I did a little slot on QVC lastnight so thought it might be interesting to let you know what goes on behind what you see when you tune in.
First of all, this is my second time at QVC and I will say that you won’t find a more friendly and pleasant bunch of people. There’s no drama, everyone is relaxed and kind, so any nerves very quickly disappear. I don’t mind being in front of a camera (which is bizarre when I get so nervous about doing front-facing Periscopes!) but it’s extremely helpful that QVC lighting is the world’s kindest lighting – everyone looks good!
The show was part of the QVC Beauty Month and I was asked to talk about three of my top beauty picks, so I chose Ameliorate Body Lotion, Cover FX Custom Cover Drops and Sarah Chapman Morning Facial Oil, all of which I know like the back of my hand.
There’s a Green Room – of course – where everyone congregates before their show, and given that QVC wants you there 2 hours ahead of time, it can get very busy. You can get tea and coffee (no wine, I noticed!) and watch the shows live, including the screen that shows how the sales are going. I wasn’t there to sell product; it’s really not my job to do that, but more as an opinion person I guess – but my product picks were something I took seriously. I did a bit of filming ahead of my slot (I actually don’t know what these are going to be used for!) answering questions about QVC. These are funny really, because the questions are phrased for a madly enthusiastic answer about QVC – I refused one or two on the grounds that it would look like I’d been captured by aliens and sent to live among non-stick pans and vacuum seal storage at QVC Land – but on the whole, I was happy to answer everything.
What I hadn’t realised until almost leaving home time was that you can’t wear black and white which is basically my uniform. So I had to raid my daughter’s wardrobe. Bearing in mind the show started at eight, at two minutes past, I got this text:
Another thing I hadn’t realised is that the brands would be a little wary of me being there. For them, as much selling time as possible is absolutely crucial, so any of my time eats into theirs. Understandable, of course, but I didn’t even think about it until I was in the Greem Room. The presenter (Jilly), however, was very wise to the fact, and ensured that the show was balanced in favour of the brand, which is exactly as it should be.
The studio is hilarious – it’s a massive cavern with a fully made bed in one part, kitchen units in another part, sofa and pretend windows in another part; and trolleys – lots of trolleys with product all neatly lined up. While we were talking about CoverFX, I noticed out of the corner of my eye a lady at a table doing her makeup – about four feet away from where we were sitting. I thought it was odd – and thought maybe she’s practicing for the next show or something. I really hadn’t realised that she was part of our show and was demonstrating CoverFX until she was alluded to by Jilly.
The one disappointment was that I couldn’t Periscope from QVC (they have it blocked for some reason) – some behind the scenes Scopes would have been great to let everyone see backstage and really join in on the build up – and for such a big brand, that was a surprise and a missed opportunity. That and the Krypton Factor hoops you have to jump to log into the QVC WIFI!
It was actually such a good experience – I really enjoyed it and would do it again in a heartbeat. Babies in the Green Room, men in fuschia jackets, Lulu passing you in the corridor.. just an average QVC day, I guess!
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