BERLIN, GERMANY – A new initiative titled #UpForCollab (www.eyeem.com/upforcollab/for-creatives) launches today. A powerful, free-to-use platform open to the creative industry globally to showcase the work and profiles of creators economically affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s a new dedicated resource for creatives available for work to connect with brands and agencies in the advertising, creative and media industry.
The new initiative sees EyeEm, the global marketplace for premium stock photography and professional photo & video productions, partner with Geometry – WPP’s end-to-end Creative Commerce agency – to support and empower the global creative industry adversely affected by the global Covide-19 pandemic.
#UpForCollab harnesses EyeEm’s AI powered tech platform to feature original, high-quality imagery for use by brands and agencies for advertising and marcomms at a time when video production and photoshoots are restricted or cancelled. Bringing Geometry’s idea to fruition, the EyeEm platform enables individuals to upload images of their work and links to their website and portfolios – promoting themselves and their work – for free. Contributors receive a licensing fee when their images are sold, EyeEm’s enhanced profile pages also allow creatives to connect to brands and agencies to collaborate for new commissions and projects.
Oxford Economics in partnership with Creative Industries Federation, a membership body which represents, champions and supports the UK’s creative industries forecast in June that more than 400,000 jobs and £77 billion in revenue could be lost this year. The UK’s creative sector pre Covid-19 was growing at five times the rate of the wider economy but has now been impacted twice as hard.
Simon Cox, CEO at EyeEm, said, “No one was prepared for this extraordinary year. And while most companies slowly find their way back to a new normal, our global creative talent is toughing it out almost alone. There is a scarcity of jobs and projects which is affecting everyone. #UpForCollab is an idea that Geometry came to us with and we agreed is a brilliant way to leverage our powerful AI tech to help boost the industry. We recognise that we can support the community in a positive way by empowering and connecting our most talented creators to those marketers and clients in need of fresh and authentic visual assets.”
Till Hohmann, Chief Creative Officer EMEA at Geometry adds, “Our industry has demonstrated a real willingness to continue working as normal for clients in these unprecedented times. We all know creativity wins the day. This is why agencies and brands are leaning into new and alternative solutions that uphold the value of great storytelling and high-quality advertising. This is core to EyeEm’s crowdsourced model which makes #UpForCollab a profound offer that sees everyone benefit. We are incredibly grateful to bring forward this creative solution to support our entire industry in this time of crisis.”
From today, creators can set up their profile pages on EyeEm, with a short description of their professional skills, experience, links to their sites, skills and availability. They can upload images with the hashtag #UpForCollab. Brand marketers, agencies and other creative organisations looking for imagery and to support creatives will be able to browse the #UpforCollab tagged content and view the contributor/creator profiles. The creator will receive a share in the licensing fee of any images sold.
