Straub Collaborative provides a bridge between retail clients and online customers with professional images that capture the essence of a brand.
The old adage that a picture tells a thousand words has never rang more true than in this era of endless information. As commerce moves online, striking images to evoke a response become increasingly important for brands. Straub Collaborative understands the importance of visuals. Its team of photographers, stylists, project managers and developers work together to craft more than 100,000 images every quarter.
Go-To market faster in Hong Kong
The Hong Kong office was a natural extension for Straub as many of its apparel and footwear clients’ samples are produced in the region. “We believed that we could capture the sample imagery faster due to the proximity to manufacturing facilities. In turn, we can enable speed to market – a race to list that hot selling item online can really impact revenue generation.” explained Jenmon Jenkins, Straub Collaborative’s Managing Director for Asia Pacific. “During the pandemic, we were able to move projects between our American and Hong Kong studios to accommodate the production needs of our clients and when logistics were challenged. Boston sent projects to Hong Kong as the studio was in locked down. One of the advantages of our different studios is that we proudly work across time zones: when Hong Kong went home for the day, the American offices picked up where we left off for post-production.”
Jenkins feels that a strong image is the driver behind successful eCommerce businesses, as it forms the connection between a brand and a customer. “Unlike a physical store where you may have the best sales staff to connect and interact with you, eCommerce needs to elicit a meaningful response—whether it’s clicked to buy, lead you to further research on social media or share with a friend,” she elaborated. “The imagery needs to tell the story of the brand, and the product needs to be convincing. The art of photography fulfills a true need, and I see eCommerce continuing to play a huge role on retail’s evolution. Rather than traditional retail, there will be omni-channels where online, offline and social selling will become more blurred.”
Seizing opportunities during the pandemic
According to Jenkins, one major difference between clients in Asia and the US is that APAC’s pricing is more competitive than the US, and with shorter, frequently ad-hoc planning cycles for producing eCommerce assets. Some global brands tend to only use video for more premium products while in Asia, particularly in China, consumers expect that every product will come with a video and a lot more assets to showcase every single product. “The year 2020 gave us the opportunity to forge strong collaborations to resolve lockdown challenges and seize growth,” Jenkins noted. “We expanded to New York City and, looking ahead, we have exciting plans for Mainland China and Southeast Asia in progress with local partners.”
Although she revealed that high-level experienced stylists were difficult to find initially, the rise of eCommerce has resulted in more qualified candidates. “Talents are also attracted by the idea of training and perfecting their craft in the US for on-boarding and training,” Jenkins said. “Hong Kong also offers access to a diverse model pool, quality of talent and ease of operation. It is compact with a diverse landscape. It is the ultimate city for work life balance, a fantastic place to network and a great base to expand into the Greater Bay Area and Southeast Asia.”
Source: InvestHK 01.09.2021