Slide Background Tabletop Affection

A bijou Bristol cafe has an instagram presence in a foodie spirit of the original jennicam.

Above is their digital flyer for the new season’s “events menu”.

I recognised the background immediately.

And applauded its use.

For it is the pattern from one of their tabletops.

Below is a collage of four they’ve (hashtag)flatlay shot before.

Bottom-right is the one providing their latest promo’s backdrop.

I catch myself going on about this treatment with salespeople’s slides a lot.

It is oh so easy to pop up a simple text slide. A headline. Quotation. Section header. A list of (aargh) bullets even.

Some may even place them on the corporate colour of their audience.

Yet with a small bit of effort, we can shine with these.

For such slides’ backgrounds, I have myself taken pics (sometimes with permission too, -ish) of various signature wallpapers, tonal meeting room paintjobs, funky reception carpeting, specialised kitchen tiling and – possibly my favourite (for which permission is essential!) a close-up of the pattern from a favourite garment of a key prospect person.

It is a commonplace social media share to take snap of a wonderfully arty flooring, with the taker’s feet in shot. The trope is well-trodden. Avoid getting your own shoes in the way for this though, if you can.

Once I took a photo of an expensively hung modern art canvas with various unintelligible daubings slathered across it. Then used that as a backdrop presenting to a salesteam that walked past it every single day to get to their office. I asked if anyone recognised it. No-one did. Which some might say tells you all you need to know about salespeople. (I’d like to think that future CEOs would have noticed…)

I’ve also used – back in the old, old days – close up shots of people’s ties. As we are now mercifully freeing ourselves from the chain that is a random piece of cloth hanging around our male necks, this one might not be so relevant today.

Still when you let your imagination flow, options are fairly endless. Interiors, exteriors, floors, ceilings, furnishings, fabrics.

The point is that even one alone may well help show your prospect you are both different and on their side. A small further succour that you are worthy of buying from.