I love watching YouTube, now more than ever. I mean, I have a lot more time on my hands to do so! One of my all-time favorite YouTube channels is called Jubilee. Jubilee has 5.24 million subscribers on Youtube and, according to its website, Jubilee’s vision is to “create a movement of empathy for human good.” That vision is evident in all they do, whether it be videos for their channel or merchandise they sell in their humangood store.

It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected every possible field and business. Companies are having to find new and innovative ways to move forward during this unexpected crisis. Everyone is finding their own ways to handle this unprecedented time, but there are a few things I think Jubilee is doing well that others can learn from.

First, Jubilee is taking this time to create and develop partnerships that are mutually beneficial. Jubilee partnered with Bumble, a dating app, for one of their most recent videos. This partnership is mutually beneficial as Bumble gains publicity for their video chat date option and Jubilee gets to create videos remotely that propel their vision. Check out that video below if you’re interested, it’s pretty entertaining!

Next, Jubilee is using its resources to show their customers and fans that they are in tune with what is happening and that they care. Jubilee is now selling face masks in its store, and for every face mask that is bought, they are donating a face mask to an LA hospital. The mask is called the “We Will Get Through This” face mask in the store catalog. As of April 26, Jubilee had donated over 3,000 face masks.

Lastly, Jubilee has been using this time to try and connect more with its customers and fans. Jubilee is demonstrating that they do not just care about their business surviving, but they care about the impacts this pandemic is having on others, however small those impacts may seem. Jubilee hosted a virtual prom for seniors in high school, acknowledging the loss a large part of their fan base is feeling during this time and trying to support them.

With all that Jubilee is doing during the COVID-19 crisis, the biggest takeaway is that they are trying to be good humans. All the crisis PR and marketing campaigns in the world can only get your company so far if you are not showing consumers that you genuinely care about them and are practicing corporate social responsibility. This is what will ultimately make you stand out and will help you in the future: people will remember when your company was good to them in a hard time and hopefully repay the favor one day.

I have a confession to make: I love watching The Bachelor. There, I said it! I would call it a guilty pleasure, except I don’t feel guilty at all about it. I like learning about the contestants and I genuinely become invested in their lives (not to mention the drama, I love that too).

Since I am a fan of the show, I end up following the contestants on their social media platforms. In fact, a lot of people end up following the contestants on social media. Without fail, as the contestants gain followers, their feeds become sprinkled with advertisements. Companies will pay the former contestants to promote their products. One advertisement I have seen a lot from former contestants is for FabFitFun. FabFitFun is a subscription service that offers four seasonal boxes of products throughout the year. Below are some examples of former Bachelor contestants advertising for FabFitFun.

This paid media strategy from FabFitFun is clearly helping them, as they generate around $300 million in revenue. These advertisements have even almost made me hit the subscribe button a few times, but the fact that I am a broke college student stops me. However, that I am so willing to buy into FabFitFun if I only had the funds to do so made me wonder: what about this paid media strategy is so persuasive? I’m going to break that down for you with a list of three things FabFitFun does really well regarding paid media. If you are interested in doing a paid media campaign for your brand, these are some things to keep in mind.

1: FabFitFun picks the source of their message with their target audience in mind.

FabFitFun’s target audience is U.S. females aged 25–44. Coincidentally, a large portion of The Bachelor fan base is U.S. females aged 25-44. FabFitFun knows this, so they specifically chose former Bachelor contestants to sell their product in order to reach their target audience.

2: FabFitFun’s sources are credible.

The Bachelor contestants have referent power. In other words, people who watch the show like them! Liking can go a long way in selling a product because we trust people we like.

3: FabFitFun repeats their message.

Repetition of a message creates familiarity, and familiarity breeds liking. This is explained by the mere exposure effect. However, this tactic must be taken with a grain of salt. If you overdo exposure of your message, you risk people becoming annoyed with it. FabFitFun does a good job of using the Bachelor girls sparingly, but enough that their followers will see the message a few times.

There you have it. Three simple tactics, modeled by FabFitFun, to ensure a successful paid media campaign! I guess all there’s left to say is: Will you accept this FabFitFun box?

On January 22, 2020, the world lost the most famous peanut on earth in a tragic automobile accident. If you have no idea what I am talking about, please refer to the video below. Warning: This commercial may cause emotional distress.

As I was saying: tragic. Planters killed off its own mascot. “Why?” You may ask. The answer is quite simple: publicity. Planters is using the good old press agentry/publicity model introduced to the world by P.T. Barnum. The gist of the model is that you create a story simply to get people talking. Barnum was infamous for this kind of publicity, and now Planters has joined his ranks. Planters did not have to kill Mr. Peanut, they chose to. It may seem harsh, but it worked. Everyone was talking about Mr. Peanut’s untimely death.

Takeaway #1: Figure out creative, fun ways to get people talking about your company.

Other companies began riding the wave of publicity to hopefully gain some attention as well (a little trick known as newsjacking). The hashtag #RIPeanut trended on twitter.

It is worth noting that Kool-Aid is owned by the same parent company as Planters. Kool-Aid newsjacked off Planters, but both companies are really working for the same boss. Boom. Double publicity for The Kraft Heinz Company. Anyways, it’s all pretty neat, huh? I don’t know about you, but I had never given a second thought to Planters, and then suddenly the company was all people were talking about!

Takeaway #2: Newsjack off other companies’ publicity when possible and appropriate.

Oh, but Planters wasn’t finished yet. They needed a new mascot, as their previous one was *ahem* dead. I theorized that this publicity stunt was a way to get Mr. Peanut out of the picture and bring in a completely new mascot, while my dad theorized that Mr. Peanut was going to have an epic comeback.

The sunglasses emoji is my dad’s favorite, he can make it apply to any message. Anyways, my dad was right. Well, he was right that Mr. Peanut came back, but I wouldn’t say it was an epic comeback. Here is the commercial Planters aired during the Super Bowl:

There you have it, folks. Mr. Peanut is back… as Baby Nut.

It is unclear if Baby Nut will ever grow up to be Mr. Peanut again, or if this is the new Planters mascot forever. One thing is clear, Planters perfectly executed the press agentry/publicity model. The creation of this absurd peanut narrative did not cause anyone harm, it actually brought laughter and lightness to the internet for a bit. Despite the fact that some people on the internet are expressing discontent with Baby Nut, Planters is still getting press.

Takeaway #3: Be wary of the repercussions that may come from your press agentry. Living by the motto “any press is good press” can be dangerous.

In the end, Planters benefits from all the publicity and so does any company that jumped on the newsjacking train. Some may say the press agentry/publicity model is nuts, but it worked well for Planters.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.