Lessons from a Manufacturer in Communicating Value

Summary:  
Anyone that sells or markets a product/service knows that they must communicate the full value of the offer. It’s imperative that the customer understands the full impact of the value your product/service can bring them. Failure to differentiate yourself means customers may pass your offer up for a cheaper solution.

We recently did a shoot for Architectural Window Systems and afterwards I sat down and asked them about how they communicate value.

Keep reading to hear the whole story…

About the Client:
AWS is a manufacturer with over 200 employees with offices in Melbourne and other states around Australia. They design and engineer aluminium extrusions. Their products are used in door and window systems for both residential and commercial applications. Think of the windows and doors used in commercial buildings and high-end architecturally designed houses.

Challenge:
The client needed a photo library of their products which made it easy to market their products to the high-end architectural space. They needed more than just a Melbourne ecommerce photographer. They needed creative product photography.

Sam, the client, told me that to succeed in their campaigns, the photos of their products had to communicate the fine detail and product quality to their potential customers. In other words, they knew their product is of the highest quality so it was essential that their Melbourne product photography communicate this to their customers.

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The Shoot

Step 1: The Brief
Before undertaking any product photography shoot, it’s essential for the success of the shoot that the product photographer is on the same page. This is best achieved through example images and a thorough briefing process.

After discussions with the client, there were two goals.

Part one of this project was to create a consistent set of product photos on a white background that can be used in a print catalogue, on a website, in data sheets and in other marketing. These are also known as ecommerce photos.

The second part was to create a set of images that turns their ordinary everyday product into something artistic that inspires architects. They needed a creative product photographer in Melbourne.

Step 2: Shooting & Challenges

  • Increasing Perceived Value – AWS wanted to highlight the beauty of their product and make it look expensive for their architect clients. Through the use of the black background (black makes everything look expensive) and creative use of lighting and angles some beautiful images were produced that AWS will be able to use to maximise the perceived value of their products throughout their marketing collateral.

  • Consistency of Lighting, Angles & Colour –  this is a must if you’re displaying images next to each other in a catalogue or a website. Talking about this upfront with AWS meant we were able to agree on a consistent photo style. If lighting and angles vary, the end result would be a catalogue that doesn’t look professional. It would bring down the perceived value of the product.

  • Dust & Retouching – nothing looks worse than seeing dust on a product photo. It reduces the perceived value. When shooting products, particularly those that are black, it’s important to clean the product well. Every mark shows up. As a side note, dust is impossible to completely avoid when you shoot. It must be retouched by hand after the shoot to remove it completely.

Step 3: Delivery & Results:
With the resulting images AWS are now able to design their new print catalogue and update their website. The new catalogue will have a more professional and consistent look and the artistic product images will inspire their clients.

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Note the consistency of the lighting (same brightness), colour and the angles. Doing this ensures the catalogue and website will look professional.

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As you can see with these images, we’ve carefully chosen the angles and used lighting to highlight parts of the product. Doing this results in a more interesting and appealing image. Being a reflective product, we also had to ensure that the product has nice big highlights and not ugly bright reflections.

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