Planning for the Best: Jamey Hardesty on Why Strategy Is a Team Sport

Jamey Hardesty is an experienced healthcare strategist and client relationship manager with over 10 years of experience across multiple categories, including rare and ultra-rare diseases, hematology / oncology, and cell and gene therapy. He currently leads strategy at Jack Health, a specialty healthcare practice at Jack Morton.

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

Jamey> In practice, it gets messy. In scale, scope, and intent – absolutely. Through the agency lens, strategists primarily focus on the short and near-term objectives and KPIs related to specific briefs to drive campaign execution. They do a lot of the jumping between programs, teeing up the details and pulling them through, focusing more on specific audience/campaigns/outcomes.

I see strategic planners as those who sit atop the brand as the 'guides' aligning and setting the long-term business and marketing vision and objectives alongside the clients. It requires digging in more at the business level. 

That said, the line is blurred more now than ever. It’s nearly impossible to activate and move an audience without deeply understanding a client’s business first – and that requires strategists to be comfortable with data, research, and getting into what makes a business tick – not just people.

The best strategists and strategic planners are the ones that can bridge both.

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

Jamey> As a healthcare strategist, I’m not sure where I fit…I live to help clients translate business problems into customer solutions through great storytelling and experiences.

Sometimes, that means I’m wearing my creative strategist hat, and others; I get to lean in on my analytical/scientific side to turn a problem inside out, looking for that new perspective on a familiar challenge. It can be challenging within timelines and budgets.

Still, anytime we get the chance to build a better relationship with our clients and their businesses, it will pay dividends in our strategy and creative work.

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 excellent strategy?

Jamey> I should select a healthcare campaign, but with so many vital issues in the world, I’m drawn to work that transcends the immediate focus of a single campaign, addressing broader, impactful themes that resonate on a deeper, more human level.

The campaign that jumps out to me as being very good when it came out, but it could be re-released today and be EVEN BETTER is Chipotle’s ‘Back to the Start’ campaign.

The centrepiece was a two-minute stop-motion animated feature telling the story of a farmer and his family going from sustainable, free-range farming to the perceived benefits of commercial farming and seeing its impact on his family, land, and animals. Then, he decided he didn’t like those results and that he was going back to the way it should be – sustainable farming. All while Willie Nelson sang Coldplay’s 'The Scientist'.

It was beautifully done.

It carried a simple and understandable message. And if you purchased the song on iTunes, they donated 60 cents to sustainable farming through the Chipotle Cultivate Foundation. It was incredibly aspirational work for a brand that truly lives its values in every aspect of its business. This message resonates even more today as sustainability initiatives have become more critical.

If I’m Chipotle, I might think about dusting this one off for another ride! 

LBB> What do you find the most useful resource to draw on when turning a business brief into something that can inform an inspiring creative campaign?

Jamey> Working in healthcare, nothing compares to the insights gained from primary research and the first-hand experiences of patients, caregivers, and providers.

However, in recent years, the ability to tap into large, robust datasets has transformed how we understand the human behaviours driving the consumption of health and wellness products and services.

Tools like YouGov custom surveys and the latest generative AI innovations, such as ChatGPT, Waldo, and Gemini have revolutionised real-time learning and extended the reach of social listening. As an IPG DXTRA Health agency, we also benefit from IPG Health resources which scale our data and media capabilities.

Our in-house CORE research and insights team further enhances our ability to quickly tailor intelligence for new business and organic client opportunities.

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

Jamey> I enjoy unpacking a new challenge that looks like a spider web. When looking at a giant vertically integrated health services business or pharmacy services technology and provider solutions network, it's easy to throw your hands up and say, "Nope". But amid those challenges, innovation is happening.

It needs people who can take the complicated and turn it into something relatable, understandable, and maybe even funny—emotive—something with a personality. 

LBB> What strategic maxims, frameworks, or principles do you find yourself going back to repeatedly? Why are they so valuable? 

Jamey> I’m big on human behaviour. I love that marketing can do more than get people to buy something. It can get someone to take a different action or think differently. As someone working in healthcare, the real KPIs I care about go beyond a campaign and get at outcomes. How can our actions – directly or indirectly – put people on a path to better health?

Chip and Dan Heath wrote a great book – 'The Power of Moments'. In it, they lay out a framework I often go back to that shows the power we each have to create moments of elevation, pride, insight, and connection – whether in our work or personal lives. It’s a great read for anyone looking for what it takes to create the environment, connect, and change behaviour. It’s one of the reasons I truly believe in the power of experiential marketing to move hearts, minds, and behaviours. 

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?

Jamey> I often beat the drum that strategy is a team sport, but there’s good creative, and then there’s Cannes Lions creative. And Cannes-level work requires chemistry. The kind you build by working closely with someone over a long time. It’s the ultimate partnership. And I think there’s often this belief you can plug and play parts, and it works, but that’s how you get good enough work.

Creativity is the lifeblood of an agency, and I still believe that our work is in service of making sure we put out the most extraordinary creative campaign and experience we can.

Now, a ton of strategic and tactical work has to happen around that to maximise that campaign, but if your creative is weak, no one will pay attention, even if you have the world’s best strategy. 

LBB> What have you found to be the most crucial consideration in recruiting and nurturing strategic talent? And how has COVID-19 changed the way you think about this?

Jamey> Strategy can be full of highs and lows, and you must be ready for the ride. More than a decade ago, I was fortunate enough to have other great strategists and mentors around me who nurtured my career. The agency environment was very different than now. The commitment to learning and development and work-life balance are considerably better.

So, while many workplace dynamics are better, if you asked most strategists about the most challenging part of their role, they’d probably tell you it’s the isolated nature of their work and the lack of time to do it. Add in the rise of the LinkedIn strategy influencers, and there are no more spaces where there aren’t voices making you feel like you don’t know anything anymore.

It’s no wonder most strategists fall into one of two buckets: walking-talking personified imposter syndrome or the see no evil, hear no evil, fear no evil kind. Neither of those is exactly right.

And I think that’s because we don’t always do a great job at giving people the space to think and ideate together…isolated thought can lead to some wild spirals – as all strategists know!

So, my advice is this: when managing a team of strategists, make your number one priority ensuring they know they’re on the same team and that it’s okay to be vulnerable and admit you don’t have all the answers. No one knows it all. Strategy is – and should be – a team sport: less ego, more support.

And trust me; you can still be all the outlaw and renegade and magician archetype you want to be while having an open door and sharing a bit of your secret sauce. 

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

Jamey> Please do it. And do it the way you believe it should be done. We’re at a moment where so much is changing in our industry – for the better.

Agencies have always been where you come if you want a creative playground to explore big ideas and play provocateur. And while it’s not always pretty, it’s much like everything. If we walk away from something because we don’t like what it looks like, then we’ve given up on what made us fall in love with it.

Agencies are still incredible places to do amazing work as long as young, talented, and curious people still want to come, be disruptive, and challenge how things are done. After all, advertising agencies have always been places of rebellion.

We made rampant creativity and innovation possible by purposely doing what was different. That spirit still exists for those who seek it. And there’s no function more willing to jump into the deep end and play provocateur than strategy.

So, come on by…all are welcome.