Brand Awareness and Marketing with Photography in the Digital Age

Today, I commented on the Oakland Raiders twitter feed about David Carr practicing. Nothing unusual about a QB getting ready for the next game. What I did, is blast the Raiders for the photo they used. See below.

My statement was about the photo itself and the poor quality of the image. This has nothing to do with the fans, believe me, I heard a lot from the Raider fans. They are as passionate about their team as anyone. For that I give those fans much respect. Those same passionate fans deserve better than this crappy cell phone photo. I know the Raiders have a team photographer. So why would the Raiders not use their team photographer for this tweet. They said "We endeavor to provide immediate updates from the field and inform fans of newsworthy moments."

Makes sense, and I agree with them completely on this matter. However, if the news is this important, wouldn't it be in the best interest of the Raiders, the NFL and their fans to get the best possible image of this newsworthy event? I think so.

In this day and age of instant information, high speed networks and the ability of photographers to transmit images quickly, it should not be a problem to take the 10 or 15 minutes necessary to get a much better quality image out. Quicker does not always mean better, in fact, it rarely does.

The Raiders and the NFL should know better, after all it is their product. Brand awareness is key in the digital age. Even with an NFL team.

So take the necessary time to get it right.