From Gucci to MAC: Behind-the-Scenes of Stunning Product Photography

00:00:10 Saikat Pyne: Hello. I'm sale marketer, Creative and all around Alpha nerd. Welcome to the you incorporated podcast On this show, I catch up with bad ass entrepreneurs, marketers, storytellers and content creators to understand how they built their personal brands, their voices their way. If you want to carve out an individual agenda with your work and take charge of your own narrative, you are in the right place. 00:00:54 Saikat Pyne: Hello. Hello. Welcome to the you Incorporated podcast. Please join me in welcoming Guy three Patel, the co-founder of G Story, a Mumbai based creative agency that offers product photography and product styling solutions. Over the past two years, 00:01:11 Saikat Pyne: Guy three has worked with over 60 brands, including the likes of Gucci, Nika, Lakme, Body Shop, Mac Ole Loreal, among others, helping them create gorgeous visual content that drives their brand narratives forward. Welcome to the podcast Guide three. So tell me, if I am the founder of AD t C retail brand, why is it even important for me to consider a product photoshoot? 00:01:38 Gayatri Patel: You know, that's a very interesting question. Especially in a world where everything has gone digital. More so. In fact, after the covid 19 pandemic, uh, social media platforms are populated with so much content. And with everyone scrolling through social media, the speed of lightning, it is very important for your brand to kind of, you know, rise above the clutter and stand out amongst the so many other players out there and have a visual voice of its own. 00:02:07 Gayatri Patel: And, uh, creative photo shoots, be it product or, you know, talent shoots help. You do just that. It literally helps you bring the brand and product alive and narrate a story which kind of helps you entice your audience. 00:02:22 Saikat Pyne: So tell me, how do you take clients through a product photo 00:02:28 Saikat Pyne: shoot? When do I come to you? When is the right time for me as a founder to approach you for a product photo shoot. 00:02:35 Gayatri Patel: So it could be for a launch of, you know, a new product that you are going to introduce. Or it could just be as a sustenance content, you know, for your social media. Uh, either or you could come when you have a brief in place and 00:02:48 Gayatri Patel: and you have, you know, a strategy in place. And right after that, we would help. You kind of chalk out the visual language for the same we where we literally bring that product to life. 00:03:01 Saikat Pyne: Right? So how do I define brand elements that you can then translate into these gorgeous visuals? Uh, for my brand. 00:03:09 Gayatri Patel: I think every brand, you know, has a very distinct story to tell. Every brand has its own US p, for example, some skincare brands, uh, focus on the ingredients they use. While, um, a beauty brand can focus on the fact that they are cruelty free or, uh, use vegan products. 00:03:30 Gayatri Patel: So it is important to bring this core value that sets you apart from the rest of the brands alive through the visuals. And having said that, the attention span, you know, of an average consumer scrolling through digital platforms is ridiculously low. Which is why the visuals need to be striking to make one kind of stop stare and also redirect because at the end of the day, it, um, has to convert to sales. 00:03:58 Gayatri Patel: So it's very important to kind of bring that brand story alive through the visuals that you create. 00:04:04 Saikat Pyne: Right? So, um, now, tell me this, uh, how do I come up with products that are inherently photogenic because, uh, just like people, I'm sure there are some products that are easier to shoot. And then there are products that are just so reflective that that that they might be very, very difficult 00:04:25 Saikat Pyne: to shoot. So is it important as a founder for me to keep in mind as to how this product will appear? Uh, you know, in my social media promotions, should that dictate product strategy as well? Or you think it's more of an afterthought as to how the product should appear? Uh, in in promotional content? 00:04:46 Gayatri Patel: I definitely don't think it should be an afterthought, because, um, the brand language, which includes the brand identity and the packaging, is extremely crucial. So, um, your product may look appealing with the naked eye, but if they don't photograph well, it could be a total miss. So I suggest, you know, doing 00:05:06 Gayatri Patel: a thorough research on digital platforms of local as well as global brands. See what they're doing. Um, see what's looking appealing, what's not looking appealing? I also suggest, you know, talking to content creation agencies or product stylists and learning What are the limitations? Um, you know, we face while bringing a product 00:05:27 Gayatri Patel: live through the visual Me mediums like images or videos Because, um, when you want to cover your product in all of the different kinds of mediums, be it images or videos or gifs, you need to make sure that it kind of, um translates well in all of the mediums. And the more you talk to people you know within the field, the more insight you get as to what works and what doesn't. 00:05:55 Saikat Pyne: Right? So if I am a first time founder, what are the couple of no nos right of the bat? Uh, that that would hamper me and and my agency from creating good visuals for my product. I think 00:06:09 Gayatri Patel: one of the key points to keep in mind is, uh, the brand identity. 