This fall, Zookbinders will begin offering a design, print and bind service direct to the consumer. The new service, called zookie.com, will serve the growing number of “albumless couples” who have their wedding images on a disk…but have no album.
Digital Aftereffect - zookie.com is a new business opportunity that came about as an aftereffect of digital photography. Due to the growing trend of “shoot and burn” wedding photography, our research suggests that 70-80% of today’s brides are contracting for a high-res disk of images only.
Very often shoot and burn providers lack the means, the ability, and often even the desire to offer their customers a full-service experience that would include a wedding album. In fact, their business model often relies on a simple exchange of un-retouched, unedited files on DVD and a modest profit. Married couples are left to go directly to drug store photo finishers for their reprints and online photo book retailers to get a wedding album. Many will either be overwhelmed with the project of sorting and selecting their favorites, then using tedious online design tools, or they may be underwhelmed by the availability of quality products out there.
Frustrated by the production process, many newlyweds never do anything about getting a wedding album. Instead, the elusive album becomes a well-intended goal that is never within reach, like taking a yoga class or organizing their Tupperware cabinet. zookie.com is ideally suited for this audience: married couples who want a good quality, nicely-designed wedding album, without the do-it-yourself hassle, AND whose photographers are unable to provide it.
Targeting Married Couples – For our consumer brand, our marketing efforts will target those couples who are already married and who own their high-res files. Our value proposition includes not only design, print and bind, but a unique feature whereby we’ll also select the photos for them. In focus groups, brides shared with us how difficult it is to select photos, so we’ll ask them to send us a copy of the disk and let our design experts select the photos for them.
Naturally, some photographers will feel that Zookbinders is unfairly cutting out what has been a traditional profit center for professional photographers. This is certainly not the case or our intention. For the past 7-8 years, we have been saying “no” to newlyweds who call us requesting that we make their album. zookie.com is the solution for this underserved market. And rather than offer the service through Zookbinders (which is set up to work with pro photographers), we created a separate website to avoid confusion with Zookbinders.
There will always be a market segment that wants the photographer to design and deliver a finished album. These clients will continue to have their needs met by “full-service” photographers with our full support – we will always recommend that couples only hire a professional photographer for their wedding or special event, and Zookbinders will always help photographers finish the job.
The New Normal - When Joseph Kennedy said, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going,” he must have perceived something about business in the 21st century. At Zookbinders, we have no intention of going the way of the one-hour film lab or corner travel agency. We believe that the new business rules call for innovators to innovate rather than grumble about where the industry has gone and hope it somehow “returns to normal.” We’ve been on the front lines bringing new and more attractive products to market and our direct-to-consumer initiative is another step in that direction.
Only a few years ago, I-T was a PRONOUN, 4G was a parking space, and the World Wide Web was a science fiction movie about mutant spiders bent on world domination. Back then, Zookbinders’ business was assembling albums with prints shipped to us from photographers. Now, we’re printing albums in our in-house lab, as well as offering an expanded selection of digital press printed books that help photographers “design it once, and sell it twice.” As of this year, we offer a one-stop shop of design, print and bind, making life easier and more profitable for the professional photographer while vastly improving the customer experience for clients. We’ve made a very significant investment to bring our album design service to pro photographers, and will continue to invest in new products and better workflows that make your job easier.
Our commitment to the professional photographer is unchanged by zookie.com. You can continue to count on Zookbinders for a wide array of top quality, made in America products that showcase your creative talents and keep your clients’ memories alive.
