Content that Connects: Justine Kleeman on Making Personal Content in a Disconnected World
Any piece of content for a brand means little if it never manages to connect with its target audience, a statement to ponder in this new interview series from Comcast Technology Solutions and Little Black Book.
Over the course of this series, we’ll be speaking to some of advertising’s most respected production leaders to delve into how emerging themes in production, such as data-fuelled production, more lo-fi shooting technology, remote filming, and evolving feelings towards the value of production all feed into creating content that matters to customers and works for brands.
Today we’re speaking with Justine Kleeman, group director of production, at R/GA, a leader who aims to produce the most engaging creative possible and exceed client goals with every project. An advocate for collaboration with a keen eye for detail, Justine specialises in integrated digital activations and strives to make creative that works and utilises the best platforms and technology for success.
Speaking to LBB’s Ben Conway, she discusses the challenges of producing more assets on smaller budgets, how producers add value by always adapting to become experts in new skills, and why AI is where agencies, production companies and brands should be focusing to create the best-crafted content going forward.
LBB> What does R/GA’s integrated production offering look like today? How have you seen integrated production evolve since your time at David&Goliath or Team One?
Justine> Production at R/GA is a true integration of all our crafts. The producer works with team leads to identify who is needed across the global network to ensure we are creating engaging, thought-leading and effective work. Within production, we have producers who are generalists, as well as experts broken into five practices: brand design and consulting, brand relationship design, connected communications, media and connections, and product and experience. This allows us to be able to bring specialised production thinking to any needs our clients have.
The fun of production is that it is always changing and evolving! During my time at Team One and David&Goliath, TV spots were the foundation of integrated campaigns. Today, due to changes in the way content is consumed, social, web or experiential activations can be the focus of the campaign, with TV spots reinforcing the messaging. Production evolves with consumer behaviours and technology, so I am always excited to see where it will head next.
LBB> How are you seeing new technology and processes improve how production connects with its audience? What are some standout examples?
Justine> The way that we are approaching production has changed greatly with the need to produce more assets on smaller budgets. There is also a desire to be able to quickly and cost-effectively have more one-on-one conversations with our audiences. One area I find particularly fascinating is volumetric capture – there are so many possibilities for brands to be able to create curated experiences and personalised content with less on-set production time.
LBB> In our fluid media environment - with new formats, trends and tech every day - how would you communicate the value of production to a brand?
Justine> What drew me to become an integrated producer was the challenge of constantly changing deliverables and the introduction of new technologies. It fuels my curious nature and allows me to always be learning. Producers are innate problem solvers who add value by always adapting and becoming experts in an ever-changing deliverables world, bringing forth solutions to ensure we are stretching budgets through production processes and fostering collaboration that elevates the creative output. While the media environment is fluid, the core of the craft of production is to problem-solve, collaborate and execute perfectly… on time and on budget of course!
LBB> What is one example of a recent project that required your production department to solve a particularly tricky/interesting problem? How did production step up to find and execute the solution?
Justine> We launched ‘+Play’ for Verizon earlier this year, and the idea stood on using clips from multiple partners’ IPs working together to sing a well-known track. In order to ensure the concept was feasible, we loaded up hundreds of hours of footage in Adobe Premiere and ran it through the AI-powered transcription tool. From there, we could search the transcription in Premiere and it would locate targeted words in the script and enable us to jump to that point in the clip to edit. This saved days, if not weeks of research time, and allowed us to quickly prove out the creative. Additionally, as we moved through the formal edit and approval process, we were able to quickly try out alt versions of the edit from our bank of identified clips.
LBB> What’s the key to crafting content that really connects with people?
Justine> Understanding and making sure every project has clear answers to the who, what, where and why. Who is the intended audience, what do we want them to take away, where are they consuming it and why would they be interested? In a world that seems disconnected, with people behind screens, we need to create content that feels personal and builds a connection.
LBB> We talk about ‘the craft’ a lot in this industry - but how can production elevate a campaign’s idea/creative? And which areas of production should agencies, production companies and brands be investing in to offer the best-crafted output going forward in 2023?
Justine> Producers are connectors, and with this comes the ability to push creative work further by bringing different disciplines and partners together to collaborate. Whether that is utilising media in an innovative way, or using a new technology, the power of different perspectives can lead to the elevation of the creative idea. Going forward in 2023, investing and understanding AI is where agencies, production companies and brands should be focusing. Beyond the very obvious uses for AI, there are many tools that can be used for creative optimisations and data aggregation that can help marketers be more effective. AI is not going away, and understanding how it can be used will be key.
LBB> What’s a moment on a production that will stick with you forever?
Justine> This is going way back, but I produced a campaign for Lexus called ‘NX 1000 to 1’. We needed to create 1,000 unique videos for a very personalised and targeted media plan. At the beginning of the project, we thought we would have to manually edit the 1,000 videos, however, by collaborating with team members, we were able to build a simple stitching tool that could output the versions needed. This was a pivotal moment in my career that taught me to always ask more than one person when problem-solving, because what one person doesn’t know, another person might.
LBB> To what extent can data be leveraged to improve production and the impact of the content? How does R/GA use data in this way?
Justine> Data is the most effective tool for us to get to know our target audience and shape content that will resonate with them. With the growing digital and social landscape, we have so many more insights into their behaviours and desires. Consumers expect content to be personalised and data allows us to find ways to connect with them through our creative ideas. One thing that initially drew me to R/GA was the company’s focus on data and designing for a more human future. Our applied intelligence and strategy teams are involved from the beginning to the end of every project - cross-checking that every decision we make, every point of view we bring to the client and all the content we produce will speak to our audience.
