Contextual review  Digital photography in the digital era “ Design creates culture. Culture creates values. Values determine the future. “ – Robert L. Peters.Imagine a world without design. Grey, boring, seamless… indistinguishable. Focus on these three words – culture, values, future. Every nation, community and society has culture which establishes its values which therefore designs its future. Design the future. Make it different, be distinctive from the rest.Similar reflection to the one above is “ Allow yourself to step away from perfection because it is only then when you can find success “ – Chase Jarvis. The CEO and co – founder of CreativeLive – worlds largest live-streaming educational company shares his though on how to make a significant progress into a photography career.Additionally one of the most compelling transitions in the photography industry in the bogus modern era is the reversal from TLR ( twin-lens reflex camera ) and SLR ( single-lens reflex camera )  to the DSLR ( digital single-lens reflex camera ).In a recent BBC article there are discussed 5 ways the digital camera changed the world ( de Castella, T. 2012).  For example the first digital camera made is known to be with proportions of a small coffee machine. Another fact which the mass public is not familiar with is that the prototype took its first image nearly obliterated the market. “I remember Sony Ericsson in 2001 showed off a phone with a clip-on camera,” says Jonathan Margolis, a technology writer for the Financial Times de Castella, T. (2012). “Along with everyone else, I thought ‘why would you want a phone with a camera? ‘” . The impact of the digital camera on professional photographers has been quite extreme. 30 to 40 years ago any photographer wouldn’t dare to waste a photograph if it wasn’t certain that the photograph will virtually work. Margolis also shares the story of a photographer working in Berlin 1939 – “He’d be covering Nazi rallies and would go the week before to plan it like a film shot, making sure he got the right angles. In the end, out of the eight plates he got four award-winning photos “ de Castella, T. (2012). Another compelling research is done by Qmee ( 2013 ) showing what happens every 60 seconds on the web around the globe.Figure 1 : Online in every 60 seconds infographic produced by QmeeThe picture in figure 1 indicates certainties about the information transformation in one moment everywhere throughout the world. As far as photography, for example, the realities that Flickr has 20 million photograph perspectives and Tumblr has 20 thousand new photographs every moment is appalling.In 2014 Candy Russo talks about the social effect of digital photography and specifically the digital camera. She focuses on the adjustments in the market and industry aftermaths because of the immense advancement of the digital camera in the previous 14 years. Russo additionally indicates out that concurring Bussinesscasestudies.co.uk, digital prints are declining by 10 % every year.An article from Emily Rothkopf investigates the changing scene of photography – based publicizing in the digital age Rothkopf, E. (2014). Rothkopf portrays the greatest changes in the photography-based promoting region in the previous decade. It additionally presents how enormous brands adjusted their publicizing and photographic range to the current social patterns.Figure 2: Chanel 1957The picture shown in figure 2 is a photo of a female Chanel scent in 1957. At first, photography-constructed promoting depended with respect to an immediate methodology, clearly characterizing and clarifying the product and its advantages. This approach focused more on the atmosphere, stage sets, pictorialist style etc. Like shown on figure 2 the woman is surrounded by two men which brings the feel of style and attraction. Furthermore, in addition the statement “ every woman alive loves Chanel N 5 “ with alive underlined empowers the feeling of woman power and feminine touch.Figure 3: Chanel female fragrance photographOn figure 3 the picture indicated is from a current Chanel fragrance publicizing photography campaign. The photo differentiates a considerable measure from the one showed on figure 2 which is mid 1957. With the digital innovation and devices rising and growing logically the photography that worldwide brand pioneers like Chanel turn out to be increasingly divergent from the best rivals in the market. Compared to the photo from 1957 Chanel have implemented completely different approach of photography in the image, focusing rather on more gentle, soft, mellow approach in order to bring the feeling of coziness and comfort delivered by the fragrance.                                                  