Tag: Getty Images

New York, USA – Getty Images and Shutterstock have announced that they entered into a definitive merger agreement to combine in a merger of equals transaction, creating a premier visual content company. The combined company, which would have an enterprise value of approximately $3.7b, will be named Getty Images Holdings, Inc.

The merger of Getty Images and Shutterstock will result in a more comprehensive and diverse content library, delivering greater value to customers, enhancing opportunities for contributors, and strengthening their dedication to inclusive and representative content. 

Additionally, the combined company’s improved financial position is anticipated to boost its ability to invest in new products and drive innovation, meeting the demands of a rapidly changing and highly competitive market.

Upon completion of the merger, Craig Peters, CEO of Getty Images, will assume the role of CEO for the unified company. The new entity’s Board of Directors will consist of eleven members: Craig Peters, six representatives appointed by Getty Images, and four representatives from Shutterstock, including Paul Hennessy, Shutterstock’s CEO. Mark Getty, the current chairman of Getty Images, will serve as the chairman of the board for the combined organisation.

The merger aims to drive cutting-edge innovation by enabling greater investment in advanced content creation, enhanced event coverage, and customer-focused technologies such as improved search capabilities, 3D imagery, and generative AI. By combining complementary portfolios, the unified company will offer a wider range of visual content products, including still imagery, video, music, 3D assets, and more. 

For content creators, this merger presents significantly expanded opportunities to connect with customers worldwide. Financially, the strengthened balance sheet and increased cash flow generation will allow the combined company to accelerate debt repayment, lower borrowing costs, and pursue new avenues for value creation for customers and stockholders. 

Additionally, the merger is expected to yield substantial cost synergies, with projected savings of $150m to $200m annually achieved within three years post-close, with the majority realised in the first 12 to 24 months.

Craig Peters, CEO at Getty Images, said, “Today’s announcement is exciting and transformational for our companies, unlocking multiple opportunities to strengthen our financial foundation and invest in the future—including enhancing our content offerings, expanding event coverage, and delivering new technologies to better serve our customers.”

He added, “With the rapid rise in demand for compelling visual content across industries, there has never been a better time for our two businesses to come together. By combining our complementary strengths, we can better address customer opportunities while delivering exceptional value to our partners, contributors, and stockholders.”

Meanwhile, Paul Hennessy, CEO at Shutterstock, commented, “We are excited by the opportunities we see to expand our creative content library and enhance our product offering to meet diverse customer needs.”

He added, “We expect the merger to produce value for the customers and stockholders of both companies by capitalising on attractive growth opportunities to drive combined revenues, accelerating product innovation, realising significant cost synergies and improving cash flow. We look forward to working closely with the Getty Images management team to complete the transaction and drive the next chapter of growth.”

New York, USA – Getty Images has announced an integration with TikTok to meet the diverse creative needs of marketers and advertisers. The integration allows advertisers and businesses direct access to Getty Images’ vast library of creative imagery and video content through TikTok’s AI-powered video generation tool, Symphony Creative Studio.

By integrating Getty Images’ premium creative content directly into TikTok’s Symphony Creative Studio, users can effortlessly craft TikTok-first ads and organic content that feels native to the platform and increases performance.

The integration with Getty Images is part of a wider expansion of TikTok’s tools, including Symphony Creative Studio, which aims to support advertisers and content creators with capabilities to make the TikTok creative production process easier and more efficient, bridging the gap between ideation and production.

With Getty Images’ unparalleled creative library at their fingertips, TikTok advertisers can push creative boundaries and deliver content that captivates and inspires, enhancing the overall impact of their advertising campaigns. As a result, businesses can achieve greater visibility, foster deeper connections with viewers, and ultimately drive higher conversion rates.

Peter Orlowsky, SVP of global strategic partnerships at Getty Images, said, “With the surge in demand for authentic storytelling in advertising, the need for captivating, high-quality content to convey these stories effectively to audiences has never been greater. At Getty Images, we take pride in empowering advertisers to streamline their creative processes.”

