it is more effective in terms of engagement and watch duration, than photos for example, in the social media world," Avnat said in a Pizza Marketplace interview. "Nowadays, there is endless photo-based content, and we got used to it. The right video campaign can feel more real and interactive, and can create a more involved and emotional response for a viewer. It's possible for a video to create a full, dramatic act or story in 20 to 30 seconds. If a photo is worth a 1,000 words, we say a video's worth a 1,000 photos."
Good photography is especially important in today's age of quickly scrolling on smartphones as you want to shoot and post a photo that will catch someone's attention in the middle of competitive stimulation.
"Everyone and every company posts pictures of anything and everything at all times these days, so having high quality photos and content is necessary to remain relevant and competitive in an overwhelming market," Amador said.
Nahum said brands usually go wrong when they choose to go only for an image-based campaign.
"The need today is to create more of a 360 experience of the brand for the client," Nahum said in an email. "Even when a consumer sees a great billboard, if they are actually interested, they will look it up online to know more. At that point, if all they see is the same image-based content, they might lose interest or trust in the brand. An image-based campaign can really create great attraction for a brand, but in order to get the full impact, there needs to be the complete visual package. This is something that only a video can create.
Avnat recommends connecting all the elements of a brand's content over different platforms — TV, social media and billboards.
"It's about creating a visual 'hook' between these various platforms that a consumer can recognize and will remember your brand from," he said. "If these platforms use a different visual language it will confuse potential clients and can harm the brand. Homogeneity, standing out, and uniqueness, can positively affect the appearance and quality of a brand."
That doesn't mean a brand needs to have a large budget.
"They can create a memorable brand even if they choose a camera phone/non-professional shooting, as long as they go all the way with it," Avnat said.
A memorable campaign should create a great story. The way and angle from which you choose to tell that narrative is paramount.
"The campaign needs to be original and creative, but also simple so you can easily remember it," Nahum added. "You can achieve that with a unique style, shooting, editing or typography for example. You need one element to be strong enough to stand out, so it gets the average viewer's attention and memory.
"You want people to ask: 'Did you watch the commercial with the dancing dog?' or 'Did you see the campaign with the colorful walls?'
"The combination of a good story with a great visual element, creates a memorable campaign. There are a lot of good stories that haven't been told yet, and a lot of well, produced videos where the viewers just can't relate. Once a great, creative idea is combined with a great production, the magic happens."
Starting small
If you're not ready for a big-budget production, start with social media. The rise of TikTok videos and Snapchat has given brands the opportunity to branch out beyond the aging demographics of Facebook and Instagram. Remember to keep it relevant, and don't be afraid to use humor.
"It is important to maintain a consistent voice that fits with what your brand represents," Amador said. "I … am not exactly sure how or why huge nationwide brands like Wendy's have developed this "edgy, OMG, roasted" personality online, as it doesn't seem to mesh with their brand image. I have also seen some restaurant brands try to write these deep, profound, or overly serious captions on their posts of something like a picture of their mac and cheese. If I am posting a picture of mac and cheese, I just try to make the image and words fit together...and maybe make people laugh a little. Humor is an easy way of developing affinity for something, and having a little back and forth with guests in a way that seems like actual human interaction keeps them coming back to see what's next."
About Mandy Wolf Detwiler
Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the site editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places.
An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience to Networld Media Group. She has spent nearly two decades covering the pizza industry, from independent pizzerias to multi-unit chains and every size business in between. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and can tell you where to find the best slices in the country after spending 15 years traveling and eating pizza for a living.
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