Say It with a Snapshot

You probably heard it said…'a picture is worth a thousand words.' But some pictures could be worth even more. Find out why from Jonathan Schroeder, Chaired Professor of Marketing at the University of Exeter Business School, England. He will be the guest speaker at the University of Michigan-Flint on October 30. Schroeder is a guest of the Student Communications Association and will deliver his presentation at 12:30 p.m. in the Michigan Rooms of University Center. Because of the interest in Schroeder's research, the event is open to the public.

In his lecture Schroeder will analyze the use of snapshots or snapshot-like imagery as an important strategic resource for marketing communications. First, snapshot like images appear authentic, as if they are beyond the artificially constructed world of typical advertising photography. This visual quality can be harnessed to promote brands as authentic, to invoke the "average consumer" as a credible product endorser, and to demonstrate how the brand might fit in with the regular consumer's lifestyle. Second, the snapshot aesthetics supports a casual image of brands, particularly consumer lifestyle brands. Many brands appeal to less formal consumption—from family dinners to online financial management. Popular fashion 2brands, in particular, court casual images for their brands and sub-brands by deploying snapshot-like photographs in high profile branding campaigns for their everyday clothing lines. In this way, photographic style helps articulate market segmentation strategy.
Schroeder's research focuses on three main questions: 1) How does visual communication create value? 2) How can we understand the cultural aspects of brands, consumption, and communication? ,and 3) What is the relationship between image and identity?
His book, "Visual Consumption", draws from art history, photography, and visual studies to develop an interdisciplinary, image-based approach to understanding consumer behavior and how images create value His latest book, Brand Culture, includes contributions by marketing, management, organizational studies, consumer research, and communication researchers, and provides a handy guide to the latest thinking about brands.