He added, “This collaboration offers seamless integration into TikTok’s Symphony Creative Studio, giving brands and businesses direct access to our vast library of millions of premium images and videos, ensuring they can create powerful, engaging TikTok-first content with ease.”

Andy Yang, head of monetization creative product at TikTok, commented, “At TikTok, we aim to empower advertisers and help them connect with their communities with the power of generative AI. Partnering with Getty Images unlocks a new avenue for marketers to scale their content and drive performance with commercially safe content globally. We are continuously building creative solutions that spark joy, imagination and action.”

Singapore – Nearly 4 out of 5 APAC consumers agree that companies should do a better job at capturing Asian people’s true lifestyle and culture in advertising, a report from Getty Images revealed.

The new research showed that stereotypical and inauthentic visual representations of various Asian communities are still present in the Asia-Pacific advertising scene.

According to the data, only less than 10% of the most popular visuals for Australasia, Japan, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan accurately represent Asian people and their lived experiences. Instead, the findings revealed that the most commonly used imagery tends to lean heavily towards perpetuating common stereotypes.

The common stereotypes in the Asian advertising scene include depicting Asians as youthful, slender, having lighter skin tones, and predominantly portrayed in work-related contexts. Furthermore, popular visuals all portray the same underlying messages, styling, and emotion, which is often overly happy and has little to no connection to each culture.

Getty Images’ research report also showed that nearly 4 out of 5 consumers across APAC agree that companies also need to do a better job at capturing people’s true lifestyles and cultures. They felt that simply increasing the representation of individuals from diverse ethnicities, backgrounds, and appearances within advertising and media was insufficient.

Additionally, a striking 3 out of 5 also shared that they’ve felt discrimination based on body size, lifestyle choices, race, ethnicity, gender identity, disability, and sexuality.

The report identified a number of representation gaps that are specific to APAC, which include disparities in depicting cultural specificities, underrepresentation of older adults, a lack of diversity in gender representation, limited portrayals of Asian working life, a prevailing preference for Eurocentric beauty standards and body types, and an absence of individuals with disabilities, among others.

The representation gaps and lack of diversity in imagery limit the opportunity to showcase Asia-Pacific’s extensive span of cultures and demographics.

These concerning findings underscore the importance for the media and advertising industry to recognise the intricate diversity and multidimensionality inherent in Asian cultures and align their strategies with consumer expectations to deliver authentic and meaningful portrayals of Asian identities.

Yuri Endo, creative insights manager at Getty Images, said, “Despite the region’s diversity, everyday images and videos that aim to capture Asian experiences often fall short, perpetuating harmful stereotypes or missing the mark entirely. This misrepresentation and underrepresentation in TV shows, social media, and advertising has led to significant gaps in consumers’ understanding of the region’s realities.”

“By sharing these guidelines, the report takes a significant step towards helping brands serving APAC customers promote accurate and respectful portrayals of Asian communities, ultimately contributing to a more inclusive and equitable visual landscape,” she added.

Australia – Getty Images has announced launch of its new offering ‘Generative AI by Getty Images’, a new tool that pairs the company’s in-class creative content with the latest AI technology for a commercially safe generative AI tool.

Generative AI by Getty Images is trained on the state-of-the-art Edify model architecture, which is part of NVIDIA Picasso, a foundry for generative AI models for visual design. The tool is trained solely from Getty Images’ vast creative library, including exclusive premium content, with full indemnification for commercial use. 

Sitting alongside the company’s broader, industry-leading services, Generative AI by Getty Images works seamlessly with the company’s expansive library of authentic and compelling visuals and custom content solutions, allowing customers to elevate their entire end-to-end creative process to find the right visual content for any need.

Customers creating and downloading visuals through the tool will receive Getty Images’ standard royalty-free licence, which includes representations and warranties, uncapped indemnification, and the right to perpetual, worldwide, nonexclusive use in all media. 

