Visual marketing is the discipline studying the relationship between an object, the context it is placed in and its relevant image. Representing a disciplinary link between economy, visual perception laws and cognitive psychology,[1] the subject mainly applies to businesses such as fashion and design.
As a key component of modern marketing, visual marketing focuses on studying and analyzing how images can be used to make objects the center of visual communication. The intent is that the product and its visual communication therefore become strategically linked and inseparable and their fusion is what reaches out to people, engages them and defines their choices (a marketing mechanism is known as persuasion[2]). Not to be confused with visual merchandising, that is one of its facets and more about retail spaces; here, Marketing gets customers in the door. Once inside, merchandising takes over—affecting placement of products, signage, display materials, ambiance and employee staffing.
Harnessing the power of images and visuals can make a marketing plan more powerful and more memorable. Images — when done deftly – can turn concepts and intangible things into something more concrete influencing the perception of the intended viewer. That helps people envision a brand and its message in their mind's eye — and remember it when it comes time to buy.[3]
Visual marketing can be a part of every aspect of the Communication Mix. Marketing persuades consumer's buying behaviour and Visual Marketing enhances that by factors of recall, memory and identity.
Growing trends in the usage of picture based websites and social networking platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, Timeline feature of Facebook justifies the fact that people want to believe what they see, and therefore, need for Visual Marketing.
Visual marketing includes all visual cues like logo, signage, sales tools, vehicles, packaging, labeling, uniforms, right to your Advertisements, Brochures, Informational DVDs, Websites, everything that meets the Public Eye and can create a direct visual reference for a brand, product or service.
History
Table showing the evolution of Visual Marketing in terms of Time-Perception-Critical interpretation – Paolo Schianchi
The roots of this way of interpreting objects lie in Susan Sontag's essay Notes on "Camp", written back in the 1960s; the author points out that objects are not interesting in themselves but rather in the way they are represented, being the result of a series of considerations that touch upon the object's history, its symbolism, its manifestation and realization in the eyes of the beholder.[4] As it developed, visual marketing highlighted the masking of an object, which instead of just being a product, turns into the star of its own 'production", so it changes from itself into something else, at the precise moment it enters the market.[5] According to Paolo Schianchi, architect and designer, an Italian visual marketing academic:[6]
“(...) Objects are: real, as what we see; visible - what they are made from; perfect - their classic identity; communication - their bond with taste; form and function - container and content; emotion - the story they can evoke; critical operation - the language that consecrates and exposes it; industrial operation - making them active and productive; image - the what and the how; anonymous - merely because it exits (...)“
All of these components – that belong to and define an objects from the viewpoint of the market and of the consumer – are the research and planning nuances that encompass the scope of visual marketing.
So, this branch "(...) acts on several levels of the design of an object: the idea (objects have to meet certain functions and be neutral, round, sharp-edged, eccentric shapes etc.); the communication (for a certain period in one geographic zone, then turned into a luxury item, at another time disguised as eco-friendly etc.) and in the end, the exhibition – in a trade fair, in a showroom and at other events (the object is approachable but its context drops it into atmospheres as an unusual industrial find, an emotional dispenser of functions, unapproachable art and design object, etc.). (...)".[7]
In the words of Umberto Galimberti, Italian philosopher and psychoanalyst[8]"(...) Even when there is no lack of money, the desire – now defined by fashion – does not refer so much to objects as to the myths surrounding them, and often the only thing being consumed is the myth itself…… (...)".
This concept is taken up again by Gillo Dorfles in his book "Il feticcio quotidiano" (The daily fetish): "(...) This is why I believe I can say that it is now possible to talk about a new ergonomic standard, not connected to the height of a desk or to the pneumatic quality of padding but to the creation of that “mythical image” that a design object must present if it is really right for the purpose it was designed for (...)"..[9]
The mythology that covers objects to the point of becoming one with them, is decoded, in this branch through the study of various visual and verbal languages belonging to the groups of interest.
