‘We attribute our success to working exclusively with clients that we believe in and putting everything we have into every partnership.’ Wendy Watson, Founder and CEO, Clearstream Agency

Clearstream Agency Remains Ahead of the Current

For companies looking to build their brand, there’s no better tool than a solid PR strategy. The right plan can help to nurture new leads, facilitate rapid growth, and improve an organization’s reputation. Good PR can help a company generate earned media placements that assist in constructing brand identity and industry equity.

Clearstream Agency is an award-winning boutique agency focused on developing comprehensive communications strategies that build brands across media. The firm is privately held and headquartered in Los Angeles, with teams in New York, Miami, and Dallas. It was founded in 2015 by agency veteran Wendy Watson.

Clearstream directs results-driven campaigns that have been recognized by numerous press and marketing organizations. The agency has been the recipient of the ‘Game Changers Award’ by Finance Monthly for its innovative work in Artificial Intelligence. Clearstream clients include innovative start-ups, established brands, and Fortune 500 companies.

“Clearstream tries to do its part with a simple formula that includes women supporting other women: referring and aligning with other female-owned businesses, employing working moms, and creating jobs that allow for flexibility in the workplace.”

Interview Excerpt: Wendy Watson

Q. Clearstream Agency is an amalgam of seasoned communications pros, including media mavens, creative directors, agency vets, award-winning journalists, marketing gurus, digital divas, and research pros. How did you form your dream team of this quality?

We come from diverse backgrounds, but we share a single objective: a real passion for championing great ideas that build brands. Having spent more than two decades creating award-winning campaigns that spark conversation, drive engagement, and positively impact the bottom line, I firmly believe in the power of a great idea and its ability to transform, and those truly magical marketing moments rise from the creative mix of our dynamic, passionate team.

Q. What’s the most essential trait a new team member should possess, and why?

I am often inspired by the Rumi quote, “Let the beauty of what you love be what you do.” There needs to be a higher calling to remain truly motivated and to obtain true success. For this reason, we look for passionate team members with an insatiable curiosity, a positive can-do attitude, and exceptionally high EQ (emotional quotient).

Q. Given that Clearstream Agency crafts strategic communications that influence consumers worldwide, how uniquely do you address these consumers’ pain points?

Our agency crafts strategic communications that drive conversations and build brands. Blending newsworthy narratives with unparalleled execution, our approach to PR makes brands relevant by leveraging what is current and what is next. We employ a proprietary 360-degree surround strategy called ClearView that helps magnify our clients’ message and elevate their brand. We offer a full suite of in-house services that include earned, paid, and owned media. Our services include Brand Strategy, Messaging, Crisis Communication, Media Training, Media Production, Media Buying, Event Planning, Web Design & Development, Partnership Cultivation, Influencer Campaigns, Media Relations, Reputation Management, Executive Visibility, Employee Communications, Media Tours, Previews & Events, Product Seeding, Social Media, Digital Advertising, Content Development, and Ad Campaigns.

Q. Blending newsworthy narratives with unparalleled execution, Clearstream’s approach to public relations makes brands relevant by leveraging what is current and what is next. Would you like to elaborate on this a bit more?

Our tagline is ‘Ahead of the Current’. We are proud of going against the stream and are inspired by our client base of disruptors and emerging leaders. Clearstream’s early work in AI has helped us to stake our claim in that space and has brought us several innovative clients that are changing the world. We have found that our bottom-line approach to strategic communications has made us attractive to clients across many industries.

Q. What new endeavors is Clearstream Agency currently undertaking?

The global pandemic offered an opportunity for many companies to rethink how they approach business and target their audience. Our 360-approach allowed for us to be part of helping to solve these problems, clearly identifying pivots in marketing strategy to maximize company growth during these challenging times. We have been successful in helping clients identify creative ways to engage in marketing strategies that deepen connections to target audiences.

Q. How do you plan to transform your company into a future that is unfolding before you?

In spite of the popular catch phrase ‘The Future is Female,’ women are still under-represented given the fact that they control the global consumer economy with an estimated $40 trillion in spending annually. The funding and support of female-owned businesses continue to be a challenge we face as a society, and Covid-19 has been particularly traumatic for women and, most specifically, moms who took on the lion share of distance learning and parenting duties during the pandemic, making profound sacrifices to care for the family. Data depicts there has never been a better time to be a female founder — women-owned companies reached $3.1 trillion in revenues and created 2.2M jobs in 2019, but the $2.2 billion in venture capital raised to female founders still only accounts for a modest 2.2 percent of total venture capital investment. Clearstream tries to do its part with a simple formula that includes women supporting other women: referring and aligning with other female-owned businesses, employing working moms, mentoring talented young women, and creating jobs that allow for flexibility in the workplace.

Q. What, according to you, should be the focal point of this article?

Being a business leader is oftentimes accompanied by a sea of setbacks. This last year was ‘the mother of all setbacks’ with the pandemic, and yet our company persevered and saw tremendous growth in the second half of 2020. I have found that successful entrepreneurs are Darwinian in that they adapt to the changing market conditions to thrive. Our company’s ability to adapt and expand our services in a way that met our clients where they were in the midst of unprecedentedly challenging times is the key to our success.

An Idealistic Leader Upfront

Wendy Watson is Founder & Chief Executive Officer of Clearstream Agency. An award-winning agency executive, she has more than two decades of experience creating brand campaigns that spark cultural conversation, drive consumer engagement, and positively impact the bottom line. Throughout her career, Ms. Watson has directed PR initiatives for the world’s most well-known companies, including Disney, Hewlett Packard, Marriott, Mercedes-Benz, MGM, Procter & Gamble and Verizon. Since its inception, Clearstream has been a fast-growing firm that has been recognized for its innovative and pioneering work that is always ahead of the current.

Watson is a guest lecturer at UCLA Anderson School of Business and has been recognized as an ‘Inspiring Women in Tech,’ named a ‘Game Changer’ by Finance Monthly and honored as one of CEO Today’s ‘Business Women of the Year’. Prior to starting Clearstream, she worked for global Omnicom firm Porter Novelli for nearly two decades, and during her tenure, she was named the youngest SVP in the company’s history.

“We employ a proprietary 360-degree surround strategy called ClearView that helps magnify our clients’ message and elevate their brand.”