Moreover, content generated through the tool will not be added into existing Getty Images and iStock content libraries for others to licence. In addition, contributors will be compensated for any inclusion of their content in the training set.

Craig Peters, CEO at Getty Images, said, “We’re excited to launch a tool that harnesses the power of generative AI to address our customers’ commercial needs while respecting the intellectual property of creators. We’ve worked hard to develop a responsible tool that gives customers confidence in visuals produced by generative AI for commercial purposes.”

Meanwhile, Grant Farhall, chief product officer at Getty Images, commented, “We’ve listened to customers about the swift growth of generative AI – and have heard both excitement and hesitation – and tried to be intentional around how we developed our own tool. We’ve created a service that allows brands and marketers to safely embrace AI and stretch their creative possibilities, while compensating creators for inclusion of their visuals in the underlying training sets.”

Customers will soon be able to customise Generative AI by Getty Images with proprietary data to produce images with their unique brand style and language. This and other service advancements will be added later this year.

New York, USA – Getty Images has launched VisualGPS Insights, a new interactive tool designed to help businesses develop content strategies backed up with data and visual guidance. With the new platform, users can view and analyse over 2.5 billion annual searches and download queries from Getty Images as well as iStock, its e-commerce platform focused on SMBs, SMEs and creatives.

In addition, the VisualGPS Insights will enable creatives, advertisers and SMBs with actionable data and insights to determine whether they should follow or avoid the most popular content and whether their campaigns are timed correctly and culturally resonant to create powerfully visual and competitive marketing strategies.

One of the early adopters, Miko Smith, owner of Bluebird Consulting, said, “I’m always looking for something to provide a solution. This would be a game-changer. If I’m running ads for a client, it’s given me another reassurance that I can look here and say, okay, let’s budget, let’s send some to India. It looks like India, let’s focus on India and the United States.”

Meanwhile, Candace Marks, senior director of product management at Getty Images and iStock, shared, “Through quick takes on visual trends and industry data, VisualGPS Insights provides customers with a unique jumping-off point for them to make data-driven decisions when it comes to their marketing strategies, whether that is deciding if they want to follow or avoid the most popular content or find inspiration on how to market their offerings in a unique and innovative way.” 

Marks added, “Through this tool, we will provide unique access to proprietary data they will not find elsewhere to empower our clients to get in front of where their industry is headed and how it is reacting to what consumers care about.”

All registered iStock customers across the world have access to the free VisualGPS Insights tool, which enables organizations to leverage real-time visual trends. As a strategic tool, the service aims to give enterprises a better knowledge of how much interest there is in various content inquiries.

Ohio, USA – Procter and Gamble-owned hair care brand Pantene has collaborated with Getty Images’ custom content photographers from around the world to produce #StyleWithPride, the latest edition of their ongoing #BeautifuLGBTQ+ campaign. Embracing the diversity of ways people express themselves, Pantene’s newest advertising campaign features a gallery of real-life depictions of people from all parts of the LGBTQ+ community. 

In addition, Pantene has teamed up with the Dresscode Project to ensure an authentic and inclusive depiction of the LGBTQ+ population, as well as to offer stylists from the LGBTQ+ community an opportunity to contribute to the program.

Pantene said, the representation of the LGBTQ+ community has made major strides in popular culture, especially in areas like film, television, and music. Yet, brands and agencies still lag the mainstream media in representing LGBTQ+ people in their advertising and brand communications. In fact, less than 1% of the most popular visuals at Getty Images feature an LGBTQ+ person and when they are included, those depictions are often stereotypical or one-dimensional. 

Outward expressions of identity including physical appearance, choices of clothing and sense of style, and even hair types, haircuts and hair colours can be an essential component of affirming identity for many LGBTQ+ people. Stereotypes that adhere to the gender binary or heteronormativity, exclude the diverse self-expressions of the LGBTQ+ community from today’s advertising and can have a profound impact on their experiences out in the world.

