No images were stolen to create this article: Brandwise owns the rights to the image in the header of this article. This is an example of what a stolen image looks like, notice the “X” going from corner to corner and the “shutterstock” logo as a watermark in the center of the image. Typically this means this is an unpurchased image and the user does not own the right to use it.
So when it comes to building a brand everyone knows images or graphics are part of creating the overall visual presence of your brand. A seasoned company understands the importance of a professional logo, consistent use of colors, themes and images in order to create the look and feel of your brand.
As many people also know the internet is a huge portion of your brand these days and it is becoming more and more important every day. This is a good thing and a bad thing in the grand scheme of traditional branding, you see these days we are giving control over to the public to help create our brands through social media tools and the like. On some levels this is creating an Inmates Running the Asylum.
On others, the public is doing a better job building our brands then we are doing ourselves. Let me explain this statement. Months ago I did some work for a small client. As I reviewed her website I noticed that there was an image that had a watermark over the photo. This was roughly 2 years ago. I brought this to the client’s attention and to this day she still has the stolen image on her site. Now she told me she owned all the photos on the site, but one of the images still has a watermark over it. If the web design person just forgot to change the photo out with the new purchased photo is one thing, but if it is brought to your attention and you still do not change it, that is a whole other issue.
The reason I bring this up is that today I ran across this again. Actually I run across this all the time, but it really bothers me when as in this case it is a marketing person using a stolen image. Worse it was in the header of their website which means it is on every page of their site.
Here is the list of Branding
Faux Pas in this situation:
- The first faux pas is using a stolen image or what looks to be a stolen image on your website.
- The second faux pas is having that image in your header and on all pages of your site. Anyone coming to your site will see this image. If they are familiar with how photography rights work and understand a water mark means a stolen image, does this help or hinder your ability to build trust and establish you as a credible partner to do business with.
- The third faux pas is this site is for a marketing firm. So marketing people should know and understand photography right and how to properly purchase images legally.
- The forth faux pas is not only is this a marketing firm, it is a franchised marketing firm. This tells me that not only is the owner unaware of how to buy images and experienced in marketing in general, but the franchise is also not training the franchisors on how to run a legal and professional marketing business. This is not only soiling the owners name, but the franchise at large.
- The last faux pas is this image cost something like $1 to $5 to buy and use properly. Wow! You’re willing to soil your name, loose trust and credibility in your brand for $5 or less? Yikes!
Honestly sometimes this happens by accident, but often it happens due to ignorance. Maybe Google is to blame by creating Google Images so people think they can search for any image and use whatever they find online. In any case when you are building your brand the goal should be to find images that are 100% your own, not stock photos that anyone can use. Worse, and especially not stolen stock images. Talk about undermining the brand. The whole purpose of branding is creating a space in someones mind that sets you apart from your competitors. You can’t do this with off-the-shelf stock images. Stock images are fine to use, but look for images that are rare, and/or rights-managed so you can control how many other people look exactly like you. This will cost you more, but what is it worth to have a coca-cola, nike or Starbucks?
Take Starbucks as an example they charge $4+ dollars for a coffee. Remember the days when you could go to a dinner and get unlimited coffee for less than a dollar? Why can Starbucks get away with a $4 coffee? Because they created a powerful brand and differentiated themselves from every other coffee place. Next time you go into a Starbucks, look around every image, mug, product, artwork, etc. is strictly a Starbucks branded item. They certainly did not steal their images.
{{cta(‘1a07c4c9-0222-44c3-b3f0-2d2f58c9e63c’)}}
I’ve had this idea kicking around in my head, so maybe you are the person to ask Dale.
Local artists, maybe they do or don’t sell their work on sites like istock, but I have come across some that have great blogs and I’ve always thought it would be a great idea if blogs could post their images with links that go back to the artists page where they could buy the print, or image, or painting.
Similar to what a restaurant or office would do by hanging their art in their space and having the price so people could buy it if they wanted to. I see a lot of that up here in Portland, ME. Tons of creative ppl.
A grassroots branding… seems like a win-win to me.
I’ve had this idea kicking around in my head, so maybe you are the person to ask Dale.
Local artists, maybe they do or don’t sell their work on sites like istock, but I have come across some that have great blogs and I’ve always thought it would be a great idea if blogs could post their images with links that go back to the artists page where they could buy the print, or image, or painting.
Similar to what a restaurant or office would do by hanging their art in their space and having the price so people could buy it if they wanted to. I see a lot of that up here in Portland, ME. Tons of creative ppl.
A grassroots branding… seems like a win-win to me.
