Barcelona-based age fotostock closed 2008 with 8.6 million images, which represents a 68% inventory increase since the previous year. Unlike those who say oversupply is the stock industry’s biggest problem, age fotostock believes there is a direct relationship between the agency’s inventory size and market share.
Teresa Alonso, international sales director, said that substantial quantities of images lead to prevailing market presence. Content manager Alexa Plourde also stressed the diversity of age’s collection. She said that the company’s 2008 decision to diversify the collection’s subject matter has set age fotostock apart from the competition and shielded it from cyclical market convulsions.
Over 2.6 new images from 334 different collections were added to the age fotostock inventory last year. The agency focused on identified areas of high demand, including travel, food, ethnic, lifestyle and specialized historical imagery.
The company’s own rights-managed and royalty-free collections have also grown, albeit slower due to the agency’s tight editing. Of over 1 million images submitted to age fotostock and Pixtal during the entire year, only 12% (127,730 images) were added to the customer offering. Agency brands now total 775,942 images.
The entire inventory is available through age fotostock and to all members of the agency’s Technological Hosting Platform. THP currently provides image hosting, distribution and e-commerce services to 59 companies worldwide.