Each episode peeks inside the homes of two much-loved celebrities during lockdown with the filming being done by their four-legged friends

When it comes to content marketing, we live in extraordinary times. With cutting-edge tools such as live video, VR and AI at our fingertips, we can give our community behind-the-scenes access to our...

When it comes to content marketing, we live in extraordinary times. With cutting-edge tools such as live video, VR and AI at our fingertips, we can give our community behind-the-scenes access to our company, people and products.

We can showcase our best customers and bring our brands to life.

But what if your business had to close all of its physical locations? What if your people couldn’t go anywhere?

And what if your community was distracted by ... something? Not a little something. A very big, pandemic-level something.

These are the questions that content marketers find themselves grappling with in the midst of COVID-19. In the blink of an eye, we went from having the tools to do anything to a hobbling array of limitations. At least, that’s what it can feel like.

But what if we flipped that thinking the other way? Twitter co-founder Biz Stone once said, “Constraints inspire creativity. When are backs are against the wall, we come up with some amazing things.”

Where can we look for inspiration? If you flip the through the opening pages of that famed marketing handbook “Us Weekly” — hey, what else is there to look at in a waiting room? — you’ll find a section titled, “Stars — They’re Just Like Us!”

These pages feature celebrities doing “regular people” things such as walking down the street and getting groceries. However, these days, despite their fame and means, celebrities have our same quarantined constraints.

And some are using this as an opportunity to create some amazing content of their own.

During this odd interlude, we can learn some valuable content marketing lessons from celebrities working within these same limitations.

Actor John Krasinski didn’t start a weekly web show in the middle of a pandemic to mug to the camera like his character Jim Halpert from “The Office.” Nor did he do it tout his Jack Ryan action-hero status.

Instead, in the midst of all of the bad news, he saw that what many people were hungry for was some good news. And that’s literally what he’s delivered with his aptly titled video series, “Some Good News” or “SGN.”

Featuring homemade title cards crafted by his children and set in his home office, Krasinski’s weekly show features a roundup of happy stories about creative kids, salutes to health care workers, unique ways to celebrate graduates and more. He also has concise weather reports from the likes Robert DeNiro and Brad Pitt.

While special appearances from famous friends might be out of your reach, you, too, can find ways to serve up more of what your audience needs right now.

Note: This might not necessarily be exactly what you sell. Ask yourself instead, what do they really need right now and how can we help?

For example, Don’t Panic Management is a team of virtual assistants. However, they saw that the small businesses they serve need help applying for government relief programs, so they started creating content around this.

On a recent episode of his WTF podcast, host Marc Maron talked about watching episodes of “Saturday Night Live At Home,” saying these shows were “touching.”

With segments shot by various individual cast members at home on their laptops and phones and featuring costumes from closets and cameos from kids and pets, SNL “At Home” shows how you can push our quarantined limitations to produce creative content.

In a recent episode, cast member Kate McKinnon shot an installment of her long-running “Whiskers R We” cat adoption sketch at home on her phone. Normally, this would feature several cute cats in studio introduced as McKinnon quips things like, “A cat is a smile with hair.”

The “At Home” installment features McKinnon in a homemade version of her costume with hand-drawn signs and her one pet cat playing nearly a dozen cats thanks to camera filters, mustaches and face masks.

SNL initially announced it would end their season early due to COVID-19. A few weeks later, the cast came back with their first “At Home” show.

They recognized the power of the moment and the outsized impact homemade content can have.

Another example of relevant, homemade branded content is a new ad from L’Oreal Paris, with spokeswoman Eva Longoria dying her gray roots at home in a video she shot on her iPhone. When you get hung up trying to make something polished and perfect, you often miss the opportunity to make something relevant and special.

Another SNL “At Home” sketch introduces characters struggling with the new normal of Zoom meetings shot with — wait for it — Zoom! The recent “Parks and Recreation” reunion special developed an entire half-hour script around a series of virtual meetings between Leslie Knope, Ron Swanson and others, all shot at home by the actors using iPhones.

We can use the same tools we rely on for virtual meetings to collaborate with others on content. Many already use Zoom and Skype for podcasts and videos.

