A SIMPLE IDEA IN 2012 TURNS INTO INNOVATIVE HIGH-TECH PHOTO BOOTH

Tyler Williams was working as a professional photographer when he got an idea. Clients often asked him to set up photo booths, but he noticed that the photo booth format hadn’t been updated in quite a while.

“Everything I was seeing was very old school. You get inside, take pictures, and print them out,” Williams said. “The plan was to do photo booths as a side business, but I really got into the concept of how I could innovate the photo booth a little more.”

“The plan was to do photo booths as a side business, but I really got into the concept of how I could innovate the photo booth a little more.” – Tyler Williams

Williams played soccer and studied marketing and photography at Southern Methodist University. After he graduated in 2011, he began shooting photos for a living.

In early 2012, he began working on a new idea. It would be a simple, technology-based booth — one from which users could upload their photos directly to social media.

His concept had multiple sides, with the idea that as one group of people were posing for pictures, two other groups could simultaneously upload their own photos to Facebook or Twitter.

His dad liked the idea, and agreed to front him a bit of money, and loaned him a few woodworking tools. Together, they built a plywood prototype.

CONCEPT TO MARKET

By June, Williams started taking his homemade photo booth out to events. People seemed to love the instant gratification it provided. There was no need to wait to scan the selfie shots; they could upload them directly to the social media platform of their choice on the spot.

Soon Williams was able to garner a small loan and had 11 more kiosks built.

Photomadic had evolved into a “real” business by 2014, Williams said. He hired his first employee and expanded to New York and Los Angeles.

It wasn’t long before other companies had picked up the same idea, though. Social media photo booths began popping up everywhere.

“We were the first photo booth concept designed for social media, but now other companies are doing the same thing,” Williams said of his Dallas-based company. “We’ve had to evolve into something different. We’re now focused on experiential marketing.”

Using its special software platform, Photomadic helps companies create memorable experiences through a variety of interactive options including, social media photographers who shoot on-site at events and help guests upload their photos; animated gif photo booths which allow users to make short animated images, and green screens which gives users the option to choose their own background.

HEART OF SUCCESS

At the heart of Photomadic’s success is its ability to upload photos, footage, or animated gifs directly to social media in the blink of an eye.

Photomadic also assists with company branding, through pre-populated messaging and kiosk wraps, and tracks performance data, so companies can get a sense of their social media impressions and click-throughs.

Clients have included, Southwest Airlines, Red Bull, Adidas, GMC, Target, Bud Lite, and Wells Fargo, and their services are commonly employed for promotional tours, marketing campaigns, corporate events, conventions, and grand openings.

“The only way to create real value with people experiencing things is to have them walk away with a way to remember it, which is usually through a photo.” – Tyler Williams

FUTURE PLANS

Williams says there are some great new things in the works, too.

The company hopes to launch a new product that will feature an iPad in an enclosure stand that can show, take, and share videos.

It’s also developing the use of drones for capturing footage at events, as well as an iPhone app that will serve to tie together the various capturing methods, and enable people to get their videos and photos faster.

“As we continually evolve, experiences are becoming more and more valuable because people spend so much time behind screens all day,” Williams said. “The only way to create real value with people experiencing things is to have them walk away with a way to remember it, which is usually through a photo.”

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