Recently, I was reminded of a project I did with photographer Phil Smith several years ago in Delaware. We were assigned to do a photo shoot with an insurance group that was being featured in a trade publication. As the art director, my job was to make sure the day flowed smoothly. I put together an agenda and made sure the photographer had his lights and camera tested and ready to go before we brought the subjects to the set, made them feel comfortable and captured a good image. It sounds simple, but it takes a fair amount of pleasant prodding and herding of egos.
The last photo of the day was a group shot of the entire staff. Phil had the lights set and I began to assemble the staff for the final shot. There were certain people who simply did not want to be photographed. They expressed their displeasure at the thought of taking them away from their work. I assured them that we would be quick about it if they would cooperate. There were the business partners who were gung ho for the shoot. They liked the exposure this would bring to their business. They let me know they wanted this to be the photo that the Louvre would want hanging in its galleries. I told them we would do the best we could with the subject matter:) Then there was the office clown.
We had the group in position, the lighting just right and Phil was ready to shoot. I always give a group like this some final instructions. I try to be light-hearted, knowing that people reflect what they are hearing. If I am happy and relaxed, they will be happy and relaxed. However, I did not anticipate that one individual was taking my cues as an invitation to make a few one liners to try to loosen the group up. Just before the photographer released the shutter, he would say something like, "Cheese fries!" and proceed to yuk it up. The problem was, no one found it funny and you could see that on their faces photograph after photograph. This extended our time on the set. The lights were heating up the room. I had to daub sweat from a few brows. The "didn't want to do this in the first place" crowd were grumbling. The partners were scowling. Phil and I had a
plane to catch. Tensions were running high. Yet, we could not get the clown to stop his sophomoric banter. So I decided to do what needed to be done. I abandoned my happy-go-lucky demeanor and said, in my best drill sergeant impersonation, "if you don't shut up, this is going to take all day. Keep your mouth shut and smile!"
You would have thought that solved all of our problems, right? I had taken the steer by the horns and wrestled control away from this nitwit so we could all move on, correct? No, the day went from bad to worse. It seems that the room temperature was taking its toll on a lady I will call Nancy. Nancy was the office manager. She made sure that all the details of the business were taken care of. Everyone depended upon Nancy. Just after I had everyone back in their places, sweat removed and ready to go, Nancy passed out on the floor. She was only down for a few seconds. When she came to, she announced to the whole group, "I'm pregnant!" They called an ambulance to take her to the hospital. Now the principals were whispering to each other, "Did you know Nancy was pregnant? What are we going to do during her maternity leave? What if she quits and stays home with the baby?" The whole mood changed. No one was interested in the photo anymore. I had totally lost control.
In business, there are certain things that we can do absolutely nothing to change. In marketing, you need to understand the mood of the market. Circumstances out of your control can either enhance your chance to market your goods or services, or they could totally wipe out any chance for marketing. There are great ideas that are ahead of their time. There are old ideas that sounded good one day, but are not good now. The market mood changes. The influences of what is happening around us at this particular moment either gives us a great platform to try to sell a product or it does not. Learning to take the mood temperature of the marketplace is a real key to being successful in marketing.
As I remember, Phil and I missed our flight out of Dover that night. We came away with a photograph showing a room full of highly perturbed professional people with the exception of one guy, who was smiling like the village idiot.