Dreamstime aligns with imagio.cz to expand international reach

Images Now Available in Czech and Slovak Markets

Brentwood, TN, Aug. 20, 2008. Dreamstime.com is pleased to announce it has extended its international presence to offer the best value in stock photography in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Dreamtime has partnered with Imagio.cz (located in Prague, Czech Republic) for exclusive representation to expand the Dreamstime distribution platform. This partnership is in keeping with Dreamstime’s initiative to lengthen its reach to offer premium customer service and top-of-the-line, quality images to photo buyers across the world.

Imagio.cz is tailored in site design, localization of content and services to effectively cater to the Czech and Slovak markets. Created as a fulfillment outlet only (not an agency), Imagio will offer local (Czech and Slovak) graphic designers and advertising agencies the opportunity to purchase quality images at an affordable price in a Czech language environment and will make Dreamstime images available within its Czech language search.

“The stock photo market in our region is currently ruled by classic international stock agencies that customarily offer images at elevated prices. The awareness of the various micro stock agencies and photo shopping options is limited among Czech and Slovak internet users,” introduced Martin Maun, Imagio.cz Project Manager. “We saw this union with Dreamstime as an opportunity to create a service that fills the void. I believe our customers will have an appreciation for this new outlet to get what they need at the press of a button.”

The Imagio.cz site is solely a Dreamstime.com portal with the single purpose of making images available for purchase only. Under this particular agreement, Czech and Slovak photographers will upload their images directly to Dreamstime.com. Czech contributors who visit Imagio, and are interested in selling their imagery, will be directed to Dreamstime with appropriate instructions. “We will prepare comprehensive instructions in the Czech language for those Czech and Slovak photographers interested in uploading their photos to make them available for sale on Dreamstime.” Martin added.

Research indicates the most common Imagio.cz customers will be web designers, marketing agencies, publishers and graphic designers. The objective behind the alliance is to enhance the service targeting the individual providing images for personal use (on personal web sites, blogs or for home decorating). Whatever the intended use, Imagio visitors will have access to the entire Dreamstime gallery.

This new offering (via the Dreamstime/Imagio partnership) will open the door to a new market of individual consumers who might wish to purchase quality commercial photos at a valued price while strengthening its appeal to attract advertising and marketing agencies, graphic studios and freelance designers, and small businesses.

“Many of our customers are coming from emergent markets such as the Czech Republic and their interest in both purchases and submissions (buyers and contributors) is increasing at a healthy rate. Making images available to the Czech and Slovak users at a price they can afford is just good business,” said Serban Enache, CEO and co-founder of Dreamstime.com. “While there’s no doubt that customers will primarily buy images for commercial use, it’s now feasible for some individuals to find a nice image to illustrate on their personal website or blog, or put into a frame for their living room wall. The Imagio executives have a comprehensive design background. That, in itself, will enable us to successfully address and meet the buyer’s specific needs with ease.”

The joint effort between the two agencies is a natural fit according to Imagio’s project manager. “I personally like Dreamstime because I think it has the most useful features among its competition. The process of submitting/buying images is extremely intuitive and easy. I began my relationship with the Dreamstime community and it immediately became my favorite agency. So, when we came up with the idea of making micro stock content more readily available to our local audience, Dreamstime was the first company that came to mind to cooperate with.”

Serving a universal customer base of more than 850,000 users, Dreamstime.com offers more than 3.5 million images in seven different languages, making this platinum-selling site on of the top-rated in the world. The Dreamstime library of images features an unlimited assortment of model released lifestyle images in the business and family genres as well as a vast collection of travel, nature, sports, industry and health, and wellness photographs in addition to distinctive imagery [sketches, graphic art and backgrounds] in high quality reprint formats from over 40,000 contributors.

As just one of the essential elements in Dreamstime’s forward-thinking yet user-friendly business model, the innovative relationship with Imagio is one of many. Dreamstime also has alliances with ImageClick, Brightqube, OpenPhoto, OtherImages, PicFindr and more. Members can discover the perfect image within the Dreamstime comprehensive image collection by searching in English, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, German, and Portuguese…and now in Czech and Slovak.

Source: CEPIC