In a recent Hatch blog, we discussed the dos and don’ts of
the infamous PR headshot, using a very witty example of our unsuspecting
managing director, Jason Madeley.
There is another type of picture that, though arguably not
as important, does much to secure the image of the PR agency…
‘The meet and greet the celebrity shot’
I recently discovered that there is a certain amount of
skill involved when partaking in a shot of this kind, when meeting Mark
Ramprakash for our client Thomas Cook Sport.
As an ordinary girl from the Wirral (the ‘posh’ part of
Liverpool, which is actually not in Liverpool), before my PR career my previous
experience of meeting celebs was restricted to the odd chat in a bar with
Nicola from Girls Aloud (the ginger one) in their early days when they weren’t
that massive, or Ben from Hollyoaks (remember him?).
Or the occasional shopping trip with my Mum, where we’d see
members of the cast of Emmerdale or Hollyoaks. And though I would play it cool
and pretend they weren’t anyone famous, my Mum would ever-so-not-discreetly
shout “Katie look!” from the other side of the shop while pointing frantically
(while I would casually be looking around for this ‘Katie’ whose mother was
being so embarrassing).
So, it’s not any great surprise that when meeting Mark
Ramprakash, top professional cricketer (and the one with those hips from
Strictly Come Dancing), that I was understandably a bit weak at the knees.
That, coupled with the fact that in a past life I was also a latin and ballroom
dancer at university, and an avid Strictly fan, sent the excitement levels
through the roof!
And even though I had a friendly chat with him about the
competition we had run in the Daily Mail for the nets session I was attending,
and I ran through some interview questions with him on things such as ‘his
favourite romantic holiday’ (Mauritius don’t you know!), the ‘weak at the
knees’ did not really dissolve.
And, of course, I did not hesitate to say yes when asked to
have by picture taken with him (though I was really waiting for him to ask me
for a dance). What I did not realise, was that ‘weak at the knees’ was not
going to cut it in this shot.
For, as a PR professional, one must look cool and collected
in the presence of celebs, sporting stars and the like. The picture must
reflect that now you have met the icon, they now treat you as their confidante.
You are the best of friends. A shot of you sharing a joke, or with your heads
close together in conversation, or even a polite handshake a la Barrack Obama
will do.
What will not do is a geeky, overly delighted, ‘this is the
happiest day of my life’ grin. You can judge for yourselves, but I think this
is a fairly self-explanatory way of how NOT to do it:
Posted by Katie
in Fun stuff, Hatch, PR, Thomas Cook Sport
/ Tue 08/09 / 17:46
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