The Pitfalls of Stock Photography
Author: Jenni
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02 Feb 07
One of the first things consumers respond to in any advertising or marketing campaign is the imagery. The color, style, mood, lighting, and subject matter all describe the brand—your brand.
The Internet affords instant access to excellent stock photography from around the world—photography that would take weeks to scout, cast, prop and art direct to shoot it yourself. And, these websites do it all for a remarkable price. In most cases, usage rights to a high-resolution digital image cost less than $500.
But do you run the risk of paying a much higher price for stock photography? You don’t actually “own” it; even after you buy an image, it’s still available to anyone who’d like to purchase usage rights.
So, what happens when your competitors use the same stock photography websites to find images to sell comparable products or communicate similar messages? Sometimes they select the same imagery, diluting your advertising and diminishing your brand.
Clearly, stock photography is useful and convenient, but there are potential risks. Consider campaign longevity, distribution and market. Your brand essence is a big price to pay to save a few dollars.
(photo: Selva Morales)
February 2nd, 2007 at 1:35 pm
Interesting article. Major corporations end up duplicating the same stock photos all the time. Here is a Wall Street Journal link very relevant to your topic:
http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB116467838729434053-ytmRysCdqy_QXDlYXCPqAWZsTGk_20061227.html?mod=tff_main_tff_top
For web advertising, the big companies don’t mind using stock photography. I think smaller companies can certainly get away with using stock photography without any adverse effects to their business. Just my 2 cents.