Communicators spotlight: Campbell Millum of CLEAR
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Photo: Courtesy of Campbell Millum
Campbell Millum joined CLEAR two months ago as vice president of communications, reporting to founder and CEO Caryn Seidman Becker, with a mandate to build out the function.
- Amid developing policies, messaging and team plans, she said the most important part is "getting deep in the weeds on the business so I can tell the right stories."
Why it matters: Communicators need command of the business to spot what matters and explain it to vastly different audiences.
Zoom in: "Everything we say lands across over 43 million CLEAR members and audiences who may have little else in common," explains Millum.
- "What connects them is that identity is critical infrastructure. It's communications' job to explain why that matters to each of them."
How comms has changed: Millum said she has "stopped treating the ask as the assignment."
- "Too many people get a piece of feedback from their CEO and sprint in that exact direction," Millum said.
- Instead, the job is more about having strong relations with other functions in the business "to understand the problem behind the ask and solve that problem. The request is usually a symptom."
Tough lesson: "The founder was the first communicator," she said.
- Millum said it's easy for a comms leader to "come in hot and install new systems, strategies and messaging."
- Instead, the job is to harness the founder's "voice, instincts and message," while seeing around corners and identifying new audiences and channels.
Trendspotting: "A lot of our internal materials need to get longer, not shorter," she said.
- Millum builds 60- to 75-page core messaging documents meant to serve as source material for AI tools for employees to query rather than read cover to cover.
- "The document gets longer so the output can be shorter and more consistent."
Life lessons: "Being around people from wildly different contexts is the best training there is for communications," she said.
- Millum, who spent much of her childhood in Asia, travels frequently and volunteers with a nonprofit supporting children entering foster care, something that helps her stay grounded and "bring more perspective to my day-to-day life."
Currently consuming: Ahead of a recent anniversary safari, Millum read memoirs by game rangers and reserve operators, including "The Elephant Whisperer."
Best advice: "Ask questions and keep learning the business."
- "If you don't know your product, your positions and your vulnerabilities, you will struggle," she said.
The bottom line: "Communications is in service of the business, not the other way around."
