Every photographer I know is wanting to book more jobs. No matter if your niche is wedding, food, commercial, advertising, or sports, chances are you would love for your business to make a lasting impression on someone looking to hire you for your services. Casey Templeton wanted to beef up his commercial and adverting work so he decided to produce a promo package that would not get lost on an agency's desk. The video below shows the promo package he made in 2010 and mailed out to 300 of his favorite agencies and art buyers. You might be thinking that this package is pretty extravagant and expensive to send to that many agencies, but being memorable among a crowd of creative professionals can easily pay off if you land only a few jobs from such a campaign. Hope you guys enjoyed this as much as I did.
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Thats goddam clever ! guess that guy could work in a Marketing department !! at the end of the vid is he showing all "returns" he got ? pretty good by the way , thx for the share
They all replied to get their free t-shirt.
I thought it was really cool... loved it.
Love this concept.
Nice, and he's from my home town!
It's an excellent idea, but expensive to be sure. If he sends them along to prior clients I think it's a lot more manageable, but then you'd have to hope they would spread the word or items of choice. :)
yeah but what happens when you land a few of those $10k clients? And not just for a single job but perhaps for your career.
I completely agree, but at the same time he would have to be really focusing his attention on clients he knows have a larger budget. I would like to believe the world can run on the "what if" scenario, but I don't think the universe could handle my being the president of the world...at least not yet. I look at it this way, the companies that have the $10k jobs by now are more interested in the person/work than in their marketing material. They likely get more lip balm, coasters, cards, t-shirts, than you can shake a stick at. Not to mention that those type of companies usually have a dress code that does not include a Tee with your logo on it. Consider for a moment that a photographer is selling their photographs, not their ability to silk screen their logo to the top of a lunchbox. :)
If you have to shoot a video about it, it obviously didn't work in the real world (maybe hasn't even been intended to do).
Cause why should you share an idea that's absorbed by the people?
Ah you can't possibly think that's true Ringo. Why do we share all our information for free on FS? Why does Peter Hurley, David Bergman, and Sean Armenta share their secrets? The reality is Casey has probably moved onto something else that's just as creative. Sharing and becoming known for something is one of the greatest marketing tools you can have....
"Sharing and becoming known for something is one of the greatest marketing tools you can have...."
Yes, if this doesn't refer to your own (working) marketing tools, but to the work you do.
It is a bit over the top, and distracts from actual work. He is def showing his(?) design and markeing skills more than his photography. It didn't make me wanna see his page - then again, I'm not the one getting the giftbox :) I'm not so sure about his choice of promos, but I appreciate how clever he was to include both actual gifts, AND that promise of a tee. That, again, doesn't show his photos - why?
I think the point is something like this builds a good relationship with the person you are giving it to. A HUGE tip in good marketing is to often market YOURSELF to your clients and not necessarily your work. As more and more people become very capable photographers (or designers, artists, copyrighters, etc), getting your foot in the door and making a good personal connection can often seal a deal more than the most mind blowing portfolio.
Odd - I wasn't blown away by it. Great idea but thought it was rushed and sometimes hard to read. Maybe I'm getting old...
There is always a balance between making a super detailed video and making it exciting to watch. Considering the video is all in one take, I think Casey displayed the box at a reasonable speed to get the idea of what he did. Also, in the end, the video is still a secondary display of the creative work he put into the first production: actually making the kit itself.
In theory, our photographs should do the talking, but presentation and marketing is just as, if not, more important in getting work these days. Just imagine a busy editor (or someone) with a huge pile of portfolios cluttering his or her office - which will they go to first, and when they've been through them (IF they bother going through them all), which will they remember?
This presentation:
1) Stands out
2) Shows attention to detail
3) Shows imagination
4) Is memorable
Not sure about the cigar though - not as many people smoke these days and is perhaps a little anti "PC". And what if you prefer Pepsi? ;)
Great Idea and design. Having been in a company that really focused in on the attention to detail and creativity that the vendor or creative showed I would have loved for this one to have fallen on my desk. I think each piece shows a different detail to the box focusing in on a different individual and era. The Coffee- its one of the huge pass times in America now (run to the coffee shop), the candle- never know when the box is going to land on a woman's desk, T-Shirt- who doesn't love a t-shirt that's "Free", and the Cigar- Possibly not everyone smokes but what era dose a cigar take you back to? For me its the 50's it was the cool thing so who knows maybe the cigar is a subliminal message saying this guy can work with any era of marketing you need (just a thought). Anyway awesome Idea through and through.
We were taught about something likes this 12 years ago when I was in college, about sending small memorable things to potential clients, it's good that some people actually do this and the majority don't. It can get costly indeed especially the shipping part for such a big box but it probably did entertain and open a few people's eyes when they received it. Then again my course was for graphic design/advertising and not photography, I'm certain an evenlope with a few examples of photos and a website address would've worked just as much, he's a photographer not a graphic designer.
I need to do something like this, tailored for the fashion industry. LOL.
THIS, to me, was a superb way of this guy getting his name in the heads of the people who select people like him for the type of work he does.
A gift, that is a bunch of smaller gifts.
He sent them a small little christmas in a box.
AND THAT, i believe, is what impressed the people most. As they opened it, and removed the items, they could be reminded of christmas when younger and opening all the presents. Amazing small things that mean near nothing until put together as one gift for someone to discover and smile about. And the smiling, is what would get those recipients to remember him. Because there isn't alot of true smiles in the world of bussiness recently.
I think he did very well indeed.
That's my opinion on it anyways.
Russ
Great conversation everyone, thanks for checking it out. I wanted to make sure everyone knew I'm open to answering any questions you may have. Lets keep the conversation going!
-Casey
Really, really nice. Thanks for sharing!
(adding voice per your twitter response) Absolutely, thanks for asking. For each box, the cost of printing, materials, shipping came out to be around $36/box all included. People often get confused when they read on aphotoeditor.com about it and see the $15K price tag, that was for the entire rebranding, not just this promo. That included new site, new portfolio books, consulting, printing, materials, etc.
I got a ton of exposure and did land several jobs that more than paid for the cost of the rebranding. The coolest was even having an art buyer call me and request one because his office didn't receive one and he wanted to show it off. Thanks!
Very well done! I really like people with creative minds to get more jobs. I might do something similar in the future! Great job Casey! :-)
Great idea! Some seem to miss the point. When I client is looking to hire a photographer, they usually call the one that comes to mind first. :)
straight jealous.
i want to be this creative when i advertise my business.
wait i don't have one...
This is super awesome, aside from making a hell of an impression, it also shows the perspective clients that he thinks outside the box, and is willing to go the extra mile to make sure the product he produces is superior. Yes, that was probably VERY expensive, but it's a measured risk. I can only imagine the return on such a venture far exceded what he spent. Not only that, how many of us have clicked over to his website? You think random photographers are the only ones that look at this website?