Have your Cake and Eat it ...

A few weeks ago, I had the honour to capture the story behind the Red Bird cafe in Bray. The cafe is known for its artisan sandwiches made with traditional bakery breads, homemade soups and fresh salads. Catriona, the owner, was very eager to get this across in the brand photos.

I met up with Catriona beforehand and spend an hour or two to go through my questionnaire. This helped me understand the business, its story and and the issues Catriona encountered in relation to branding photography. 'Brand-wise, our photography was inconsistent and didn't always resonate with our brand meaning. Our photography was spontaneous and on the spot and we didn't have a bank of quality images to drip feed into our social media platforms', according to Catriona. 'The images that we were using didn't holistically explain our food, brand and meaning'.

Catriona gave me a good understanding of what style she liked (bright colours and nice patterns) and what she wanted me to photograph.

The day of the shoot went really well. We started with photographing all the food. In addition to this we captured the activites behind the counter, Catriona in front of the counter, as well as the interior. We got a nice collection of different images that weaved into the story of the Red Bird Cafe.

Catriona's feedback after receiving the final images was very positive: 'We now have a huge stock of high quality, on brand images that can be used in a vast variety of online platforms that can be used over years. We can now show to new customers and people who haven't visited our cafe before - what to expect in terms of quality'.

And the investment paid off:'Since using the images as a Facebook banner and also dripping them periodically through both Facebook and Instagram posts, we have succeeded in having both a higher number of online engagements that have translated into higher footfall and increased revenue.'

'We have achieved a level of professionalism online that accurately communicates our brand message and resonates with the quality and service that our customers experience in the cafe. For new customers who first visit us online, they have a more authentic understanding of our brand and this translates into a greater, more impressive online presence. We believe that the growth of the cafe's core business and its outside catering arm is directly connected to online perceptions of brand quality, which has been hugely heightened since working with Karin.’

If you would like to get some more information on how to increase your online engagement and your revenue, you can book a free Discovery Call