So visual marketing draws the attention away from traditional targets to focus on “...interest groups that are no longer broken down by age, gender, education or any other personal records and social contexts but by type of involvement, whether it be sports (golf or football fans), personal (wine connoisseurs or collectors), cultural (art and classical music lovers), etc. All these groups contain visual, verbal, sound, gesture, olfactory and formal codes that they refer to and use to communicate... ”[10] So, the expressive group behaviours lie behind the new sub-alphabets whose decoding can be used to create direct marketing methods with the group itself.
One of the people inspiring this almost anthropological approach is Marc Augé, who in his book “Le temps en ruines” (Time in ruins) notes that: “the world where image is omnipresent requires the reality to be reflected in its image...”.[11] Paolo Schianchi's research[12] underscored how the act of putting together the image of the reality generated by each interest group is composed of language sets made of words, sounds, images, smells and shapes that give rise to various sub-alphabets when combined differently. If correctly decoded, these expressive elements become the means to get in touch with a group and direct a message inside it[13] This aspect of visual marketing helps to create targeted marketing campaigns that go straight to the users’ emotions and representations of reality, using their own expressive language
The roots of this principle lie in Vilém Flusser's “Into the universe of technical images” (originally published as Ins Universum der technischen Bilder), where he claims: “ ... all ethics, all ontology, all epistemology will be excluded from the pictures, and it will become meaningless to ask whether something good or bad, real or artificial, true or false, or even what it means. The only remaining question is what I can experience...”.[14] This is how the author introduced the concept of the expressive emotion at the origin of visual and verbal sub-alphabets, which belong to each individual at the moment they become part of an interest group. Visual marketing has taken these concepts onboard and to communicate a product to a group it decodes their emotional and individual languages, because we now know that everyone lives“... a double life, where each person is the representation of themselves, becoming inseparable from the physical person, as objects are from their image...”[15]
Visual Marketing consultants plan around this, moving from the design of the object to its visual display, and in so doing creating the mythology around it. Theories on visual marketing have been developed by author and professor in Consumer Science, Michel Wedel.[16][17]
Infographics
It is one of the most popular visual content format and we must use this visual marketing format. Not only do infographics communicate a ton of information in a visually appealing and easy-to-understand manner, but they are also one of the most shared pieces of visual content.
Memes and Branded Quotes
Another must-have visual content type is the meme and/or branded quote. Currently this visual format are the most shareable content type over social media platforms. In this case, we used big, bold text in combination with an impactful image to attract viewers' attention as they scroll down their feeds.
Video
Videos are the best visual marketing format on the web today. There are numerous types of videos that can enhance your business – you could consider how-to videos, animated explainer videos, demonstrations or customer testimonials.
Images
Marketer Jeff Bullas cites that articles [18] with images get 94% more views than those without. When you put some quality images within any content, people are more inclined to finish reading what you’ve written.
Presentations
Presentations are not restricted to just the boardroom, now it is can be shared with world via sites like Slideshare. You can expand the outreach of your business utilizing presentation. A great SlideShare presentation allows you to inform and communicate to your audience, no matter what device they are using.
Related Research Articles
Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art whose activity consists in projecting visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of design and of the fine arts. Its practice involves creativity, innovation and lateral thinking using manual or digital tools, where it is usual to use text and graphics to communicate visually.
A corporate identity or corporate image is the manner in which a corporation, firm or business enterprise presents itself to the public. The corporate identity is typically visualized by branding and with the use of trademarks, but it can also include things like product design, advertising, public relations etc. Corporate identity is a primary goal of corporate communication, aiming to build and maintain company identity.
In marketing, market segmentation is the process of dividing a broad consumer or business market, normally consisting of existing and potential customers, into sub-groups of consumers based on shared characteristics.
In marketing, brand management begins with an analysis on how a brand is currently perceived in the market, proceeds to planning how the brand should be perceived if it is to achieve its objectives and continues with ensuring that the brand is perceived as planned and secures its objectives. Developing a good relationship with target markets is essential for brand management. Tangible elements of brand management include the product itself; its look, price, and packaging, etc. The intangible elements are the experiences that the target markets share with the brand, and also the relationships they have with the brand. A brand manager would oversee all aspects of the consumer's brand association as well as relationships with members of the supply chain.
