So you think you’re a ‘smart strategy person’? Not so fast…
Strategy Leaders
Even if you think you have the answer… listen, advises UM’s EMEA strategy chief.
As we wade through the endless CES reports and trillionth trends analysis on the life changing power of the Metaverse… it’s good to take a moment to pause.
Pause to reflect. Pause to replenish.
In our world of constant chaos, I often reach to those gems of advice from people wiser than myself, who have guided me through turmoil. Here are some of my favourites from the past year:
‘It’s more important to work on a new idea than trying to perfect an old one.’
I started my path in the wonderful world of music. First as a DJ, then a producer and then (briefly) working in the industry. It’s a sector built on a currency of the never-ending new. Artists that innovative thrive, those that replicate, fail.
And that’s even more apparent in our own industry – one that evolves so rapidly and that values new ideas more than most. With changing technologies, evolving audiences and in the context of an ever-changeable cultural backdrop, an idea that we might have felt worked six months ago can quickly become extinct.
Sometimes it’s braver to ditch an old idea and focus our mind on what’s around the corner.
‘Media is only 5% of the client’s job, so make it the fun part’
We overestimate the importance of what we do. Especially to the people we serve.
I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve fastidiously engineered strategy decks only to see clients’ eyes only really light up when we got to the mock-ups of impossibly new formats, bizarre experiential, or the inevitable ‘Piccadilly Lights’.
Why? Because It’s the fun part that they enjoy and most likely got them interested in marketing in the first place. The tangible output of the plan that sticks.
So be warned: if you forgot the fun, they’ll forget you.
‘Shock then awe’
I’ll never forget my first Coca-Cola pitch meeting. We were all sat around a conference table in Sydney spit-balling ideas that were tactical at best. When in bursts our infamous CEO with a grin so big it silences the room.
“Forget all that shit, we’re going to do the one thing that Coke would never do in a million years. We’re going to change the colour of their cans.”
Changing the iconic red is an idea as crazy as it ingenious. The ‘shock’ tactic. But it’s only achievable when backed up by the ‘awe’, which in this case was a 500-page epic that spelled out not just why this was a game-changing idea but exactly how it would work in every possible scenario and touchpoint.
This idea went on to not only win us the pitch but was made into one of Coke’s most successful campaigns in decades.
Anyone can have a crazy idea but the real test is in pulling it off.
‘90% of the answer is in the brief’
What’s interesting when you progress in your career is that you don’t get that much better as a strategist. You just do it faster and more efficiently.
Luckily, if read properly, most briefs already contain most of the answer; the clues we need to connect and refine a challenge or theory into a strategic proposition and a story. What’s even more useful is that those who write the brief are often those that review the work.
The magic comes in that extra 10%, which is often a ‘strategic jump’ that pushes the brief into a specific territory based on original insight and our experience.
Why anyone would start a meeting without reading the brief (and believe me, I’ve seen it done) is an arrogance I’ll never understand.
‘You have two ears and one mouth for a reason’
Tom diSapiaIf there’s one lesson I’ve learnt the hard way it is this – listen before you talk.
Even if you think you have the answer… listen. When someone is saying something that you think is ridiculous… listen.
Not only is it a fundamental show of respect to those that have something to say, it helps you understand why they are saying it. And answers are more powerful when they are in the voice of a client.
The irony of being positioned as the ‘smart’ person in the room (often untrue) is an urge to splurge at the start of the meeting, when we are always more potent when we’re waiting to the end.
These gems I gift to you. Hopefully they will make you richer and guide you through. They certainly have for me.
Tom diSapia is chief strategy officer EMEA at media agency UM
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