Getting to Known You: Christine Clemens, Director, Social Operations and Production
We recently sat down with Director, Social Operations and Production, Christine Clemens who is based in our Los Angeles office to share a little bit more about what it’s like being a Knowner, what trends are making waves in the world of content and her take on how we consume content post the height of the pandemic.
How did you get to where you are in your career?
I started my career producing fine art photography and content. I worked exclusively with a photographer doing fine art exhibitions and really curating and staging fine art photography shows. We would shoot supplemental social content to support the shows. Overall the experience gave me a great sense of how you get to the end result of a photo or a video.
As the photographer moved into the entertainment space, I started producing for some small entertainment marketing jobs. Taking my experience to various agencies and now at Known, I can appreciate both sides of the advertising world. That’s how I got my start.
That’s very cool. Did you learn any major lessons learned during the pandemic?
I think on a personal level the pandemic taught me to be much more present and to not think so far ahead to a point where it would generate anxiety or I would be worrying about things that I couldn’t control.
As a producer, you’re always forecasting and projecting worst case scenarios weeks out. Whether it’s budget, whether it’s your team, whether it’s deadlines. I think when the pandemic happened and things slowed down personally and professionally, it forced everybody to focus on the present moment. The pandemic gave everybody common ground to reach out and reconnect. I had so many people that I hadn’t worked with within years connecting with me on LinkedIn asking, How are you doing? What’s going on? It was a big networking resurgence.
I think the pandemic in a lot of spaces has forced folks to evaluate what is the best way to be cutting edge, for example TikTok really blew up. What would you say are some of the trends that you’ve seen since the pandemic and what do you think are the ones that will stick?
TikTok isn’t going anywhere. I think, I hope, there’s going to be an up-leveling of how we treat each other on social media. We’re evolving to the point where we care about how other people view us and the kind of person we want to be in the world. And I think that there’s a positive turn where social media is starting to support that. It’s so easy to remove the human side of social media because it’s technology, but there’s humans behind everything that goes up. I think recognizing that and looking to find the good in social media again is a trend I’m starting to see. I hope it only gets stronger.
There’s a big audio-first trend going on right now that I hope continues. What I have seen is a marriage of audio with animation and different audio platforms promoting healthy and inspiring conversation within artist communities like Spotify Live and Discord.
I think brands and companies are being challenged to stay authentic on social media. If a brand buys into a trend on socials, and it doesn’t align with their overall established brand ethos/look/feel/tone, they will get called out to no end and while it’s funny in the comments it’s also a big cringe moment. The key lesson here is not all trends work for everyone and that is OK!
Lastly, I’m always pleasantly surprised when a brand that I didn’t think had a sense of humor comes through with hilarious comments and responses to comments on a post.
At Known, one of our values is We See The Good. How do you think influencers play a role in this?
Influencers are still such a strong part of marketing campaigns and while people may have “influencer fatigue” there’s no denying that when influencers we like, follow, etc. promote a product or an initiative, we tune in and take it seriously. I think in recent years, we’ve looked to influencers to promote and post about things they are passionate about and causes that matter to them because we want to know what their values are and if they align with ours. Pre-pandemic the influencer world was very shiny and polished and curated, I think now we are seeing a much more authentic and real side of influencers which is something we can all relate to.
When it comes to representation, how do you think the industry can do better?
There is no shortage of brilliant creators out there. It’s our job as an agency to intentionally seek out diverse personalities and voices and talents.
A vision for an inclusive culture has to be implemented and goals set with actionable methods like sensitivity training and peer to peer round table discussions about difficult topics. It’s important to grow stronger together as a team and the best way to do that is through education and cultivating a community of empathy within your organization.
You seem to have learned a lot over your career. If I was a 22 year old graduating from college, what are some of the qualities that I would need to have in order to become an amazing producer?
Communication skills are key. And I don’t just mean how you communicate. I mean, how you listen, how you retain information, how you give feedback.
A lot of times when you’re young, you hear something you overreact, you assume. It’s so many things that now that I’m older and I’ve gone through this career, I realize the key to a really solid producer is thinking strategically about your communications. How do I say something so that I get the answer that I need or the answer I want or how can I open the door to a discussion for compromise? I think that is definitely a life lesson I have learned. And that makes a good producer. It goes so far beyond soft skills because it does involve taking a beat before you react to something.
Lastly, if Christine isn’t working on producing an amazing piece of content what would we find you doing?
You can find me always playing with my dog, Joey aka Kiss Monster.
Thanks, Christine. This was a great chat, we’ll definitely be looking out for the trends you’ve mentioned.
