Breaking Down Time-Honoured Strategic Frameworks Ahead of The Jay Chiat Awards
Great creative is nothing without a rigid, forward-thinking strategy to inform it. The Jay Chiat Awards, which are organised by The 4A’s, recognise and honour exactly that: the most exceptional strategic thinking within our industry.
Mark your calendars – the 2023 Jay Chiat Awards is scheduled for Monday, October 2nd in New York City, wherein the winners across the show’s 11 categories will be revealed, along with Grand Prix and Agency of the Year awards. The ceremony also marks the beginning of StratFest, an all-day conference taking place on October 3rd, dedicated to the art of strategy.
With all of this in mind, LBB’s Addison Capper chatted to a select crop of Jay Chiat Awards head jurors about the strategic frameworks they often come back to, advice they’d give their younger selves about their future specialism, and the greatest strategic campaigns of all time.
On the strategic maxims, frameworks or principles they find themselves going back to over and over again:
Charles McKittrick – Head juror, Sustainability Strategy
Chief Strategy Officer & partner, Mother
“What’s the wrong way to do this?” It’s a question we frequently ask ourselves at Mother. I learned it from Paul Malmstrom, our creative founder in the US. These days, we’ve all got pretty much the same data, tools, research, techniques - and they are all fantastic. But if you want to see something someone else doesn’t, or to squeeze out 7% more insight, you’ve got to start using them wrong. You never get off the beaten path if you always think you’ve got to be on the beaten path.
Charles McKittrick, Mother
Tim Maleeny - Head juror, National Strategy
President & Chief Strategy Officer, Havas
Always begin with the brand DNA; the reason the company was founded in the first place. Frameworks will get you to the consumer, culture and category, but too many brands lose the plot in their own narrative. Our job is to externalise the soul of the company. After you tell that story, everything else is easy.
Jon Cunningham – Jury chair, Public Relations Strategy
EVP, head of strategic planning, New York, Weber Shandwick
It’s hard to beat JWT’s OG planning cycle from the '60s: 'Where are we?', 'Why are we there?', 'Where could we be?', 'How could we get there?', 'Are we getting there?', 'Where are we?'... and so on. It’s timeless. Methods, tools, and data have all changed immeasurably since it was developed, but for any strategic planning assignment it’s still as good a guiding framework as any.
For communicating a strategy, I’m a 2x2 matrix super user. Strategy should not be simplistic - we live in a very complex world, after all - but it should be simple. A 2x2 is an incredibly versatile way to frame, visualise, and communicate thinking clearly. You can represent a huge amount of data, deep analysis, or powerful ideas between those two lines. Need to reframe a problem? Come up with illuminating and thought-provoking vectors on a 2x2. Competitive or opportunity analysis? 2x2. Plot current and desired future states? 2x2. You get the idea.
Jon Cunningham, Weber Shandwick
Melissa Hochman - Head juror, Experiential Strategy
Group director, experience strategy, DDB Corporate
KISS - 'keep it simple, smart'. If you can’t explain what a brief is in two sentences, it’s not a good brief. And keeping it simple, smart doesn’t mean resting on a laurel or allowing for tropes… it means digging deep for the novelty and then making that novelty simply understood. What makes it into the brief should be unique, contextually interesting, and have discovery-value. If there isn’t something in there that is surprising, true, and timely, then you've got to dig deeper.
Lara O’Shea - Head juror, Product/Service Creation Strategy
Chief Strategy Officer, Hudson Rouge
A maxim I live by is Sun Tzu’s ‘Preparation is the precursor to success’. Similarly, Einstein said, “If I had an hour to solve a problem, I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.” When we take the time and think rigorously and systematically about a question, solutions usually come fast. So often though, we feel pressure to put pen to paper, to get to the deck, to write the brief - but without a depth of understanding, we can miss the obvious. A useful tool here is McKinsey’s MECE (Mutually Exclusive Collectively Exhaustive) framework, which segments information and inputs to ensure we’re looking at a problem holistically.
Lara O'Shea, Hudson Rouge
On their favourite historic campaigns from a strategic perspective:
Jon Cunningham – Jury chair, Public Relations Strategy
EVP, head of strategic planning, New York, Weber Shandwick
I was fortunate to work on the Guinness PR account at the beginning of my career in the UK, in the late '90s. It was the time of AMV BBDO’s ‘Surfer’, in the pantheon of the greatest ads ever made. Behind the cinematic TV spots was a strategy that turned a product problem - the time it took to pour a pint, let it settle, and then add the head - into a benefit. ‘Good things come to those who wait’ not only informed brilliant creativity, it changed perceptions and behaviour. It reinforced product quality. If the bartender wasn’t taking ages to pour your drink, you weren’t getting the best pint. I could debate whether it truly takes 119.5 seconds, but the arbitrariness is, of course, what made it memorable. Most importantly, the campaign sold more Guinness. To reference an earlier Guinness campaign, it was pure genius.