Digital asset management (DAM) and the implementation of its use as a computer application is required in the collection of digital assets to ensure that the owner, and possibly their delegates, can perform operations on the data files.
Marketing Communications refers to the use of different marketing channels and tools in combination. Marketing communication channels focus on how businesses communicate a message to its desired market, or the market in general. It is also in charge of the internal communications of the organization. Marketing communication tools include advertising, personal selling, direct marketing, sponsorship, communication, public relations, social media, customer journey and promotion.
An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and concepts into one large media base. Advertising campaigns utilize diverse media channels over a particular time frame and target identified audiences.
Salience is the state or condition of being prominent. The Oxford English Dictionary defines salience as "most noticeable or important." The concept is discussed in communication, semiotics, linguistics, sociology, psychology, and political science. It has been studied with respect to interpersonal communication, persuasion, politics, and its influence on mass media.
Object hyperlinking is a term that refers to extending the Internet to objects and locations in the real world. Object hyperlinking aims to extend the Internet to the physical world by attaching tags with URLs to tangible objects or locations. These object tags can then be read by a wireless mobile device and information about objects and locations retrieved and displayed.
Technical Illustration is illustration meant to visually communicate information of a technical nature. Technical illustrations can be components of technical drawings or diagrams. Technical illustrations in general aim "to generate expressive images that effectively convey certain information via the visual channel to the human observer".
A target audience is the intended audience or readership of a publication, advertisement, or other message catered specifically to said intended audience. In marketing and advertising, it is a particular group of consumer within the predetermined target market, identified as the targets or recipients for a particular advertisement or message. Businesses that have a wide target market will focus on a specific target audience for certain messages to send, such as The Body Shops Mother's Day advertisements, which were aimed at the children and spouses of women, rather than the whole market which would have included the women themselves. A target audience is formed from the same factors as a target market, but it is more specific, and is susceptible to influence from other factors. An example of this was the marketing of the USDA's food guide, which was intended to appeal to young people between the ages of 2 and 18.
Co-creation, in the context of a business, refers to a product or service design process in which input from consumers plays a central role from beginning to end. Less specifically, the term is also used for any way in which a business allows consumers to submit ideas, designs or content. This way, the firm will not run out of ideas regarding the design to be created and at the same time, it will further strengthen the business relationship between the firm and its customers. Another meaning is the creation of value by ordinary people, whether for a company or not.
Visual Merchandising is the practice in the retail industry of optimizing the presentation of products and services to better highlight their features and benefits. The purpose of such visual merchandising is to attract, engage, and motivate the customer towards making a purchase.
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and store value as brand equity for the object identified, to the benefit of the brand's customers, its owners and shareholders. Brand names are sometimes distinguished from generic or store brands.
The cultural consumer describes a person who avidly consumes art, books, music, and live cultural events within a society. With the rise of expressive technologies, cultural consumers have harnessed the Internet to fuel their own creative efforts. The term was coined by author Patricia Martin in her book, The Rise of the Cultural Consumer and What It Means For Your Business, in which she suggests that the convergence of art, technology and entertainment is remaking the American consumer.
Paolo Schianchi, is an Italian architect and designer.
Native advertising, also called sponsored content, partner content, and branded journalism, is a type of paid advertising that appears in the style and format of the content near the advertisement's placement. It manifests as a post, image, video, article or editorial piece of content. In some cases it functions like an advertorial. The word native refers to this coherence of the content with the other media that appear on the platform.
Michel Wedel is the PepsiCo Chaired Professor of Consumer Science in the Robert H. Smith School of Business, and a Distinguished University Professor, at the University of Maryland, College Park. He works on the development of statistical and econometric methods to analyze and predict consumer behavior, in addition to market segmentation and eye tracking research.
Food blogging is a feature of food journalism interlinking a gourmet interest in food, blog writing, and food photography. Food blogs are generally written by food enthusiasts often referred to as a “foodies” and can be used commercially by the blogger to earn a profit. The first food blog launched in July, 1997 as a running feature on the Chowhound web site. Titled “What Jim Had for Dinner”, Chowhound founder Jim Leff cataloged his daily eating.