Figure 4: McDonalds Advert 1980Figure 5: McDonalds Advert 2010On figures 4 and 5 are demonstrated photos of McDonald’s promoting efforts during the 80s and then during 2010. The two pictures speak to a similar organization, however both assorted a great deal from each other. Back in the 1980 McDonalds executed an exceptionally fascinating and interesting way to deal with their photography crusades and adverts. On figure 4 the two burgers are introduced in a similar way yet the system utilized here is to demonstrate the flawlessness of their burgers which helps them to show off that their food is better quality than the immediate rivals such as Burger King. As of now this kind of promoting was known as ” Burger Wars ” starting from Wendy’s (where’s the beef). Opposing from the advert from 1980, the one from 2010 (echinacities.com) contrasts with the meaning of both images. The viewer of the promotion can identify with the picture with only a look at the models hands and lower arms. A sentiment of disengagement, yet fulfillment is depicted; the watcher has been in this circumstance and can almost feel what is being communicated through the photograph.Brand IdentityIn order to get a better understanding of how do customers perceive one brand we should take a look into what is brand identity, digital photography in a brand identity and how is an identity recognized, memorized and perceived better by the general user.“A brand for a company is like a reputation for a person. You earn reputation by trying to do hard things well.” – Jeff Bezos.Apple, Microsoft, Starbucks, BMW, these are only a couple of the absolute most notorious and unmistakable brands on the planet.  of some of the most iconic and recognizable brands on the planet. “ Brand identity is the collection of all brand elements that the company creates to portray the right image of itself to the consumer “ – 99Designs. Brand, branding and brand identity are the three crucial words identified with every business or foundation that separates it from the opposition deBara, D. (2017). As Deanna from 99designs clarifies a man should imagine that he/she is simply the brand. A model given is a middle-school young person. He needs to be seen as a cool guy, however individuals can be simply compelled to see him as a nice person. He needs to assemble his very own character. How does he do that ? He tries clothing style, gets a fresh haircut every week etc. He makes his own style, his own identity, his own brand. And he starts to get perceived as a cool guy by the people. When creating a new brand identity few questions need to be answered so there will be a better understanding of the brand.The mission – why is this a brand, what is its purpose, goalThe values – what drives and shapes the companyThe personality – what is the personality of the company, characteristics, how does it behaveThe position – how is this company different from the rest in the specific marketThe voice – how would the brand speak, how would it represent itselfTo dig deeper into this topic of research, an interesting choice of brand identity example is Coca-Cola.Athough basically only a soda pops item, Coca-Cola the beverage is overshadowed by the sheer may of Coca-Cola the brand. This marvel is best summed up by the accompanying statement from a Coca-Cola official:“ If Coca-Cola were to lose all of its production-related assets in a disaster, the company would survive. By contrast, if all consumers were to have a sudden lapse of memory and forget everything related to Coca-Cola, the company would go out of business. “                                             Coca-Cola ExecutiveFigure 6: Coca-ColaA survey done by Interbrand in 2007 has researched the value of global brands. Coca-Cola’s brand equity was valued at US $63.3bn, which is under half of the company true market value Design Council. (n.d.) . One of the most controversial Coca-Cola’s brand promoting approaches is their digital photography. As presented in figure 6 the brand focuses on the happy and positive feelings as well as youth. Another big factor is that their photography is usually shot outdoors which represents the brand as a positive, being together, minded and orientated company.Another huge feature of a successful brand identity is its photography and its visual presentation to the customer flow. Global leaders in the different markets like retail ( Nike ), technology ( Apple ), fashion ( Ray-Ban ) invest millions to boost up their visual communication with their customer and shine out their competition.Figure 7: Ray-Ban “ Never Hide “ campaign 2007The image on figure 7 shows the “ Never Hide “ campaign that Ray-Ban did in 2007. The promoting campaign which was directed by Ray-Ban’s creative agency at the