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Over a thirty-year career, humor has been the fulcrum of Greg Koch’s Brand Narrative, Conceptual, and Portraiture photography. He believes that entertaining and impactful imagery cultivates a positive relationship between brands and consumers. Greg lives in San Francisco and is a born storyteller who creates narrative-based advertising imagery for international brands and clients of all sizes, from Adobe, CNN, and National Geographic, to startups and nonprofit organizations, to regional “mom-and-pop” retailers. Recently, Greg put a temporary pause on marketing and needed help getting back into the swing of reaching out to commercial clients. He signed up for our Client Introductions service to get his work in front of the right people.
As a Marketing Specialist for Wonderful Machine, I have used my years of experience as an executive producer at production companies and senior producer at advertising agencies to help photographers identify their best potential clients, improve the presentation of their work, and make the first introductions. I worked with Greg in 2023 on another Client Introductions project and built an ambitious list of one hundred contacts. Greg returned again this year intending to double last year’s outreach efforts with a list of two hundred contacts.
Our Client Introductions service is designed for photographers who want to expand their client base. The steps are simple yet intricate and methodical: find new clients and try to make a new connection. Our first step requires a nuanced understanding of the industry, detailed research, and high-quality information. The second step demands perseverance, consistent communication, and follow-through to nurture new client relationships.
The process with any photographer begins with a general questionnaire and an introductory call. Our standard questionnaire helps communicate each photographer’s background, approach to the industry, as well as their marketing history, strategy, and goals for the future. With a deeper understanding of the photographer, I have a good foundation to build on in our meetings. To get to know the photographer, however,I need to see their face and hear their ideas, plans, and goals directly. In this case, I already knew Greg, understood his photography style, and had background on his business and marketing strategy. But one year can bring many changes so I was in need of a full update.
For this ambitious list of two-hundred clients, Greg wanted to reach clients across the United States. His goal was to connect with agencies and identity brands that align with his conceptual and humorist portraiture style and technical light and post-production expertise. At this stage in his career, Greg focuses primarily on commercial clients, specifically targeting music, performing arts, travel, and entertainment. My list included both recognizable names such as Hulu, HBO, and Edelman (Los Angeles), but also focused on many niche and small-scale brands and agencies that were a good match for Greg.
Greg prides himself on telling compelling stories with humor. Chiefly, he believes that creative and captivating narratives shift our focus from individual experiences to collective ones and foster a sense of unity. He is also passionate about using humor to connect with clients and believes that sharing laughter enhances the quality of life. Normally, these are the qualities I would have stressed in my outreach email to each client on the list. As with most things, however, Greg wanted to take a different approach. After three years of facilitating Client Introductions, this was the first time a photographer crafted the language of their own outreach email.
I sent him a proposed structure that usually works for my campaigns and he created the text. I’ve found that this email needs to immediately engage the viewer, and humor is one of the most effective ways to do so. For this list of two hundred contacts, we sent four campaigns (two to agencies, and two to clients) and each campaign was followed up five days later.
Greg is an eccentric character and on one occasion he wanted to share a mini poem written by him.
Greg insisted that I finish this note to you with a poem or two of his. Maybe a haiku?
Photog Greg bucks trends.
Saddle up for a ride, friend!
(Yes, he’s horsing ‘round.)
But haikus might not be your style. How about a limerick?
San Fran has a photog named Greg Koch
Who shoots advertising that’s bespoke.
If you want something new
Greg’s the guy who
Takes humor to great levels, no joke.
For our latest campaign, he wanted to do it during National Bubble Day! January 29th.
Join me on January 29th as we here in the US celebrate National Bubble Wrap Day, National Carnation Day, National Curmudgeon Day, and National Puzzle Day. That’s right—you get four different holidays in one, all brought to you by my project, “Save the Date!”
So, put on your grumpy face, break out that weird puzzle you got for your birthday, throw some bubble wrap on the dog, buy yourself some flowers…
…and e-mail me right away! What in carnation are you waiting for?!
What I like about Elo is several-fold: 1) She’s very organized and not afraid to dive into heavy research. 2) She’s got a sense of humor, which is vastly important for the type of stuff I shoot, but is also important for our meetings together. The fact that we can make each other laugh is immensely helpful. 3) Elo is not afraid to offer her opinion if she feels a particular client is not right for me; she can steer me in a direction I might not be able to see for myself.
Greg’s idiosyncratic approach delivered both encouraging and thought-provoking results. For the brand campaign, we obtained a 35% open-rate. The curious and positive thing is that the interested parties not only opened the campaign many times, they also shared it with other industry contacts. This suggests that Greg’s method had an impact. With agencies, we were more successful and obtained a 45% open rate. Greg via LinkedIn later connected with these clients independently and primarily via LinkedIn. Since our first round of emails, Greg has continued the process on his own, and I still receive his newsletters every two months.
Greg is a unique character who is persistent and makes challenges seem fun. His campaign was the first in my experience to receive laughter from potential clients — a feat in itself! Greg’s dedication and creative approach will ensure his perseverance over time and, in time, help him build a strong base of regular clients. Greg, of course, continues to be ambitious in his marketing efforts. He’s even joked about the idea of a list of one thousand verified contacts! Knowing Greg, however, we might soon be back to work, spreading humor and building new relationships.
Overall, the experience of working with Elo has been very nice and I’m grateful for it. I keep threatening to do a 1,000 or 2,000 person mailer with her and the fact that she both laughs at my crazy idea and simultaneously welcomes it is endearing. I look forward to working with her again soon.
See more tips from the experts @wonderful_at_work
Further Reading
Case Studies: Client Introductions
Expert Advice: Email Campaign Analytics
Expert Advice: Marketing Misconceptions