Pino Grimaldi, born Giuseppe Grimaldi, was an Italian designer and academic.
References
↑ David E. Meyer, University of Michigan, review to volume Visual marketing
↑ Fathali M. Moghaddam, Psicologia sociale, Zanichelli 2002 - Vie principali e vie secondarie, based on R. E. Petty-J. T. Cacioppo, The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion, in L. Berkowitz, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 19, S. 123–205 - New York, Academic Press
↑ Visual Marketing: 99 Proven Ways for Small Businesses to Market with Images and Design
↑ Susan Sontag, Notes on "Camp", Partisan Review 1964
↑ Jim Bettman, Duke University, Fuqua School of Business: "Although vision is perhaps the primary human sensory modality, vision research is perhaps the most advanced of research on sensory systems, and marketers provide a multitude of visual information to consumers via ads, packaging, and other media" (...) ISBN978-0-8058-6292-8
↑ P. Schianchi, Nuvole di estetica e prodotto, S. 39, ISRE Edizioni Salesiane, year XVII, No. 1, 2010
↑ P. Schianchi, Nuvole di estetica e prodotto, p. 39, ISRE Edizioni Salesiane, year XVII, n° 1, 2010
↑ U. Galimberti, I miti del nostro tempo, Feltrinelli 2009 - p. 103
↑ G. Dorfles, Il feticcio quotidiano, Castelvecchi Editore, 2012, p. 138, edited by Massimo Carboni
↑ Paolo Schianchi, I linguaggi del visual marketing: gli architetti non sono tutti uguali. in: B&O, n. 356, year XXXVIII, p.28-29, Ed. Gruppo 24 Ore, Milano, 2012.
↑ Marc Augé, Rovine e macerie, p. 131, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri 2004
↑ Antonella Camisasca, La forma che non t'aspetti. in: B&O, n. 356, year XXXVIII, Ed. Gruppo 24 Ore, Milano, 2012
↑ Paolo Schianchi, I linguaggi del visual marketing: gli architetti non sono tutti uguali. in: B&O, n. 356, year XXXVIII, p.28-29, Ed. Gruppo 24 Ore, Milano, 2012.
↑ Vilém Flusser, Immagini, come la tecnologia ha cambiato la nostra percezione del mondo, p. 179, Roma, Fazi, 2009
↑ Paolo Schianchi, Design. La raffigurazione di se stesso, p. 19, Il Sole 24 Ore Business Media, 2010
↑ Visual Marketing, 2007. M. Wedel and F.G.M. Pieters (Eds.), New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Marketing and Consumer Psychology Series, C.P. Haugtvedt (series Editor)
P. Schianchi, Verso il bagno Camp, Il Sole 24 Ore Business Media, 2008
Umberto Galimberti, I miti del nostro tempo, Feltrinelli 2009
Paolo Schianchi, Visual marketing. L'immagine fotografica, in CE International n. 226, Il Sole 24 Ore Business Media 2009
R. Pieters, M. Wedel, Goal Control of Visual Attention to Advertising: The Yarbus Implication, in Journal of Consumer Research no. 34, August 2007, pages 224-233
R. Van der Lans, R. Pieters, M. Wedel, Competitive Brand Salience, Marketing Science, 27(5), 2008
M. Wedel R. Pieters, Eye Tracking for Visual Marketing, Now publishers Inc, 2008
P. Schianchi, Nuvole di estetica e prodotto, ISRE Edizioni Salesiane, year XVII, no. 1, 2010
P. Schianchi, Visual Marketing, in B & A No. 247, Il Sole 24 Ore, 2011
D.Langton and A. Campbell, Visual Marketing. 99 proven ways for small business to market with images and design, WILEY * John Wiley & Sons inc., Hoboken, New Jersey, 2011
P. Schianchi, L'immagine è un oggetto. Fondamenti di visual marketing con storytelling, libreriauniversitaria.it edizioni, Padova 2013. ISBN978-88-6292-413-9
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