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Posts Tagged ‘Differentiation’

The next question

July 9th, 2009 in Marketing by Johannes van Kan


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How much is an experience worth?

(Contains a movie plot spoiler…)

If I said to you, “Yeah, in the end the shark gets it,” would you still go to the Jaws movie?

I could tell you there was blood, pretty girls, lots of really stupid people in boats and a very big angry shark. It could never match the experience, just spoil it. What is that experience worth? Apparently it was worth $260,000,000 in the US alone.

If you give your clients a good experience, what is it worth? What is it worth when they tell their friends?

I can’t tell you enough how valuable the experience of you is to the Bride and Groom. It’s worth investing in.

So how much would they pay for this experience with you? (complete with obviously mechanical monster shark – it’s getting late, my apologies).

Imagine if you said, “I want you to pay me what you think I’m worth.” Most photographers, it would seem, would imagine themselves out of business.

It becomes increasingly obvious that we need to tell our clients what we are really worth, and we need to make ourselves valuable.

If the experience is, Some photographer turned up and took our wedding pictures and left us with a disc of images… it is worth much less than, Our photographer turned up, we had a great time, we laughed, we cried, and we didn’t want it to end.

So how much is an experience worth?

If you ask Apple they would say, “It’s worth everything.” They invest heavily in making sure that the user experience is the best that it could possibly be. People pay a premium for it.

If you ask Universal Pictures they would say $260,000,000.

So then the answer is that the experience is worth a lot – to both the client and the photographer.

Cheers, Johannes

 

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    • Learning from Tupperware

    June 19th, 2009 in Marketing by Nigel Hicks


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    tupp1bis_01Tupperware ‘fan boys’ are everywhere. Prodding the skeptical, hosting Tupperware parties, and enthusiastically trying to convince their peers of the benefits.

    Their argument: Once you try it, you’ll understand.

    And most people do. The experience of using Tupperware’s product is usually enough to quickly switch a sceptic’s loyalties, and soon enough they’ll be passionately promoting the product themselves.

    That’s (loosely) Tupperware’s business model, and you can see how it would have a snowball effect. They’ve built a brand around positive customer experience and word of mouth marketing.  As a result, they’re different.

    There are a couple of lessons we can take from their approach. Nothing new, but pertinent all the same…

    Give your clients an amazing experience (whether it be through your service or via the products you offer) and they’ll talk (that equals referrals for you). BUT you need to be different to be noticed in the first place.

    We can only advise you about the service part, but the product bit is the reason we’re in business. Queensberry’s job is to make you look amazing in a world where too often everything looks the same.

    Cheers, Nigel

     

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    • A real opportunity

    June 18th, 2009 in Marketing by Ian Baugh


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    “Previously we were offering albums we knew our competitors were also offering, but we’ve realised we can use the album to separate us from our competitors.”

    That quote from Nigel’s interview with the Youngrens reflects Queensberry’s key message to photographers and it got me thinking…

    A while ago I posted about album companies in trouble – and not hitching your own wagon to dying stars. Today I’m suggesting you be wary of the latest and greatest too ;)

    In the US and UK markets of 2000, Queensberry albums were revolutionary because we hand-made every album to order. That meant photographers, for the first time, could custom-design albums to suit their imagery … and actually get them made.

    Another revolution quickly followed, what we now call digital albums, coffee table books, flush mounts, magazine albums, whatever.

    Both these “revolutions” were fruits of the digital revolution, an impossible dream come true!

    A constant stream of digital albums now progresses through our Bindery. Many of them are beautiful – and we feature some of them here.

    But…

    But a mindset has developed in some quarters that “digital albums, coffee table books, flush mounts, magazine albums” are all there is.

    Check out forums like DWF and notice how infrequently matted albums are mentioned, and how badly most album planning software handles them (generally via drag and drop templates).

    If you agree with the Queensberry Rules, that mindset represents a real opportunity for Queensberry clients and anyone else who believes in standing out from the crowd.

    And unfortunately for professional photographers, press books may be great but they’re everywhere. What was unimaginable a decade ago is now commonplace. As you can tell from the number of start-ups and labs getting into the game, the downwardly spiralling prices, and the fact that any amateur and part-timer can now design and order the books themselves for very little money.

    So be careful building your business around press books, indeed any generic presentation. It could be a bit like saying that you want to join the crowd, not stand out from it, that you intend to compete on price, not quality and service. A mistake, in our opinion, especially if your goal is to build a long-term career.

    That doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for press books. There absolutely is. We live and compete in the real world. If I was a photographer I would offer them. Probably.

    But if they define your business you’re competing with the bottom of the market, not the top. And that’s a tough, crowded neighbourhood.

    Cheers, Ian

     

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    • The Queensberry Rules

    June 15th, 2009 in Marketing by Ian Baugh


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    Boxers

    Forget about boxing, here are the Queensberry Rules for photographers!

    1. Outstanding presentation adds enormous value to your photography.

    2. Using the same albums as everyone else reduces the value of your photography.

      Ask anyone in the street how much a stack of prints is worth, or a disc of images, or a slideshow. Everyone’s been to the mini lab, or burnt a disk, so the answer is, “Not much”.

      What you’re paying for when you hire a professional, of course, is their time, skill and artistry. Focusing on the presentation takes nothing away from that. It simply places the photography in a new context where it can be better valued and respected.

      Cheers, Ian

       

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      4. The great m&m debate

      March 7th, 2009 in Marketing by Johannes van Kan


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      Further to Nigel … Imagine that due to cutbacks and rationalisation only orange and brown m&m’s were available.