00:06:14 Gayatri Patel: The branding on the product needs to be legible. And in order to do so, it needs to kind of, you know, be big enough to make sure that it's registered with the consumers. Uh, especially because, you know, we did talk about how social media and I mean all digital media platforms are so populated that you need your product to be striking to kind of rise above that clutter and, um 00:06:39 Gayatri Patel: Secondly, I think mat products really translate. Well, uh, in terms of, you know, photoshoots because they don't reflect a lot of, um I mean, they don't reflect at all, which is why, um it translates beautifully into, you know, visuals. But having said that, even the reflective products do, But then 00:07:02 Gayatri Patel: it also depends on how you are positioning that product, which also defines the visual strategy that you go forward with. So I think just thorough research would be, uh, extremely crucial in this space. So 00:07:18 Saikat Pyne: just off the bat, do some amount of research as to what your competitors are doing in terms of branding, 00:07:25 Saikat Pyne: uh, number two. Try and not keep all your labels to be very, very reflective because that creates some issues in terms of photography. And number three is doing some amount of research in terms of how you'd like to position the product, right, because that will then translate into visuals, right? That was really helpful. 00:07:47 Saikat Pyne: The branding has to come through with the product because because the branding will make the product stand out. So it's important for the for the for the brand to translate into visuals. 00:08:00 Saikat Pyne: Uh, because the the product is the hero of the of the visual content. Right? So the product has to stand on its own 00:08:08 Gayatri Patel: merit. Yes, yes. So, for example, see a very light pink coloured product. Probably don't go for a white, um, colour as the text. You know, the label use something which is a little bit more darker, so that when you actually, you know, shoot it for a video or a or an image, it actually stands out. 00:08:29 Saikat Pyne: So if I am launching a brand die three, what are the first couple of videos that I must produce for my product? Let's imagine me as the founder of a sneaker brand, right? What are the first couple of, uh, product videos that I must create to get the word out about my brand? 00:08:50 Gayatri Patel: If you're a sneaker brand, you must definitely create a video where you also showcasing a person wearing the sneakers because at the end of the day, you need to also be relatable. And in order to do that, it's a lot more relatable when you see the product on a person and just see how it's looking. 00:09:10 Gayatri Patel: Um, just, you know, really close cuts of the product where you show the details. When you, um you know, bring out your collection and you also show the person probably, you know, um, feeling confident because you also want to focus on how you feel once you use that product because that's a very, very, um, 00:09:30 Gayatri Patel: crucial point to kind of put across because it instantly kind of connects with the consumer that's watching that video just to focus on that feeling that you get when you're using the product. 00:09:42 Gayatri Patel: I think it's also very important to kind of, you know, showcase how your brand is different from the thousands of other other brands that are already in the market. So to show that in your first few video showcases would be very, very important and crucial in order to kind of entice your consumer 00:10:03 Saikat Pyne: right, just show. Don't tell, right? Don't tell me that it's comfortable. Just show me that 00:10:10 Saikat Pyne: it appears comfortable, and I'll understand that, uh, you know, it is. It is a, uh, a sneaker targeted for people who are, you know, keen on getting something more comfortable. It's it's just get me to understand from the visuals rather than putting a lot of text on the screen. Uh, that that that, you know, sort of shouts, uh, the the product treats. It's better for me to realise that on my own than we 00:10:38 Saikat Pyne: talked to and and been spoken to, uh, you know, in a manner, uh, you know, from the marketing team, right? 00:10:46 Saikat Pyne: Right. So let's now speak about this global trend towards minimalism in marketing, right? Uh, every brand globally is going towards this design language where, like, you said, less is more, uh, and and 00:11:04 Saikat Pyne: And product visuals are meant to be just a way, uh, for brands to showcase, uh, their products and not much else. Uh, so there's none of the charade of, you know, very bright, very sort of popping, uh, visuals and a and and a lot of, uh, sort of elements in the background. Uh, it's it's 00:11:26 Saikat Pyne: pretty much crisp, clean, and just a product with a very smart, uh, sort of, uh, copyrighting line. So is that true for Indian, uh, advertising as well? Or do you think Indian advertising is still sort of holding on to its maximalist? Slightly more vivid imagery and slightly more vivid, uh, product visuals and uh, video? 