About
Jason Clement.
Founder of Stepchild. Twenty-seven years working quietly inside some of the best ad shops in the business, countless VCs and PE firms helped, and global campaigns as an everyday affair. Roughly a billion dollars of media managed. Everything from Super Bowl spots to direct mail postcards, and all things in between.
The short version
I started in digital advertising in 1999, pre-Google, back when search engine marketing was something you had to explain to clients at dinner. That era shaped how I’ve thought about the work ever since: data first, but creative always trumps data.
The next two decades went into creative and media strategy, with stops at some of the world’s best agencies like Deutsch, Ogilvy, Carat, Wieden+Kennedy, and TBWA/Chiat/Day. Different shops, different cultures, same lesson: the strategies that actually moved a brand forward were rarely the ones the brief asked for. They were the ones we found by looking past the brief.
In the 2010s I co-founded Noble People LA, sold it, and in 2017 started Stepchild on a cooperative model. The inspiration was a farmer’s co-op: profit-sharing, transparent books, and senior partners joining briefs because they wanted to, not because they were staffed. That’s how the shop still runs. Senior partners only. No layers. No junior bench. A handful of clients at a time. Strategies that surprise.
Past stops
A career in stubborn places.
The roles and rooms that shaped how I think about brands, audiences, and the work it takes to move both.
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2017 – Today
Founder. Stepchild.
Comms and media strategy for culture brands, startups, and stubborn incumbents. Clients have included LiveNation, NM Game & Fish, and others on request.
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2014 – 2017
Co-founder. Noble People LA.
Built a strategy and media shop on the West Coast. Sold the business in 2017.
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2003 – 2014
Senior strategy and media roles.
Deutsch, Ogilvy, Carat, Wieden+Kennedy, and TBWA/Chiat/Day. Different shops, different cultures, same job: find the surprising thing and put real money behind it.
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1999 – 2003
Early digital. iCrossing.
Cut my teeth in SEO and digital media in the early days, when paid search was a sales pitch and most CMOs didn’t know what a keyword was.
Let’s talk
Want a fresh read?
Tell me what you’re trying to figure out. I’ll tell you the whole truth about whether we can help, and if not, what to do next. First chat is always free.
Let’s talk