In the fourth episode of our Overdose & Chill Live, we talk to Andy Mackie about how Asset Factory can help retailers of all sizes to maximise their online marketing, and he gives us an insight into the four key photography machines that create the magic.
#004 : Asset Factory was established in Kingsland, Auckland in 2016 after LookDepot founder Andy Mackie recognised the growing link between digital capability and overall business success through content production timelines.
The company has paired its in-depth knowledge of digital commerce with the benefits of the world’s most advanced fully automated photography machines to create a solution that enables quality content to be created quickly and cost-effectively by businesses of all sizes.
Now New Zealand’s leading ecommerce and social content creation agency, the Asset Factory team works with brands from all over the country. Their clients range from small start-ups to established iconic brands spanning fashion, homewares, FMCG, health and beauty, food and beverage, and pharmaceuticals.
The post-Covid era has been an uneasy one for retail, with many companies required to reset and rebalance their business plans. It is a critical time when the value of a strong digital presence cannot be undervalued.
Retailers face similar challenges when aiming to create consistent, high-quality digital content at scale; it takes time and money. In order to retain consumer engagement, it has never been more important to allocate time and money towards releasing the most current information regularly. Video content, for example, has proven to increase the level of audience engagement across all ecommerce and social media platforms. Andy reports a 70% uplift in conversion rates combined with a 60% reduction in product returns where high-quality video is included in a retailer’s digital content. This drives meaningful ROI.
Asset Factory aims to enable retailers to “take a potential customer as close as you can to the physical store environment through digital channels” by making its 5-star equipment and intelligent software available to businesses via a “Drop & Run” or “Do-It-Yourself” rental service, which can involve one or many devices.
The ‘Live’ Machine
Ideal for fashion shoots, this machine is designed to create instantly edited videos and stills in minutes. Advanced robotics and AI technology let the Live machine handle all the technical duties usually performed by a camera crew such as lighting, file coding, editing, and shot set-up, which improves the quality, speed, and efficiency of production for ecommerce, social media, and digital signage imagery.
The best way to maximise the use of this machine is to ensure hair, makeup, and wardrobe processes are as smooth and efficient as possible.
The ‘Vertical’ Machine
Designed for mannequin photography, Vertical creates instant product shots for ecommerce with automatic background removal. It clear cuts ghost images in 15 seconds, enabling fast production of all the images needed for social media channels, lookbooks, website, marketing, visual merchandising, and media.
Vertical can be used to create high-quality front, side, back, and detail shots of garments in a consistent style. Or users can get creative and use hangers or props to create an engaging series of images to align with any brand guidelines. Its intuitive user interface allows users to manage detail and contrast by easily adjusting brightness and zoom.
The ‘Horizontal’ Machine
Designed for flat-lay product photography, Horizontal’s ergonomically positioned machine and advanced software save a lot of valuable time by automatically detecting and removing the background so that almost no post-production work is necessary. Live view allows the user to style their product, and brightness and zoom controls allow detail and contrast to be maximised at a push of a button.
This type of photography is especially useful for capturing styling ideas or for suggesting accessories that could complement a pending purchase.
The “Eclipse” Machine
Designed to showcase every angle of small products, Eclipse is a fully self-contained system enabling users to build still-life sets and play with light, backdrops, and reflections. They can choose to shoot against either an infinity cove or a flat background, and then spice up their content to stand out with interchangeable backdrops in any color.
Eclipse includes hardware that produces multi-angled, high-quality videos and stills, and software that exports auto-edited video and stills that are ready for ecommerce, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and signage, all within minutes!
Businesses who would like to arrange a free consultation can contact Asset Factory via this link.
Overdose and Asset Factory regularly collaborate on projects for shared clients and share a vested interest in delivering ecommerce success and excellence for brands. Asset Factory is one of our preferred ecommerce content creation partners whom we confidently recommend to various businesses from start-ups to multi-national corporations.
Businesses who would like to arrange a free consultation can contact Asset Factory via this link.