00:11:49 Gayatri Patel: No. In fact, I feel like a lot of brands now are taking the minimalist route. And it's extremely refreshing to see, um, brands doing that because, as they say, less is more. And, um, minimalism definitely makes for a very striking visual strategy because, um, 00:12:09 Gayatri Patel: this way your product is the hero of the visual. Be it an image, beat a video or be it, you know, even AJ. And, uh, this is very important in order to create a recall value for your consumer because, um, like, you know, we discussed that social media is a very, very populated pot platform. And in order to kind of stand out, 00:12:33 Gayatri Patel: you need to have a very striking visual. And if there are too many elements in a visual, it could be a total miss, and it may not create that recall value for your brand. So it's very important for the consumer to register the brand or product that they are seeing. So, um, 00:12:52 Gayatri Patel: it almost works like a movie where, and there can only be one hero, and all of the other elements that you probably use in the frame could be, you know, the supporting actors or the supporting cast. That just kind of help you tell your story better. They don't have to kind of take centre stage. Your product can take the centre stage, and these elements can just kind of help you tell your story a little bit better. And, uh, that way it makes for a very 00:13:20 Gayatri Patel: striking visual. And, um, there was something that I read in design school that stayed with me. And, uh, it's something that I applied to my work till today, and, um, that was good. Design is not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away, And, um, it's a very meaningful line and that stayed with me. And it's something that I kind of, you know, try to 00:13:48 Gayatri Patel: apply to my work as well, 00:13:52 Saikat Pyne: right? Right. Now, tell me, guys, there's also been this trend of virtual photography, right? There are brands like three kit that are coming up, uh, where you can click a bunch of photos of your product from various angles. These are, you know primarily for e-commerce. Um 00:14:14 Saikat Pyne: uh, you know, either pick bulky products that might be a bit difficult to uh, you know, uh, take photos of in, uh, a traditional studio setting. Uh, some of these are just, uh, you know, PR e-commerce products, like clothes or, uh, or or, uh, you know, even, uh, other sort of, uh, other products, uh, from health care. Uh, and and, uh, and, uh, apparel and and accessories. Right. 00:14:42 Saikat Pyne: Do you think over the longer, uh, you know, uh, period of five or 10 years that these virtual photos, uh, and and virtual photography brands would be the future of modern e-commerce? Because 00:14:58 Saikat Pyne: e-commerce is also, at a certain level about, uh, you know, being able to onboard these products and from our conversation, it seems to me that, uh, shooting a product would need a lot of technical expertise on the part of the photographer, right? Uh, especially for d t C brands. That might be, you know, a bit of a luxury on day one. Uh, so do you think that there is real potential in virtual photography? 00:15:26 Gayatri Patel: I mean, it's definitely great to see technology advance so much. Um, but at the same time, of course, technology cannot give you the distinctness. You know, of a creative mind or it cannot, um, show you the reality of that product and its text. 00:15:43 Gayatri Patel: Of course, you know, it is accurate to a certain level, but, um, you know, it can definitely give you conceptualised campaigns that set your brand apart. But if you're using this for e-commerce, it could definitely be a quick fix to kind of, you know, um, 00:15:59 Gayatri Patel: get your product out there like you mentioned for, uh, bulky products. It could be really, really, you know, easy to kind of photograph your product and then put it up on your e-commerce website. Uh, but I think only the future will tell us, You know what, virtual photography. Or, you know, even artificial intelligence, for that matter, um holds for us because it's still, I think I would say 00:16:27 Gayatri Patel: a little bit of a distant future away because it needs to. I mean, we are sorry. I like to just go again because we also need to make sure that while you are photographing these products virtually, they also kind of, you know, look as real as possible. So 00:16:47 Gayatri Patel: that's I think, key because now everyone purchasing products on e-commerce want to see the product as real as possible. So especially with, you know, apparels, it's very, very crucial to show the actual colour, the actual texture show them real to an extent that they the consumer exactly knows you know what they are getting at the end of the day, because, um, that's quite crucial, I would say 00:17:16 Saikat Pyne: So tell me if I am the founder of a of a retail brand and I want to reach out to G story. Uh, how do I do that? 00:17:26 Gayatri Patel: You can reach out to us on instagram. Our instagram handle is the G story. Um, you can probably d m us, or you could, um, get in touch with us, even on LinkedIn. And then we will happy. We will be happy to help you and take it forward from there. 00:17:43 Saikat Pyne: There you have it, folks. In case you do want some gorgeous visuals for your brand or you'd want to get a photoshoot done for yourself or your colleagues or your products. Feel free to hit up guide three. Uh, and she'll be happy to help you with some truly amazing shots of your products or your people 00:18:05 Saikat Pyne: with that. It's a wrap on the you incorporated podcast Thank you for listening. We'll be back next week with another lovely guest. 00:18:23 Saikat Pyne: Thank you for tuning into the you incorporated podcast with me Sack. 00:18:28 Saikat Pyne: You can write to me at contact at the rate sa pine dot com. That is s a i k a t p Y N e dot com 00:18:40 Saikat Pyne: d m me on most social platforms and check out my YouTube channel for more interesting content on personal branding, PR and creativity catch you guys in the next episode.