Creating a commercial is a team effort including you as the brand that hired your creatives.
There is a massive difference with the outcome of your photos and videos when you have a really good relationship with your photographers and videographers, when communication is strong, and when you are both enjoying the process.
So, if you're new to working with creatives, here 10 tips on how you can make the most out of your commercial project.
Establish Clear Objectives
Knowing what you want and WHY you want a particular style or project helps us understand how to create content that will achieve this objective.
We all know that businesses' number 1 objective is to create sales and your product photos and videos are definitely going to help achieve that for you!
However, you also need to have a strong marketing strategy so your photos and videos are going to be effective. A photo and a video that doesn't have intention and strategy will not work as well as one well thought-out photo.
Ask yourself:
Why do I want photos and videos for my brand?
What do I expect to happen after having these photos and videos for my brand?
What value does it give to my brand?
What type of photos and videos will make me happy?
Knowing the answers to this will give both you and your creatives the clarity on how to make the project successful.
Knowing Your Target Market
Your photos and videos are for your target audience. If you know who they are then it is easier for photographer and videographer to create commercial content that hits the nail in capturing your customer's attention and make them feel connected to your brand.
If you are not clear on who you want to talk to, chances are, your photographer and videographers will also create content that will confuse your target market.
This is your brand and your product and at the end of the day, you know more about your brand and your target market than your photographer and videographers.
Once this is clear for you and your communicate it well to your creatives, you will have better chances on having a content that makes your audiences feel something about your brand, connect with your brand and develop trust in your brand.
Don't go to the basic 18-40year old target market. Be specific.
What lifestyle are they living?
What gets their attention?
Who do they follow and listen to?
What are their buying behaviours?
What problems are they experiencing?
If you target an 18 year old and successfully connect with the emotions of that 18 year old, that 18 year old will most likely rave about your product to their mom or their grandma who will later on purchase your product.
But if you try to target all of them, it will be hard and expensive for you to truly connect to every single one of them to the point of them raving about you. So, be specific, and the rest will come.
Reviewing Mood boards and Storyboards
When your photographers and videographers are giving you mood boards and storyboards, they give you an opportunity to review the ideas they have in mind and make sure that it aligns to your vision.
This gives you a chance to do as much changes as you need before the shoot happens and reduce any revisions that will potentially cost you even more in the future.
So, take this opportunity to review everything in detail. Be honest and give feedback and work with your photographers and videographers.
If you don't understand the mood board and the storyboard, don't be shy and communicate this to your photographers and videographers. Getting clear when you are planning the shoot is really important to creating an amazing commercial photo and video that nails your needs and your vision.
Attention To Detail
Following up the mood boards and storyboards. I want you to actually read the plan in detail.
There are certain areas in that pre-production plan that your photographers are seeking to approve. I know we are all in a rush but if you want quality content and reduce the risk of revision costs, make sure you read every single detail in the plan.
Once you have approved a plan, your photographers and videographers are going to assume that you have read everything and have approved everything.
A really great example was when we planned a studio shoot for a client. We sent out model poses reference and the only reference we could find for the poses are photos shot on location. So, we had a note included on the bottom of the photos we sent that the plan is to shoot the model in studio with a coloured backdrop.
The client did not read the notes and assumed the photos we sent is exactly how we are going to do the photos including shooting it in location. We assumed that she had read the notes and went ahead with the studio shoot and coloured backdrop. Turned out, she expected a location shoot.
The little details make up the whole story and if you approve without reading, you increase the chances of spending more money to reshoot.
Pre-production Meetings
It is important to be clear with the people you work with on the project you are going to take. Communications are way faster in a phone call, video call or in-person meeting.
This way, you can also build a relationship with your creatives.
Hot tip: If your creatives like you or, heck, LOVE you, they create the best content for you and you get so much freebies and special treatment.
Creative people create from their emotions. It's why Taylor Swift writes songs about her life and it's why you get so moved and touched listening to Bohemian Rhapsody. These masterpieces were created with the deepest and strongest emotions from the artists.
If your photographers and videographers feel happy about you and your brand, they are more likely to create a masterpiece for you!
One way you can build that relationship is to be in pre-production meetings with them, talking to them and connecting with them.
Planning in Advance
Don't leave content creation to the last minute! Chances are your photographers and videographers are going to deny your project or worst, rush your project!
And you don't want your content to be rushed! Rushed content is bad content. Especially with premium commercials.
So, to avoid this, plan in advanced. Put in at least 2 months leeway from when you are going to need the project. To help with your planning, we created a blog about a yearly plan you can do for your brand:
Providing The Best Products You Have
This might be pretty standard for some but not so much on others. Trust me, we have had clients prefer to send us the most crappy products they have or those products that don't sell because they think we can just "Photoshop" or "Edit them out".
While it is true there are a lot of instances that we can Photoshop and Edit Out imperfections however, this gives us limited flexibility on how to style your product.
At the end of the day, you would want it to be as perfect as you can be so why not start with the products itself. Don't let your products have the opportunity to look unpleasant in camera.
Your photos and videos are the first thing your customers will see before they even buy and see the product. So, give it the best that you can.
Flexibility
Know that in every production, there are going to be unforeseen challenges. As much as your photographers and videographers work to reduce those instances, sometimes, they just creep in and a lot of the times, it's not under everyone's control.
So, try to be as flexible to the situation as you can. There are certain products that are challenging in the studio or certain styles that can't be done beautifully for a particular product. If there are changes during the shoot, expect a message from your photographers and videographers. Collaborate to problem solve and pivot on the initial ideas that you had.
Being Kind and Collaborative
When problems arise and they can be inevitable, please be kind to your photographers and videographers and collaborate with them on a win-win solution.
Abuse, in any manner, is not tolerated. A lot of the times, if you start being abusive to your photographers and videographers to get what you want, chances are, they are going to stop working with you at all and you have just burned that bridge.
There are so many times we have encountered problems in the shoot and worked with the client to change the initial plan and pivot to a new solution to fit the situation. Most of the times, when clients are collaborative, we end up with better content than what was originally plan.
Relax, don't panic. Your photographers and videographers want to make you happy so work with them and they will gladly go the extra mile to find solutions for you.
Staying Organised
Make sure you are organised and keep a copy of all the documents sent to you. The contracts you signed, the model releases, music licenses and all the other important details given to you by your photographers and videographers.
Download all the photos and videos and keep them on a safe place. Your photographers and videographers are not always going to keep your assets permanently and if you don't get organised and make copies and back-ups for yourself, you risk the chances of losing your creative assets.