Brent Miller, Global LGBTQ+ Equality & Inclusion for P&G, said that marketing and advertising images surround us every single day, and so many members of the LGBTQ+ community can relate to not feeling seen or represented in these images,”

“Hair is such a powerful tool for self-expression, yet this often isn’t captured in traditional advertising which tends to often focus on stereotypes or visual shortcuts. Our goal with this campaign is to encourage brands to showcase the beauty in its many forms and celebrate all the ways hair can be used to feel like the best, most authentic version of yourself,” Miller said.

The aim of Pantene’s gallery is both to enable and to challenge the industry to follow their lead and demonstrate what beautiful looks like by accurately representing how LGBTQ+ communities #StyleWithPride. 

Tristen Norman, Head of Creative Insights for the Americas at Getty Images, shared, “Our ongoing VisualGPS research affirms that the most recalled depictions of the LGBTQ+ people are stereotypical, that’s if they’re even seen at all.” 

“This campaign provides an opportunity for us to play a part in celebrating the diversity of self-expression within the queer community, and ultimately help change the prevailing narratives to help fuel better, and more inclusive visual storytelling across all forms of media,” Norman adds.

Kristin Rankin, Dresscode Project founder, commented, “Traditionally the hair and beauty marketing industry has been based on stereotypes and biases related to the idea of gender is binary. This campaign allows us to shine a light on the diversity this community uses to express themselves while challenging stereotypes in the media. For many in the LGBTQ+ communities, their hair journey is immensely personal and being able to see themselves and all the different ways hair can be used for self-expression will allow them to feel celebrated and help break these biases.”

The #StyleWithPride gallery is now live on Getty Images and will be accessible for all brands to leverage. 

And finally, as a show of support for inclusivity and equality for all, Pantene will be donating $1 to Dresscode Project for every photo shared using #StyleWithPride to reinforce their commitment (*up to $100,000). This campaign is the latest in support of Pantene’s mission to represent, celebrate and make the LGBTQ+ community feel beautiful year-round.

Sydney, Australia – Global visual content creator and marketplace Getty Images has announced a multi-year partnership agreement with digital collectible company Candy Digital that makes Candy Digital the exclusive developer and marketplace for Getty Images NFTs. 

This is Candy Digital’s inaugural arts and culture partnership, marking an exciting expansion into digital collectibles and experiences beyond sports. Both companies will collaborate and develop a diverse portfolio of NFT products and collections derived from Getty Images’ extensive library of more than 465 million images, including over 135 million analog images from Getty Images’ photographic archive.

Photography and NFT collectors will be able to seamlessly purchase, sell and trade official digital collectibles through the Getty Images marketplace on Candy, which will support primary and secondary market transactions and purchases using credit card or crypto payments. The NFTs will be minted on the Palm blockchain, a scalable, environmentally friendly, Ethereum-compatible side-chain.

Craig Peters, CEO at Getty Images, said, “With the very best content at our core, innovation is woven into the fabric of Getty Images and this partnership speaks to our mission to connect people with our high quality, exclusive visual content. We are proud to work with Candy Digital to expand our offering to the fast-growing global audience of NFT collectors, representing significant opportunities for the company and our global photographer community.”

Meanwhile, Scott Lawin, CEO at Candy Digital, commented, “The introduction of photography represented a seismic shift in how we were able to document, store, and share our history. We’re thrilled to be working with Getty Images to develop NFT products that creatively bring these iconic and rare photographs from the last two centuries to life for people to experience and collect in a new digital format.”

He added, “This partnership represents an exciting step forward in Candy’s evolution as we expand and diversify beyond sports and establish Candy as a leader in the worlds of digital entertainment, culture, and art.”

Many of Getty Images’ analog archival photographs have never been seen before by the general public and contained within this collection are exceptionally rare images from legendary photographers who first pioneered the field. As part of this new partnership, Getty Images and Candy Digital will unveil these works alongside contemporary images in a variety of different digital formats for people to view and collect for the very first time.

