Case Study: V Gallery
Show, Don’t Tell: V Gallery Partners With Boutiques to Drive Business and Large Print Sales
The Company
V Gallery started in the cramped basement of Vicki and Jed Taufer’s home in Morton, Illinois in 2000. Specializing in family and children, the Taufers quickly established themselves both regionally and internationally for their exceptional work. Today, they own a studio on Main Street in Morton with more than 7,000 square feet of studio and office space. The nine-employee studio draws from Morton, a prosperous town of 15,000, as well as from Bloomington and Peoria, both nearby mid-sized cities. The couple’s V Gallery draws from a population base, they figure, of around 400,000 Illinois residents.
In terms of work division, Vicki does the photography and marketing while Jed focuses on Photoshop and workflow systems. Vicki has a reputation for being a high energy inspirational speaker at events and classes held by national and international photography associations, traveling to South Korea, the Philippines, Italy, New York and other cities and countries. Her public speaking has been so successful that she and Jed launched Haven, an educational studio where professional photographers can take classes covering everything from lighting and posing to marketing and sales to workflow and Photoshop techniques. The Taufers just completed a nicely appointed classroom – its colorful walls make it look more like a studio – where visiting photographers can take courses and learn from V Gallery’s success.
The Challenge
The Taufers have a good niche but, like all photographers, they face some challenges. Their clientele is 20 percent seniors, 50 percent children; 30 percent families. With that in mind, they tend to focus on the high end of the marketplace, a rarified position in their market. On the one hand, they do not share that distinction with many other photographers in Morton – they own the high end spectrum.
On the other hand they have to cast the net a touch wider to bring in higher income clients not only from Morton but from other nearby cities. Vicki says plenty of clients have no problem driving 30 minutes or more to her studio from nearby cities. The trick is to give them a reason to get in touch with V Gallery when they want professional photographs taken of their families.
The Market Approach
Vicki described an aggressive marketing approach that begins with traditional methods such as online newsletters, targeted emails and occasional postcard mailing. The studio also has an extensive and inviting web presence that allows for curious potential clients to see what V Gallery has to offer.
More intriguing, however, has been V Gallery’s ability to create relationships with local boutiques, hair salons and home stores. Many of those stores have an empty wall – or portion of a wall – open for the taking. V Gallery offers from six to eight framed images, along with cards and brochures – folded WHCC Press Printed 5x7 cards, for example, and bookmarks – with contact information.
"People will come into the store and ask about the photographs," she says. "The store owner can then give them one of our WHCC Press Printed cards or bookmarks. Since I do fine art photography some of these images will be for sale so the owner can get a commission for selling them. And it pays to have our images on their walls. It’s a great deal because it advertises our studio and fills their walls."
Those same fine art images printed by WHCC -- complete with an "about the artist" biography section and contact information on the back of the frame -- are given as gifts by the Taufers to friends who, in return, help advertise their studio. They also distribute folded 4x5.5 cards to clients that feature a flower, for instance, along with contact information on the back.
"Everything from the images on the walls of the boutiques to the folded cards is printed by WHCC," she points out. "Almost all our marketing materials, and the work we do for clients, is printed by WHCC."
Results
Business has been very good for the Taufers. Their operation has grown into a regional powerhouse that has given them a national cachet. The gallery does great business in photographing clients for Christmas cards, graduation announcements, birth announcements and family portraits. High school seniors, though not a huge part of the studio’s business, spend an average of $1,500 on photographs and the sitting, a sizable fee in that competitive market.
Several WHCC products have garnered the attention of clients and driven sales. The photographic images on metallic paper have become a favorite among clients looking for a more contemporary presentation. Prints 11x14 and larger – mounted on 1/8 inch masonite with a pebble texture and lustre spray coating -- have sold well. "The images just pop when you use the masonite and luster," she says.
Businesses looking to stand out in their field have asked V Gallery for business cards, folded bookmarks and 5x7 folded cards which they distribute to current and potential clients, she says.
With its stellar reputation intact, V Gallery does not offer many discount programs, with one exception. If clients buy a wall portrait larger than 8x10 they can then receive, as part of a package, eight gift prints of any size 8x10 and smaller. Those prints can be wallet-sized or 5x7s for friends and family. "It’s not uncommon to sell that package five times to one family because it’s so economical," says Vicki. "That way they’ll buy five larger print packages and get a total of 40 other gift prints as part of those packages."
The White House Difference
Vicki sees WHCC as a great partner for V Gallery. All the advertising pieces the studio prints are done by WHCC, she points out. "Those have really helped us increase our visibility and sales," she says. "I really like the Press Printed product line and the metallic prints, which are really eye-catching. Clients love them."
The Press Printed greeting cards, especially printed on Pearl paper, have received kudos from clients who "noticed the difference," she says, compared to other cards. WHCC’s attention to detail in getting the cards done correctly has contributed to increasing sales, she says.
There’s another important reason V Gallery does nearly all its printing with WHCC. "Customer service is the number one reason we use the company," she concludes. "WHCC gives us a better product at a better price and with great turnaround time. If there is a mistake, and usually it is on our end, WHCC takes care of it. They’re fast, too. That's huge when you have deadlines and clients are anxiously awaiting their prints.
"Even though WHCC has grown, they still provide incredible customer service. That's one thing that hasn't changed since we started using them when they were much smaller."
At a Glance
Business name: V Gallery
Location: Morton, Ill.
Focus: Family, children, seniors, weddings
Website: http://www.vgallery.net
Strategy: Increase sales through using displays at area boutiques and businesses that serve as advertorials. Increase sales per client through larger prints and package offering. Uses WHCC Press Printed Products and Greeting Cards, Thrifty Prints