Looking to build a small studio?

Welcome to Get In My Basket, the newsletter that will tell you everything you need to know about digital marketing for direct to consumer brands. In this newsletter, you will find insider knowledge, tips and tricks to get your brand into more baskets.In this issue you will find:

1. The best way to shoot your products
2. Podcast ads - who’s done it?
3. Cannes Film Festival announces its official partner
4. Snapchat’s newest acquisition

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What’s HOT?!?! This section of the newsletter showcases brands and businesses doing something innovative in their space. Founded in 2009, Athletic Greens is committed to bringing comprehensive and convenient daily nutrition to everyone. A green powder consisting of 75 vitamins, minerals, whole-food sourced superfoods, probiotics, and adaptogens in one convenient daily serving. Although, we’re sure you’ll already know about all of this if you’ve received as many ads as we have.Athletic greens have clearly allocated a huge amount of budget to digital marketing - their ads are everywhere - but the area that they have mastered ahead of competitors and DTC brands alike, is podcast ads. A form of ad that users are still less accustomed to, and that are harder to skip, was a great shout from their team and resulted in impressive growth. They sponsored podcasts with huge followings - Joe Rogan and Dax Shepard to name a few - and had so much success that they even started their own podcast although it didn’t stick around for long.The approach they took with podcast advertising was similar to their paid and organic strategy; UGC. Their branded content doesn’t perform well resulting in the dominance of UGC content, which clearly does engage and convert. The only question we have is is it too much? There is definitely an argument for consistent touchpoints, but are audiences getting frustrated by the constant presence on their feed? Time will tell.

If you are a DTC brand, chances are that you have spent a lot of time making sure your products looks stunning, and ultimately, that means you'll have spent a lot of time taking photos of your products.At 303, we spend at least a few days every week shooting still creatives in our in-house studio, mostly for digital ads, but also for web imagery, product launches and also, often video content.

So this week, we thought it might be helpful to all you lovely subscribers to talk through how we created our in-house small studio set up, why we find it incredibly useful, and some tips and tricks for you to create your own studio set up that might become very useful!

Firstly, why do we even need to be thinking about this, well, we are all aware of the pure volume of content that we find ourselves needing in the DTC space, from digital ads to email banners, there is always a weekly need for fresh content to keep a brand growing, and having a set up like the one you can see here, means that you can be reactive and responsive to the needs of your brand.What makes a great, easy, simple set-up?There are a few things to think about when you are thinking of getting started with your own studio set-up, we want to make it easy for you so we have broken it down, hopefully with some useful links below. Oh, and we also think that one barrier to entry is a camera, most people have a usable smartphone, so we think it’s a good place to start.1. A phone stand. Life is a lot easier when you don't have to hold your phone whilst trying to set up your scene and take the image, so the best hack is to get your phone in a stand.2. A collapsible table. This can help you get organised when you set up your shots. It doesn't have to be massive, but having a collapsible table allows you to save space when you're not using it.3. Lighting is an area that we would suggest you really invest in. You don't need to go crazy but a simple set of two lights can make a massive difference to the final images.4. Backdrops. Stock up! Using Etsy, eBay and Amazon you can source a lot of great different colours and textures that you can make the most of, whilst also giving yourself a load of different options when it comes to shooting. Have a good search for these online.5. And finally, props. A small area that goes a long way. They can be cheap or you can spend a little more, but all we would suggest is that you pull together everything that might relate to your brand, and using reference images can go a long way here!How easy is it to use?Set-up can be incredibly easy to use, and the above list is a great way to get started in the simplest form. Of course, our set-up has evolved massively over the last few years, but we all need to start somewhere right!The more you use it, the more creative you become, and as we mentioned above, it can be a great way to make engaging and creative content very simply!You can achieve a lot with a simple set-up, click on the images to see how this can work with a small studio set-up, and let your creativity flow.Sure, they are using big cameras, and fancy lights, but don’t let your equipment stop you from creating!

1. Instagram launches an option for all users to go back to chronological feeds that are algorithm-free.
2. TikTok becomes the official partner for Cannes Film Festival
3. In an attempt to keep up with the ever-developing digital world, Snapchat acquires brain-reading Tech ‘NextMind’
4. ‘Scheduled’ sticker in testing phase for Instagram stories alerting audiences of upcoming events
5. UGC accounts for 39% of media hours versus 61% for traditional studio content

To finish off our newsletter we want to highlight some of the best creatives that we have seen recently, and tell you why we think they are a slam dunk win.

✅ Highlights different varieties of Lululemon fitness gear✅ Has a peaceful ambience that sells the lifestyle✅ Simple yet feels premium✅ Aspirational style setting