Written by: Cate Scaglione - Life As Fine Art

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.”― Aristotle

In addition to my portrait photography business I’m a brand consultant to businesses, big and small, all over the world. One could say I grew up in the luxury business. I’ve attributed most of my business practices to a keen understanding of how luxury brands work – and how their loyal followers feel about them.

Large or small, from corporate enterprises to sole proprietorships, almost every business struggles with building a solid brand. What might surprise you is that branding a business, any sized business, relies more on introspection than any other factor. In essence, for an artist to build a great brand, you need to understand yourself.

Being a brand consultant is very much the same as being a photographer. Like photography, brand consultancy is about seeing your subject objectively, visualizing the whole picture, and composing all the elements in a technically sound way that creates a visual (and therefore emotional) response.

Despite these similarities, I find that many photographers struggle with their own brand development. I’ve served photography clients in different genres (weddings, boudoir, and family photography), different cultures (U.S., Canadian and European), and various life stages of businesses (from newbies to family legacy studios), and their challenges and questions remain fairly the same…

“Why does my brand feel ‘wrong’ despite the past investments I’ve made in it?”

“How do I differentiate my brand?”

“How can my brand attract my ideal client?”

You may be surprised to know that large corporate brands struggle with these very same challenges, although on a much larger scale (and with many more resources at their disposal).

The best brands in the world launch phenomenal brand strategies based on three fundamental elements…

- An understanding of their core competencies and points of differentiation
- A solid understanding of their customer
- An ability to synthesize facts, results and market data to adapt the brand

… all whilst maintaining their strong established brand heritage.

For the professional photographer, this really means starting at the source… yourself.

During my initial consultations with photography brand clients, I often hear them say their brands just feel “wrong”. Upon further inquisition, I usually find this is due to:

- Emulation (mimicking or copying another brand they admire);
- Overpromising (trying to project an image that disconnects from who they really are);
- Not understanding that a brand is a three-dimensional entity – much more than a logo).

My starting point, therefore, is never with the logo, the aesthetics, or the business name. Instead, I always begin with deep introspective exercises.

What is the “YOU” that will be the foundation of your brand?

- Who are you…how do you authentically describe yourself?
- Who are you to others…how would they describe you? How would they describe your imagery?
- How do you want to be known?
- What are your business goals?
- Will your current ways of portraying yourself support those goals?

…And it goes deeper

From this introspective place, you are then in a position to think about the next important entity: your ideal client. You must get to know this hypothetical person, beyond the general demographics, and define what brand marketers call “psychographics”… HOW your clients live, think and feel. Like method acting, you must step into their world and their brains to experience their unique vantage point. Then, you can attain an objectively distinct view of your brand.

Throughout my career, one could say I grew up building luxury brands. This comes from a place of understanding, empathizing and living the values of the clients I’ve served. It’s a realization that buying intentions and brand loyalty go well beyond statistics. Rather, they’re steeped in emotional values.

As photographers, we’re in the business of selling emotions. Therefore, it makes sense to start your brand from an emotional place. Armed with this insight, you can use your brand identity to build a solid strategic plan that will skyrocket your business’s success.