Royal Mail Group photo library

Visual storytelling for a historic brand

the challenge

Visual storytelling has become a critical part of content marketing for major brands who want to stand out with immediately recognisable image assets.

Royal Mail – the UK’s only ‘one-price-goes-anywhere’ postal service – approached Speak Media to deliver a major update to its bank of brand photography, to fuel its multi-channel content output. It was essential for the new imagery to successfully convey the Royal Mail’s mission to serve every address in the UK, no matter how remote, while also demonstrating the company’s ongoing investment in new technologies and innovation.

what we did

Designed to deliver an extensive and enduring image library, the project involved the planning and delivery of multi-location photoshoots in the four regions served by the company – England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Working closely with Royal Mail’s brand communications team, we developed a detailed commissioning brief including a comprehensive list of subjects and themes for each regional shoot.

We then sent our production team out to recce the iconic, metropolitan centres and rural communities in and around key cities (London, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast) and compile a final shot list for each location.

On location, we used our editorial expertise to create realistic set-ups. While staying true to newly established brand photography guidelines, we captured spontaneous staff-consumer interactions on postal routes and featured real Royal Mail staff, as well as the branded vehicles, technology and processes they use in their day-to-day work.

Our shoot crew made the most of the typically unpredictable British weather. Torrential rain and stormy conditions lent an extra element of authenticity to the new visual assets and reinforced a key brand message for Royal Mail: that its people continue to deliver in all conditions.

the outcome

The shoots created a comprehensive collection of compelling brand images that made an immediate impact on critical brand communications – featuring extensively, for instance, in Royal Mail Group’s 2016 Annual and Corporate Responsibility reports – and will continue to enhance the Group’s visual storytelling across all channels, internal and external, for years to come.

Holly Firmin, CR and community investment at Royal Mail, was delighted with the outcome of the project. She said, "I really love the pictures from this shoot. Awesome variety and the landscape shots are beautiful. Brilliant."