Welcome to My New Series: BRAND TALKS!
As an event and brand photographer one of my main focuses is to help entrepreneurs, brands and up-and-coming stars scale or start their businesses with consistent branding through creating powerful visuals that capture the essence of their purpose.
In my career I have seen multiple brands grow exponentially when they understood the importance of branding and how visuals had a direct effect on how they were understood by their audience.
As a photographer (and sometimes videographer) I'm expected to share plain testimonials from my past clients to prove that I'm the right guy for you but seeing to what heights my past clients were able to grow and understanding why, I decided it would be much more helpful for YOUR success to dive with me into important questions and strategies me and my previous clients had applied in their business.
My new series BRAND TALKS will be therefore focusing on interviewing my past clients in diverse industries, talking about their journey & how professionally-taken photos affected their brands. So, welcome and enjoy their wisdom!
IF YOUr BRAND focuses on ORGANISING NETWORKING EVENTS AND YOU WANT TO SCALE THEN READ ON WHAT AMANDA HAD TO SAY ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HER BRANDING AND THE STORY OF HER first ever EVENT SHE SHARED WITH HER AUDIENCE
Interview with an Event Manager
event photography stockholm
When Amanda first reached out to me last winter inquiring about my event photography services she was in the middle of organising her first ever event. Amanda is a Brazilian living in Stockholm and so the event was focused on connecting Brazilian women living all over the world during a 2-day event in Scandinavian Capital.
She hired me to help her document the essence of it all because she wanted her brand to stand out, make some noise and be remembered for the experience she was organising. And boy did it land!
Because here we were, on a rainy Saturday morning, just a year later, sipping coffee in her favourite café in Stockholm, talking logistics and last details for her new upcoming luxurious event in Copenhagen where I will not only be a photographer but also will join a panel of speakers to share my insights about creating a customer experience.
aligning what you're creating with how you talk about it...
Don't Underestimate Consistent Branding
Amanda's event in Stockholm last year was a huge success. I was invited to document what was unfolding during those 2 days as Brasilian women came together from all corners of the world and let themselves be immersed in enticing programme Amanda has planned for them - from inspiring career lectures through fun networking during cinnamon bun bake-off all the way to spa hour at luxurious Ellery Beach House.
After the event, over the course of just few days, the photo gallery downloads hit record 450 times and participants have shared the event moments across diverse platforms multiple times, contributing to organic marketing and increasing trust in Amanda's brand which helped her bring her future event to previously unimaginable heights.
Take a look at the event below:
the power of branding & where it can take you
Exclusive Venues. More Sponsors. Better Experience.
There's an important message in Amanda's experience and the fact how quickly she was able to scale already her second event turning it into an exclusive luxurious experience. And so I invited her for a cup of coffee and asked a few important questions.
Discover how a two-day networking event in Stockholm turned into a high-end experience - the creative strategy behind its success, why capturing powerful visual moments helped Amanda attract new and more exclusive sponsors, grow her audience, and establish herself in a new market.
THE INTERVIEW
Why Did You Decide to Hire Me to Document Your Event? What was Your Goal with The Event Photos?
Because this was my first event I wanted to show my audience that I take it seriously. I was immediately thinking about the reputation of the brand I wanted to build and what better way to do that than showing my audience the visual evidence from my first event? You know I can talk over and over again about what I am creating but showing an image of what was unfolding and what energy there was throughout is worth so much more. It instantly lands with people. I wanted my brand be remembered in a certain way without me having to say a single word. And a professional event photographer (you) helped me put that vision into reality.
2.
How did the PROFESSIONALLY taken photos helped you after the event?
MY SERVICES
How Did The Professionally Taken Photos Help You after The Event?
There is so much work and so many tiny details involved in organising an event and photos are an important piece of puzzle. They helped me create a universe around my event; something that helped me better pitch my future ideas to important stakeholders, e.g. convincing new sponsors that it's worth investing in me and events I'm organising. I feel like I was able to make a bigger impact in these important aspects which helped bring my next event to a higher, more exclusive level. Being able to paint the picture to hotels and other service providers or even to speakers I wanted to invite, having amazing photos as a testimonial of what I am bringing to the table was like proving myself before the event even happened!
3.
So how will your next event be different?
