Authentic. What does it really mean? Where has it taken our creative practices? And how does it relate to the stock images that we choose?
If you look around you might notice “authentic” has become an overused, empty buzzword. Brands like Pizza Hut are trying it out with their “imperfect crust” and Lowe’s is throwing it around to describe products of a certain aesthetic. You know it — reclaimed wood, Edison lightbulbs, and quirky table settings that are carefully arranged to look eclectic. It's starting to feel staged and is being dismissed. Jordan Teicher, from Contently, writes that he actually groans then edits it from copy, arguing that:
"the more (brands) push for authenticity, across all industries, the less the word means."
We couldn’t agree more. Authentic as a marketing buzzword has become meaningless.
As with most trends, it started with good intentions. It encouraged creatives to speak from a place of integrity and to relate to their audiences on a more genuine, personal level. When done right, the shift has proven successful. From an often quoted study by Cohn & Wolfe, “Sixty-three per cent of global consumers would buy from a company they consider to be authentic over and above competitors.” Customers humanize and identify with their chosen brands more than ever. It’s like looking for a new roommate. They do background checks by researching to see if brands have aligned values and if they stand by them. Companies who are “being themselves” are winning.
So how do brands convey who they are to their audiences? Through all of their messaging. Visual and verbal. Enter authentic images.
In the stock photography industry, “authentic” has been on the table for a long time. An authentic look came as a backlash to over-produced, stocky looking imagery. Cheesy images feel out of place and lead to brand distrust. We know this. Content creators need to deliver images that are true to the essence of “authentic”, in other words: genuine and real. By choosing these images, your brand message will feel a part of the discussion rather than an interruption. Identifying and avoiding stocky imagery is key to finding the right visuals, but it's important to delve into what makes an authentic looking image.
How do you know you are choosing the most authentic looking images for your stories? Let’s start at the source. Family photos. Look at your favourite family photo. What do you like about it? You know the faces. But more than that, you recognize a real facial expression or a genuine moment. You see these familiarities across all family photos. Look at your friend’s last hiking post on Instagram. Sure the landscape looks amazing, but the way her face isn’t quite perfectly fit in frame is why it resonates with you. Why? Because it feels real. She was there. She was doing that. She always accidentally crops her left ear out. That’s SO her.
Image makers need to capture these nuances, while at the same time remaining aware of all the elements that make an image useful. Copy space, keeping it aspirational, and nailing those oh-so-important demographics. At Hero Images we find it helps to cast real-looking models and capture the real moments between them. All the while getting the releases in place so the images are legally usable.
When choosing stock images to support the authenticity of your brand message, steer towards the images that resonate on an emotional level. If you select images that give you that familiar feeling or capture a moment you recognize, chances are your customers will connect in the same way.
So have we seen the end of authenticity? Nah. Brand messaging must align with a customer's experience of everyday moments. Authenticity in images helps to connect with the experiences of our audience.
Have a look at our collection to see how we capture the moments that your customers identify with.