Patrick Nycz is President of NewPoint, a full-service food and beverage marketing agency, and author of Moving Your Brand Up the Food Chain.
getty
If your company is in the business of growing consumer packaged goods (CPG) food brands, you already know the value of good photography. But what makes food photography effective from a marketing perspective? And what tips and tricks can you use to make your CPG photography even more powerful?
As president of a food and beverage marketing agency, I’d like to share some tips that my team and I have learned along the way.
Forget stock photography.
Stock images have been a staple of marketing and advertising campaigns for many years, and they’ll continue to serve an essential role in the future. But today’s consumer craves authenticity and can sense a stock photo with frightening accuracy. It’s conceivable that you could get away with using stock photography for your chosen product, and this would certainly be an inexpensive alternative to hosting your own photoshoot. Still, for most food brands, it’s better to take original photographs. You will get a more accurate depiction of your food product, and you’re also going to demonstrate more authenticity to your target audience.
Hire true professionals for food photography.
Next, hire some true professionals if you want to get the most value out of your CPG photo shoots. Maybe you took a photography class in college and feel like you could handle most of the basics on your own, or perhaps you think you can pull things together with your existing team of marketers. But for the most part, experienced and knowledgeable professionals will do a much better job. Again, you get what you pay for here.
MORE FOR YOU
Depending on the extent of your photoshoot and what types of photos you need, you may consider hiring an outside firm to help you navigate this process. Together with an art director, you can sketch out your primary goals for the photoshoot, discuss options for how to position your products and come up with a plan for how to get all your required shots.
Experienced candidates and well-reviewed agencies will be more expensive, but you’ll generally get more value out of the experience, ending with better photos and more support for how to use them properly.
Start with a shot list.
Food photography execution matters, but you’ll consistently see better results if you begin taking photos with a plan—and a shot list—already established.
There are usually three types of shots in CPG food photography:
• Lifestyle: Lifestyle shots attempt to showcase the product in a natural environment. For example, you might take a photo of a woman eating a cheeseburger on a park bench. These are great for highlighting the practical nature of your product and creating a sense of relatability for your target audience.
• Packaging: Packaging shots try to leave the product in its packaging, at least to an extent. For example, you might photograph chicken nuggets falling out of a cardboard box or french fries sticking out of a branded container.
• Studio: Studio shots eliminate distractions and backgrounds by photographing the product with a minimalistic background, completely in the studio (as the name suggests). You’ll want more than a blank white background, but you won’t need much more. This method is best if the target of your photography is all you’re concerned with.
Practice styling.
It’s debatable whether you should hire a food stylist or not. Food stylists are responsible for showcasing your food products in the best possible light, sometimes crafting a simulacrum of your product rather than using the product itself. Whether you hire one should depend on your budget, the types of photos you’re trying to take and whether your products are naturally photogenic.
Focus on the lighting.
As any photographer can tell you, much depends on your lighting. Direct and indirect lighting can make sure your product is as flatteringly represented as possible while minimizing shadows and preserving a sense of naturality. This can be extremely difficult to get without professional studio equipment and seasoned experts at the helm.
Get creative.
People are more likely to remember novel experiences and things they’ve never seen before. Because of this, it’s important to exercise some creativity when photographing your products. Mimicking the tactics of a competitor or taking photos with the same framing and lighting as others in this industry will make you blend in and compromise your marketing effectiveness.
Experiment.
Finally, be willing to experiment. Take different photos from different angles and try out some techniques you might not have considered initially. This is an excellent opportunity to evaluate what looks best on film. Later on, you can experiment with different photographs in different marketing conditions and see which ones are liked best by your target audience.
CPG photography is valuable to any marketing campaign focused on a packaged consumer product, but there are many ways to get it wrong. You can take photos that leave your competitors jealous and leave your customers hungry for more with these strategies.
Forbes Agency Council is an invitation-only community for executives in successful public relations, media strategy, creative and advertising agencies. Do I qualify?
Go to Source
Author: Patrick Nycz, Forbes Councils Member