time, TBWA/Chiat/Day, consisted a blend of video, photography, YouTube content and promoting adverts on a huge screen in New York’s Time Square Schroeder, J. (2015) . The mission of the campaign was to show different photos of popular stars and figures over the time switching in between color and black and white photography. The main message was to  break free of social standards, set up their distinction and turn into the centre point of attention. Later on the “ Never Hide “ campaign turned out to be one of the most successful ones with sales going up fivefold in seven years.An intriguing case of a standout amongst the best present brand personalities is Nike. Without a doubt it is a standout amongst the most exceptional visual characters highlighting its branding, marketing and visual promotion. As far as Nike’s history, it was established in 1964, already known as Blue Ribbon Sports until 1971, it has done really great throughout the decades. Fascinating truth about the worldwide garments and footwear pioneer is that the logo was initially made by a student named Carolyn Davidson for the sheer measure of 35$ Revive Digital. (2018). In their first year Nike or Blue Ribbon Sports at the time made the admirable amount of 8000$. 46 years since the organization was esteemed at $29.6bn. In any case, how did the brand extended from a 1970s college thought to a standout amongst the most conspicuous attire pioneers on the planet ?Nike pursued the correct advances. They put time and cash into limited time campaigns, they remained consistent throughout the years with the supposed ” swoosh ” logo as noticeableon figure 8 and they enhanced and revolutionized.Figure 8: Nike footwear photography How did Nike grow ?They worked with some big names. It is most likely familiar to everyone that one of the greatest sports contracts in the history is the collaboration between the basketball legend Michael Jordan and Nike which began in 1984. In the course of recent decades the sports goliath has pulled in light of a legitimate concern for some other huge names in the sports business from football players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and so forth to tennis whizzes, for example, Rafael Nadal and Rodger Federer.Figure 9: Nike logoConsistency. The center of Nike brand character and acknowledgment is the swoosh logo – figure 9. It very well may be distinguished from miles away and the main reason for this is because it has been Nike’s emblem since 1971.Figure 10: Nike Air VaporMax Promotional photographyPhotography. Arguably in the common world Nike have one of the greatest promotional divisions around their competition in the market. When discussing their photography, it is obvious to remain that Nike put extensive measure of money for photographers and video editors to keep their diversion at the most abnormal amount. Like appeared in figure 10 being aesthetic, modern and futuristic in their photography content has guided in the correct way in the course of recent years with the end goal to be one of the greatest clothing manufacturers. “A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops the clock to save time”-          Thomas JeffersonAdvertising and specifically implementing photography into a brand identity is a must. From digital photography, cinematography and videography to a snapshot photography – photography infiltrates and builds strong and permanent bridges between brand identity and customer. Many leading online brands such as Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr, Facebook, Airbnb etc. rely most of all upon on photography which is the essence and foundation of their business. No matter if it is a small, medium or huge business establishment, a company cannot survive without its own brand identity. Investing time and resources, hiring high-qualified experts and designers will eventually result into a strong, consistent connection between brand and customer. Associations with client go route past buy or an online exchange. Solid and genuine connections among client and brand are worked after some time through honest to goodness positive encounters Khan, B. (2013) . Company perception in the eye of the customer“ Knowing what shapes brand perception is vital for every business. Improving the perception of your brand starts with listening to your customers. “ – BrandwatchNowadays more and more new brands suffer from poor customer recognition. But what is the definition of a brand ? How do customers perceive a brand in a certain way ? Seth Godin defined a brand as a set of “expectations, memories, stories and relationships” that in combination drive the decision to choose a particular company, product or serviceSmith, K. (2015). Usually whenever