Certified product images mandatory from 02/2023

In eCommerce, eRetail, after-sales and distribution, digital product presentation is increasingly the go-to solution. The need for images that hit the mark quality-wise is growing exponentially thanks to marketing activities on an inexorable upward curve and product sales spanning myriad digital channels.

However, managing and sharing product images are often a source of frustration and drain on resources. More often than you’d think, business will take extra photos of products where 3D packshots are already out there – but nowhere to be found when they’re needed. Without standard image formats to grease the wheels, sharing image files between manufacturers and external businesses becomes a tricky and inefficient affair.

As a product communication agency that’s been around the block a few times, these are issues we are very familiar with. That’s why we’ve been part of the GS1 network since 2017. The shareholder structure of GS1 Germany, for example, is made up of 600 trading companies and their partners, plus the brand association representing the interests of 400 companies in the German branded goods industry.

The GS1 group looked closely at the production of images and media assets, and the naming of media files. Together, its experts worked out a comprehensive tick-list for photography, marketing, eCommerce, print and asset management, and developed a global standard extending to all parties. As well as establishing consistency in the creation and processing of media assets, this will also cover web shop images, instore TV and shelf space optimisation, plus advertising images from different angles.

The global standard and these uniform business processes are essential in stepping up efficiency and minimising costs in all the various ways product images are used. Because if you harmonise the necessary data and sharing methods, you’ll have fewer errors and duplications cluttering up your to-do list.

Businesses like to have multiple product images to play around with – and consumers are now also basing their purchasing decisions to a large extent on pictures. But what type of product image should you choose for the job at hand? What are the key considerations in ensuring that those images do what you want them to – and that the data is fit for purpose? So many questions. Happily, we’re here to guide you through them all.

Our goal is to provide stellar communication of your products. We offer you everything from consultancy and concept design to creative and technical implementation in-house. Highly capable artwork management and asset management systems smooth internal sign-offs and help with centralised provision of product data for external businesses.