If there’s one thing Dave Hunegnaw has learned over the last four years, it’s that brands have an insatiable need for content.
There are social media feeds to populate, consumer emails, company web pages and more. His startup, BYLINED, offers a solution for just that, and the on-demand photography platform has attracted big-name clients like Nationwide, Ford, JPMorgan Chase and more.
For the 125,000 users who have downloaded the app since its launch in late 2016, it’s been a way to monetize photos with their smartphones.
“Everyone’s a content creator,” Hunegnaw said. “The vast majority of content that’s created and shared, on Instagram, on Twitter, on Facebook, there’s no value exchange. Everyone has a phone in their pocket. You can make money with it, and help the brands you love at the same time.”
Hunegnaw has more than 15 years of entrepreneurial experience in Columbus, Ohio, with a resume that includes startups like GrooveJob, a job board that sold to Los Angeles-based Internet Brands in 2009; DOmedia, an alternative media startup; and LOUD Capital, a Columbus-based early-stage venture capital firm where he previously served as partner.
BYLINED was inspired by an “aha” moment. A friend of Hunegnaw’s, the editor of Columbus Underground, a popular alt-news publication, was struggling to find freelance photographers to cover an upcoming event. Hunegnaw’s suggestion? You’ll have readers at the event, why don’t you ask them to take photos and pay them a small bounty instead? BYLINED was born.
It’s crowdsourcing at its finest. BYLINED connects brands and businesses with fans and customers who can create content. It’s more effective than a hashtag campaign, Hunegnaw said, because brands have the opportunity to own and control the user-generated content. And BYLINED can deliver the variety and volume they need.
Using the app – available on Apple and Android – content creators can find photo assignments and upload their shots – or graphics, audio or video clips – in exchange for payment (usually around $25) or gift cards. It’s geo-based, so users see assignments in their geographic area.
BYLINED clients include brands, advertising agencies, publishers and event venues. In early April, it closed a deal with Listerine in less than 24 hours, a testament, Hunegnaw said, to how powerful the platform can be when brands need timely content. The mouthwash maker converted its production lines to make hand sanitizer in support of frontline professionals fighting COVID-19. BYLINED was commissioned to source real, raw, authentic photos of healthcare workers, entrepreneurs making masks and the people affected by the virus.
The startup has also attracted the likes of Donatos, Pepsi and BarkYard, which makes environmentally friendly, pet-friendly, direct-to-consumer lawn care products. When BarkYard, for example, needed 475 dog photos for its “Because Good Dogs Deserve Great Lawns” campaign – pictures of dogs inside, dogs outside, large breed, small breed, dogs eating, dogs sleeping, etc. – BYLINED helped curate over 1,500 images over the course of 60 days.
“That’s the value – the ability to stockpile visuals at scale – and at a value you’d never get anywhere else,” Hunegnaw said. “If you sourced those photos through a stock photo site, you’re talking hundreds if not thousands of dollars per photo, or if you’re using a professional photographer, there’s pre-production and post-production costs. It just wouldn’t make sense. It’s not only cost-prohibitive, you wouldn’t get that variety.”
ScottsMiracle-Gro, which makes lawn care, gardening, hydroponics and pest and weed control products, is one of BYLINED’s oldest customers. This summer growing season is their third working together.
Avriel Ralys, social media manager for Scotts, said one of the biggest draws – besides the amount of visual content – is that Bylined adds a “human layer.” Or a level of reliability, she said, that’s sometimes difficult to replicate in a large-scale photo shoot. BYLINED content is used across 10 brands that she and her team actively manage.
“Not everyone’s home and garden are perfectly styled, and we are leaning into that ‘realistic and attainable’ look for our customers,” said Ralys. “BYLINED has helped us jump-start that with real photos from real people. [And] with BYLINED, we’re able to source content from a variety of regions and states, providing us with the personalization and localization necessary for our brands.”
The startup has taken on little capital to date – about $250,000 in initial seed funding from LOUD – but Hunegnaw is considering a more significant raise this year. BYLINED makes money by charging clients a monthly platform fee, which varies from $199 to $999. It also collects a service charge (25 percent) from brands for each photo purchased, or what it calls a bounty.
And there’s Columbus. It may be home base, but it’s not the sole reason Hunegnaw chose to grow BYLINED here. There have been other offers – a very tempting one, at least – to open an office in L.A. His competitors are largely based on the coasts, he said, and focus heavily on beauty, travel and fashion. BYLINED doesn’t, and as such, has carved a niche in this particular part of the world. He thinks that’s the best play.
“This kind of platform exists – it doesn’t matter what business you’re in, you’re going to have competition – but it doesn’t exist here in the Midwest. We focus on the industries that are likely overlooked,” Hunegnaw said. “Who would think Nationwide needs all this content? They do. Who would think Onstar [another client] would have an insatiable need for content? We can build a narrative around that. That dedication to the Midwest.”
