Introducing the People Behind Wemanage Group: Gilda Manfrin, K-448’s Senior Digital Strategist

A project by Wemanage Group

Introducing Meet The Team: Wemanage Group’s deep dive into the professional backgrounds of our mighty team members.

The third of our many mighty team members telling us a bit of her professional experience is Gilda Manfrin, K-448’s Senior Digital Strategist.

Introduce yourself!

I am Gilda, Senior Digital Strategist at K-448.

Tell us about your role at K-448

I’ve been working for almost 2 years for K-448 and I currently work as their Senior Digital Strategist. I work on different projects, developing strategies for smaller and bigger brands, coordinating the social media team and collaborating with the creative department.

What is your favourite thing about K-448 and Wemanage Group?

It’s a growing company, in touch with many creative brands, all very different from each other, and all representing an excellence in their field. The projects we work on are very “neat” and well-curated — from a visual, content and strategy perspective. It’s also quite a structured and organized environment, where we get to collaborate as a team with many creative minds.

How did you end up becoming a digital strategist?

Growing up in Veneto, where the creative industries and entrepreneurship play a central role in the social and economic landscape, it’s been quite natural to me to grow with an imaginative yet practical mindset. I have always been interested in how brands can establish themselves and communicate their values using innovative, empathetic and aesthetically compelling tools. After graduating in Communications in Padua, I got my first job at the Venice Biennale, before moving to Milan to work for Versace. During the first 4–5 years of my career I was very lucky to start out working as a social media and content manager when brands were just beginning to experiment with their online presence and starting to invest more and more on digital media. As the digital communications landscape has evolved, my professional role has grown, too, into what it is today. I definitely work in a much more structured manner, collaborating with a wider variety of specialized professionals. Thanks to my MA at London College of Communication, I developed critical thinking skills, which are helping me today in the communication of many sensitive topics, such as sustainability and gender-related issues.

Gilda Manfrin

A piece of advice you’d give so someone starting out in social media and communications?

Starting nowadays is quite different compared to when I started 10 years ago as the market is definitely much bigger, competitive and structured. I’d say though that all the advice for people at the beginning of their careers is pretty much the same: to be humble, positive, curious and open to learning and accepting criticism. Especially at the beginning, it’s important to test yourself in as many areas and angles as possible and try to understand what you enjoy the most about what you do — as working as a social media manager lets you wear many hats (from working with text, to visual/graphics, digital marketing and relations with clients) . By focusing on the aspects that you enjoy the most you’ll be more efficient, happier and nicer to work with.

Do you think social media’s importance has increased post-pandemic?

Of course. Brands have (finally) been pushed into investing more on digital campaigns and forced into a proper digital transformation, that in Italy was absolutely due. Investing in social media, though, cannot substitute a wider strategic approach based on multiple online and offline touch-points.

What do you think will be the future of communications and this medium?

On the one hand, the current scenario fosters connection and self-expression for both people and brands; while on the other, we need to stay aware of the illusions, isolation and negative impact it creates as well. On a personal level, I wish we will all learn to use social media in a more conscious and mature way, not thinking of it as a substitute for real, human connection. Regulations and safer practices are already emerging, and I think they will be growing in the future.

For brands this might mean focusing more and more on their niche and target audience, providing useful and accurate contents for their community.

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