THE INTERVIEW
So How Will Your Next Event Be Different?
This upcoming event in Copenhagen will be held at a 5-star spa hotel and will include activities like yoga & meditation sessions where participants will be gifted goodie bags with yoga sportswear from a Brasilian brand, we will have a lot of wise speakers to talk about diverse topics, participants will have a free exclusive access to the hotel's spa, there even will be a reporter writing a piece on the event that reached out to me after seeing the pictures from the first event in my promotional posts!
3.
THE GALLERY WAS DOWNLOADED RECORD 450 TIMES AND SHARED BY THE PARTICIPANTS MULTIPLE TIMES THROUGHOUT PLATFORMS. DO YOU FEEL THAT THIS HAS CONTRIBUTED TO THE SUCCESS OF YOUR FUTURE EVENT?
MY SERVICES
The Gallery Was Downloaded Record 450 Times and Shared by The Participants Multiple Times throughout Platforms. Do You Feel that This Has Contributed to The Growth of Your Brand?
Everyone loved the photos! Having the visual evidence of those days helped the participants feel even more connected to the whole thing and it was for the most part thanks to how you captured the moments I think. Sometimes photographers just catch random moments and you can see that it doesn't resonate as much with people. But you captured really those best moments and energy, it was exactly what I envisioned. And then you see people really sharing it over and over again, some of them continue to do so to this day, using the photos as a testimonial in their present projects for example, it really is the greatest testimonial to the work that you and I did together. Also, I received a great feedback from some of my mentors who were invited as speakers for the event and who were impressed not just by your immense professionalism but also your skills and knowledge of what needed to be documented without being told what to do. The feedback on your performance was also something that reflected great on the reputation of my brand and that is an aspect I haven't even considered when I was looking for a professional photographer. Imagine how lucky I got finding you!
4.
Do you feel that the event photos helped you attract new participants for your upcoming event in copenhagen?
THE INTERVIEW
Do You Feel that Event Photos Have Helped You Attract New Participants for Your Upcoming Event in Copenhagen?
Definitely! Most people wanted to come because they wanted to be part of what they saw in pictures from the first event. It has significantly helped me broaden the scope of my reach when it came to new potential participants. I feel like it helped me communicate the message of the event through photos much better because my audience imagined themselves in the experience. It positively affected how they interacted with my brand.It's so important to include event photography into the budget because time goes on and people forget. Being able to constantly show through powerful visuals the energy of what I'm creating helps me stay in people's minds and have a greater impact which is really what you want because there's so much work and energy that goes into organising these elaborate events.
5.
Your Event Held a Lot of Vulnerable Moments with Heavy Emotions. Weren't You Afraid that The Presence of a Photographer Would Disrupt the Scene or Make Women too Uncomfortable To Want to Share?
THE INTERVIEW
Your Event Held a Lot of Vulnerable Moments with Heavy Emotions. Weren't You Afraid that the Presence of a Photographer Would Disrupt the Scene or Make Women too Uncomfortable To Want to Share?
Not with a right photographer! I could see how you connected with women and what an amazing attitude you had and I think it helped them feel safe in your presence. Also, I think if you weren't there documenting the moments, people would have had far greater tendency to constantly be on their phones wanting to capture everything themselves and maybe those vulnerable moments wouldn't even happen. This way they actually stayed present and truly shared their whole selves with others.
6.
So Why Did You Hire Me For Your Upcoming Event Again?
THE INTERVIEW
So Why Did You Hire Me For Your Upcoming Event Again?
We don't have to talk about the quality of your photos because I mean it's obvious. But on top of that I think we created a true partnership because you were so understanding and flexible and you helped me to turn my vision into reality. Bringing a photographer along is about so much more than just having someone take professional photos. It is a lot about the overall attitude and mindset of how you approach things. That makes the whole difference. Being kind, gentle but professional, making yourself "invisible" and taking photos in a respectful manner but being able to at the same time to connect with the participants. Comparing it to my previous experiences of working with photographers or videographers it was a difference in humbleness. I felt you had the integrity and your approach was based on a lot of wisdom and experience. With having so much more at stake this time with some bigger sponsor supporting my journey it will be crucial to have the person I can rely will capture everything in the way that is necessary.
