iStock: Strength in Diversity - A Comparison

In today’s world, we’ve made great strides to be united as one with more acceptance and less prejudice. While there are still some “kinks” in the world that we’re working on, it’s a great thing to see the diversity in more mainstream media.

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What Does This Mean For You & iStock?

iStock believes we are all different and that’s what makes us, and life, beautiful. Therefore, they strive to make sure their image and video collections reflect this belief. By building their business on a philosophy of Exclusive Artists, they are able to have a curatorial approach that prioritizes customer relevance over unnecessary volumes. It also allows them to offer premium content that you can’t get from anyone else.

In diversity there is beauty and there is strength. – Maya Angelou

Many other providers don’t offer the same exclusivity and diversity; instead, they foster a “spray and pray” mentality of content production that results in a library full of undifferentiated, low-value imagery.

For a quick view, here are some key factors that separate iStock from the competition.

iStock has more than 160,000 contributors, submitting more than 800,000 new files every month
iStock’s collections are built with creative, hand-curated images, illustrations and video clips that are exclusive only to iStock and Getty Images.
iStock features authentic styling and modern visual language for exceptional interpretations of major stock categories.
No other collection matches iStock’s regional variety. Most just have catalogues heavily weighted towards unreleased, scenic and travel imagery, leaving international buyers with little choice.
iStock offers regional, ethnically diverse and released content.

As you can see, iStock makes sure that they are not just a business offering a product to the world, but a company that understands the world. The numbers speak for themselves when comparing simple keywords searches…

Comparison of Keyword: Woman – Sorted by New

Competitor: 5% Non-Caucasian & 47% Studio on White
iStock: 37% Non-Caucasian & 15% Studio on White

Comparison of Keyword: Family – Sorted by New

Competitor: 7% Non-Caucasian with Low Distinction and Relevance
iStock: 11% Non-Caucasian with High Distinction and Relevance

Thanks to the vast experience and knowledge of the Getty Images creative team, iStock can provide exclusive contributors with bespoke creative briefs, visual trends reports, one-on-one art direction, and shoot planning. Their artists recognize this investment in their work, and in terms of quality and creativity, they provide a product that has no equal in the midstock industry.

In conclusion, iStock isn’t just one of the leaders of royalty-free stock content marketplaces that offers millions of premium images and video. They go beyond the product and create a marketplace that better reflects our world, so you can better market to the world we live in.

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Note: This post has been submitted by the iStock team. Its content has not been reviewed by us in detail.