Planning for the Best: Why Rory Gallery Seeks Insight from Historical Campaigns

Heading the strategy department at Special Group, Rory Gallery was promoted to chief strategy officer last year and leads a growing team of planning directors and strategists. His recent work for Tourism New Zealand saw Special Group win its first Global Effie for its Good Morning World campaign. 

Originally from Ireland, Rory has garnered international experience with agencies in Dublin, Sydney and London. Rory has worked on successful campaigns for Air New Zealand, Guinness and Tourism New Zealand, which have won awards at Cannes Lions, D&AD and One Show.

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

Rory> In theory, I view one as just being a synonym for the other.  

In practice, I believe that seeing ourselves as ‘strategists’ rather than ‘planners’ means we are more likely to be focused on bigger picture brand strategy versus campaign planning, which clients see real value in.

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

Rory> All my team strongly believe in long-term brand strategy rather than one-off campaigns, so we refer to ourselves as strategists. 

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?

Rory> I love reading about historical campaigns. There’s so much we can learn from how others have done things. That’s why it is always worth reading the latest APG Creative Strategy Papers, IPA Effectiveness Papers, listening to the On Strategy Podcast and spending a good bit of time trawling https://deckofbrilliance.com/, which is one of the best free resources on the web.

To answer specifically, Sainbury’s Try Something New Today stemmed from the brilliant insight that customers were sleep shopping and stuck in a rut with the things they buy and cook. The solution was a brilliant example of a gentle behavioural push that encouraged shoppers to experiment a bit more with what they eat (which in turn got them to spend a little more on their shopping).  One of the best cases in creative strategy and effectiveness history. I am sure I won’t be the only strategist who gives this as their answer.

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?

Rory> For example, when presenting our strategy to the board of Contact Energy, we used a photo of my washing basket (predominantly fuelled by my new-born son) to illustrate the plight of parents of new-borns in terms of their energy wastage. 

This was to help them understand the importance of the creative initiative we were presenting, called the Fourth Trimester - an idea that supports families in the Fourth Trimester (just after a baby is born) with three months of free energy. 

To demonstrate the welcoming nature of New Zealanders in a creative briefing, I told the story of how I was welcomed when I first moved to New Zealand (the creatives would go on to come up with Good Morning World for Tourism New Zealand).

GOOD MORNING WORLD - Case Study from SPECIAL GROUP on Vimeo.

I was sent a care package from Special prior to my arrival from the West Coast of Ireland (I moved my entire life to New Zealand). It had all the things an Irish person might need…beer, sun cream and a Lonely Planet. 

It was an extremely welcoming gesture in a time when I was moving my whole life to the other side of the world.

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

Rory> When you have spent months (and sometimes years) creating, nurturing, and protecting creative ideas, and then they finally make it to market. The strategic process doesn’t stop until the campaign has achieved its objectives in-market. 

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

Rory> If you can’t explain your strategy on a page, you probably don’t have a strategy. It’s useful because it forces you to be reductive in your thinking, which ultimately helps to create one of the most important conditions needed for great creative work.

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?

Rory> I am extremely fortunate to work with a creative department and creative leaders (Tony, Lisa, Jono and Stu) who have the right level of respect for strategy. 

They have an amazing ability to be inspired and utilise strategy to get to great work but also respectfully push back when they don’t think it is going to work.

Not everything that makes sense strategically will always make a positive difference to the creative work. Our creative leaders have nailed the art of when to say yes and when to say no.

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?

Rory> I believe our job is to inform, inspire, nurture, protect, validate, and ensure that creative ideas are effective.

But there is also no shame in helping to validate an idea. A great strategist I worked with once said, “It’s not always a planner’s job to come up with the strategy, it is to make sure there is one."

A good example of this is when Tony, our CEO/CCO came up with the strategy for Kiwibank. His hypothesis was that New Zealanders associated Kiwibank with old school perceptions of New Zealand-ness (known as Kiwiana). It felt right and in turn we heard this through our research.

Our approach to changing that was not an advertising campaign, but a total reframe of Kiwibank’s business to reflect a more modern and progressive NZ to promote a more modern and progressive Kiwibank.

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

Rory> Their eagerness to constantly learn and do great strategic thinking and creative work.

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?

Rory> Recently, we were ranked #1 World’s Most Effective Independent Agency by Effie. I have no doubt that the work that we present to our clients has more credibility because we have a proven track record of effectiveness. I also believe it gives us the confidence to back our ambitious ideas as they are proven to work.

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

Rory> We sometimes lack brevity.

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

Rory> I am from a farming/rural background, and I feel like my own personal life experience has shaped who I am as a strategist. I would lean into who you are, where you have come from in life and your personal experiences and use that to shape your strategic style.