      Imagine, then, you created a range of multicoloured ones (by passing them through your unique m&m random colorising filter, available in CS4 only). But you made yours more expensive … and you put them in a fabulous box that emphasised the difference.

      Nigel would buy them. But would you still be in business after three months? Would the answer depend at least in part on the box?

      What I’m hearing is almost a homogenisation of photographer’s outputs and products as they duck for safety from the “falling sky“.

      This creates a greater opportunity to stand out by being dishomogenous, somehow unique and therefore of greater value.

      If the m&m’s were photographs, and the package they came in was an album, how important would the package be to the acceptance of a higher fee for a unique product?  Just a question.

      Hugs, Johannes

       

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      7. Let’s be different together

      February 24th, 2009 in Marketing by Nigel Hicks


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      We’re not so different to you.

      I talked to a photographer who was at WPPI and he said, “More album manufacturers, less people attending.”

      You must hear that every day. “More photographers entering the market, less brides to go around”.

      A statement like that makes you realise how important what you’re offering is. And how you’re doing it. So I asked him how other album companies compared to Queensberry – anyone getting close?

      Nope. Everyone is going the other way. Cheaper albums and faster turn-around times.

      That makes us feel pretty good, because we know the trade-off. We’re not cheap and we’re not as fast as a machine-made product. But that’s what lets us be different. It’s who we are – and that’s key right now.

      More of the same isn’t going to get anyone anywhere in these tough times, so why follow the Piper? Let’s be ourselves. Let’s be different together.

      Cheers, Nigel

       

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      10. Stand Out

      October 23rd, 2008 in Uncategorised by Ian Baugh


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      Michael and Anna Costa have been touring the US over the past few months sharing their secrets at PUG conferences and events.

      We’re their preferred album supplier so we designed an 18×12 Duo for them to take on tour. The objective was to demonstrate the value of differentiation: how great presentation can help you stand out and build your studio profile. So how did it go?

      We received this note from them: “I wanted to tell you the album is drop dead gorgeous. The hundreds of people that saw it absolutely loved it! It couldn’t have got a better response.  

      “There’s just nothing quite like a Queensberry album. Because people got to hold it and flip through it in person, they really recognised the difference we have been talking about in our sessions. Now the only problem is wiping the drool stains off it.”

      That pretty much sums up the reaction we’re after from both you and your bride. It also goes to show the value of sample albums ;)

      Click here to view a slideshow of the album. It’s a 20-page horizontal 18×12 Duo with a plain black leather cover and ivory pages and mats.

       

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      No sausages at Queensberry

      July 2nd, 2008 in Marketing by Ian Baugh


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      sausages_chidsey_sxc

      If you’re not vegetarian, chances are you like sausages. Personally I’d like these ones barbequed a bit longer and served with onions, mustard and sauerkraut. But we don’t sell them at Queensberry, and here’s why…

      There are other words to describe sausages – cheap or everyday for example, and we believe photographers should avoid the whiff of “cheap” more than almost anything else.

      If you want a long career in wedding photography everything about you needs to say, “I’m worth what I charge.” Photographers can almost never compete on price. Wherever you are, the chances are good that someone out there shoots weddings for a tenth of what you charge.

      It can take years to stake your claim in the market and you could lose it in months.

      Your choice of album is one (important) way to stand out from the crowd. Choosing an album because it’s cheap or everyone’s using it is dangerous to your health. Tempting yes, but dangerous.

      So our albums aren’t made in a sausage factory. No matter how you dress them up with herbs and spices, sausages are sausages. Differentiation is our reason for being. Our business isn’t selling albums, it’s helping you sell photography for the prices you deserve.

      And here’s the cool thing.

      Most photographers don’t get what I just said. Which is great. It means that our clients are different (differentiated) and so are we.

      That’s why we sell steak, not sausages. Top quality; fillet or rib-eye; corn-fed or range-reared; medium, rare or well done; in a pepper sauce or simply salted. Oh, and lamb and salmon and definitely – definitely – a spectacular range of vegetarian options.

      Cheers, Ian

       

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      13. King of the hill

      May 30th, 2008 in Marketing by Ian Baugh


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      Photojunction ran an interesting post a day or two ago. Danny referenced a report from theweddingreport.com that spending on wedding photography in the US may be in decline.

      It prompted Sonya to mention anecdotal reports that UK photographers, also, may be in for a rough ride for a while – bookings down etc.

      Yes, times may be tougher next year. If they get tough for you, we’re concerned and sympathetic. Bad stuff happens in business, and if you’re affected, we are too.

      But… Don’t sabotage your long-term business in order to survive!

      What do I mean?

      Queensberry has always stressed the importance of differentiation. Differentiate or cut your prices. Differentiate or die!

      In other words, avoid discounting when times are tough. Avoid me-too marketing.

      I’d look to my “presentation” instead. Do prospects say “Wow” when they see my display samples? Do my website and studio and dress and documentation say, “I’m King Of The Hill?” Do my client’s albums say “Expensive but worth it?” Do I cringe when people ask for my prices?

      I said on The Junction, “If you’ve consistently marketed yourself as a differentiated price setter, now’s the time to be grateful for your foresight.”

      I wouldn’t throw that away because life may be a little rough short term. When the drought’s over I want to remain King Of The Hill. Or Queen ;-)

      I know, easier said than done.

      Cheers, Ian

       

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