Planning for the Best: Robin Lau Loves Breaking the Rules to Solve Problems
Robin Lau, a global digital strategist with dentsu Solutions APAC / dentsu Content Business Design Centre Japan is a specialist when it comes to the business of pop culture and entertainment. Based in Singapore, he works with businesses of all segments and sizes to think differently about the way they transform and innovate, bringing an element of entertainment into their brand and ultimately connecting with their customers through shared passions.
LBB> What do you think is the difference between a strategist and a planner? Is there one?
Robin> Traditionally, ‘strategist’ is more of an umbrella term, whereas ‘planner’ is a strategist who is more focused on the execution and delivery side of the equation, that’s why we have specialities like ‘campaign planner’ and ‘media planner’. However, you also have strategist, who typically focuses on the front end of strategic work, such as creative strategy or knowledge work.
I’ve always maintained the belief that for a strategist to maximise the potential of their role and what they could create, they need to be well versed in every aspect of knowledge and action. And with the evolution of the agency space becoming more fragmented, and brands building in-house agencies, strategists need to be more T-shaped and versatile than ever before, possibly thinking beyond the scope of marketing.
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?
Robin> No one campaign per se, as success can be measured in so many different ways, under different circumstances. Also, it wouldn’t be right for me to single out work from any one brand or agency.
However, one area to really look at for really good campaigns and marketing activities are local small businesses on social media. This is where the new generation of business owners (younger millennials and Gen Z), who really understand their niche audience and are full of drive, passion and creativity, but with limited budget, are getting it right and are setting the tone for the future of the marketing landscape.
LBB> When you’re turning a business brief into something that can inform an inspiring creative campaign, where do you find the most useful resource to draw on?
Robin> I think it’s easy to list very tangible things like research data and analytics, delivery and tech capabilities, those things make a strategist’s job easier, but the true value of a strategist’s work comes from the team, from the client-facing teams who provide business perspective and boundaries, to the creatives who bring the ideas and solutions to life – and the non-tangible things that bring them all together like expertise, attitude and unity.
LBB> Which part of your job/the strategic process do you enjoy the most?
Robin> Breaking the rules to solve problems.
The first part of this is to have the mindset that the job of a strategist is to essentially find ways to solve specific business needs and problems. As opposed to associating the role with specific tasks like market research and campaign planning. And the second is to expand your thinking beyond what is thought, best practice and conventional. Quite often a lot of limitations are ones that we create and impose on ourselves, and when we make our own rules, we can also break them.
LBB> What strategic maxims, frameworks or principles do you find yourself going back to over and over again? Why are they so useful?
Robin> I’ve always seen things like models and frameworks as strategic tools, and like all tools, it’s not just about having the right tool for the right job, but also how one uses the tool. In my experience the most fundamental ones, which may seem simple and basic to some, are the truly tried and tested which really come to life and provide value when applied with the right skill and intention.
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?
Robin> As mentioned above, it really comes down to your relationship with the wider team. Issues like the one above are symptomatic of a very siloed culture. Which is why it is important for strategists to be involved in multiple parts of the working process, rather than handing off decks from one department to another. And like all relationships, it takes two hands to clap, I’ve seen really good collaboration in practice, where creatives also are open to actively include strategists as part of their process.
LBB> What have you found to be the most important consideration in recruiting and nurturing strategic talent? And how has Covid changed the way you think about this?
Robin> It essentially comes down to three things, which I believe are essential to a strategist role – and will take them long into their career:
1. The openness to be T-shaped and versatile
2. The attitude to be collaborative along every part of the working process
3. A thirst for knowledge beyond your area of expertise, but also a drive to share that knowledge
Everything else can be thought or learned along the way. I believe that these principles have largely been un-affected by Covid, but if anything, have just become more important to emphasise, particularly for remote teams.
LBB> Do you have any frustrations with planning/strategy as a discipline?
Robin> No issues with the discipline per se, largely because it has always been a somewhat shapeless one which could diverge into many different paths depending on the organisation. However, I would point out that there are many environments that do not foster the growth of the strategist or prioritise it as an integral part of their work process, which is not wrong, just something to consider.
LBB> What advice would you give to anyone considering a career as a strategist/planner?
Robin> For a strategist just starting out, aside from everything mentioned above, just two things:
1 Practice the skill of forming a point of view. This means finding out everything you need to form a point of view that is well informed and addresses the problem at hand, market research, taking to people, exploring adjacent industries, etc
2 Building the communication skills you need to present the point of view, depending on your organisation, this could be presentation slides, data visualisations, storytelling, etc.
