What’s the impact of the pandemic on you, your company, your approach to doing business in the future? What practices emerged that you will continue even as restrictions are loosening?
Working from home changed everything for all of us, but at Known Studios, it unlocked a type of creativity and collaboration that none of us could have foreseen. Seeing that we can successfully execute when remote, without compromising the creative integrity has been illuminating and exciting! It allows us to think beyond the restrictions and broaden our scope, unlocking things globally and opening up many more opportunities with partners who aren’t in our backyards.
How has the call for equity, racial and social justice affected, honed or influenced your sense of responsibility as a company in terms of the content you create and/or your commitment to opening up opportunities for filmmaking talent from underrepresented backgrounds?
It made us think more deeply about culture, and how we listen; to our talent, our clients and our audience. Our work is to both drive and reflect culture, while also building better culture internally for our teams. Everybody strives for authenticity, but you can only be authentic to a changing world by inviting in new voices and new perspectives and encouraging them to create something authentic to themselves. We as an organization have the responsibility to our teams and our partners to make this priority number one as we grow.
What’s the biggest takeaway or lessons learned from work (please identify the project) you were involved in that was or is in the running for current awards season consideration (i.e., Emmys, Cannes Lions, etc.)?
Our work with Shift4, and the planned Inspiration4 launch and documentary, was an expert study in simplicity. Simple is the way you get to authenticity with a brand and an audience. It was an honest marketing campaign and reflected the relatability of the client, but made a true impact with the audience and creative community.
While gazing into the crystal ball is a tricky proposition, we nonetheless ask you for any forecast you have relative to content creation and/or the creative and/or business climate for the second half of 2021 and beyond.
We’re hearing from our clients that a 360° strategy for their campaigns is no longer an aspirational nice-to-have, it is what is actually needed to connect with audiences. The tone, the voice, the look has to be consistent and real at every consumer touchpoint, not just the same spot ported from platform to platform (which isn’t 360°, it’s just lip service). Specifically in entertainment, building creative that allows the audience to be a part of the brand is the future; we’re going to see creative from the best that feels very customized for people — built specifically for them — especially on the platforms where they spend the most time.
What are your goals, creatively speaking and/or from a business standpoint, for your company, division, studio or network in 2021?
My goal is to continue to build relationships with our clients that are true partnerships, not just us acting as a creative services arm for them. We get the best and most successful creative for campaigns when we are immersed in it together, and build trust and understanding through true collaboration. When we intuitively know where our partners want to be with their audience, in culture, and in their competitive set, we can unlock the best and most high-impact campaigns.
What trends, developments or issues would you point to thus far in 2021 as being most significant, perhaps carrying implications for the rest of the year and beyond?
From my view, it’s become clear that video is the base level expectation of marketing content across platforms. Audiences and platforms want dynamic video, whether that be a TikTok or a trailer or a full feature. I also think that experiential has started to come roaring back, but it will be even more immersive post-COVID; as “being there” and being a part of something evokes a feeling and connection that passive advertisement just can’t touch.
What work (advertising, entertainment)–your own or others–struck a responsive chord with you and/or was the most effective creatively and/or strategically so far this year? Does any work stand out to you in terms of meshing advertising and entertainment?
The brand campaign KNOWN did with TikTok predated my time here, but it truly stands out in this way. TikTok earned themselves explosive growth, but they also found themselves in some strange political crosshairs, and the strategy and creative broke through and unlocked their audience to celebrate and advocate for the brand. “It Starts on TikTok” is just a brilliant piece of copy that unlocked an authentic campaign that showcased the creators, the platform and the zeitgeist they power in such an entertaining and clever way.
