Planning for the Best: Getting Out of Your Comfort Zone with Natalia Inzulza

Natalia has a 15-year career in the industry and a track record that includes academic experience, a Master's in Strategic Communication from the Adolfo Ibáñez University and a Master's in Creative Writing from the University of Salamanca. Also having worked with local, regional, and global brands such as Bci, Chevrolet, Coca-Cola, Heineken, L'Oréal, Mastercard, Nestlé, Pfizer, Preunic, Puma, P&G, Ripley, Santa Rita and Sky Airlines, among others, in addition to participate as a jury in Effie Latam.

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

Natalia> I really like what happens when you work in an integrated way, not only with the planning team, but all of us who are going to participate in a creative process; as relevant and meaningful ideas always come from that kind of work, a collaborative one.

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.

Natalia> Fearless Girl in 2017. For me it is a campaign that appeared at a time when it was very important to make female empowerment visible, it was very timely. This piece helped to install the issue of gender diversity in the workplace and invite companies to recruit women for their management positions. I think it was a milestone and it will forever remain part of popular culture.

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?

Natalia> Once again, the perspective of all those who participate in the process is very important.

Knowing how to read what everyone can contribute from their knowledge and their research is an added value to the process.

We are used to having appropriate and available data for each campaign, but without the perspective that each person on the team can provide, it would not be such valuable data.

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

Natalia> When the magic of a finding appears and it is turned into a territory, and that territory gives life to a creative idea.

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

Natalia> For me, the most important thing is to ask the initial questions for everything, what do we have to do, what is the goal, what is the objective? The challenge is to answer them in human language, not in the client's language. This exercise allows you to solve the client's challenges in the clearest possible way.

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?

Natalia> With everyone, I like to generate good ties with the creative teams, I try to be close to them in the agency. What I like the most is the instance where we can talk about the findings, I like that they take the data as an input for their creativity and not just as a factor that helps to unblock an idea.

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?

Natalia> We must all feel part of a whole system. The process of integration of roles, thoughts, and ideas is essential for it to be understood to work as a whole and not in parts.

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

Natalia> I think that in this area, the important thing is to understand how people approach or understand the work of the planner. It is also important to understand what discipline is, that is not always typical of a publicist, but rather typical of the person who likes to see the world from another perspective, and that perspective is what we should encourage.

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?

Natalia> I love that this is happening, I think it is very important to understand that creativity and strategy always go hand in hand, one complements the other, and together they make effective campaigns that really have an impact on people's lives.

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

Natalia> I think it has to do with how we can make discipline become a communication advisor which helps companies/clients, not only in advertising, but throughout the production chain. The strategy does not live only in the communication part, it can be a contribution from the beginning of a product, in business problems, internal communication, etc.

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

Natalia> If you like the world of research, ideas, creativity, and the human being. Go ahead!

You must knock on doors, get out of your comfort zone, ask questions, explore, feed curiosity, the desire to learn, and have fun.