Mirror, Mirror On The Wall!

Marketing guru and ENTER founder Zev Norotsky understands what it takes to create a truly holistic brand approach: connecting the dots across digital, social and experiential. That, and a fabulous photo opp. Read on as he examines the trend -- and influence -- of immersive photo moments, from museums and galas to special events and festivals across the globe.



As we close out 2017 and swipe into the first few days of 2018, one thing is certain: we live in the era of the selfie. An era in which our collective narcissism is measured in likes and comments but, more importantly, our social calendar is governed in terms of the places and spaces we visit. There is an undeniable wave of immersive photo backdrops being designed for people to engage with and, regardless of their virtue or utility, event planners and the publicists who love them must take notice.

If you host an event and no one takes a selfie, did the event even happen?



As far back in time – or at least as far back as the 2016 Costume Institute Met Gala – the notion of an event backdrop was fairly standard. Red carpet, photo line, branded backdrop, rinse and repeat. With the advent of social media and more robust content-capturing platforms came the ability for influencers and their more pedestrian brothers and sisters to capture and edit their own content. This has created an arms race for event planners, festival organizers, gallerists, museum curators and even entrepreneurs to design and execute the most memorable and socially shareable backdrops for the ever-important photo opp.

Astute event planners have taken notice and it is now increasingly common for product launches, cover parties, influencer events and media dinners to be designed around simple yet meaningful photo moments for the invited guests to engage with and share their content. It’s click bait for the masses and provides just enough ROI for the marketing or PR team to justify the creative investment in design and execution.



We have recently seen an influx of rooms, museums and factories with one common denominator: celebrating and embracing the art of the selfie. Is this the contemporary version of the carnival we all grew up with, or just a new tread on an old theme? After all is said and done, artists have been painting self portraits since the dawn of time, so perhaps there is just a little bit of Picasso in all of us.

A few simple suggestions to make sure your next event provides the perfect backdrop for attendees to create their own masterpiece.

  1. Make it multi-dimensional—give the .gif of depth! See what I did there?
  2. Be tasteful. When it comes to brand integration, be smart and discreet or guests might be reluctant to share.
  3. Work with an established vendor who speaks the language. Sharing Box is one of my favorites.
  4. Keep it organic to the brand narrative and don’t try and do too much. It’s easy to get carried away with props and other sensorial distractions, but less is usually more.
  5. Don’t skimp on production quality, as this is what gives the overall investment real traction and the best images are usually based on the most compelling installations (i.e. expensive).




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