Planning for the Best: Carolina Bruzzone on the Importance of Strategic Storytelling
Carolina Bruzzone is an advertising professional with over 20 years of experience in marketing and communications. She started her advertising career at Del Campo Saatchi & Saatchi and over the years she has helped agencies become the most efficient in Latin America. In 2021, she was awarded ‘Best Strategy Professional in an Advertising Agency’ by Editorial Dossier and recognised as one of the Leading Women in Argentina by Adlatina and AdAge.
Today she is CSO at Slap Global, a business accelerator through creativity that was born in the middle of a pandemic, which was awarded Agency of the Year at the Latam Effies 2021. We caught up with her on all things strategy.
LBB> What do you think is the difference between a strategist and a planner? Is there one?
Caro> I think both are parts of the same job. The correct way to talk about it would be a strategic planner, but it’s kind of long, so you either say strategist or planner. And I guess you use one or the other depending on what you enjoy most: whether you are a thinker and you like strategising about the best way to win (strategist), or you are a doer and prefer to work on the plan that makes it happen (planner).
LBB> And which description do you think suits the way you work best?
Caro> I call myself a strategist. I like to make people think. I feel the job is done when someone says ‘I never thought about that!’ or ‘I have never thought about it that way’.
Thoughts are powerful.
LBB> We’re used to hearing about the best creative advertising campaigns, but what’s your favourite historic campaign from a strategic perspective? One that you feel demonstrates great strategy?
Caro> I am going to talk about some of our work at Slap. We became Agency of the Year at the Latam Effies in 2021, our first year of existence, and I am a fan of what we do. This story is about one of our founding clients, Tigo.
Tigo is the number three telco company in Colombia, after Claro and Movistar. But in 2021, Tigo significantly increased its investment in technology (eight times over). Improving its service and winning awards that positioned it as number one in 4G availability, video experience (games and voice), and speed. Because of that they were named ‘the best mobile company in Colombia’ by independent entities such as: Open Signal, Tutela and Ookla.
Strategically, we knew that if Tigo told people they were the best mobile network in Colombia, people would not believe the news. We also knew people trust their phones almost more than anyone else. They trust them with their calendar, weather reports, traffic directions, dating, even medical diagnoses…
So instead of being another brand speaking highly of itself, we thought: who better than your own phone to tell you who the best mobile company in Colombia is?
We invited people to ask their phones which was the best mobile network in Colombia through Google's voice assistant. We carefully planned the seeding of the story with a strong SEO strategy to make sure it stays current and ranks first in Google.
As a result, the question ‘What is the best mobile network in Colombia?’ became one of the top search questions in Colombia according to the 2021 Google Research report. Tigo grew 0.5% market share in the first month after airing the campaign.
LBB> When you’re turning a business brief into something that can inform an inspiring creative campaign, do you find the most useful resource to draw on?
Caro> I have crafted my own framework, and perfected it throughout the many years of my career. The good thing about it is that it clearly frames the problem investigation, but it is flexible enough to let the strategic thinking be creative as well.
So, depending on the project, the framework adapts to what we need: a purpose, a territory, an insight, a tension-resolution model, even a new product or service.
Everything is welcomed, if it is a disruptive or smart way of looking at the business.
LBB> What part of your job/the strategic process do you enjoy the most?
Caro> I find people fascinating. I honestly enjoy getting to know people. Studying and analysing the targets is one of the things I enjoy the most, through reports, focus groups, interviews, anything. Finding that human truth that will lead the work is my favourite part.
Then of course, trying to find unexpected connections between all the data.
And finally, I do enjoy presenting my strategies too, storytelling is an art-form and strategists have to be good at it.
LBB> What strategic maxims, frameworks or principles do you find yourself going back to over and over again? Why are they so useful?
Caro> I do have a set of tools and frameworks that never fail: archetypes, brand key, and the golden circle are great classics. I also work hard on discovering new things, new authors, things from other industries that might help.
I think that in order to create disruptive advertising, the way we work on strategies should be disruptive too. For instance, months ago I worked on a new positioning for a beer brand in Bolivia. Bolivia is a country I don’t know personally, so I dove into as much information I could grab about it. About the people, how they live and what they dream of. One of the tools I used to understand it was Bolivia’s astrological chart. Only when I discovered the mixture of a Leo sun, a Taurus moon and a Scorpio rising did I realise how complex and beautiful the country, its people and its history was.
LBB> 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?
Caro> Fortunately, I have found throughout my career that I’ve had a chance to work with creatives that embody the trifecta between talent, generosity and humility. They are talented team-players who have appeased their egos. I find creatives are very inspiring people and I hope my work inspires them too. What I wish for when I work with creatives is that they challenge me to always improve my thinking and let me challenge them to improve theirs.
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?
Caro> This is a complex question to answer and I’ll try my best to be simple.
Strategic thinking is the first step in a creative task, there is no doubt about it. However, strategic thinking is not exclusive to strategists. Sometimes, when the team brings ideas that understand the target, the cultural moment, the brand and the product, we need to be smart enough to embrace the idea and solidify it. The problem comes when there is no time for strategists to think and they seem to be just running behind the ideas, the retro-planning. And that is very frustrating.
LBB> What have you found to be the most important consideration in recruiting and nurturing strategic talent?
Caro> Diversity. As I said before, there is a lot of observation + point of view in strategy, and those points of view come directly from the person doing the strategy. Who they are, where they come from, where they studied, etc. So, the more diversity in a team, the richer and more interesting the work will be. We always strive to create a safe work space where being your authentic self and sharing your thoughts is valued.
LBB> In recent years it seems like effectiveness awards have grown in prestige and agencies have paid more attention to them. How do you think this has impacted on how strategists work and the way they are perceived?
Caro> Absolutely. Effectiveness is to strategy what impact is to ideas. We are living in a world that is worried about resources, and every dollar invested has to have a positive outcome. That is why effectiveness has put strategists in the spotlight. Naturally, we think creatively, but we also take care to think about all the considerations: sales impact, brand impact, the impact on consumer’s lives and contribution to society as a whole.
LBB> Do you have any frustrations with planning/strategy as a discipline?
Caro> I wish there were more strategists in the agencies. The ratio between strategists and creatives or account people is not balanced. I once heard about a model where the creative team were three people: a copywriter, an art director and a strategic planner, and I think that is the most beautiful team, and wish it comes true someday.
LBB> What advice would you give to anyone considering a career as a strategist/planner?
Caro> Stay curious, never stop learning, and read a lot, it’ll make you great storytellers.
