Sensory Branding: Sears Portrait Studio

In 2005 I was hired on with CPI as a studio manager for the Sears Portrait Studio in Murfreesboro, TN. In 2006 I was the district Studio Manager of the Year with the highest increase in sittings and sales. I was also awarded Runner-Up Studio Manager of the Year in 2006 and attended the corporate National Meeting in St. Louis. When my son was born I left the company and between 2006-2009 I worked as a photographer off and on. Last year I was installed as the studio manager for their Antioch, TN location. It was considered by most of my peers to be a "dead studio" which means that it was consistently losing money each week instead of posting a profit or even breaking even... regardless of what was done or how hard each manager had tried... nothing seemed to work. Economically the Antioch area has been suffering for quite sometime. Virtually all of the chain stores and restaurants in the mall have left. Sears is one of the only corporate brands still operating in that mall. Given the diverse ethnic population and local stigma associated with the area, such as the failing local economy, and notorious level of crime in the area... I knew I had to do something completely different... and so when I took over that studio I came up with a plan: to not just make this studio unlike any other Sears Portrait Studio out there, but to make it unique even among the rest of the portrait-chains, with an aesthetic appeal that would rival even private portrait studios. It needed to be a destination studio.

For the first six months (August 2009-February 2010) I did everything by-the-book. That studio had gone through a lot of upheaval and didn't necessarily have the best working relationship with it's customers, host store, or the mall. It was very important to establish a pattern of consistency. This paid off because (aside from our sit goal) the studio hit every single one of it's Q1 goals this year and even surpassed them. Q2 we struggled and actually lost money (which was a calculated hit within my renovation plan). But for those of you who don't know, that time of the year is the slowest and the hardest for any portrait company anyway, and it was during that time that I initiated a complete studio remodel. I cut labor back drastically. In fact for most of Q2 I was the only employee based out of that studio. The idea was that since it was going to be slow anyway, I would take advantage of that time, and prep the studio to make a killing during our busy season and make up for any lost ground in Q3 and Q4. So far... everything seems to be going exactly how I planned it. And I couldn't be happier.

There was a lot of thought and even psychology that went into this studio remodel. It appeals to every sense. It's a complete sensory experience and what I personally like most about the way that everything is set up is that as an employee, making a sale, I don't have to use any sales strategies or techniques to get customers to purchase our collections, it's the studio environment that manipulates the customers, not me. This allows me to maintain a consistent persona of "your friend the photographer" without making a "switch" to a salesperson trying to sell you pictures. Most of the customers I've dealt with can see a sales pitch a mile away. They're virtually immune to contemporary guerrilla marketing campaigns and cheesy gimmicks. But they don't expect the environment to manipulate them.

Before a customer approaches my studio- they can smell it! I was very purposeful in selecting a specific scent that would match the color scheme (dark grays) and portrait photography on display (large high-contrast B/W 20x24s) while not conjuring up any specific sensory memory. The perfect scent was found in the "Eucalyptus-Spearmint Wallflowers" sold by Bath & Body Works. Not only is it formulated to reduce stress and anxiety, it also has masculine undertones to it, and simply smells clean. So that gives the customer the first idea #1: This studio smells clean. As they enter, most customers look pretty dumb-founded, because it looks more like a higher-end private studio but it's inside of a Sears. It's completely unexpected and that's very important because it's that shock-value that solidifies and reinforces the messages I'm trying to send them.

As soon as they recover from their slight disorientation I guide them to my pre-photography station. The customers sit in plastic blue chairs. I sit in a large red leather wing-back chair. I picked red because it reminds people of Christmas. Every time the Sears Store Manager walks by he makes a comment like "You need to be sipping some hot cocoa!" if he sees me sitting there. But more importantly what that chair does is that it establishes me as the 1) professional and 2) ultimate authority from that point on. Customers never question my answers anymore. It used to be that I would have to do a fair-share of backpedaling trying to explain various coupons and their appropriate use. This never had anything to do with the coupons but had everything to do with customers trying to get something for nothing. They don't do that anymore.

From the pre-photography station, where I introduce myself and run through the basics of their session and a quick survey of the process, I guide them into the camera room. In my camera rooms there are 1) no props, only posing tools, and 2) no computers. It's not really supposed to be that way. Associates are supposed to edit in the camera rooms. I took the computers out because I felt like there is a nostalgia involved in entering a camera room in a portrait studio and seeing nothing but camera equipment. This nostalgia helps support the idea that I am a creative professional and that I'm in charge and that I know what I'm doing. And so customers not only listen to me... they don't get upset if I shoot their session in under ten minutes... they trust me. In the past couple of weeks I also installed small fans in both camera rooms that are mounted to the wall. These fans don't do much of anything. They don't really make the room any cooler. They just make noise: a buffeting sound and it's the sound that's important. So many times as soon as customers walk into my camera room they say the second idea #2: "Wow it feels so good in here."