For the past two weeks, sports fans around the world have been glued to their TVs cheering for their country at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. With the action continuing on 24 August with the Paralympic Games, the opportunity for businesses to remain connected with their customers on a topic that resonates with so many — sport — should remain front-of-mind.

Whichever industry you’re in, the feelings of celebration and togetherness the Olympics and Paralympics evoke are common themes which unite and engage communities and customers the world over, and this sentiment doesn’t end with the closing ceremony.

According to the latest iStock Visual GPS research, 75% of people in ANZ stated they want to develop daily wellness and exercise routines. Search data across iStock by Getty Images, a leading ecommerce platform providing premium visual content to SMBs, SMEs, creatives and students around the world, shows that terms such as ‘outdoor fitness’ and ‘exercise at home’ have increased by 1225% and 760% respectively over the past twelve months.

Based on the insights, here are the four things businesses can do to effectively use sport in their marketing campaigns to drive greater engagement among their customers.

  1. Ensure your visuals are relatable 

Not everyone can be Ariarne Titmus or Peter Bol. About 68% of people in ANZ want companies to celebrate diversity of all kinds, and yet 62% still do not feel represented in media and advertising. So remember to be inclusive in your visual choices and avoid relying on visuals of toned, young athletes. Ensure you are also including intersectional identities such as body shapes, types, sizes, abilities, age and gender. 

How to integrate sport into your marketing in an authentic and inclusive way
Photo: iStock.com/SelectStock

Around 18% of Aussies and 24% of Kiwis live with some form of disability, and 27% of the ANZ population are aged 55+, so think about the range of exercise and fitness on offer, from wheelchair basketball, to senior yoga and running buggy groups. Sport and exercise can be both an individual and group activity, so it’s important to consider visuals of both.

  1. Celebrate togetherness

Sporting events such as the Olympics, Paralympics, The Ashes and Australian Open bring people together – virtually or in person – to celebrate, enjoy each other’s company and cheer on their favourite athletes. The Visual GPS research shows that 84% of people in ANZ look for ways to celebrate the good things in their life. This could be as simple as showing how we are celebrating having a meal or drinks together at home with our family, partners or housemates.

How to integrate sport into your marketing in an authentic and inclusive way
Photo: iStock.com/FG Trade

Consider visualizing the ways in which people are connecting virtually and celebrating sporting successes with loved ones from afar. The same research highlights that this is incredibly important to people, with 82% of people across ANZ finding that technology helps them feel connected to others. 

  1. Consider fitness more holistically

In Australia, the priority most valued during the pandemic was personal health and wellbeing, followed closely by the health and wellbeing of family. Attitudes to ‘wellness’ have changed, with 94% of people in ANZ believing it is equally important to take care of themselves emotionally as well as physically. When thinking about fitness, consider it holistically and include the benefits it can have on people’s emotional wellbeing. Use visuals which show the emotional rewards people get from sport and exercise and encourage physical health in the making, rather than the results of exercise on physical appearance. 

How to integrate sport into your marketing in an authentic and inclusive way
Photo: iStock.com/RyanJLane

Connect authentically with supportive depictions of mental health, and include visuals which represent a broad spectrum of proactive self‑care moments, from a video yoga class at home, to a walk on the beach, to a Zoom call with friends, or sharing a healthy meal with family.

  1. Get back to nature

International travel bans and limits on time allowed outside the home have meant Aussies are exploring their own backyard. Searches on iStock for ‘outdoor living’ and ‘Australian nature’ have both increased by 144%, reflecting how people are reconnecting with nature and finding inspiration and restfulness in the outdoors.

How to integrate sport into your marketing in an authentic and inclusive way
Photo: iStock.com/Fly View Productions

When selecting your visual content, consider the different ways in which people are embracing the outdoors and moving freely through landscapes and uncrowded spaces. Visualizing the mindful ways in which people are engaging in outdoor activities will resonate well with your customers of all ages.

With the continued impact of the pandemic, sports present an opportunity for businesses, regardless of industry, to connect and celebrate with their customers. 