Guinness - Surfer
Charles McKittrick – Head juror, Sustainability Strategy
Chief Strategy Officer & partner, Mother
Imported from Detroit! Great strategy and great advertising! My partner in crime at Mother, Joe Staples, made it, so I got the back-story. It is one of my favourite twists - take the thing that’s the problem and make it your strength. The perception of being not-European was killing Chrysler, and specifically the Chrysler 200, at the time. So, why not take Detroit, the perception of Detroit, and the fact that it was clawing its way back up from the same economic decline that had engulfed the whole country, and use that feeling of grit, determination and hard work to get America to reconsider a massive corporation and its products. Genius! And PS, it worked.
Kate Rush Sheehy - Head juror, Regional Strategy
SVP, strategy + insights, GSD&M
The best campaigns are equal parts killer insight and unmatched creative, right? Now, as a native Texan, I am biased, but for me it’s the 'Don’t Mess with Texas' campaign. Long before it became the rallying cry for the state of Texas, and before it was printed on millions of shirts, bumper stickers, and belt buckles, the iconic phrase ‘Don’t Mess with Texas’ was an anti-littering campaign. Littering was a huge problem along state highways in the late ‘80s, so the Texas Department of Transportation wanted to run a campaign asking the primary culprits (men aged 16 to 34) to keep the state beautiful. But anti-littering campaigns had come and gone to little effect. The insight was simple… For an easily ignorable topic like littering, carrots work better than sticks. The strategy? Asking people to not litter is ignorable. But tapping into Texas pride? It’s the one thing that might actually spur change. It resonated deeply with people, and that insight around pride is probably the biggest key to its success. And sure, folks like Willie Nelson and Matthew McConaughey as the voice probably didn’t hurt.
Kate Rush Sheehy, GSD&M
Lara O’Shea - Head juror, Product/Service Creation Strategy
Chief Strategy Officer, Hudson Rouge
My favourite creative campaign is also one with an incredible strategic perspective: Guinness’s ‘Good things come to those who wait’. This was based on an insight around the 119.5-second-long pour for the perfect Guinness pint. It turned a potential point of frustration (both for the consumer and the person pouring the pint) into a product strength and moment of pride - of building anticipation. As a true brand tension, it created an insightful and inspiring creative jumping off point, one that helped develop such iconic ads as ‘Swimblack’ and ‘Surfer’.
Michael McNamara - Head juror, Healthcare Strategy
Managing director, McKinney
'The greatest strategy ever' was created by the ad agency for Schooner Tuna in 1983. I may be biased because I was eight years old when I saw it, and also, because it never existed in real life, but this was the campaign that ended the Michael Keaton/Teri Garr movie ‘Mr. Mom’. I won't recap the movie, but the strategy was not to try and sell tuna, but to empathise with the audience, which were moms who were dealing with a very bad economy and needed a company's sympathy - not its gimmicks. It opened my eyes at a young age to understanding that you are never selling a product, but a brand that people want to associate with. And also, it's a pretty funny movie.
Michael McNamara, McKinney
On the advice they would have given their younger selves about the world of strategy:
Tim Maleeny - Head juror, National Strategy
President & Chief strategy officer, Havas
Read as much as you can, travel when you can afford it, and stay curious. Strategy is a mix of pattern recognition, empathy, and common sense, so don't worry about having all the answers, just keep asking questions.
Melissa Hochman - Head juror, Experiential Strategy
Group director, experience strategy, DDB Corporate
Everything is research, and how you spend your time impacts the kind of strategist you will be. Strategists must live in culture. Every museum trip, show you choose to watch, TikTok video you scroll, game you play, concert you go to… it can all be relevant for the next brief or idea.
Melissa Hochman, DDB Corporate
Nick Childs - Head juror, CX Strategy
Co-Founder, DIRT
You need to be interested to be interesting. Ask unexpected questions and dig deep to find connections that will surprise and resonate with audiences. And when you think you’ve hit on something remarkable, push even harder. Don’t stop until time runs out.
