Planning for the Best: Catherine Mellon on Finding the Human Side of Strategy

Cat is currently Executive Strategy Director at CHEP, working with the agency’s national strategy leadership team. In her 12 years in advertising, Catherine has provided strategic leadership across some of Australia’s biggest brands including Woolies, Optus, Qantas, The Sydney Opera House, ING DIRECT, Minderoo and Commonwealth Bank. 

With a diverse skill set, Catherine is an integrated strategist, building brands from the ground up and working alongside senior stakeholders to place brand and innovation thinking at the heart of business. 

When taking a breather from her day in advertising, you'll find Cat swimming in the ocean and stealing Lego off her two children to build at night.

LBB> What do you think is the difference between a strategist and a planner? Is there one? 

Catherine> Ah, an ongoing debate! While I’ve heard the argument that the shift to ‘strategist’ was a title and money grab, I think strategist is far more reflective of the role we play across clients and agency.  

A strategist is required to diagnose a problem from often a barrage of complex information, to then create a shift in direction from here to over there. Whereas planning, I’d argue, is more about organising thoughts. You can have a strategy without a plan, but you can’t have a plan without a strategy. 

LBB> And which description do you think suits the way you work best?

Catherine> I think strategist, because I like getting upstream with clients and their business problems. It’s the only way you can create work that works and is impactful. Having a strategy to rally around makes sense of your plan and all its detail.

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?

Catherine> Oh, it’s tough to pick just one. I can’t overlook VW Lemon because are you even a strategist if you don’t mention it? I also really enjoy the Great Schlepp from Droga5 NY. Understanding the real problem – misconceptions about Obama among the older Jewish community - then convincing grandkids to convince their grandparents to vote Obama. It’s pretty cool. And the Democrats in Florida received the highest elderly Jewish vote in 30 years. 

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?

Catherine> People. Talking to people. Nearly always. It’s easy to forget our bread and butter. But hearing a different perspective, different language can spark a way to look sideways at a brief and gives creatives something real to hold onto – and people are far more interesting than marketing speak. 

LBB> What part of your job/the strategic process do you enjoy the most?

Catherine> I love finding opportunities in places you wouldn’t first think to look. That by poking around client’s brains, decks or in culture I can connect disparate pieces to create something interesting and ideally with great impact.

LBB> What strategic maxims, frameworks or principles do you find yourself going back to over and over again? Why are they so useful? 

Catherine> I always ask myself, ‘how would I explain this to a five-year-old?’ because it forces precision and brevity. The more work I do to be sharper and simpler, means the creatives are provided with more focus and freedom. Also, ‘start from a place assuming that people don’t care.’ A healthy dose of cynicism keeps you out of the weeds. 

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?

Catherine> I like creatives up for a chat and debate. I’m a firm believer that while we write a creative brief, the answer often appears from evolving discussion and interrogation. I like creative teams to lean on strategy throughout the whole process. A true partnership where they’re thinking about the business problems as much as I’m thinking about the unique work we can do to solve them. 

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?

Catherine> A process where strategy is upfront – working with account leads to understand client briefs and ambitions. Building open communication with creative so teams are turning to strategy early, so we can all be part of shaping the work. And space for proactive opportunities with a problem to solve from the get-go.

The reality is, sometimes there is an idea right for a brand that doesn’t come off a brief. Often percolated through brand osmosis or seeing a cultural opportunity. If it improves the brand or business, then great. If it’s a force fit, then it’s not worth trying to validate.

LBB> What have you found to be the most important consideration in recruiting and nurturing strategic talent? 

Catherine> For recruitment, I think finding talent who come from different backgrounds and points of view make strategy, and ultimately the work, stronger. The best planners I’ve worked with have zig zagged about the place, ex-lawyers, musicians, psychologists.  When it comes to nurturing talent, senior leaders need to be generous with their time. With less opportunities for formalised learning, incidental moments to teach foundational strategy become more important. And in the rush of the day to day, young strategists can be relegated to team researcher. 

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?

Catherine> I’ve noticed more discussion upfront about objective setting with clients and clients being more open to interrogating them. I think it’s fantastic for strategy, as we are having more conversations with other departments around business goals and measures for success. 

LBB> Do you have any frustrations with planning/strategy as a discipline?

Catherine> I still think there are moments when strategy is still ‘tagged into’ a brief, rather than being treated as someone who can add value long-term by having a full view of an account so we can better connect the dots. I also think the discovery phase is shrinking and more fight needs to be had to put tools and people in place so we don’t fall into planning-by-timelines instead of insight.

LBB> What advice would you give to anyone considering a career as a strategist/planner?

Catherine> We’re at a time when business and brand are more the same thing rather than not. It means, at our best, we can be pivotal to creating work that makes a real difference. What a job! I also don’t know of another job where I can be mentally stimulated while also being allowed to be my inappropriate self.