You also can get creative in your content collaboration as actor and stunt professional Zoë Bell did. She challenged celebrity friends such as Scarlett Johansson, Margot Robbie, Drew Barrymore, Rosario Dawson and Zoe Saldana to help her stage an elaborate fight scene.

The resulting video stitches together individually shot fight scenes from the phones of 38 different actors and stunt workers to create one big knockout fight. The viral video garnered over a million views in just a few short days.

Just because we can’t get together doesn’t mean we can’t collaborate. Whether you’re simply using Zoom or storyboarding out something more elaborate, involving others always expands the reach of your content.

Yes, the content creators profiled here are celebrities. But they’re also more than that. They’re creative artists and problem solvers.

A frequent refrain in the early days of blogging and content marketing was, “think like a publisher.” This served as a reminder to write like a journalist, schedule content and publish regularly. However, with our current lockdown limitations, we should amend this as a reminder to think like creative artists — those who’ve used these limitations to spark bold, interesting new ideas for connecting with others.

What can you create that people need? Can you do it right now — today? From home?

Can you creatively involve others?

Thinking like a creative artist means focusing less on what you can’t do in these unusual times and more on what you can.

Nick Westergaard is a marketing strategist, keynote speaker and author of “Band Now” and “Get Scrappy”; nick@branddrivendigital.com; @NickWestergaard.

Provided are a bake hardening steel having a crystalline grain size of ASTM No. 9 or more and a method for preparing the bake hardening steel by controlling the winding, rolling and cooling conditions. The bake hardening steel includes: C:0.0016˜0.0025%, Si:0.02% or less, P:0.01˜0.05%, S:0.01% or less, sol.Al:0.08˜0.12%, N:0.0025% or less, Ti:0.003% or less, Nb:0.003˜0.011%, Mo:0.01˜0.1%, B:0.0005˜0.0015% or less, balance Fe and other inevitable impurities, wherein % is weight %, and Mn and P satisfy the relation of −30(° C.)≧803P−24.4Mn−58.

A method of ductile mode machining a component of a plasma processing apparatus wherein the component is made of nonmetallic hard and brittle material wherein the method comprises single point turning the component with a diamond cutting tool causing a portion of the nonmetallic hard and brittle material to undergo a high pressure phase transformation to form a ductile phase portion of the hard and brittle material during chip formation wherein a turned surface is formed from a phase changed material and the turned surface is a grooved textured surface of phase changed material.

HE MAY NOT be held in the highest regard by the public but there’s something to love about Piers Morgan on Good Morning Britain.

A FORMER world champion angler from Hampshire has won a national award after inspiring hundreds of youngsters to aim for glory.

Southampton's Gabi Taylor is in the Surbiton Trophy quarter-finals after a stunning win against GB teammate Heather Watson - and another victory today.

WELL I didn't see that one coming.

HE'S a snooker legend, get him in there!

A HAMPSHIRE student is celebrating boxing success after giving a knockout performance in a national competition.

HAMPSHIRE racing starlet Brody Crockford has followed in his father’s tyre marks after completing his debut MiniGP50 Motorcycle British Championship in spectacular style.

The Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) is revving up to race into the fastest circuit in the country this weekend, as Thruxton in Hampshire prepares to play host to the UK’s premier motorsport series.

British Touring Car Championship drivers have been meeting fans and signing autographs at Westquay shopping centre, Southampton, ahead of this weekend's races at Thruxton.

YOUNG motorcycle racing starlet Brody Crockford made a dramatic return to the British Junior Supersport series.

The leaked list of protocols reportedly include provisions for a coronavirus supervisor, who has the authority to stop work if a set becomes unsafe, on every production, and at daily briefings.

Sister Jamie Lynn Spears reveals in a new interview that the 'Toxic' singer has to return to her own Los Angeles home because of 'her children and all that stuff.'

Tudor Grange date for visually impaired swimmers.

Young swimmers compete and learn at Tudor Grange.

Driving in a heat wave can be dangerous – which is why DriveSafe has some simple tips for coping with this summer’s soaring temperatures.

Display inspired by Glastonbury anniversary.

Glynn Purnell leads Health for Life cookathon.

Richard Lutz watches democracy go down the pan.

