The document provides guidelines for selecting photography that communicates the AAA brand. It outlines 6 guiding principles: 1) featuring real, contemporary people aged 35-55, especially families with children, 2) depicting people doing real activities rather than posed scenarios, 3) prioritizing experiential over literal photos, 4) conveying confident movement and energy, 5) maintaining a consistent style for member and employee portraits, and 6) authentically representing diversity among members. Examples of appropriate and inappropriate stock photos are included.

1. AAA Photography
Guidelines for photo selection
Purpose
A brand’s power to attract depends upon its distinctiveness, and photography is an important element in
communicating our brand’s character. this guide presents examples and principles to help internal groups
and our agencies select photography that creates a strong and recognizable image in Members’ minds.
Guiding Principles
1. Real, contemporary, people
2. Doing real things
3. Experiencing versus seeing
4. Confident Movement
5. A consistent look for Member and employee photos
6. Diversity
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2. AAA Photography
Guidelines for photo selection
Real, contemporary, people
While our Membership varies greatly in age, our current business strategy prompt us to primarily depict people between the ages of 35 and 55. Within
this target, we give preference to photos of families (of all kinds) with children. We choose subjects who convey warmth, genuineness and confident
individuality. We feature people who are physically attractive (but who don’t look like models) and warmly likeable. their attitude and styling suggests
that they’re with-it and contemporary without being fashion-forward. We avoid “sexy” photos that objectify the photo subject through glamour, flirta-
tiousness, or body-focus.
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3. AAA Photography
Guidelines for photo selection
Doing real things
We are an authentic brand. And we look to our photography to demonstrate the refreshing honesty, and compelling empathy that Members have
counted on us for throughout our history. We avoid cliches, expected scenarios, exaggerated emotion, and sentimentality. instead we look for depic-
tions of our Members’ lives that surprise, charm and even amuse us with their warmth and honesty. our photos have a sense of honest spontaneity
and should never feel posed or contrived.
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4. AAA Photography
Guidelines for photo selection
Experiencing versus seeing
We choose photos for their ability to transport the viewer into the experience of a place. this is especially important for travel imagery. We avoid
images that merely depict a place. instead we appeal to all the senses: conveying what it’s like to feel, touch, even smell the experience that the photo
represents. if people are included in travel imagery, their role is to help us imagine ourselves in their shoes. For this reason we avoid photos in which
the people in the photo become the subject of the photo. Recognizing that making an emotional impact is our primary goal, we favor emotional pho-
tos over literal but bland photos.
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5. AAA Photography
Guidelines for photo selection
Confident Movement
We support our brand promise of Assurance by choosing photos that convey a sense of confident forward motion, positive energy and the joy of
discovery. Bright color, strong, contrasty light and surprising cropping contribute energy to our photos. Motion blur and lens flare convey a similarly
desirable spontaneity, but should be used in moderation.
People in cars: We show only safe behaviors and positive situations. Seatbelts must be visibly worn, the driver’s eyes must be on the road, all passen-
gers must be seated, no hands or arms can be outside the vehicle, etc.
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6. AAA Photography
Guidelines for photo selection
A consistent look for Member and employee photos
Depictions of actual AAA Members and employees are the ultimate example of our brand’s authenticity. For this reason we included Member
(and/or employee) photos in our marketing materials whenever we can. in these portraits to convey authenticity, personality, pride, sincerity and
approachability. We demonstrate our respect for both Members and employees by maintaining a uniformly high standard of quality for these photos,
using our approved, professional photographers, for any Member-facing photos.
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7. AAA Photography
Guidelines for photo selection
Diversity
Guided by the value of Diversity, we strive to present a brand image that authentically represents the richness of the Members we serve. We avoid
contrived or “Village People” photos that attempt to create representative diversity in one photo. Similarly, we avoid montages and instead favor the
stronger emotional pull of single photos.
Recognizing that the diversity of our Membership and employee base includes people with disabilities, we include them, photographically, in both
our Member- and employee-facing communications. Specifically, we seek out photos that include, but are not limited to, depictions of people with:
hearing loss, visual impairment, decreased mobility and/or Down’s syndrome, etc.
As with all of our people photos, we choose these photos for how well they depict the positivism of our brand promise. We look to convey the
normalcy and ordinariness of the lives led by people with disabilities and, so, avoid photos that focus the viewer’s attention on the disability.
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