With the exception of these few weeks of sun, North Dakota weather sucks. The last thing anyone in Fargo-Moorhead wants to think about is winter and the ominous gray that looms over everything from October through April.
From a marketing standpoint, you absolutely must start thinking about all of your advertising executions from October through April in the summer. So many times in the Creative Department we’re asked to produce ads for companies that promote being local with stock images. Or we need to do more abstract design concepts for products that aren’t available. There’s nothing wrong with being abstract but abstract for the lack of substance falls short.
Use the summer to your advantage and do all your video and photography at once. If you know that you will be promoting a spring sale in March, take your photos in August. You will have stronger materials. Images have pretty good shelf life and can be used for a year or two. Getting in the habit of taking your photos early lets you use the entire catalog for the whole year.
Video works the same. More natural light and longer days keep production costs down. Planning a year’s worth of sunny video saves money. With enough planning, five commercials can be canned out in a couple of days, so why not spend two full days now rather than five half days throughout the year where short days, poor lighting, blizzards or illness can break the bank.
Designers are magicians and illusionists. They manipulate images to make great art. Designers are not conjurers. They cannot make summer appear out of winter. Save time. Save money. Do it right with a little planning.