Analysis

April 30, 2020

Adapt to thrive in uncertain times

How photography company BOOM has adapted to lockdown life — and is helping its restaurant customers do so too through high-quality imagery.


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BOOM

In the past weeks the world has changed, and so have businesses. Everyone has had to reconsider not only their plans, but also the way they communicate online. A lot of companies that thrived on online sales of in-presence experiences have quickly had to find new ways to connect with their audiences, maintaining a bond that can last through the crisis. 

Airbnb moved ‘Experiences’ online to keep people virtually entertained at home. TheFork, which usually lets you book tables at restaurants, now lets you know which restaurants are available for delivery. And there are countless more examples.  

We ourselves had to extend our offering. Our business is based on providing on-demand, high-quality photos to real estate, travel and food companies by matching them with our extensive network of photographers, and having images delivered to them in just 24 hours. One fundamental asset for us, however, is the mobility of our photographer: typically, they go to the client, something that can’t happen during lockdown. 

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Plan B

We needed to change course — but luckily, so did many of our clients. We quickly realised that in order to continue working during lockdown, many restaurants (or food shops) that did not do delivery before started to deliver. That means more and more restaurants are in need of high-quality imagery as they put their business online. (Using photography can boost restaurants’ online sales by up to 30%.

That got us thinking: how can we provide them with the imagery to entice at-home diners, without our photographers having to leave their own homes? 

We now ask our restaurant clients to deliver their food to our photographers, who then shoot it in a domestic — but professional — setting. The dishes look more like customers receive them (if a little more stylish). 

With BOOM, restaurants and food chains can now go online with professional visuals and start to receive orders in a very short amount of time, keeping their business afloat in this unprecedented situation.  

Adapt ASAP

What does this story tell you? That, to misquote Darwin, it is not the strongest that survives, but the most adaptable. Adaptable not only in remodelling their business in a time of crisis, but also in making all the collateral choices that help any brand become more effective online. 

And this includes a kick-ass visual image, as it’s proven that image quality is critical to marketing success across a wide range of channels and sectors. A few examples?

  • 93% of consumers consider the visual appearance of a product to be a key factor when making a purchase online
  • 90% of online buyers say that photo quality is the most important factor in an online sale
  • 70% of visitors want to view the photo and videos relating to an experience before deciding

As we’re navigating challenging times, perhaps this is the time for brands to reconsider their online presence, not only in terms of contents, but also in terms of image quality. No more crappy visuals, cheesy mobile-app effects, awkward founder and team portraits, or the occasional cheesy stock image sneaking in here and there. This is a goal that can be achieved with a surprisingly tight budget. 

Using high-quality, professional imagery can make a world of difference, as visual contents can help businesses build credibility, stand out above competitors and establish a strong brand identity. And, ultimately, sell more. 

If you want to know more about the solutions we can implement for a wide range of industries across the world, check out our solutions for brands here.

Jacopo Benedetti is the cofounder of BOOM, a tech company that provides clients in over 60 countries with high-quality on-demand photographic solutions, leveraging end-to-end, artificial intelligence-driven integration services to support the entire lifecycle of a photo shoot, from the booking to the delivery of the final images. It creates high-quality visual content for brands in industries such as food, e-commerce, travel and real estate.

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