Sustaining Success in a Weak Economy

August 26th, 2010 by Elizabeth Beskin | Share Blog

5th Avenue Digital recently hit its two-year anniversary.  There were no celebrations – we’re too busy working!  But the occasion gave us a reason to pause and think about how far we’ve come in the two years we’ve been operating as our own entity.  I thought our blog readers might be interested in what’s happened since separating 5th Avenue Digital from Sarah Merians Photography, and what we’ve done to keep our business viable in this weak economy.

Over 10 years ago, while still a part of SMP, 5th Avenue Digital started by doing corporate photography, and we continued to focus on this segment after the split.  However, we soon realized we’d need to expand beyond this rather narrow market.  The companies officially separated shortly before the start of the economic meltdown.  Subsequently, the corporate work (particularly with our larger clients, Lehman Brothers and AIG) dwindled drastically.  We knew then that we’d need to regroup, find ways to reach new market segments and develop new offerings, if we were going to survive.
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Maximize Your Event Photos for Future PR and Marketing Needs

March 26th, 2010 by Beth Baynum | Share Blog

We often talk to event planners who want quality photography for their events, but have trouble justifying the expense to their client or board.  Instead of investing in a professional photographer, they assume that assigning an associate to point-and-shoot will give them decent photos and save them money.  In some cases, this might be true.  But many planners haven’t recognized that professional event photos can serve more than one purpose, and can actually save the client money in the long run.

This point was proven yet again with an event we photographed recently for the National Foundation for Cancer Research (NFCR).   Their savvy Director of Marketing and Communications, Erin Chen, called me about photography for their event at the New York Hilton, saying she wanted more than the typical “stand and smile” photos they usually get.  She was looking for artistic, emotionally evocative images they’d be able to use for marketing.

Erin explained that they’d wanted to use last year’s event photos on their website and in their printed materials, but the photos they’d gotten “were just too boring.”  She was looking for something more: shots of the room décor and guests engaging with each other, but incorporating interesting angles, close-ups of faces and expressions. Read the rest of this entry »

Sudler and Hennessey and Fifth Avenue Digital team up at the Unity Walk for Parkinson’s

May 3rd, 2009 by Beth Baynum | Share Blog

Every April, Central Park hosts the Unity Walk, benefiting people afflicted with Parkinson’s disease.

Sudler & Hennessey, one of the nation’s premier pharmaceutical advertising agencies, was recently asked by their client Mirapex, a Parkinson’s disease medication, to create an engaging promotional activity for their tent at the walk.  S&H’s main goals were increasing the event’s ROI and generating positive PR for their client’s target market.

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