The Power of Image

One of the most common mistakes people make with communication is to assume that telling your target audience something is the same as communicating with them. To be heard, in a world where we’re bombarded with messages every minute of every day, you have to give your audience a reason to take notice in the split second you have to grab their attention. One of the most effective ways of doing that is to give the audience an image, mental or literal.

Facts and statistics are meaningless without context. What does 100k or a million actually mean? One trick good story tellers use is to create a mental image by citing the number in terms the audience can visualise: the population of a well-known town or city or the capacity of a sport stadium, are popular ones. In the days of videos going viral on TikTok, and being seen by millions, I was very casual about my TEDx views nearly reaching 100k, until someone pointed out that it was 5 times the capacity of the O2, as I was sat in that arena looking out at the seemingly endless rows of people.

A literal image can be even more powerful. An easy-to-understand graph can put a spotlight on an issue that is otherwise lost in the rows of figures, but photographs are one of the most powerful communication tools of them all.

If you look at any quality media, you’ll see how much they still rely on interesting photos. Often the drier the subject, the more creative they get with their photos. That’s because a great photo can transform even the least exciting story into a one that everyone takes notice of. It makes the reader stop and read. One example of this was the reality star who was photographed on top of a large Christmas tree as a real-life fairy, to publicise a shopping centre. Without that photo the story would have struggled to get attention in the local papers. Because of it, the story was featured in all the tabloids.

Photos can also transform attitudes. The dead body of a little boy, the child of illegal immigrants washed up on a beach, dramatically changed the language around those arriving in boats, from similes of insects (‘swarming to our shores’) to human tragedy. More recently, an action group laid out a 3-mile-long line of children's clothes on Bournemouth beach, to represent the children who have died on both sides of the Gaza conflict. You may also recall the male mannequins put on top of buildings in London to highlight the number of men dying by suicide. We have all seen the statistics and facts behind all those stories numerous times, but it was the images that reached into our souls and made us take notice.

Video is even more powerful. We knew about the Post Office scandal before the TV drama was released, but it was seeing the suffering of real people in the drama that caused the uproar needed for action to be taken.

Image therefore plays a key role in effective communication. In consumer PR, professional, quality photos are recognised as essential. In B2B, too often, they are not given the attention they deserve. The companies who realise the power of image are those that get the coverage, even when their stories are weaker than others.

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