Seagram's Gin: capturing a year's worth of content in one strategic shoot

For select clients, Ford Media Lab is not just tasked with photography; FML serves as the agency responsible for social media strategy, content creation and execution. What makes FML different is that we are both the problem solver and the solution: we create all content in-house, which allows us to lead with strategy, maximize client budget and deliver the highest quality assets.

Here’s how we saved Seagram’s Gin time and money by solving a universal content problem.

This three-day studio shoot was multi-purpose:

  1. Capture all US social content for the F23 fiscal year in studio – 46 images in total

  2. Provide content for global markets with the substitution of the UK bottle into existing sets - 14 additional images

  3. Deliver versatile imagery that can be used to solve additional content problems, such as print advertisements and e-commerce banners

Read on for the case study and to view the gallery.

THE ASK

Seagram’s Gin sought a full social media content calendar for the F23 fiscal year. The client brief focused around the idea of “the Seagram’s home” and the corresponding comp images reflected cozy indoor and outdoor environments where consumers would realistically enjoy Seagram’s Gin. Images should be versatile enough to be utilized in additional applications, such a point of sale, print and e-commerce.

THE CHALLENGE

Utilizing a studio environment, FML would need to depict various locations, times of day, themes and cocktails to highlight the versatility of Seagram’s Gin– both with and without talent. When planning, care would be needed to design a seasonally appropriate and attractive social posting cadence.

For context: One of the most important things to keep in mind with a social shoot is that the images must be intentionally varied, or you risk a grid that looks like it’s all from the same shoot, many unusable images, or both. We’ve spoken with countless clients whose previous photo shoot experiences resulted in too many nearly identical images with no plan for their use. There’s nothing worse than spending budget to solve a content problem and still having a content problem!

THE SOLUTION

Here’s how FML solved Seagram's Gin’s content problem:

  1. Strategy – We began with meticulous organization, plotting the shoot plan by theme, location, time, etc. All shots were assigned symbols and/or comp images, which were used to visually design the social calendar for the year. This visualization allowed us to ensure that no two images were alike, the layout was attractive and all holidays were covered. As a result, before the content was even captured, each image had a post date.

  2. Sets and Styling – Utilizing our extensive prop library and innovative set-building techniques, we’re experts at creating unique, authentic and attractive environments in studio. When Seagram’s Gin requested specific in-home settings, we created custom backgrounds and hand-painted surfaces to bring the vision to life. This eliminated the need to spend budget on expensive location rentals and allowed us to completely control the environment.

  3. Photography – We’ve mastered the art of studio lighting, which enabled us to create the ideal ambiance to complement the scene, whether day or night. Captured on a Hasselblad medium-format camera, all high-resolution, fully-edited images were shot at a minimum of 50MP and delivered in a variety of formats for ease of use.

THE RESULT

Following the shoot, we delivered the images along with the entire annual content calendar, complete with captions and hashtags. Once approved, all posts could be scheduled for automatic posting, eliminating the need for ongoing revisions, strategy or planning.

Check out how it’s all coming together on the Instagram grid here.

Another unique aspect of this shoot was that we were asked to swap the global bottle into 14 select shots to maximize the versatility of the deliverables. This also allowed the brand to conserve budget on a global level, as the cost to deliver additional images is far less than the cost of a full photo shoot.

Client: Seagram’s Gin
Location: Ford Media Lab
Photographer: Kyle Ford
Art Direction and Strategy: Rachel Ford
Prop Styling: Elvis Maynard
Cocktail Styling: Dan Nicolaescu

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