Creating Bespoke Images for the Market Leaders in Contact Centre Security and Transformation

In the new world of call centre security and the safe movement of digital or spoken data, one company has chosen to stand out from the crowd: Eckoh is the market leader in Contact Centre security and transformation, based in Hemel Hempstead, UK and with offices in the US.

Eckoh enlisted the help of Rank Your Domain in a major aspect of their marketing strategy: photography. Eckoh is currently working with Rank Your Domain to build a new website with a fresh, up to the minute look. While graphics, colour, layout and design are all being regenerated, so too is imaging. But instead of going down the standard stock image route, Eckoh decided to embark on a strategy for using bespoke photography.

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Eckoh needed a range of new images for both our Annual Report and for our website. We created a very detailed brief, which Rank Your Domain worked hard to make sure they really understood. A period of poor weather meant juggling dates, but the project was still delivered in a few weeks and we received an excellent set of images that absolutely met our brief, and didn’t look like a bunch of stock photos.

Tony Porter, Head of Global Marketing

The arguments in favour of stock photography are for an off the shelf approach which readily conveys a company message. Their affordability means that popular images tend to crop up again and again. Also finding the right image to use can take up time and while each image may be purchased for one ‘area’ of use, to re-assign that usage to a platform with a much wider reach, for instance, the cover of a brochure, can often lead to further fees. As most stock tends to originate from the United States, everything from dress sense to cars to houses to faces throws their suitability for a UK audience in doubt. Then there is authenticity. A lot of image libraries have wised up to the fact that staged and over-blown emotionally images don't sit well with buyers, but there is still an awful lot of stuff out there. Weighing up the pros and cons, Eckoh decided that this 'bespoke' approach would probably yield far more images for a variety of media.

Bespoke photography is often cheaper than people think

Eckoh created a detailed brief with clear instructions for natural, unforced, and unstaged images. The key for the shoot was diversity. Having as many different people in as many different locations as possible would illustrate the fact that people from all demographics are relying on Eckoh's range of services. Eckoh wanted to show families, as well as individuals or groups of friends. Finally, creating bespoke photography would be useless if Eckoh couldn't use the images how they needed to, so the appropriate contracts were drawn up to give Eckoh the rights to use images across any publication or media.

Step Forward the Actors

Rank Your Domain used several online apps to cross-check the weather and shoots were duly restaged as and when actors and good weather crossed paths. The shoot lasted a total of three days and involved everything from a neatly manicured back garden and offices, as well as public spaces, such as a coffee shop, a park, bars and train stations. In the three days, we created enough images for over a year of social media, a company brochure and for Eckoh's website.

All our actors worked tirelessly to help us create images according to the brief: subtle, unforced and natural, in tune with Eckoh's wishes. A typically English summer of showers and sun led to an extended stay in a cafe, and also helped to create variety in lighting.

The Golden Hour

Our locations included Southampton and Winchester, and took advantage of the soft warmth of the golden hour. On our first day, trying to keep up with the youngsters was exhausting and fun, but not every image we shot made the cut. The end result saw a large range of photos, perfectly in tune with Eckoh's brand and new marketing needs, that can be used across a range of content from digital to print.

This was an amazing shoot for so many reasons. We had a clear brief from Eckoh, but once they saw the pilot shoot come back, they gave us a level of autonomy within the guidelines so there was some freedom. My goal was just to facilitate as many possible images as I could and for quite long periods, I would have the camera to my eye looking for that special moment or interactive spark between actors that conveyed the right mood. Plus, the weather was literally all over the place. Fortunately, our lovely actors just took everything we asked them to do in their stride. To have created as many images as we did is a testiment to the creative team.

NICK LAYTON, PHOTOGRAPHER FOR THE SHOOT