The Future for Us, Strategists
Just read ‘The Future of Strategy’ report (2017) from WARC. (Link here)
Brilliant and insightful read, as it gives a clear, balanced view of the current landscape of strategy in Advertising; the challenges (and future opportunities) strategists face today.
(Disclaimer: The term ‘planners’ and ‘strategists’ are used interchangeably here. They own the same definition).
So much has changed in the world, especially witnessing it first-hand over the last five years, since I was an intern — All thanks to the Digital Revolution (a.k.a the fourth Industrial Revolution).
From the rise of Facebook to the access of big data to the importance of UX to massive technologies to robots.
Having started in a boutique social media agency as an intern to then interning in the digital strategy department within a full-fledged advertising firm to joining the main planning team full time. The team was filled with five planners, mainly traditional planners, one at each rank/level. I was most junior and I was trained in traditional planning and built my core foundation upon the Art and Craft of Planning — the ability to simplify complex matters and identify the core human insight that springboards great ideas.
In three years’ time, the planning team I am in developed into (at one time) a team of 22 strategists — from diverse skill sets and backgrounds, specialising in Digital, Content, Data, UX, Social Media etc.
‘The Future of Strategy’ report from WARC clearly encapsulates the challenges (and dilemma) strategists and leaders face in today’s world. And being a ‘living’ part of it all, it was rather spot-on.
From questions like “Should there be specialisms within strategy? Are traditional planners growing obsolete? Why didn’t we ever have TV strategist/Billboard strategist before? Can strategists move up-stream, solve business issues beyond campaign planning? Is there a gap between what the clients want from us agencies, what we strategists can provide and what creatives need from strategists?”…
A penny of my thoughts below:
I believe that the core of what makes planners great stays the same — such as having the ability to synthesise, the nature of curiosity and intuition while being able to articulate solutions in a clear, logical and persuasive manner.
Just as how planners should always keep up with trends and the times, we should be learning every day, more than ever before and at a much faster pace, equipping ourselves with the knowledge and capabilities, in order to inspire creatives and value add our clients in this data-driven world (For example, as simple as, having the ability to understand data from various pools and derive insights that fit in the bigger picture of things).
To be able to think big and small, at the same time.
Because if we can’t do that, how can clients and creatives rely on us to point them in the right direction?
However, this sounds like a unicorn, isn’t it?
Kinda. Which is probably the struggle many agencies/firms face today.
Sometimes, it’s more important to look within, than on the outside.
You have the talent, why not groom them?
My agency does have various training programmes, which are great. But I think the most important starting point begins in we strategists ourselves knowing how crucial it is to keep our skills relevant. We can ‘no longer’ always rely on our seniors to tell us exactly what to do. We are lucky if we have such seniors, but the world is rapidly evolving that seniors are learning at the same time too.
Hence, even at a junior or mid-level, how can we challenge briefs and provoke new ways of thinking? How can we do things differently?
We want to disrupt the outside world, but first, let’s disrupt from within.
As a hungry, eager (and rather I would say critical) millennial, this may be a good time to pause, give this a moment and think.
That perhaps everyone is facing similar challenges, and trying out new solutions.
And perhaps for once, there isn’t a sure-win or a quick solve.
That perhaps all we need is Time.
And I wonder, what would the next five years be?