This article was written by Kate Rourke, head of creative insights for Asia Pacific at Getty Images and iStock.

Tokyo, Japan – With the previously postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics now gearing up for its upcoming opening ceremony on 23 July, visual media company Getty Images has announced the deployment of their award-winning photographers, editors and operations staff that will capture imagery from every event at the Olympic Games.

Composed of over 100 people, Getty Images’ media endeavor follows after it has been appointed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to be the ‘Official Photographic Agency’ for the upcoming games.

For the first time, Getty Images will edit photos from the Olympic Games remotely with over 50 editors live-editing from various locations around the world. Getty Images will connect key photo positions from inside all 42 Olympic venues directly to the Getty Images office in the Main Press Center and to editors around the world in real-time. This enables a photograph to be taken at an event and then uploaded to their main website in as little as 30 seconds, empowering Getty Images’ global customer base to tell more immediate and impactful visual stories.

According to Cassie Trotter, director of photography for APAC at Getty Images, their media participation in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics matters truly, as this year’s games now rely more on visuals, which has never played a more important role in connecting the world’s media, partners, licensees, and fans and family at home with all the action on the ground in Tokyo, as there will be no live spectators for the event. 

Furthermore, she added that planning for this event began in 2013 and Getty Images has been innovating throughout the pandemic to create iconic images viewers can look back on in years to come.

“Our elite roster of award-winning specialist sports photographers, including four contributors from Australia and New Zealand, are ready to show the Games and its athletes at their best. They are equipped with cutting edge technology, including robotic and remote cameras, to capture every angle of athletic endeavor and deliver images to our customers at record speeds,” Trotter said.

Getty Images has covered 13 Olympic Games and 13 Olympic Winter Games since 1968 as Allsport and subsequently Getty Images.

Sydney, Australia – Few days left for the observance of Pride Month this June, yet new data from LGBTQIA+ media advocacy organization GLAAD and visual communications company Getty Images shows how even developed regions, specifically in the ANZ region, have low or stereotypical representation among visual storytelling in their respective markets.

According to their findings, 30% of such visuals depict gay men as ‘feminine’ and 31% of such visuals depict lesbian women as ‘masculine’. They also noted that 36% of such visuals depict gay men as ‘flamboyant’ and 25% of such visuals depict LGBTQ+ people carrying the rainbow flag in some capacity.

Consumer-wise, while 8 in 10 ANZ consumers say they expect brands to be consistently committed to diversity and inclusion, only 4 in 10 feel accurately represented.

According to Kate Rourke, head of creative insights for Asia Pacific at Getty Images and iStock, Australian and New Zealand brands have a great opportunity to look beyond token opportunism, and create and use visuals that effectively reflect and speak to the LGBTQ+ community – without fear of backlash or to simply ‘tick a box’.

“Brands that continue to use cliched visual stereotypes to minimise risk of offending the more conversative customers, will do more harm in the long run. Our society is constantly evolving and changing. Our recent research also revealed that for Australians and New Zealanders the top way they know a company is truly committed to diversity and inclusion is by consistently showing a wide range of people, lifestyles, and cultures in their communications. Ignoring these cultural changes means they will lose out to their competitors in the long run,” Rouke stated.

That reliance has left some advertisers feeling hesitant when it comes to proactively depicting the LGBTQIA+ community in their campaigns and communications, especially outside of events like Mardi Gras. 

In response, Getty Images’ has recently released its ‘LGBTQIA+ Guidebook for Inclusive Visual Storytelling’ that gives brands and businesses practical recommendations for confidently making more inclusive visual choices when depicting the broader LGBTQIA+ community.

“Our hope for the Guidebook is to empower businesses to step up and depict the LGBTQIA+ community in authentic and thoughtful ways, rather than relying on often overused stereotypes. This can be as simple as choosing visuals of real LGBTQIA+ people in their daily lives such as walking a dog, going to school, at work, cooking, running errands, even grabbing a coffee or doing laundry,” Rourke added.