C+C, meet Cliff Mc+Cloe. Let’s bring the lightning!

C+C is a communications and behavior change agency that does marketing for brands and organizations that stand for something bigger. Things like public health, educational justice and climate change. All the stuff that is my jam. And guess what? They’re looking for an Associate Creative Director!

Their Portland General Manager Suzette Riley wrote a terrific blog entitled Communicators are Confusing Our Audiences with Climate Buzzwords. It was so terrific that I turned it into a video script.

So, enjoy!

Lightning does the work

If you spend any time in the climate communication landscape, you often hear a bunch of buzzwords thundering around.

Open on an image of several thunderclouds at night, each with a climate buzzword on it.

SFX: We hear gentle rolling thunder. 

Carbon neutral.

The “Carbon Neutral” cloud rumbles around a bit.

Sustainability.

The “Sustainability cloud rumbles.

Climate resiliency.

The “Climate resiliency” cloud rumbles around a bit.

The problem is that those phrases don’t always resonate with our audiences in the way that we want or expect them to.

Zoom out to reveal groups of people below the clouds as they all begin to rumble again.

Take climate resiliency. If you’re a climate communicator, you might think of it as the changes that help communities weather climate volatility.

We push through the Climate resiliency cloud to reveal a scene where people are building windmills, improving electrical grids, etc.

But in a recent survey we did here at C+C, only 22%* of the respondents could explain what climate resiliency even means.

We pull out of the Climate resilience cloud and focus in on the people below. Most people scratch their heads.

And while most people got that it was a positive thing, it also generated a lot of feelings of confusion and anxiety in others.

Some of the people look confused and some of them are obviously turned off.

Same thing with a phrase like “carbon neutral”. While our survey indicates that it typically elicits general positive feelings, it also reveals that it just doesn’t have the oomph to move people.

We pan over to the “Carbon Neutral” cloud. The reaction from the people is, at best, meh.

Should you stop communicating about these topics, then? Absolutely not!

As Mark Twain reminded us, “Thunder is good. Thunder is impressive. But it’s lightning that does the work.”

We fade into an old-timey photo of Mark Twain with a quote bubble with this quote above his head.

So, instead of rumbling on in a self-congratulatory cloud of flowery climate buzzwords, we should focus on what’s getting done….the rubber-meets-the-road, nose-to-the-grindstone work that’s being done.

One by one, each of the buzzword clouds shoots out a lightning bolt. The lightning bolt lights up the sky, revealing different sustainability and resiliency efforts. The previously bored people are now oohing and ahhing over all the great work.

Yes, thunder is impressive. But let your lightning do the work.

* There weren’t any stats in the article so I made this number up but we can fix it in production, right?

What you’ll get from Cliff McCloe

Versatility on tap

For the past 12 years, I have collaborated with designers, producers, strategists, and video creatives to infuse the written word into an array of materials including advertising, digital, social media, experiential campaigns, email and blogs—the works! I also have extensive experience writing and creative-directing video projects.

Leadership at every step

I’ve led clients and internal teams at every phase. The Tone-Setting First Call. The Nitty-Gritty Strategy Session. The Free-For-All Concepting Meeting. The Follow-Up Laser-Focused Concepting Meeting. The First Client Preso (aka The Big Show). The Egos-Be-Damned Production Frenzy. The “I-Can’t-Wait-To-Work-With-Your-Team-Again” Post-Delivery Call & Backslapping Session.

A veteran storyteller and educator

I have performed in thousands of audience-interactive improv shows at the SAK Comedy Lab and at Universal Studios Orlando, which pretty much gives me a dual Master’s Degree in Collaboration and “Making Wonderful Things Out of What the Audience Gives Us.” I’ve also spent seven years as an educator in special ed classrooms. Both of those experiences taught me an irrefutable truth: If you want to take your audience somewhere cool, you have to start by meeting them where they are.

So, if you’re Senior Director of Creative Communications Rachael Darden Harper and you think I could be a good fit, give me a shout (my resume is in your inbox.)

Cheers,

Cliff

Update 11/9/2023 Well, C+C passed this time around. Onward!

The Lengths I Will Go To is my (hopefully) limited-series blog wherein I share the different ways I try to stand out during my job search. Rather not see more content like this? Hire me and I promise I’ll stop!