Creative, Memorable and Immersive: Shutterstock on the Future of Brand Storytelling

It’s noisy out there. We’ve never been confronted with more distractions in more places - across screens of all shapes and sizes, wherein each personalised update claims to be more urgent than the last. Amidst all this noise, is it still possible for a brand to stand out and be remembered? Or to represent something cohesive? To tell a story about itself? Shutterstock believes so, and the global production and marketing collective is on a mission to prove it. 

In fact, this conviction inspired Shutterstock to launch a comprehensive creative production service to help clients more effectively tell their stories. Growing rapidly in popularity since launching the service, Shutterstock Studios has become a trusted creative partner for major brands worldwide including Samsung, Mastercard, Diageo and more, offering live and virtual custom production solutions.

For the Shutterstock Studios team, the question is less about whether a brand should be telling a story about itself, but rather how. “Amongst all the noise of mass media, I would say that the only way to really cut through and be heard is through dynamic and thought-provoking storytelling”, says Shutterstock Studios’ senior director of EMEA production Adam Barnett. “It helps brands connect to their audience at a level that’s authentic and personable”. 

Whereas in the past this kind of branded storytelling would most likely have taken the form of a flagship TVC, in 2024 there’s a multitude of ways to forge those authentic connections. “By focusing on creating immersive and interactive experiences, such as through video, games, podcasts, or immersive technologies like AR and VR, brands can craft unique stories that capture attention and leave a lasting impression”, notes VP of Shutterstock Studios Aiden Darne. “The key is to be genuine, creative, and consistent, using storytelling not just to convey information but to evoke emotions and build a community around the brand”. 

In line with that philosophy, Shutterstock Studios has ensured that their production capabilities are as wide-reaching as possible - including documentary, commercial, 3D and beyond. So when a brand or agency client needs to put the focus on interactivity, the Shutterstock team can easily rise to the challenge. “Gaming and interactive experiences are a great way to bring branded content to life and engage with audiences on a new level” says Justin Webber, director of game development and EP. “Rather than passively consuming content, it invites audiences to get involved with the story of a brand and interact with it on a meaningful level”. 

With a global network of more than three million content creators and production partners across 150 countries, the Shutterstock team is confident that there’s no brief too ambitious to be brought to life. Often, that will involve leveraging a mix of the company’s diverse service offering - something Shutterstock is only too happy to facilitate. “Quite often we are leveraging a blend of capabilities - even virtual production requires elements of traditional set ups, for example”, explains Adam. “So having the flexibility allows us to maximise budgets for the required execution. I really think this is a necessity in 2024 - the time and the speed which is now required means you have to be able to leverage all possible expertise to respond and deliver”. 

Adam’s reference to virtual production hints at another of Shutterstock Studios’ most exciting offerings. Having repeatedly identified what Aiden describes as a “huge gap in the market for agencies specialising in virtual production at scale”, the team made the leap in developing their own virtual production capabilities. “We found that we were well-positioned to lean into the demand for virtual production because of our 25 years of experience in 3D modelling”, continues Aiden. “That’s alongside our deep collaborations with industry leaders like NVIDIA and OpenAI”. 

On which note, Shutterstock’s investment in artificial intelligence is also helping to power its own creative output. “Shutterstock's huge advantage is that its Studios team can leverage the company's massive library of over 750 million high-quality assets as well as our AI image generator and 3D generator”, notes Adam. And the results are already out in the world - the studio helped Diageo imagine a series of fictional and unconventional cocktail recipes thanks to the very same AI tools Adam describes. 

So whether it be AI or virtual production, cutting-edge technology is helping Shutterstock bring brand storytelling to life. But there’s another final - crucial - ingredient: Human creativity. It’s the necessary spark that connects the dots between efficiency, effectiveness, and authenticity. And it’s utterly necessary for any attempt at brand storytelling. 

“I’d say a good example of this is the award-winning project we did for SOMA Surf”, says Adam. “We were challenged to solve an obvious content gap around lack of diversity in relation to black girls surfing”. 

The resulting campaign saw Shutterstock Studios output over a hundred assets, and shoot a documentary which went on to pick up a nomination at Cannes Lions. “We used our extensive network to shoot all this in Sao Tome, a tiny African island”, continues Adam. “The project brought together a largely female crew and director, and leveraged Shutterstock to raise awareness of the content gap. As a result, we’re now helping to close the gap with our own images - real photos of real people, shot by real people”. 

Shutterstock’s experience suggests that helping brands to tell their stories in a way that sparks empathy and connection requires human expertise - and doing so at speed and scale requires technological capability. Thankfully, Shutterstock Studios comprises both sides of that coin. 

And it hasn’t come around by accident. Listening to executive producer of presale and creative, Joanna Lagstein, reflecting on how Shutterstock Studios hires, brings those themes to the fore. “We pride ourselves on casting the right talent in front of as well as behind the camera with an eye towards diversity, representation, creative perspective, and subject matter expertise”, she tells LBB. “But beyond that, we look for a ‘can-do’ attitude, a willingness to step outside one's comfort zone, and a client-first sensibility. Our culture is truly one that's kind and collaborative; we hold ourselves to a very high standard, so we expect the same accountability of our talent. And finally, a passion for art, and for making is, of course, key!”. 

If Adam is right, and storytelling is the “only way for brands to cut through”, then Shutterstock Studios offers a vision to make it happen. Ultimately, it’s in that place between human creativity and cutting-edge tech that the most compelling stories are told.