After the session is over it takes about 10-15 minutes to upload and edit the photos. By creating an editing station in the back of the studio, I am in a position to be able to continue building a rapport with the customer, and continue to be a consistent presence. I've found in my experience that you really don't want to ever leave your customers alone. During the editing time my customers tend to walk around the studio and look at the pictures. 90% of the time they find one that they love and they say "Wow. That's beautiful!" At which point I can say "Thank you. I took that picture." There are virtually no corporate samples on display in my studio- only the minimum corporate requirement. This isn't because the corporate samples are shotty or anything like that, it has everything to do with building a community base, and establishing the studio as it's own thing under a corporate umbrella. It'd be different if I was talking about almost any other retail organization. The difference is that this retail organization is creative-based and so each studio is going to be different... and I think it should be!

I also re-conceived the sales stations. In most studios there is a large divider between tables with a shelf on them. I took those out and I put the tables together. Some of my colleagues weren't really excited about this idea because they felt like it would hinder their ability to "cut a deal" with one customer without the other customer hearing... and that's kind of the point of why I did it... the tables are joined together so that if there are multiple families in the studio at the same time, they can share the experience, and THEY DO! It's so common to see families bond while I'm editing photos. By removing that separation from the two or three groups, it allows them the freedom to lean over and look... and comment on each others babies and family portraits... they are the ones who romance and glamorize the session for me. By providing enhanced portraits that match the 20x24s on display, it never fails, that each customer looks at their own session on the screen (regardless of the quality of the portrait, it's the enhancement that matters) and says idea #3: "Wow. That's so beautiful!"

At the sales station, once we go through all of the pictures, I usually just tell people to go ahead and "Pick out which ones you like and what sizes you need and I'll see what kind of package I can fit you guys into." Sometimes I just hand them our collection chart and say, "So which one do you want? Our 'Gold' is the most popular." Unless they legitimately don't have the money to do so, my customers will purchase one of our collections, and there's really nothing more involved than verbalizing one of those two sentences.

The entire time that the studio is open, there is a computer display with a fake fireplace going on the screen, and in the background I have the "Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong" Pandora radio station playing. The only time people really listen to jazz music is at Christmas time. Although I'm not playing Christmas music that's the mental association. And so along with the cozy-warm looking fire-display, half of the time, before the customer leaves they say idea #4: "We need to comeback at Christmas." And before they leave, I make sure they get a piece of chocolate, a Ferrero Rocher "Fine Hazelnut Chocolate" that has a very unique tactile feel to it and, as corny as it may sound, it leaves a good taste in their mouth.

They also leave with 4 main ideas stuck in their minds: that 1) the studio is clean, 2) the environment is friendly, professional, and welcoming, 3) the photography is beautiful, and 4) that they need to come back for Christmas pictures.

Sears provided my paint and the various tools and supplies needed. I was able to secure a large quantity of track lighting from them. This allowed me to completely rearrange everything and also light the studio and camera rooms they way that I wanted to. It's very relaxing, ambient, dark, and dramatic... with a very welcoming and home-like feel. Earlier today the Executive Vice President of Field Operations visited my studio. It was a surprise visit and a floating associate was there to greet him. From the conversation she relayed back to me, he seemed impressed by the originality of the photography, the aesthetic appeal of the studio colors and lighting. From what I understood it was a good visit.

I'm looking forward to watching this studio excel and the success I'm planning on for Q3 and Q4 of this year.

Sidenotes: "Inception" & Pop-Pyschology

Inception (2010). Aside from the first layer of awesomeness and the second layer of basic psychological issues that we see dealt with, wrestled with, and overcome... there is also a working thesis presented... (spoiler alert)

The Psychological Process of "Letting Go."

When you're in a relationship, living and building upon a shared dream together, and one person abandons or leaves, it takes a lot of work and layers to work through before you can let go of that dream you shared. In that process, you definitely encounter a lot of layers and psychological issues that may have been left buried (or imprisoned) deep below, that have never been fully dealt with. But before you can dream again, on your own, live freely, or be fully present for your children, you have to let that dream you dreamed together die. If you don't, it will forever sabotage anything you endeavor to do.... it becomes nothing more than an autonomous shadow self.

I appreciated how the shadow-self was personified in Mal, locked in the basement, as Robert A. Johnson writes, "The shadow gone autonomous is a terrible monster in our psychic house." Masculine psychology is everywhere in this film as well. I think it's important to note the transformation that took place with Robert Fischer, Jr. and his father. The memetic inception of the film was that we each have full authority and control over the deep wounds buried in our subconscious. And that if something is awry, all we need to do is to confront those old wounds, speak life to them, affirmations, and transform them into something meaningful to us. This is what we see (assuming that everyone in the film was a projection of Cobb's subconscious) when Fischer, Jr. reconciles himself with his father and the father-wound.

What really got my attention to evaluate this film as a work of pop-psychology was toward the end, when Cobb goes back to "save" Saito and they exchange a dialogue from earlier in the film:

Cobb : I came here to tell you... something.
[pause]
Cobb: Something that... you once knew to be true.
Saito: [remembering] Impossible...

It's the story of The Fisher King played out with different faces! Actually a lot of the film seems like it was built around this ancient story. I could even pull a Glenn Beck and say that it's an interesting coincidence that we see the last name "Fischer" in the film at all. But that's not the main crux. I would argue that what we witness is more like a journey through the three levels of masculine consciousness.