Kate Rush Sheehy - Head juror, Regional Strategy
SVP, strategy + insights, GSD&M
When I was younger, I was intimidated by creatives — scared of what they thought of my briefs — rather than seeing myself as an extension of their team and they, mine. Strategy is a creative discipline. Great insight unlocks even greater campaigns, and great creatives can spot a great insight during the strategic process. As soon as I realised they were my partners and not my internal 'clients', my briefs got better, and the work did too.
Kumar Kanagasabapathy - Head juror, Connection Strategy
Global Chief Strategy Officer, Rufus
Seek diversity in strategic experiences. With numerous specialisations, strategists can be found in a variety of environments. Whether it's working at a creative agency, at a media agency, on the partner side (eg., Spotify), at a social agency, or going client-side, the list is endless. During your first 6-8 years, strive to work in as many distinct environments as possible; this is what will mould you into a well-rounded strategist.
Look for exceptional mentors! Unfortunately, most agencies don't invest in formal training to groom the next generation of strategists. When seeking new opportunities, make sure to find outstanding mentors. A great mentor can open new doors and is often more crucial than the reputation of the agency or client.
Stay humble. Humility fosters an openness to learning. The role of a strategist is a continuous journey of learning. There will always be new approaches to tackle a brief or address client challenges. Avoid becoming complacent and accustomed to few methods of problem-solving.
Kumar Kanagasabapathy, Rufus
Jon Cunningham – Jury chair, Public Relations Strategy
EVP, head of strategic planning, New York, Weber Shandwick
Strategy is a team sport. Many times, I made the mistake of thinking it was my sole responsibility to take a mountain of research, retreat into a hermit’s cave, put myself under huge personal pressure, and not emerge until I alone had compressed it into a perfectly cut and polished strategic diamond that would dazzle everyone. That’s rarely how it turned out. I see it in others too. Sometimes they’ve come from agencies that don’t value strategists, or from understaffed teams, or from siloed organisations with hand-off cultures between strategy and creative teams.
Strategy shouldn’t be written by committee, but it is a collaborative, iterative, creative process that benefits from diverse perspectives. It’s daunting enough for the rest of an agency team to be waiting for your thinking, ideas, and direction, which means putting yourself out there in rooms full of creative directors, senior agency leaders, and clients. Talk to your account people. Talk to your creative teams. Talk to other strategists. Don’t make it harder on yourself than it already is.
On the Jay Chiat Awards and their importance for marketers, strategists and agencies:
Charles McKittrick – Head juror, Sustainability Strategy
Chief Strategy Officer & partner, Mother
I’m going to use a controversial word: 'Taste'. I think the Jay Chiat Awards are important to build a collective sense of what is good. To elevate our common standards. I contend that taste is learned, and it is learned through exposure, conversation, experience and a shared consideration of the craft. I think that is what is so important about the Jay Chiats.
Tim Maleeny - Head juror, National Strategy
President & Chief Strategy Officer, Havas
Events like the Jay Chiat Awards are a reminder that a great idea is a simple idea. No matter how hard things may seem, a big but simple idea can turn the telescope around, so you see the problem from an entirely new perspective. That's why the awards are named for a man who helped turn an industry on its head.
Tim Maleeny, Havas
Lara O’Shea - Head juror, Product/Service Creation Strategy
Chief Strategy Officer, Hudson Rouge
The Jay Chiat Awards recognise and reward the craft of strategic thinking – the breakthrough and rigorous approaches that are the foundation of exceptional work. These awards challenge us to articulate how and why strong strategy leads to successful outcomes - the results that clients engage us for. As an industry, we need to stay attuned to what great looks like, to celebrate success, and to learn from it – to help us collectively continually improve.
Nick Childs - Head juror, CX Strategy
Co-Founder, DIRT
All great, even good, work springs from understanding why you’re creating it. Craft begins with intent, and strategy can be the beacon out in the dark, guiding us through challenging terrain as we make our way toward something new and, hopefully, remarkable. Especially now, as the ability to generate output becomes faster and cheaper, and executions turn more obvious and forgettable, it’s critical that we highlight the people and thinking that are guided by unique, uncompromising purpose. The Jay Chiat Awards recognise that bright vision and sharp clarity are more necessary than ever to steer our most brilliant ideas.
Nick Childs, DIRT
Michael McNamara - Head juror, Healthcare Strategy
Managing director, McKinney
Creative gets all the awards and glory. But none of them get there without a smart strategy. If the old (and outdated and sexist) expression is ‘Behind every great man there is a great woman’, there should be one in advertising that ‘Behind every great creative, there is a brilliant strategist'.
