How to Maximize Your Event Photography

February 25th, 2013 by Beth Baynum | Share Blog

One of our most loyal and beloved clients, Consultants 2 Go, recently celebrated their 10^th anniversary in business, and we were there to capture the event.  Consultants2Go® is a management consulting company providing marketing and analytic consultants to Fortune 1000 companies.  Being experts at using PR to market their services, they had a specific plan in mind for using their event photos.

We asked Sandi Webster, one of the company owners, to re-cap their strategy for maximizing use of the event photos:

1.    All photos were posted to the company’s Facebook Page and website

2.    Individual photographs of clients, consultants and staff gave more ways to market:

• Sending individual emails to each attendee who was photographed, along with a Thank You for attending.  For clients, this individual email was a follow-up to any conversation had at the party, and was another client touch point.
• For some clients, including a photo of a consultant who can help their business.  Even if they didn’t speak at the party, it gave them an increased comfort level since they probably saw the person at the event.
• For consultants who attended, sending a link to the Facebook page so that they can see the album

3.    Emailing a newsletter including links to the pictures

4.    Sending a press release announcing the anniversary, with a photo

5.    Making commemorative photo albums for the staff

These are just a few ideas for extending the use of your event photos.  Including your event photos as part of your overall marketing efforts is strategic and smart – just like Sandi.  Thank you for sharing your marketing expertise, Sandi, and congratulations on 10 years in business!

Green Screen Photography Takes Consumer Marketing Around the World

October 19th, 2012 by Beth Baynum | Share Blog

Hey all you event marketers out there!

Check out how Hotels.com created a contest from their Bedventure event held last week in Toronto — The contest is now over, but it was a huge success.  Here is a link to the page.   This event, executed by the event wizards at Eventstyle, used our Social Media Portal technology to create a contest from the event photos.

The guests uploaded the images to our social media portal.  The images were than uploaded to our new contest program.  Guests were able to get votes and receive 2 nights stay for the guest with the most votes.

This is the winning photo.

 

Contest entry is just one way to use our Social Media Portal.  You can also conduct a survey, capture email address data, and trigger a follow-up email, all using the Portal.  Give us a call if you want to learn more.  Meanwhile, here’s a video that showcases how the Portal uses Social Media to exponentially expand your marketing reach:  https://vimeo.com/46046963

The Social Media Portal Sweetens a Promotion for Hershey’s S’mores

August 21st, 2012 by Beth Baynum | Share Blog

At the recent BlogHer Conference at the New York Hilton, Hershey’s was looking for a way to draw attendees to their promotional suite for their eternally-popular S’mores treats.  They accomplished this by creating fantastic interactive sets, with the help of the top-notch team at Empire Force Events , masters at the art of event marketing.

The Hershey’s Suite gave everyone a chance to make – and EAT! – S’mores while relaxing in the created settings.  One set was a campfire, the other a backyard barbeque.  After getting their photos taken, everyone used our Social Media Portal to email the pictures to friends and family, Tweet them and post them on Facebook.  This created lots of buzz and drew more visitors to the S’mores Suite.  It’s another example of event marketing done right.  The client was thrilled with the results and the photos are – of course – SWEET!

Whole Foods Uses Fun Photos to Promote their Red-Label Fish Ban

April 9th, 2012 by Beth Baynum | Share Blog

Marine environmentalists at the Blue Ocean Institute recently established a code system to let consumers know about the origins of the fish they buy.  Green means the fish is abundant and sustainably caught; yellow means some problems; red flags major problems: depleted supply, entailing high incidental kill of other species, or caught with habitat-damaging methods.

Supermarkets have been urged to use this coding to help their customers make informed decisions about buying fish.  Whole Foods was the first chain to display these seafood rankings in their stores.  Last week, Whole Foods announced that they won’t be selling any more red-rated seafood. They’ll be the first national grocer to do so.

To help promote this forward-thinking policy, Whole Foods sponsored an event for the International Association of Culinary Professionals, during their 34^th annual conference held last week.  Produced with the fantastic team at Sharp Communications, they provided food and fun while educating industry professionals about the red label ban.

A highlight of the event was the photography station 5^th Avenue Digital provided.  The background was custom-created to promote Whole Foods’ new policy and the photos were branded with their logo.  Inventive props gave everyone fun things to do for the camera – and made for fun photos. Read the rest of this entry »

Best of 2011: Marketing Photos

March 18th, 2012 by Elizabeth Beskin | Share Blog

Every year we are asked to do marketing photos for various corporation.  This year was no exception.  We had the pleasure of working on a brochure for A hotel, a Restaurant and even a mall developer.  The best part was the happy customers.  Here are a few of the chosen images.

Green Screen Photography + Social Media = A Powerful Product Launch

February 29th, 2012 by Beth Baynum | Share Blog

When Sony wanted to launch their new Playstation Vita game system, they turned to the folks at Stungun Productions  to handle the launch events.  Stungun then turned to 5th Avenue Digital to provide the event photography.

But they didn’t want standard event photography.  Smart marketers that they are, they wanted to use the photos at the event to promote the new PSVita via social media.  Luckily, we had the perfect solution for them: our new Social Media Portal.

