Stock Photography = Lost Imagination.
The use of boring, generic stock photography by allegedly "creative" advertising people is nothing more than looking in someone else's rear view mirror and grabbing stuff they've used, chewed up and then spit out. It's creative cowardice. It's creative compromise. It's "B" team creativity. It's sure not that world class performance you were promising clients when you signed them on...
When we need a cool picture of corn soup drizzled with olive oil my clients don't rush to the web and spend hours looking for something that's "good enough" for a client to grudgingly approve. We turn on the creative juices together and shoot the damn thing EXACTLY the way our clients envision the subject. That way they never, ever have to worry about their biggest competitors using exactly the same image in THEIR advertising or editorial content. Plus the client gets the thrill, privilege and honor of actually being part of an ongoing creative process instead of doing the ad agency equivalent of selling used Kleenex at a discount.....
Just something to think about next time your account executive demands that everything come from royalty free stock. The cure? Say "no." Tell em you signed up to BE creative, not to be an intern/researcher/kiss ass. If they argue the point then gather up your stuff and head for the door. You need a better place to work.
True creatives create. They don't just recycle.
Pinnacle Award Winner: Skilled at value-based selling and relationship building.
8 年Love this post. I've repped a couple of photographers and when chatting with the advertising team on a bid they are so concerned about coming in at or under their small budget then presenting unique imagery for the clients and their client's consumers to remember. It's a hard spot for the Creative Directors too, and can't be that fulfilling on their end, especially if they have been around a while and remember what it used to be like.