Portrait photography industry research report
Zach Mayer
2/7/14
Lifetouch Industry Research
Industry description
The underclass photography industry consists of both small and large photography studios aiming to provide current and attractive portraits to kids currently attending school at any grade level between Kindergarten and 11th grade. While there are many competitors in this industry, they can be broken up into two categories. First are the many, quite common photography studios that generally specialize on one or two styles of photography for their products. Then there are the very large and successful photography companies such as Lifetouch and Portrait Innovations that take up a majority of the different style based business. These large companies do not have a small limited amount of styles to specialize in but rather a wide focus of all of the popular styles allowing them to enter any market needed to succeed. Even with the major differences between the two types of competitors there is still one very pressing threat that neither can avoid. That is the growing popularity of personal digital cameras and easy access to formatting and printing resources.
Part one: Secondary Research
Current trends in digital imagery and photography: Because digital photography has become increasingly more prominent in previous years many people are being drawn to the creativeness and individuality behind capturing life’s moments. But no one group of people are more attracted to this idea than mothers. As a mom there are many opportunities for fun and interesting pictures and as professional studios often mention, many opportunities for these great photos are taken by moms only to leave the studios without business. “The truth is that this is not a new phenomenon – professional photographers have been working alongside talented and enthusiastic amateurs for many years” (Merrick). Meaning that the parents and other do-it-yourselfers have been sharing camera space for years but only recently have those people
2/7/14
Lifetouch Industry Research
Industry description
The underclass photography industry consists of both small and large photography studios aiming to provide current and attractive portraits to kids currently attending school at any grade level between Kindergarten and 11th grade. While there are many competitors in this industry, they can be broken up into two categories. First are the many, quite common photography studios that generally specialize on one or two styles of photography for their products. Then there are the very large and successful photography companies such as Lifetouch and Portrait Innovations that take up a majority of the different style based business. These large companies do not have a small limited amount of styles to specialize in but rather a wide focus of all of the popular styles allowing them to enter any market needed to succeed. Even with the major differences between the two types of competitors there is still one very pressing threat that neither can avoid. That is the growing popularity of personal digital cameras and easy access to formatting and printing resources.
Part one: Secondary Research
Current trends in digital imagery and photography: Because digital photography has become increasingly more prominent in previous years many people are being drawn to the creativeness and individuality behind capturing life’s moments. But no one group of people are more attracted to this idea than mothers. As a mom there are many opportunities for fun and interesting pictures and as professional studios often mention, many opportunities for these great photos are taken by moms only to leave the studios without business. “The truth is that this is not a new phenomenon – professional photographers have been working alongside talented and enthusiastic amateurs for many years” (Merrick). Meaning that the parents and other do-it-yourselfers have been sharing camera space for years but only recently have those people