The Social Media Portal is a new service from 5th Avenue Digital that allows instant uploading of event photos.  We first used it with our YouBooth photo booth, and it works just as effectively with green screen photos, step-and-repeat photos and onsite printing.  At the PSVita launch event in New York City, we used it for both green screen and step-and-repeat photography. Read the rest of this entry »

The Fun (and Art) of Marketing YouBooth photobooth at Trade Shows

October 26th, 2011 by Elizabeth Beskin | Share Blog

Having been in the event industry for over 20 years, naturally I’ve become adept at working trade shows and other industry events.  I like them because they offer opportunities to mingle with some of the movers and shakers in both the social and corporate events industry.  This week was one of the most fulfilling for my little networking self.

The YouBooth photobooth was a huge hit at The Knot gala, the first event I attended in my marathon week of networking events.  We brought in our YouBooth “photobooth” to give everyone there a chance to see it in action.  Carley and her dynamo team at The Knot were lovely to work with and many industry friends stopped by to check out the photobooth. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s Smurf Week in New York City

July 25th, 2011 by Elizabeth Beskin | Share Blog

In celebration of the new Smurfs movie, New York City’s tourism agency, NYC & Company, proudly announces this week is Smurf Week in New York.  All are welcome to stop by Columbus Circle and check out the Smurf Village.  Marvel at the 3-D mushroom houses and a 40-foot-tall inflatable Smurf.  Today only (Monday, July 25), visitors can take pictures next to their favorite Smurf until 7pm.  You’ll also find Smurf merchandise giveaways, face painting and much more.  Bring your children and take home a photo of them with the Smurfs!  And be sure to say hello to our photographer, Stavros.
For a list of all the Smurf activities happening in the city go to the NYC & Company website

Background Briefing for Photo Booths and Onsite Prints

November 18th, 2010 by Beth Baynum | Share Blog

When 5th Avenue Digital provides photos printed onsite, whether via green screen photography or our photo booth, clients often ask if the background matters.  The short answer is YES!  Backgrounds can make a huge difference in how your photos look and (especially for corporate or sponsored events) what message your photos convey.

Consider photos printed onsite as an extension of your marketing efforts.  Branding for your prints is as important as branding for the other elements of your event.  Making the logo or branding message work seamlessly with your photo background is important, and we’re always happy to provide our insight and knowledge on how to best accomplish this.

If you want to convey new – fresh – fashion-forward as your event’s marketing message, we recommend incorporating bright, vivid colors into your background.  This was the impression Lord & Taylor wanted to create with the splashy launch event for their renovated flagship store on Fifth Avenue.  They brought in our YouBooth photo booth to entertain the crowd and reinforce their marketing message, and here’s the background they created:

What an impact these intense colors have on the photos!   And the logo placement is worth noting, because it connects the store’s brand with the photos’ bright, fashion-oriented style.

If course, there’s always the tried-and-true event marketing tactic of step-and-repeat photos, using a printed banner emblazoned with logos.  Step-and-repeat photography is used so much because it effectively and (somewhat) subtly communicates a sponsor message.  However, the design of the step-and-repeat background can reinforce or detract from your message, depending on how it’s done.  The most effective step-and-repeat backgrounds limit the number of logos and the colors to one or two, like these:

When the party portraits are converting to black and white photos, a plain white or soft color background is often best, or a background with a simple black and white pattern, because colors can look muddy when converted to black and white.  Sometimes, a simple architectural element in a space, such as a brick wall, works well for black and white prints.

When you want to glam it up, a glittery background adds some drama to your prints.  Add a few feather boas and other props to give the background added impact.  They work together to create a real party feel for your onsite prints.

Another option is to use a large printed image as a background, as shown in the examples below for Northface outerwear and Disney.   The only caution here is that you have to be careful about lighting, to avoid glare against the glossy finish of the printed background.  That’s why you have to rely on the experts (us!) to avoid these pitfalls.

Finally, no review of background options would be complete without mentioning the ultimate in background selection: green screen photography.  A green screen allows you to insert any background you want, so the choices are almost endless.  Whatever the focus or theme of your event, we can create a background that supports and reinforces it.

Bring the Branding Home with a Branded Photograph

November 10th, 2010 by Elizabeth Beskin | Share Blog

When you (or your client) are sponsoring an event, you want to come up with as many ways as possible to connect your logo and marketing message to the event.  Signage is the first and most common tactic that brands the event as yours.  The problem is, in these times of marketing over-saturation, a sign rarely breaks through the visual clutter.  Most signage is barely noticed, and if it is, it’s forgotten a second later.  What’s the point in spending hundreds of event budget dollars on a branding message that has no impact?
A more effective use of those hard-won event budget allocations is to put those dollars toward something people will notice and remember.  Better to invest in branding efforts that really make an impact, putting your name and logo in front of your target audience and driving your event message home.  And that’s exactly what you get with YouBooth, our new digital photo booth.

Unlike other digital photo booths, YouBooth comes with all the workings inside.  Its sleek, aesthetic design allows it to be seamlessly integrated into any event décor.  With our digital photo booth, your event guests have a blast taking fun photos of themselves, which we brand with your company name, logo or message.   The YouBooth photo booth is an entertainment element as well as a marketing tool.

The photos print in seconds, giving each guest at least one fun picture to take home after the event.   And when they take their photos home, they’re taking your branding home as well.   In most cases, that photo from our digital photo booth will be placed in the frame of a mirror or stuck on the refrigerator for weeks or even months.  Your branding message will be seen again and again, by the recipient — and probably his friends and family too.

Multiply that one recipient by dozens … and those impressions by dozens more … now that’s IMPACT!