There are many ways to arrive at the launch of a business.
Brand Content Creation Strategy
Many people start with a side hustle and then learn from their customers that they are good at it. They are often focused on the product or service and not so much on the business side. They learn the hard way about things like HR, taxes, marketing strategies, and cash flow management.
Some people are big-time planners and spend years mapping out the perfect idea - anticipating every possible scenario - before one day pulling the trigger.
After you’ve done it enough times, you know it’s important to focus as much on the product/service as the execution plan. You have to consider things like fulfilment and logistics, compliance, onboarding, budgeting, marketing, and brand development.
While we appreciate all the hustlers we’ve had as clients, we are at the point in our journey where we try to focus on clients who take a more seasoned approach to running their companies. That way, we don’t have to spend time convincing someone that it is important to have high-quality content to execute a good marketing strategy.
When one of our previous clients reached out about a new project they were launching, we were so thrilled to learn they already had a full brand deck, landed product, and a content creation budget ready to deploy with the right creative agency partner. This discovery calls for more than make up for the ones where people ask if we can shoot a commercial for their brand for $500.
Studio Photography to capture the best images
What was the product - a candle? Which, in and of itself, isn’t the most revolutionary thing tbh. But Melto Candles was taking a much different approach - tying the scents and colours to behaviour-modifying properties like a lot of health and wellness brands do with supplements and wearables. They had a zen candle for relaxing and a focus candle for cranking out hours of computer work.
Placebo or not, it was different and caught our eye.
They also had an incredibly bold brand identity. Really strong shades with huge pops of colour-blocking. Our Creative Director was salivating at the potential of studio photography.
The best part - they were willing to give us full creative control. “Look, you guys are the experts, we trust you,” he said to me on the call. Can you say that again, please?!
Product Photography
After some planning, we decided on a really clean, high-key look for the tabletop product photography. We knew the lighting needed to be bright and crisp, with lots of shadows to compliment simple prop styling. We angled for a mix of monochrome sets as well as colour-blocked ones.
Then, we wanted to bring in some talent and shoot portraits on bright seamless backdrops that complimented each candle color. We had the talent dress in bold outfits, like big furry jackets and sequenced dresses. This was as much about the talent posing and outfits as it was about the product.
This can often be a hard thing to pitch a client if they don’t have complete trust in your creative ability because they can get caught up in wanting to highlight product details exclusively instead of building the vibe of the brand.
The result - a highlight shoot for us and a delighted client. “These photos are f#&!ng insane. You guys killed it!” These are the texts we live for.
To tie it all together - if you want to successfully launch a new brand in the digital space, you have to invest in your brand identity and your content. Finding a creative partner who can bring your vision to life can be the difference in your company's success.