Lingua Franca: “Being a Strategist Is to Be a Bridge”
For more than 50 years – since strategy became a creative discipline in the ad industry – strategists have revolutionised the way brands communicate and connect with their audience. When agencies talk ‘creative-ese’ and marketers talk ‘growth’, strategists serve as translators, bridge builders and connectors of dots helping both sides arrive at a lingua franca.
The critical role of strategists as catalysts will be the focus at 4A’s StratFest 2024 on October 1st. StratFest will be preceded by the Jay Chiat Awards on September 30th, a celebration of strategic excellence across 12 categories including three new categories introduced this year – Emerging Trend - AI, B2B, and Gaming.
Leading up to these separate yet closely related events, we asked some of the JCA head jurors to weigh in on the evolving role of strategists and why it’s important to celebrate bold, innovative and effective strategy.
Rounding out the series today is Rachel Pool, head juror, nonprofit strategy for the Jay Chiat Awards and head of strategy at Ogilvy New York.
Save your spot for the 2024 Jay Chiat Awards and StratFest to network with fellow strategists, gain fresh insights from industry leaders and explore all things strategy.
LBB> Why do you believe strategists are so adept at the lingua franca between creativity and commerce?
Rachel> Being a strategist is to be a bridge. A bridge that can and does translate things from one world to another. While advertising may be filled with Mad [People], strategists are so often the Middle [People] in that equation. And I truly mean that in the best possible way. The best strategists speak multiple ‘languages’ - business, creative, intercultural, social, comms etc - and constantly find ways to translate between the native speakers. And the best strategists also understand that when it comes to creativity and commerce, each feeds the other. More often than not, more creative is more effective, and more effective is more creative.
LBB> How has this element of a strategist’s role evolved in recent years?
Rachel> It has and it hasn’t. Strategists have always been responsible for modelling the intended impact of the work, and proving out that it did (or didn’t!) work as a result. So, bridging creativity and commerce isn’t exactly new and the fundamentals remain the same. It was an informed opinion on how to win in business with creativity, and it still is.
LBB> Why is this element of their role evermore important in 2024?
Rachel> The current climate does make this incredibly important to understand the timeless fundamentals and timely moves in the market. Economic and political uncertainty, as well as the overwhelming shift to performance and product create even more emphasis on true ROI - interrogating how it should be defined.
The role of the strategist in 2024 is not simply about bridging creativity and commerce - it’s about being the linchpin for success in a complex and ever-changing market. This will happen more if we are given more access, more transparency, more eyes and ears, and more than 24 hours to answer a brief. I know, I know, wishful thinking on the last one. Our ability to guide creative expression towards tangible business outcomes is what will separate brands that thrive from those that merely survive.
LBB> With this in mind, what sort of creatives do you like to work with? As a strategist, what do you want them to do with the information you give them?
Rachel> The real question isn’t what creatives I like to work with, and more what sort of creatives like to work with me! Ideally, that’s all sorts. When creatives see strategy and strategists as a tool to unlock better work and better outcomes is when truly fantastic work can arise. That is respect that is earned not gifted, of course, but it’s ideally a symbiotic relationship that has both clear responsibilities and ‘lanes’, with a healthy amount of blurry overlap.
And again, it’s less about what I want them to do with information and more about what they want to do with it. That information should be a) interesting and b) right. I.e. a) information that sparks creativity and innovation, and b) information that leads to solutions that are right for the business, the brand, the audience, the category and the world at large.
LBB> There’s a negative stereotype about strategy being used to validate creative ideas, rather than as a resource to inform them and make sure they’re effective. How do you make sure the agency gets this the right way round?
Rachel> It’s true! Controversial opinion, but there are some instances where I think that’s OK. A true strategy should of course inform the work and model out the effectiveness being chased. However, I think strategists need to be somewhat-comfortably less precious when confronted by an idea that answers the defined problem and has a plausible chain of effects that can form a model of why it will be effective. Sometimes the chicken can come before the egg.
That said, we ensure that strategists have a seat at the table or on the Teams call throughout the process, and so do creatives, creators, producers, account people, etc. A brief should be a point of collaboration, there should be constant open dialogue and a space of psychological safety for everyone to have a say, regardless of what your email signature might say.
Lastly, results and effectiveness should be everyone’s business. So strategists should socialise results with teams and get integrated teams in-the-know of what their work actually did, outside of the walls of the agency, and outside of the often-echo chamber of our industry.
LBB> Beyond growth, what are marketers looking for from their agencies?
Rachel> People who are in it with them! People who are prepared to succeed together, challenge ourselves and each other, ride the highs and share tissues in the lows. People who understand them, their jobs, their responsibilities and their ambitions.
LBB> The Jay Chiat Awards are among the rare recognitions for the strategic thought behind projects. How significant is this celebration of strategy and strategists as the builders of a lingua franca?
Rachel> Incredibly significant. Awards like the Jay Chiat Awards are our currency as strategists and the building blocks to building legacies for individuals, teams, agencies, brands and the work which will inevitably outlive us all.
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This feature is part of a series in which we speak to 2024 Jay Chiat Awards jurors. Check out others from the series here.
Save your spot for the 2024 Jay Chiat Awards and StratFest to network with fellow strategists, gain fresh insights from industry leaders and explore all things strategy.
