This past week I have been working on a lot of pitches. We are working on long lead Winter items, meaning we pitch ideas to places like Magazines which are considered monthly publications and they need to know about items in advance. I have become quite familiar with the QVC website, so now when an editor requests something, I know exactly what brand to go to in order to find something. It's funny because I don't want to keep pitching the same things, but the fact of the matter is that what's in is in so there is no way to pitch different things to everyone.
Most recently, I have been working on finding "kitchen trends." Never did I think that I would enjoy doing things other than fashion, but I think it's great that even the kitchen needs to stay on trend with the colors and tools in it. The trends that I am matching now have to do with a lot of natural colors and materials. I have been looking for things made of bamboo, birch and oak to name a few. The colors and textures right now are earthy and on the cooler side, so blue and green are the big colors. The appliance that I came across, that I wasn't even aware existed is a toaster that also has a coffee maker attached. That is something that I could totally see in my own kitchen because it is so convenient to be able to toast a bagel or something while making coffee at the same time in the morning. That would definitely save at least a few minutes and we all know that I can use all the minutes I can get with that long commute I have to endure daily!
The other people in my office are working on the Halloween episode that is to air tomorrow. The reason that it is being aired a so far in advance is so people can plan to execute a successful Halloween. They were even talking about having little trick or treaters make an appearance on the show! There are decorations and all kinds of recipes that will be showcased and it really does make sense to show it tomorrow so that people will buy everything that they think that they need. It's weird to me to be working with these people who have children and real grown up lives. They all love cooking/baking. Today the woman on the other side of my cubicle brought in cake pops and last week it was pumpkin risotto!
Today when I walked in, I was handed a card to mark my calendar for all of the Christmas shows! I'm always one to look forward to the Holiday season, but it's not even Halloween yet! Today marks the "Holiday Kickoff" and if you go to the site, you will see that it is plastered with the tagline "All of the Joy, None of the Craziness." One reason that I believe that line is so popular is because it applies to QVC on Black Friday. People can have the comfort of shopping for great deals in their own home rather than having to go out and put up with the craziness.
How does QVC have you conduct your research? Is it just you researching independently or do they give you guidelines of places you should conduct your research?
ReplyDeleteIt's all through QVC, so all of the things that I pitch are on the site. There are a bunch of different brands sold through QVC and some bigger names like Bobbi Brown cosmetics and Dooney & Bourke do their own PR, but the other brands like Kris Jenner's collection and Isaac Mizrahi, etc. are all promoted through my department. As far as guidelines, they just tell me what the editor is looking for and then I search qvc.com.
ReplyDeleteThat sounds great! I agree that it is strange working with people who are actually grown-up. There are so many people getting married in my department, it kind of makes my head spin! But what does the Holiday season entail? Do you just continue to make pitches? Or are there specific holiday treats that you need to familiarize yourself with?
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of seasonal items that are only available for a limited time. We actually carry food, so that is a big seller during the holidays. Recently, I have pitched Holiday nail polish collections as well as products based on a Holiday color scheme. I haven't really heard much more about things to be done differently, but I will see when the time comes!
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