Carole,
I think it is great to find local artists to help in this area. Typically local artist’s are going to be willing to get some exposure to their work and so you can create a win-win relationship.
I would talk to a few of them and see what kind of deal you can work. You certainly will bring them much new traffic to their website which is good for them. This could help you get a reasonable deal on the artwork.
One thing you should understand though is that in order to build a truly unique brand you really only want to use images, colors, fonts that will work to set you apart from everyone else. Consistency, personality and uniqueness are the keys to branding. So in a perfect branding world the images you use are only used by you and no one else has access to these images. This may or may not be something you want to think about. So in the example of a local artist, maybe you use a commissioned piece of art that really communicates your brand personality and uniqueness. Then you drive traffic to a page where people can view other pieces from this artist and potentially purchase directly on that page or at least have it be a landing page set up to collect more contacts interested in learning more about how to purchase the art. Keep in mind this is just a thought, some artists will be on board with this some will not.
These are some basic ideas of branding in this manor. Keep in mind this is following best practices and the “rules” of branding. Once you know the “rules” you are then able to break them as long as you consistently break them… like Google changing their logo all the time to add fun. Typically this too would be a branding faux pas, but they turned it into their personality and uniqueness so it works. Stealing images however never works… well, that is unless that is your brand. You know, we are the company that steals all our images. Sadly the people mentioned above were not shooting for this, they just plain out stole the images without regard for their brand or the photo companies rights.
Carole,
I think it is great to find local artists to help in this area. Typically local artist’s are going to be willing to get some exposure to their work and so you can create a win-win relationship.
I would talk to a few of them and see what kind of deal you can work. You certainly will bring them much new traffic to their website which is good for them. This could help you get a reasonable deal on the artwork.
One thing you should understand though is that in order to build a truly unique brand you really only want to use images, colors, fonts that will work to set you apart from everyone else. Consistency, personality and uniqueness are the keys to branding. So in a perfect branding world the images you use are only used by you and no one else has access to these images. This may or may not be something you want to think about. So in the example of a local artist, maybe you use a commissioned piece of art that really communicates your brand personality and uniqueness. Then you drive traffic to a page where people can view other pieces from this artist and potentially purchase directly on that page or at least have it be a landing page set up to collect more contacts interested in learning more about how to purchase the art. Keep in mind this is just a thought, some artists will be on board with this some will not.
These are some basic ideas of branding in this manor. Keep in mind this is following best practices and the “rules” of branding. Once you know the “rules” you are then able to break them as long as you consistently break them… like Google changing their logo all the time to add fun. Typically this too would be a branding faux pas, but they turned it into their personality and uniqueness so it works. Stealing images however never works… well, that is unless that is your brand. You know, we are the company that steals all our images. Sadly the people mentioned above were not shooting for this, they just plain out stole the images without regard for their brand or the photo companies rights.
Dale – your article reminded me that years ago I’d created a brochure for a boat my (then) husband and I owned, which we chartered out to help with the “owning it” part. We’d hired a photographer to take a picture of the boat under sail, and thus knew the photos were unique. Less than a year later I came across a brochure promoting the same model boat for charter (supposedly as the best in its class, blah, blah, blah)- using our photos. Some people are clueless; some people are thieves.
The potential for damage to a company’s reputation can be just as high for either lapse. Being a professional means just that – you pay attention to the details and follow the golden rule, meaning that you pay for the efforts of others, regardless of their product or service.
Dale – your article reminded me that years ago I’d created a brochure for a boat my (then) husband and I owned, which we chartered out to help with the “owning it” part. We’d hired a photographer to take a picture of the boat under sail, and thus knew the photos were unique. Less than a year later I came across a brochure promoting the same model boat for charter (supposedly as the best in its class, blah, blah, blah)- using our photos. Some people are clueless; some people are thieves.
The potential for damage to a company’s reputation can be just as high for either lapse. Being a professional means just that – you pay attention to the details and follow the golden rule, meaning that you pay for the efforts of others, regardless of their product or service.
The internet is truly a blessing/curse. Information is easy to access and easy to steal and misuse. Yesterday, a news story broke that somebody had copied pictures of some local high school students from their Facebook page and posted them to an out of the country porn page. Why? They were clothed. Doing nothing wrong. So, add ‘idle hands’ to crook and stupid?
The internet is truly a blessing/curse. Information is easy to access and easy to steal and misuse. Yesterday, a news story broke that somebody had copied pictures of some local high school students from their Facebook page and posted them to an out of the country porn page. Why? They were clothed. Doing nothing wrong. So, add ‘idle hands’ to crook and stupid?