When the focus is on Web usability, marketing and commerce for Getty Images, Kasz Maciag, Vice President Marketing Website Development, is the one behind the virtual lens. An Internet marketer with an exceptionally well-trained eye for success, Kasz has not only seen the stock photography movement explode from glossy or transparent pictures into rasterized pixels on a computer screen, but has actually helped shape the transformation. At Getty she is one of the leading professionals compositing the many layers of change into a brilliant new industry.
At Getty Images, Kasz is responsible for all customer-facing aspects of the Web and has just completed one of the most comprehensive, user-centric redesigns to the company’s e-commerce Website in its history. It’s a role that has turned from evolutionary to revolutionary.
“I started off my career at The Image Bank back in New York about 25 years ago, worked at The Stock Market photo agency in New York for a number of years, and made the big move out to Seattle nine years ago because I knew the industry needed to change, and I knew digital was going to be the way to do it,” remarks the Brooklyn, New York native whose intriguing nickname is of Polish descent.
“I moved out here to work for a company that is now known as Corbis. And five years ago moved from Corbis to Getty Images. It’s been very satisfying to be so long involved with an industry, and to truly have been a part of revolutionizing the way the industry works. Today we’re providing something that is so much more customer relevant than it’s ever been before.”
The evolution of marketing photographic still images, and more recently motion picture stock photography, has ushered in a new era of e-commerce from CD-ROM sales to browsing, buying and downloading images on the Internet.
During Kasz’s westward trek, one great pioneer in stock photography would soon be superimposed on another. Before there was a Getty Images, Photodisc pioneered the market of royalty-free images for use in advertising, brochures and Websites. Photodisc revolutionized the imagery market in the process by offering fully E-commerce enabled search, purchase and download of images via the Web. And, after being acquired by Getty Images, Seattle became ground zero for a dizzying array of acquisitions that would expand Getty Images into one of the world’s premiere stock photo aggregators. Photodisc is today one of 4 or 5 separate collections offered within the larger royalty-free group. Others include Digital Vision, ThinkStock, BrandX, and Rubber Ball Productions.
“Photodisc is still the uncontested leader by far, whether you’re talking sheer number of images, sheer volume of images sold, or sheer revenue,” explained Kasz. [In the Web redesign] we knew that in looking at Photodisc, we needed to do something more than just give it a fresh coat of paint. While it was definitely the pioneer, we needed to take the next step in proving the Photodisc could truly be innovative within the customer market.”
“At the beginning of last year, we went on a series of road trips to actually interview customers. We went into their homes, we went into their office space. We saw how they interacted with our products in order to figure out what it is that really benefitted them. And after a number of focus groups and customer tests, and usability studies we developed a strategy to revamp Photodisc,” said Kasz.
“We had heard from customers that the newer, fresher images were getting lost. That on GettyImages.com the rights managed comps were bigger than the royalty-free and that was not fair. Where once upon a time, the really low-rez image was great for Web use, screen size and resolution has changed and people need bigger images. We responded. ”
An exciting new initiative that has grown up with the recent site redesign can actually connect photo buyers with photographers for custom work. It’s a two pronged approach according to Kasz. The first is to offer customers a complete agency-type custom image service product.
“We manage the entire photo shoot from all the production aspects involved, the actual management of the photography, up to the point where we deliver the final imagery to the customer. Customers can say ‘I need this shot.’ It may be something like “a shot of my CEO for an annual report, or I have a specific product that I know doesn’t exist in any stock library. Help me find a photographer, and please manage the process for me.”
The full agency approach is called Photo Assignment. The second offering is called Professional Directory, a kind of electronic Yellow Pages service where photographers and illustrators benefit from GettyImages.com immense traffic — almost 4 million visits per month. Customers browse portfolios and contact the artist directly. On the professional assignment side, Getty Images would receive a commission from the photographer . On the directory side, they accept a free for the posting of the portfolio.
For Kasz, the evolution of stock photography has also meant educating buyers about the industry and how it works, explaining the differences between royalty-free and rights managed images and where each offers unique advantages. And yet, while bringing those along who have never purchased photography before, the other side of the spectrum is the part of the market that is pushing for more. “They want to be taken further. They have demands and needs that are driving the kind of technology that we’re developing today,” says Kasz. “The bulk of our customers would probably argue that we’re not moving fast enough.”
Throughout it all, Kasz has unquestionably seen the big picture. [24×7]