Dreams are where we work out a lot the mental and emotional issues that are too painful for us to confront consciously. A friend of mine told me that Christopher Nolan got the idea from the film when he was younger. He had a dream, woke up, fell back asleep and went back to where he was in the dream and changed it. I'm sure we've all had an experience like that. It was pretty cool to see it played out in a feature presentation. I loved it.

Prince as a Prophet & The Death of the Christian Church

Anytime I see a church go through a process of "re-branding" I find myself shaking my head in disappointment. In the Protestant Christian faith there are multiple variations, or denominations, of a common brand name: Christianity. Throughout history one of the enduring strengths of what has made this brand of faith so unique is its unwavering commitment to its essence. This essence is founded upon very specific traditions, architectural aesthetic, and unique sensory experiences. The groupthink in contemporary Protestant/Evangelical denominations is to discard their essence and "re-brand" themselves using contemporary marketing techniques.

It's a lot like Starbucks... or St. Arbucks. What made Starbucks so unique was its initial focus on the complete sensory experience of premium coffees and tea. Today it's categorized as fast food. As soon as Starbucks opened up stores with a drive-thru, they gained customers, but they sacrificed their essence. In less than a decade the company traded its highbrow status for mass appeal. And they've suffered for it ever since.

A lot of mainstream Christian churches are hurdling themselves down a similar path. And note: this practice of "re-branding" is completely different from the development of hybrid services that blend together traditional elements with pop-culture. In a lot of churches these are called "contemporary services" and although it can be argued that there are similarities in appealing to a broader audience, that's not what I see happening, because these kinds of churches don't lose their essence, they build upon it.

When Starbucks began to open up stores with a drive-thru their business exploded... and then it rapidly declined in what felt like an almost overnight kick... A lot of churches that label themselves "seeker-friendly" are currently experiencing the same kind of boom in business that Starbucks had before it almost died. But what the leaders in these churches don't understand is that as soon as they jump on board with current marketing techniques- they've signed their own death warrant.

Contemporary marketing strategies focus primarily and almost exclusively on audio/visual branding. This kind of branding strategy is rapidly becoming obsolete. It may not look like it but think about this: everyday we are bombarded by audio/visual advertisements. For centuries churches have been a refuge from modern society. And for centuries, as a brand, they have also appealed to every single one of our senses: incense, stained glass windows, hard wood floors, high ceilings, red wine, bread, liturgy, hymns (audio, visual, tacticle, olfactory, taste). It's almost ironic that the forward-thinking marketing firms are looking back at the endurance of religious institutions, such as Christianity, and drawing upon their essence... while simultaneously more and more churches are discarding the very elements that makes their brand so unique... !

In July of 2010, the pop-artist Prince made a bold statement about the future of the music industry, and although I don't think his assumptions on the music industry are correct, I do believe that there is truth to his statement in regards to the future of marketing.
"The Internet's completely over,” Prince told British tabloid publication, The Mirror, in his first newspaper interview in 10 years. “I don't see why I should give my new music to iTunes or anyone else. They won't pay me an advance for it and then they get angry when they can't get it.”
Prince is currently set to release his latest album, “20Ten,” for free through various European print media, including the Daily Mirror and its Scottish affiliate, the Daily Record. Fans can snag their copy this Saturday via the different press outlets, but you they certainly won’t find any of the new material online.
Prince has banned both YouTube and iTunes from using his music, calling the web obsolete.
“The Internet's like MTV,” he told the Mirror. “At one time MTV was hip and suddenly it became outdated. Anyway, all these computers and digital gadgets are no good. They just fill your head with numbers and that can't be good for you." (http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/06/prince-the-internet-is-dead/)
Consumers, churchgoers, society- they are all becoming immune to audio/visual branding. Church leaders may argue that their institutions provide community services and a place to belong. But people are also looking for more than just a participatory experience. Even that strategy is being overused. For example, at Starbucks you can purchase a bottle of Ethos water and when you purchase this water, you get the pseudo-experience of participating in an act of charity. As you drink that water and carry the bottle with you it stands as a symbol of participation. But it still only appeals orally and emotionally.
The future success of churches depends not on technology and audio/visual "re-branding" but a complete overhaul on getting back to the basics of what makes a Christian Church unique. Starbucks had a moment in 2008 when they toyed around with the idea of "getting back to the basics." A month later they launched smoothies, protein supplements, and breakfast sandwiches. They missed it. Most churches are missing it too.
Consumers are looking for a virtual reality. They are yearning for an overall sensory experience that is unique to a brand and it needs to be a very real experience in a virtually artificial environment (artificial because the environment is set up in such a way that it lends itself solely to the experience of the brand).
When churches establish themselves as being no different than a theater, art gallery, coffeehouse, cinema, or business, they sacrifice their essence by blending in with the white noise of contemporary commercialism and dated marketing techniques. Dressed up in religious language, under the guise of "freedom," these institutions begin to slowly decay into nothing more than posh hype severely lacking in substance.