Overloud has announced the release of two new rig libraries for its TH-U custom guitar amp and effects suite. Choptones Brit 800ZW comes with 129 rigs. Brit 800ZW is the TH-U expansion library, created by Choptones, seeking to recreate the sound of a Marshall JCM800 2203ZW Zakk Wylde. Basically it is a normal 2203, so […]

The post Overloud launches Choptones Brit 800ZW and BHS Sold for TH-U appeared first on rekkerd.org.

Mothercare in March reported making a profit of 28.3 million pounds (USD 36.6 million, 32.8 million euros) from more than 1,000 stores it has worldwide.

Reliance Retail’s marquee label operator Reliance Brands is the India master franchisee for Hamleys, which reputedly has its origins in the world’s oldest toy store in London that was opened in 1881.

Next said store sales plunged 52% in the 13 weeks to April 25, its fiscal first quarter, while online sales were down 32%.

We take a look back into the archives and explore Glasgow's past.

It’s gameday in Denver. Before the Broncos start playing football, players are announced as they sprint onto the field through a smoke-filled tunnel shaped like three wild, galloping horses.

This week on Open Air, KALW’s radio magazine for the Bay Area performing arts, host David Latulippe talks with concert pianist, actor, and author Mona Golabek, about her one-woman show The Pianist of Willesden Lane , presented by TheatreWorks Silicon Valley at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts (500 Castro St.) in Mountain View, through February 16.

In Großbritannien sind seit Wochen die Schulen geschlossen, auch private Einrichtungen wie das berühmte Eton College. Für einige von ihnen wird es jetzt finanziell eng – auch weil nicht klar ist, ob überhaupt alle Schüler wieder kommen.

Brittany Howard is the guitarist and lead singer of the four-time Grammy-winning band Alabama Shakes. This month, she’s releasing her first solo album, called Jaime. In this episode, Brittany breaks down the song “Stay High,” which was the album’s first single. She started working on it while staying at a house in Topanga Canyon, near LA.

songexploder.net/brittany-howard

The British Open is returning to Royal Troon in 2023 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the first Open on the western Scottish links and to stoke memories of Henrik Stenson’s magnificent duel he won against Phil Mickelson. Some 25 miles (40 kilometers) to the south, President Donald Trump’s course at Turnberry will have to […]

British baked goods are known to be soothing; there’s a whole afternoon-tea tradition built around them, not to mention a more-recent cult-favorite TV series. Here is a recipe for malt loaf, studded with sultanas and tiny currants.

British baked goods are known to be soothing; there’s a whole afternoon-tea tradition built around them, not to mention a more-recent cult-favorite TV series. Here is a recipe for malt loaf, studded with sultanas and tiny currants.

The award-winning British author spoke with Eleanor Wachtel about amplifying the voices of marginalized people through literature.

The Toronto-based British author talks about his love of film and society's fascination with actors and celebrity with Eleanor Wachtel.

A deeply affecting experience that ought to win the opera many new admirers.

Celebrities, cooks and internationally renowned performers offer online masterclasses, as those in coronavirus isolation look to upskill.

Brewing biofuel at a unique international school in Indonesia was just one of the projects taken on by students Britt and Marein Koens in the pursuit of sustainability.

Visitors are travelling to outback South Australia for tours of the former atomic testing site, but traditional owners want to see the narrative refocused to tell their story.

A British investor plans to buy out one of Australia's largest cattle companies, in a deal reportedly worth $600 million.

After 25 years as a sniper in war zones, Robert later went on to photograph road fatalities. After being plagued by anxiety, depression and flashbacks, he has finally found peace with the power of painting.

Learn why, in 1803, the British established a colony in Tasmania, at Hobart Town. Find out about the hardships faced by the convicts and early colonists and the early industries that helped some of them prosper. Find out about the effect that displacement had on the local palawa people.

Britis Airways E-ticket Phishing scam

The Album Features Re-recordings Of 11 Classic TANK Songs Chosen From The First Four Albums And Given A New Lease Of Life With A Much More Up To Date Production And Renewed Energy.

Brittany Daniel starred in the BET series The Game

These celebrities made it through failure and all.