Commercial or advertising/advertorial photography is confusing to many, usually because it is seen more as editorial. However, editorial images typically fall into what most people would consider "news." Images that appear in editorial content are almost always there to help illustrate the topic of the story. Understanding what counts as advertising or commercial content is typically easiest when phrased as "anything that's not editorial." The commercial realm covers everything that is trying to promote, sell, or otherwise market something. So, it's obvious that print ads, infomercials, and sales brochures count as commercial use. But commercial use goes far beyond just advertisements. Does your company have a blog that helps promote your products and services? That's commercial/advertorial. Creating a cover photo for your company's Facebook page? That's commercial/advertorial, too. These rules apply equally whether your business operates as a for-profit or nonprofit.

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The core difference in commercial photos is that the people shown in the image have signed a release form that legally allows their likeness to be shown in a commercial context, unlike celebrities or passersby being photographed (sometimes without their knowledge) at public events.

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Once you've identified whether your content needs are editorial or commercial, you can contact a photographer to help you develop your content and images to match your needs. In many cases, companies of all sizes choose to work with a marketing or advertising agency to help develop the overall vision. Marketing and advertising agencies have creative directors and art directors to assist the process of concept to reality, photographers like myself work closely with clients and agencies to bring a client’s vision in original art content to life.

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You may be saying, but I am a small company, do I need all this process? I would say yes. I have worked with companies as small as 2 employees to thousands of employees worldwide. One thing all of these companies have in common is that they all chose to go through an advertorial process to obtain the correct images that made all the difference in the world for growth and success. It is common practice for companies like Budweiser, Coca-Cola, Banana Republic, J.Crew, Quicksilver, Billabong, etc. to work through this process for every advertorial campaign. However, you may be surprised that your local mom-and-pop restaurant which has been in business for 50 years has gone through a similar process, even if it’s just for their menu images.

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If you require an advertorial photographer in Los Angeles (or worldwide) for your brand/company or simple advice as to where to turn to, click on the link below to schedule a no-obligation consultation.