Keeping it in the family

Families are an advertiser’s dream, and the need for them for marketing and promotional material is now even more apparent than ever.

There’s been enough coverage recently regarding restrictions, furloughs and lockdowns, with some companies being put “on hold”. However, the general consensus is that the world will be in a much better place come early 2021 – great news for everybody! Though it’s not expected that everything will return to normality anytime soon, “social bubbles” are still likely to be utilised – and this is where families can really stand out as models.

We’ll use one example where a company (client) regards families as gold dust for modelling assignments, and where a family is far more effective than an individual for advertising purposes. The sector we’ll choose is travel / holiday operators – i.e. tourism.

When tour operators wish to market their holidays, they’ll often choose a family. The location could be a sun-kissed beach or an alpine escape surrounded by lakes and mountains. Whatever the scenic background, families convey the perfect image for holidaymakers: a fun, happy, well-deserved break that will be remembered for years to come. In fact, we’ve supplied models for Heathrow Airport and Oliver’s Travels – one of the UK’s top travel companies specialising in villas, cottages, beach huts and chateaus in several of the most desirable countries in Europe and beyond.

But don’t just take our word for it – this is the feedback from Coral, mother of the lovely Golding family, who had the opportunity of filming with James Clancy and his crew at The Gate Films last year for an Oliver’s Travels brand campaign:

“We have just got back from the South of France where we filmed a commercial as a family for Oliver’s Travels. It was a truly amazing experience! We stayed in an unbelievable villa and saw some beautiful sights! Thank you so much Models Direct for getting us this job!! We absolutely loved it!”

And even better news – in 2021 the tourism industry might boom because more people will want to make up for 2020 – a lousy year by anyone’s standards! This means more advertising, and more opportunities for family models. This could be the case for some time to come!

Of course, there are other modelling examples where families excel – Christmas being an obvious one. Families portray a sincere, warm image, sothey rarely need to practice prior to modelling shoots (although choice of clothes is open to argument!). A family’s chemistry is never underrated by our clients, and this is one of the reasons why we have many happy families on our books.

Clients also regularly want to hear from diverse families. Whilst the “average” family with “2.4 children” is highly valued, the modelling world casts its net much wider, so many clients no longer simply want Mum, Dad and the children. Unique families have a story to tell, and the demand for remarkable families from all backgrounds is increasing week-by-week. Don’t be shy – if you’re a same-sex family or have exceptional children with unique qualities, we’d love to hear from you!

Our client list is diverse and customer-driven. We’ve supplied family models to the NSPCC, G Tech, Santander UK, Newbury Racecourse and Microsoft – to name but a few.

So there are plenty of reasons to “keep it in the family” for modelling assignments. To be considered as our next “model family”, please click on the link below. You’ll also find oodles of reviews from other families who have tasted success with us. We look forward to hearing from you – and your family.

We’ll leave you with a thorough review from Rebecca Friend, just to get your modelling juices flowing:

“Working as a modelling family is a mixture of excitement and apprehension. As any mum knows, if you’re going anywhere with your children you want them to be on their best behaviour.

This is no different on a photo shoot, so when three of your children are asked to stand up straight, smile, look continuously happy while taking direction from the photographer, it can be challenging!

Luckily, we work with Models Direct and have always been so well looked after, from lunches for the children, to overnight accommodation, to letting the children have fifteen minute’s timeout so they can chill, go on their iPad etc.

We have now had seven assignments, over £6,000 in modelling fees and I can’t believe how lucky we are – my son says it’s all down to his fantastic good looks!

When I first signed up to Models Direct I was a little sceptical, after hearing stories of people paying thousands of pounds for pictures to be done because the agency they had chosen had asked them to do so… then signing a three-year deal and not getting a single job. When I spoke to Molly for the first time from Models Direct she immediately put my mind at ease. She said she only needed photos that we had taken ourselves (nice, natural photos work the best), so the client could get a real feel for who we were and how we looked in front of a camera.

I told my children we’d be extremely lucky if we got just one job. Here we are several years later and now on our 8th job! We have managed to do so much with extra money that has come in from our job, just little things like being able to spoil the kids a little, to a weekend away for the family to now having our garden landscaped and having a hot tub fitted. My husband and I are so proud of our children. It’s hard work, but we haven’t looked back and look forward to the next seven assignments.”