Outtake from Dialogues et Clichés one of the series I produced for the festival
- Picture courtesy of Heyoka Media -
This Strategy in Numbers:
Strategy Overview:
— ABOUT THE CLIENT
Known as the Festival of Mediterranean Photography, Photomed originated in the coastal city of Sanary-sur-Mer, France in 2010 and expanded to Lebanon in 2014. This festival focuses on photographers who take on this seaside region with a novel approach no matter their fame. As a result, Photomed exhibitions ingeniously pair the works of seasoned veterans like Sergio Strizzi and Nino Migliori with younger, yet-to-be-discovered talents.
— CHALLENGE
A big part of this festival's mission is to give up and coming photographers the push they need to take their careers to the next level. For them to succeed at doing this, they need to accomplish two things. First, they need to get this youthful audience to sign up for the festival. And secondly, they need to draw in big crowds to the actual exhibits for the Photomed brand to be seen as relevant. This is why, my job was to work on a cost-effective video strategy that would help Photomed connect with this younger, more digitally inclined, crowd and draw in as many attendees as possible.
— CONTENT SOLUTION
When working on this strategy, I wanted to design different video formats that the Photomed team could easily apply to all future happenings. This would help Photomed have a unified, consistent message while also allowing the organizers to turn any successful format into a series. I equipped each video type with a different brand-centric mission, which allowed me to have focused objectives. Other than a video targeted at recruiting sponsors, here are the formats I produced:
Lineup Reveal: a straightforward video that showcases the year's lineup. The objective here is to give people an idea of what to expect and get them excited in the process.
How To: aimed at generating buzz this comedic concept revolves around asking professional photographers to teach people how to perform mundane, photographic tasks.
Dialogues et Clichés: this series aims to focus on the "med" in Photomed. Every episode delves into the relationship between two of the shortlisted photographers and the Mediterranean waterfront.
Videos & Series Produced for the Festival:
— Lineup Reveal
This video set serves as a "Look what we got in store for you this year!" and debuts as soon as the promotion for Photomed kicks off. On average, each occurrence of the festival showcases a slew of local and international photographers. The various expos are spread out across three weeks and take place in multiple venues across Lebanon. This richness is part of the strengths of the festival, and I wanted to push it to the forefront with this lineup reveal. Accordingly, each video gives viewers a preview of the different locations where the exhibitions are taking place while listing the various talents that will be displaying their work there. By pairing live-action footage with uncomplicated animated visuals, the lineup reveals fall perfectly in line with Photomed's friendly tone of voice.
— How to Take the Perfect Selfie
Comedy is a surefire way to make a seemingly unapproachable subject appear more welcoming to everyone. Even with the continued efforts to democratize it, Art is still seen as a somewhat classist medium. This schism is especially apparent in third world countries like Lebanon. For this reason, the How To segment aims to show Photomed in a more comic light. In every episode, a number of the exhibiting photographers teach viewers how to perform mundane photographic tasks. In the series' pilot episode, a line up of photographers, ranging from Alessandro Puccinelli to Waddah Faris, show people how to take the perfect selfie. This series goes live during week one of the festival to help generate the most significant amount of early buzz possible.
— Dialogues et Clichés
Ask anyone who has visited many Mediterranean countries, and they will without a doubt tell you that they all have a shared aura to them. Photomed defines itself as the Mediterranean festival of photography so it was only natural to create a format that would pay homage to the region. Dialogues et clichés does just that but through the eyes of two exhibiting photographers. Each episode is like a mini-documentary as it follows these artists across the Lebanese landscape while they have a conversation about what inspires their work. Out of the different formats, this one is the most heartfelt as it takes on a more intimate approach. Dialogues et clichés episodes see the light of day during the third and final week of the festival as a way to conclude the celebrations.
