What is Catch + Release’s overall strategic approach to creating branded content for social and web-based platforms, and how does it set you apart from other agencies in the industry?

Catch+Release sources and licenses visual content for brands and agencies worldwide. What sets us apart from others is that we source the best-fit content quickly and safely, so creative and production teams can produce amazing, award-winning spots that perform and win customers. We are not a creative agency. If the budget requires royalty-free shots, we also work with many stock supplier partners and we uniquely indemnify for safe license usage. We also work with teams to integrate and augment any original production. Ultimately the final spot or outcome is to emotionally connect. We believe the only way to achieve that is through human-generated, authentic content. It already exists. It’s on the Internet or in our growing creator community. It’s the only way to win.

With the digital landscape constantly evolving, how does Catch + Release stay ahead of the curve in terms of production techniques, technology, and design trends to ensure your clients’ content remains relevant and competitive?

We believe that tools and technology are a game changer to improving productivity to help teams operate more efficiently, especially when under pressure and fast cycle times. With the ability to predictably license the right content gems, teams move faster and scale across all types of use-cases. Catch+Release has built a fast-growing creator community that’s searchable with AI-powered technology. In just a few clicks and the right search terms, you uncover the best-fit shots, just like a Pinterest board. Our AI search is sentient and can uncover moods such as happy, sad, gloomy, dark or even geo-specific shots such as Jackson Heights, NY. The benefit of having a fast, accurate search capability is that it saves a ton of time and frustration, and you avoid having to search across each social platform – TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Facebook etc. – and adjusting your approach each time. You also bypass irrelevant results and unnecessary ads. You get precious time back to focus on the most important aspects of the creative process, including production, which ultimately fast-tracks campaign execution.

What role does data and analytics play in your content creation process? How do you use data to inform your strategic decisions and measure the success of your content on social and other digital platforms?

With Catch+Release we’ve built algorithms inside our platform that determine a license’ability score on every shot ready to clear for license. This ultimately gives a level of confidence to the user that they can get this piece of content in the timeframe needed.

Additional data-driven capabilities inside Catch+Release are with the license usage needs. Newly updated usage pricing packages are now modular and highly flexible. You can select from all-media to digital, print, even TV or documentary and the lowest content usage being social organic. The actual price is determined by a range of factors including audience size, geographic region and term length. This is all automated with a user-friendly UI and you know exactly what to expect before you hit submit. Additionally, all communications are automated in a timely manner so you’re kept in the loop on the clearance phase so you stay on deadline.

In a world where attention spans are often limited, how does Catch + Release approach storytelling and narrative structure in your branded content to capture and retain the audience’s interest?

Catch+Release works closely with agencies and brands to influence the shape of the final spot. It starts with the creative brief (and budget, of course) which then quickly moves to concept and ideation, through a collection of amazing shots viewed by all team-members. Because Catch+Release sources UGC content, it’s authentic by its very nature. We actually consider this UGC2.0, which encompasses a huge range of content types including anything taken by regular people on their smartphones, semi-pro and professional photographers, documentarians and even archival content from celebrities. We call this UGC2.0 and it’s found on the Internet.

How do you balance the need for brand consistency with the necessity of adapting content to suit different platforms and their respective audiences?

When a brand has a set of guidelines they need to adhere to, it should always be included in the campaign brief. The genius comes in the storytelling and ultimately how you visually connect with your audience. We’re big believers in having a consistent storyline or theme, so consumers remember and engage. Social listening and understanding more deeply what your customers care about is key to hitting the mark.

Catch+Release’s seasoned curation team finds the best-fit content gems that often spark ideas. In fact they shape the story. Tailoring the final spot is easy once the entire story is captured by doing video shorts or cuts for social organic usage by channel which is executed by the brand or agency we support. Many Catch+Release customers relicense the same content assets time and again because their campaigns are successful beyond expectations. We regularly see multi-year renewals. When it works, don’t change it.

 

What is Catch+Release’s philosophy regarding collaboration with influencers and content creators in the digital space, and how do you ensure a seamless integration of their content with your brand messaging? Feel free to talk through your process for a project like the “More Tide” or any other spot. 

Catch+Release has a growing creator community which anyone can join. It’s free and simple. A key aspect of our company mission is to connect, protect and applaud creators and compensate them fairly for their talented work. All you have to do is create a profile and sync your social channels or upload any preferred shots from your computer or phone. All content is discoverable through search. We believe influencer marketing is a distinct approach that is also discoverable through search. However, it’s not the right approach if you want full control over the narrative and your brand purpose. Certain influencers will give you a nice bump on impressions and engagement but it’s not sustainable over the long term. However, if that’s your chosen approach, we will help you find and license so you are always protected with the appropriate usage permissions.

Our process is streamlined for busy teams:

In a few simple, swift steps you can now clear and license almost any asset on the Internet with flexible content licensing terms. This step-by-step guide demonstrates that:

  • Create a Catch+Release account. It’s free.
  • Drop a piece of content you like into a collection, perhaps sourced from our Creator Community.
  • Select your individual rights packages. The easy flow guides you.
  • If you Select All Media, separate from Print, it will gray out the other options.
  • Or, you can individually select from the other options
  • Now select audience sizes
  • Next, you can input usage details like license start date & term length, starting at 3 months all the way up to multi-year.

You’re set and about to launch an amazing campaign safely, on budget, and with peace of mind.

Of course, you can work directly with our curation team to get started. We’ll create a dedicated collection of shots based on your needs. That’s up to 50 shots you can start to review and collaborate with your team and filter down the best-fit.