Behind the scenes of HarpersBazaar.com’s new Little Black Book celebrity video series

The video series was put together by HarpersBazaar.com Editor Joyann King and Anna Jimenez, director of editorial video content at Hearst Magazines Digital Media, who worked with Miranda Kerr’s personal team, as well as the Bazaar.com video team and senior beauty editor Jenna Rosenstein.

 

 

One new episode was released each week in January on the Harper’s Bazaar YouTube channel and across its properties.

The HarpersBazaar.com audience loves Miranda Kerr – the brand’s previous video with her, on what she eats in a day, performed extremely well, with 6.8 million views on Facebook and 1.75 million views on YouTube. 

That’s where this video series started. 

“We initially worked with Miranda on an episode of another Bazaar.com video franchise, ‘Food Diaries.’ That video was massively successful,” Jimenez explained. “It was obvious that our audience is hungry for content featuring her. So, we approached Miranda and her team to ask if she would be interested in hosting a series centered on wellness.”

 

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Kerr has a line of organic skincare products, Kora Organics, and she’s clearly an authority in this space, Jimenez said. She thought the HarpersBazaar.com audience would be interested in getting an intimate look at how Kerr approaches wellness, “whether it’s insider tips from her Kundalini yoga instructor or what she buys at her local grocery store,” Jimenez said.

“Our readers care a lot about her, and we care about her as a personality,” Jimenez said. “She brings value to our readers. So, to have her host a series around some of the tent poles of our brand – beauty, wellness and celebrity – made total sense. Visual storytelling is also a priority for us, and for Miranda to bring us into her home and speak directly to viewers through the lens, it feels intimate and unfiltered, and above and beyond what our audience would get through a flat piece of content.” 

 

 

For the filming of the series, Harper’s Bazaar encouraged Kerr to talk about topics she was passionate about. “We discussed what the voice of the series would be, and what she specifically wanted to bring to our audience,” Jimenez said. “And then we collaborated on the specific shots and creative.” 

The video series allowed Kerr to share her expertise on whatever topics she was passionate about- sharing her tips for wellness for the mind, body and skin. It’s a topic that fits well for the brand, as Editor Joyann King explained. “The Harper’s Bazaar woman is as worried about the shoes she puts on her feet as she is the food she puts in her mouth and the way she spends her mental energy,” King said. “She juggles a lot and desires to live a well-rounded and healthy lifestyle. Working out, eating right and staying mentally strong are as important to her as a curated wardrobe and home. We aim to provide inspiration and service for every aspect of her life.”

A video team was hired in Los Angeles and Jimenez directed the shoot, which took place over three days. The team shot one episode per day, and editing took a week. “Investing in this kind of content is what we do, and a crucial part of our editorial mix. We’re in the business of creating brand-defining video, and we find that this content is valuable to our readers, so of course we’ll invest in producing it,” Jimenez explained.

In the past, Bazaar.com has done one-off videos and celebrity coverage in this manner before, but it was their first celebrity-hosted series, Jimenez said.  And it’s not going to be their last. Harper’s Bazaar is talking to several others about hosting their own series, focused on topics they’re passionate about. 

For publishers looking to create video products like this one, Jimenez suggested for this kind of project, they need to think about their audience first. “At Hearst, we’re extremely sympathetic to the amount of content – video content in particular – that our audience is seeing every day,” she said. “They’re inundated with content, so we want to make sure that we’re bringing them quality stories, reporting and exclusive access that’s authentic to our brands, and that they can’t get anywhere else.”

 

 

You can watch the three videos of the series, here.

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