Boring Brand Images? Get Clear on Your Brand-Essence

Before you go to a photographer, clarify your brand-essence. What precisely sets you apart from others in your field? I like to ask it like this: how do you show up for others? What qualities do you bring into a room? This is your singular, irreplaceablely unique way of being. (I call this your brand-essence.) That’s what you want to express as clearly as possible in your images. Earlier this year I worked with Gail, a singer/songwriter, and we identified her brand-essence as wisdom and whimsy. The combination of those words starts to give you a picture of what it’s like to be with Gail. The more specific and evocative your brand-essence words, the more evocative your images are likely to be. Without a target you don't know what you're shooting for except for bland, generic criteria like “professional” or “friendly” or “attractive”.

Take my client Tyler for instance. Two of the essence words we identified for him are welcome and reflection. Now that’’s an interesting combination. Welcome reaches out; reflection reaches within. So there is a tension here, an edginess, in bringing these qualities together. And this tension expresses part of the experience of working with Tyler. He approaches you with open arms and leaves you with deeper insight. That’s his unique way of being with others, and that’s what needs to come across in his images. Failing to get clear on your brand-essence will often leave you feeling frustrated with the session and with images that are bland, boring and undistinguished.