According to an InfoTrends study for Keypoint Intelligence, no fewer than 1,200 billion photos were taken worldwide in 2017, an average of 160 per inhabitant of the globe. An astronomical volume that has doubled in 4 years, mainly thanks to the multiplication and accessibility of mobile devices. 90% of these photos were taken via smartphone or tablet. Photos or videos often taken on the spot, with approximate framing or aesthetic qualities... questionable. Whether they were taken personally by customers and visitors, or professionally by employees, the same question arises: should "ugly" photos be ignored? At Keepeek, our advice is simple: save them from oblivion...and above all, give yourself the means to make the most of them! So how do you distinguish between the ones that really have value? And how do you make the most of this production without clogging up your servers?
The unloved
When you think corporate photography, you often think comm' image. To feed your Instagram feed, your corporate blog or your press portal, you certainly have in mind images that have been polished and validated for their compliance with your communication guidelines. And yet, it 's not only the marketing and communications departments that produce images within the company. Consumers staging products and tagging them in their own photos shared on social networks, field sales people taking photos of their point-of-sale set-ups, product managers filming a competitor's demonstration... These are all examples of content that exists, has value and can be exploited by the company. A phenomenon accentuated by BYOD (Bring Your Own Device), which makes all employees active and content providers. So, ugly content is a reality: it exists and circulates within the company. So why turn it into an opportunity?
Does ugly content really add value?
Some ugly photos may escape aesthetic validation criteria, but that doesn't make them any less valuable. It's just that their value is different: re-used in communication, they convey authenticity, spontaneity, truth and memory. A positioning at the heart of comm' strategies for family, food and luxury brands. The ugly photo is often more meaningful than the photoshopped visual.
Using photography to capture content on the fly is a real time-saver.
And then you need to be able to find and share them easily.
Some content adds value because it's unique: a quick shot of a VIP visiting your stand, a video taken on the spot of a customer testimonial... This kind of content might deserve better production, but it's too late. Someof these photos, taken in-house, also have an undeniably useful role to play. In this case, images are often used to complement traditional written material. This is the case, for example, with the mock-up that accompanies a creative brief, or the chart drawn on flipchart paper that summarizes a strategy meeting. Brands are also interested in content generated by their own customers that adds value to them. This User Generated Content is particularly valuable, as it provides neutral proof of the quality of products or services. Finally, thanks to the mass production of media content on Youtube and Instagram, we've become accustomed to seeing content produced by hand. No one is shocked to see a badly framed video or a slightly blurred photo. In short, ugly photos have a different use and purpose... but one that complements those of their "official" cousins.
Can we ignore the existence of ugly content?
The answer is obviously yes: companies can decide not to address this issue. In fact, that's what most companies have been doing for years. The first risk is the emergence of new, parallel information systems to store and exchange content. The second is the risk of losing valuable content. All it takes is for an employee to close his or her personal drive, and this corporate content instantly disappears.the third is, due to a lack of governance, to let employees publish company-related content without any control. Hijacking, bad buzz, legal problems - these are just some of the risks run by companies who think they can protect themselves by ignoring this issue.
Is this ugly content easy to tame?
Are you now convinced that it's essential to address the management of ugly content in your company? But it's a real challenge. From the moment a company accepts responsibility for ugly content, it is faced with some serious questions:-How to manage such a volume of data? -How to organize this content so that it can be found? -What are the best practices and limits? -How do you make producers aware of the legal issues surrounding image rights and copyright? And if the company provides a platform for storing this content, it takes on a new responsibility for its distribution.Bear in mind that your ugly photos are like wild creatures: if you don't give them the attention they deserve, you run the risk of losing them.
The DAM welcomes all photos: Come as you are*!
Today's companies have media platforms for organizing, securing and distributing official media content. These include Digital Asset Management. The right approach is certainly to evolve these platforms to address this new content. Rather than multiplying and complicating processes by proposing a new tool, it is more rational to rely on an existing solution, whose promise is to manage photos throughout their entire production chain, right through to distribution. This means opening up the DAM, often accessible only to Marketing and Communication departments, to all employees. This means revisiting feed processes, and in particular traditional top/down workflows (the Communications department provides a selection of images). Simply because they come from users or employees - i.e., from the bottom up - we need to put in place tools and processes that enable photos to be uploaded easily and en masse to the platform. To convince these users, a simple tool is essential. It has to take into account the great diversity of users, some of whom are experts, others beginners. It must also be accessible everywhere - Beyond the technical aspects, we certainly need to raise awareness of usage, risks and best practices. While the majority of this ugly content will remain within the ecosystem that produced it, and will not be distributed outside the company, its exploitation implies clearly defined rules of governance. If photos are to be reused as external comm' content (for example, the publication of point-of-sale photos taken by franchisees), control processes need to be locked down even tighter, asthe company's image is at stake. With Keepeek, this is made possible by the use of validation workflows and fine-tuned media status management.
Is ugly the new beautiful?
At Keepeek, we believe it's essential to carefully consider your use of ugly photos in your business , and to integrate them into your business issues, but there are still a number of points to be clarified. This recent issue, accelerated by the mobility of tools and work habits, has not yet found all its answers. Sharing best practices is essential to progress. At Keepeek, for example, we work in Agile and are adept at visual management, paper mock-ups and mindmapping. So, ugly - or even very ugly - photos are part of our daily routine: photos of diagrams drawn on our flipcharts as a complement to meeting minutes.We record videos of new feature demos made in-house, available to all employees.To create expert posts, we start with an initial video recording where the consultants discuss freely. The video then serves as a reference for the editors and proofreaders.everyday media content saves us time and accuracy. How do you use your ugly photos? Title photo credit: fiona_adam at Morguefile.com*McDonald's International Property Company, Ltd.