brand produces a reliable set of products or services it build a special connection with the its customers. Regardless of the vision and personality of the brand, whatever is the customers value and opinion about the brand, this is the brand. Also another essential component of building good customer perception is to know the customers – age, gender, interests, location etc.Figure 9: Argos store located in EnglandOn figure 9 it is shown an image from an Argos store. The UK retailer conducted a customer based research in order to track conversation and sentiment around the digital only stores with replacing their popular catalogs with iPads Smith, K. (2015). Interesting result from the research was that some of the customers were happy with the innovation for a shorter period of time, while the rest were overall happy with the improvement.Figure 10: Brand SalienceAccomplishing the correct brand character includes making brand striking nature. Brand remarkable quality identifies with a few parts of client familiarity with the brand. How effectively and regularly is the brand evoked under different circumstances and conditions? How inescapable is the brand mindfulness ?Typically, brand awareness defines how a certain brand identity is perceived and recognized by its consumer mass. It doesn’t mean that the customer is aware of the brand and it has seen in on few different digital platforms. Brand awareness is measured by customer – company recognition which are usually – logo, tagline, branding, photography etc. Keller, K. (2001) . Brand salience is broken apart into three main stages : First remarkable quality impacts the data and the strength of brand affiliations that make up the brand picture and give the brand meaning. Second, making high level of brand striking nature as far as classification identification and requirements fulfilled is of essential significance amid conceivable buy or administration utilization process. Third when client have “low association” with an item class they settle on decision dependent on brand awareness  alone.References :de Castella, T. (2012). Five ways the digital camera changed us. [online] BBC News. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16483509 [Accessed 28 Oct. 2018].Wydra, K. (2014). Blessing or curse? The digital revolution in photography. [online] www.alumniportal-deutschland.org. Available at: https://www.alumniportal-deutschland.org/en/germany/culture/photography-digital-revolution-digital-camera/ [Accessed 28 Oct. 2018].Russo, C. (2014). Social Impact Of The Digital Camera. [online] Larry The Len – Digital Camera’s. Available at: https://larrythelens.wordpress.com/2014/04/25/social-impact-of-the-digital-camera/ [Accessed 28 Oct. 2018].Rothkopf, E. (2014). Photography based advertising in the Digital Age: A new system of Meaning – Making . [online] blogs.commons.georgetown.edu Available at: https://blogs.commons.georgetown.edu/cctp-725-fall2014/2014/05/02/photography-based-advertising-in-the-digital-age-a-new-system-of-meaning-making/  [Accessed 28 Oct. 2018].deBara, D. (2017). What is brand identity? And how to design and develop a great one.. [online] 99designs. Available at: https://99designs.co.uk/blog/tips/brand-identity/ [Accessed 29 Oct. 2018].Design Council. (n.d.). The power of branding. [online] Available at: https://www.designcouncil.org.uk/news-opinion/power-branding [Accessed 29 Oct. 2018].Schroeder, J. (2015). Brands, Photography, and Strategy. [online] Poseidon01.ssrn.com. Available at: https://poseidon01.ssrn.com/delivery.php?ID=299118127070015114106125070103117107103081020021005061018084068068096123022116006030107045042043006097108094114004120067017123042090023016077066110083127113078101020015077103118084001007023097081006105119110116006018110121074089068008000065117090100&EXT=pdf [Accessed 29 Oct. 2018].Khan, B. (2013). Global Brand Power. [online] Google Books. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=bg&lr=&id=FXO-AAAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=power+of+branding&ots=UzVp6yEOOV&sig=Q17YZgtiR2iIpROMbqSK6bv6saw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false [Accessed 29 Oct. 2018].Revive Digital. (2018). Nike – The Global Brand’s Journey | Revive Digital. [online] Available at: https://revive.digital/blog/nike-the-global-brands-journey/ [Accessed 29 Oct. 2018].Smith, K. (2015). The Importance of Brand Perception. [online] Brandwatch. Available at: https://www.brandwatch.com/blog/marketing-the-importance-of-brand-perception/ [Accessed 29 Oct. 2018].Keller, K. (2001). Building customer-based brand equity : a blueprint for creating strong brands [online] MSI. Available at: http://anandahussein.lecture.ub.ac.id/files/2015/09/article-4.pdf [Accessed 29 Oct. 2018].