The assignment was to create a shoppable streaming event, leveraging platforms across linear, digital, and streaming — all while abiding by COVID-19 protocols and keeping our staff safe. This project, “Peacock Presents: Holiday Steals & Deals with Jill Martin,” was the first time we had ever brought Today’s “Steals & Deals” shoppable segments to a streaming environment.

“Jill Martin’s Steals & Deals” launched as a shoppable segment on Today in 2010. It was the first commerce segment produced for morning television. It is a carefully curated regular TV segment that considers the audience while incorporating Jill’s selection of products.

Over the past decade, the on-air segment has become a broadcast mainstay and expanded to include a digital offering on Today.com as well. With “Peacock Presents: Holiday Steals & Deals with Jill Martin,” we had an opportunity to bring this franchise to the new streaming audience.

Building a safe set

My colleagues at NBC News never cease to amaze me, and I am so impressed that we continue to safely produce quality productions in the midst of a pandemic. On this project in particular, we had several complex layers of production with a few COVID-19 curveballs. I give major credit to our production team, our director, our tech crew, and our set designer who all thought outside of the box to create a beautiful, functional set.

We managed to safely build a three-camera shoot with six different sets at Jill’s home, which was transformed into a winter wonderland. We had three outdoor locations and three indoor. No camera was positioned inside her home (except her existing basement studio, which is a remote setup).

All cameras and crew were positioned outside, shooting in at a safe distance. This included a jib that was positioned through a window wall! We also had more than 50 products on set, 25 flocked trees, six lit birch trees, six boxes of “snow blanket,” six gallons of flocking, 10 wreaths, and 10 strands of garland.

The first-of-its-kind special allowed us to create a comprehensive programming strategy and distribute the content across all platforms, in addition to creating a new revenue opportunity. Our team creatively approached the marketing, PR, distribution, promotion, and editorial content of this project to ensure that we executed a comprehensive, omni-platform strategy to launch this special. 

The project resulted in a cross-department success, providing a unique approach in uniting the linear platform to the emerging streaming space and weaving in a commerce component. From Today to Peacock, the programme set a precedent for more audience development and creative projects in streaming and commerce.

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