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When words are not enough

Guest post by: Joe Gagliano

Article Overview: The use of photography in PR is lightly covered, with the suggestion that substantial benefits can be derived from using pictures to tell a story.

When words are not enough

Pictures can enhance the impact of a press release if they complement the written words. In some cases, they can even relay the message better and more quickly than the release itself, but this seemingly simple device is not easy to master. The proliferation of digital cameras has complicated the use of photography rather than helped. It is just too tempting for amateurs to click away and admire the fruits of their labors, and if the boss happens to be an amateur photographer (with plenty of vacation shots to prove it), then it becomes even trickier. The reality is that effective PR photography is hard to achieve, requiring a blending of disciplines.

The concept

Almost everyone is familiar with the raising of the American flag atop Mount Suribachi at Iwo Jima. Yes, the Marines had conquered the island and a press release to that effect would soon be on its way. But what spells victory on the field of battle? A photograph showing the American flag flying on the field of battle, of course. Nothing subtle about that (in retrospect). The problem is that most PR is not on the same plane as winning battles in the Pacific, so more effort is required to develop a concept. I once worked for a company that manufactured encryption chips, and there is almost nothing more boring than the picture of a chip. The concept we developed was to show our chip on a printed circuit board next to an Intel chip. Still boring, but at least the idea was there. What was needed was clever execution.

Execution

Here is where photographers and art directors earn their keep. Let's go back to the Iwo Jima photo. There's no denying the sheer artistry of the composition; it conveys team work, determination, patriotism - we can think of a hundred ways that such a picture could be turned into a mundane shot, but luckily a master photographer (Joe Rosenthal) was at work. The thing about execution is that you can seldom foretell the results; a blurred black and white photograph can sometimes be the answer, or an intricately lighted studio shot, or yes, even the casual digital photo taken at a rally. However, hardly ever does a winning image consist of a straight-on record shot - be it a thing, a person, or an event. Like a good movie, a good PR picture has production values, and that's the point of using professionals for the execution. They can breathe life into your ideas, or they can suggest solutions of their own. Either way, you know you are dealing with people who have the necessary skills to visualize the finished product and to carry out the assignment.

When words are not enough, a good photograph will help. But a great PR shot is not something that can be pre-planned. The most you can do is to do the best you can, and just once in a while you'll come up with that one unique shot that will bring you fame and fortune...

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Article Tags: photos, pictures, PR photography



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Re: We are more richer today than the generations before us - The funny thing is that the Hebrew academy is still trying to find Heb words to all new English words, like BlueTooth, DiskOnKey, CD, Blog, email,etc. Nobody use them. Some of the English words found a very respected place in our life and now have verbs.
Re: How To Pick Keywords To Rank For - Hi Evan - Can you elaborate on this point... [quote:1oi3c42o]Do the entries on the first page of the results have the key words you want to use in the title of the documents or are they using different words? If the top results all are using the same key words as you it's probably better to find another set of words to focus in on.[/quote:1oi3c42o] If the titles are using different words... then why would they be appearing in first page for that search term or phrase? If top results are using same keywords... isn't that what you would expect? Is this a case of simply too much competition and it's not worth the battle? Ideally what would a winning phrase look like in the search results on page one. For example, say half of the listings reflect that keyword phrase... Is that worth going for?
Internet Marketing - Creativity or originality would be good words. you might want to try two words; after all, you are trying to suggest a complex idea that combines at least two concepts: marketing and internet. in other words, the concept has to evoke an action (marketing), how (honestly, responsibly?) and by what means you are going to carry that action out (internet). I hope this helps; Good luck!
Re: Politeness! - This is something we shouldnt over look,some words are very important in live such as THANK YOU,AM SORRY and so on.whether in the lives of our children or we as adult.In our dealing with others we have to take note of this words. tope
Re: What's Up With Word Clouds? - @GT, That's the only benefit I can see from it. @Ros, I'd rather have things in some sort of order as well, but these are everywhere, so we can't just ignore them. The idea is that words used more often than another are displayed larger than the one before it. So, if you use one word or phrase A LOT, then it will be displayed very big compared to the rest of the words. A phrase used only once will be displayed very small compared to words used more frequently. In itself, this a form of order, even if it's unconventional.


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