They say every picture tells a story, and it’s usually true. Except when it doesn’t!

By John Howarth

There is nothing worse than a picture with no branding. Four people standing in a line doing, well, nothing. I saw one such over the weekend. It popped up on my Facebook and there were three people plus a Labour candidate doing something vaguely ridiculous. It got me so far – I’ve done a few daft things in photographs, the point being to get people to read further. In this case I read further and still had no idea which these giggling people were doing silly things. I found out eventually – but I had to work at it. Most people wouldn’t have bothered – and as it was on a social network there are plenty other silly pictures to browse.

An easy way to brand your pictures is using banner stands (also known as roller banners or pop-ups – though strictly speaking pop-ups are something different). Not only are they very light and easy to transport, they go up in seconds and (as long as you have some decent design) get an instant message across. Using them out of doors can be a bit of a pain if the wind gets up – but in that case you simply get a volunteer to hold it steady for the photo call. During the European campaign roller banners helped Anneliese Dodds and myself turn campaign stops into instant photo opportunities.

These days roller banners are easily affordable for all but the most skint local Party. For those with more healthy funds there are good reasons to get several for different contexts. For example Basildon Labour recently produced two with us – one for on-going campaigning to save the NHS from the wilful neglect and piecemeal dismemberment that is Tory strategy and another for ‘pop-up’ councillor street stalls or ‘advice desks’. It’s the difference between your picture getting across a Labour message in an instant and being a collection of random people on the High Street. Of course it is important just to be out there in the community, but so much better when people notice that you are doing it.

And of course there are meetings. The picture that shows someone speaking in a local hall could be anything, anywhere. Put a decently branded roller banner in place and you create both a much more professional impression and a much better picture. This is one of the main uses for a generic ‘Yourplace Labour’ roller banner – again you are turning a routine meeting into a photo-opportunity/blog or press story much more easily than a picture that says nothing. It’s an instant presence for Labour, anywhere, anytime (so long as it’s not raining too hard).

It’s worth saying that at these prices you shouldn’t expect them to last forever, but then campaigns move on. So if you haven’t done so already, have a look at our roller banner prices – and give us a call to discuss the best way to use them.