Planning for the Best: Why Strategy Is a Playground and Humble Pie Is the Snack with Fabio Medeiros

Fabio works as a the head of strategy for VMLY&R MENA where he leads a team of planners across brand development, communication planning, social strategy, commerce solutions, shopper marketing and consumer data gathering.

The strategy team strives to embed culturally relevant insights and behaviour into every piece of work the agency is responsible for, ensuring the promise to create connected brands that people love is always delivered.

Fabio has over 20 years of experience in advertising and marketing. Having worked worked across multiple geographies and categories. Including 16 years of experience between MENA and SEA spent developing brand and portfolio strategies for multinational and regional companies, from FMCG, to Tech, Destination, Motor Oil, Auto, Restricted Categories and Real Estate.

Before joining VMLY&R Fabio worked with Ogilvy, Geometry and Leo Burnett, as well as playing a significant role within the Uber regional marketing strategy team based in Dubai.

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

Fabio>  I don’t believe there’s a difference between the terms anymore. Historically, we all started off as planners, being more connected to how a campaign would be deployed. Eventually, our experiences (egos?) grew stronger, and we became ‘strategists’. All humour apart, today, regardless of the title one carries, the output of anyone doing strategy is to provide solutions that solve problems or capitalise on opportunities. Sure, some of us are specialists in different areas, but even then, it’s all about solutions.

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

Fabio> I’d say I’m a strategist who focuses on making it easier for creatives to leap from brief to solution. I’ll always leave the creative leap to them. I believe that a good strategy is as easy as 1+1=2, and we, strategy people, should go as far as a potential territory, allowing creatives to do what they do best.

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?

Fabio> This is actually a very hard question to answer. And not only because there are plenty of campaigns to mention. Campaigns could be measured or remembered in a variety of ways. From sales, to awards to a simple connection between brand + work + consumer. Some of my favourite campaigns are embedded in behaviour, as I’m a sucker for how cultural relevance should never be left on the side-lines. All that being said, I would mention the following: 

#1. Coca-Cola’s "Coke is it" succeeded regardless of the controversies, becoming the symbol and embodiment of a generation that lived and experienced the brand like never before.

#2. Bud Light’s "Real Men of Genius" tapped into culture and in-your-face humour, going above and beyond merely selling beer, becoming of the most successful, awarded and iconic campaigns of all time.

#3. 'HSBC’s the "World’s Local Bank" turned a complex operational barrier into an easy positioning that made it possible for the brand to resonate pretty much everywhere.

#4 Nike’s 'Just do it' went from an aspirational call to action campaign to an attitude understood and pursued by all.

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?

Fabio> In short…a conversation.

There’s no reason to over-intellectualise a problem, a brief or a solution. Strategists should keep an open mind on briefing sessions, as a good creative will listen and very likely turn your strategy into an even better one.

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

Fabio> The truth nobody admits to…we love to be right and to be heard (and that’s why strategy folks should, without a doubt, attend empathy and listening training – and that’s not a joke). However, being more pragmatic with my answer, the best parts of the strategic process are getting to a diagnosis around the problem or opportunity, the creative brief meeting and lastly, having younger/less senior strategists contributing to the work with a mix of ingenuity, bravery and fear.

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

Fabio> There are three pillars I never leave behind and keep finding ways to use: Diagnosis – Value Prop – Reasons to Feel.

Diagnosing is precious and one should never rush this stage. It’s simple really. The wrong diagnose will lead to wrong solutions. So, spending time and questioning yourself, the data and basically the world at this stage is key. 

Value Props have somewhat been forgotten, but they not only help strategy people to frame solutions in a client-friendly way, but they also make it ridiculously easy for creatives to see the goal post.

Reasons to Feel seem lame and a strategy jargon…but I swear by it. It’s not your usual how we want consumers to feel when they see a campaign, but rather the deeper emotional drive that will strike humans to the core.

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?

Fabio> I appreciate creatives who are more interested in challenging than in saying yes. I’m not saying I love difficult creatives, not at all. But I do value a creative that says ‘no’, but follows that with a thought or a solution. They are brilliant in their own way, and having them bring their values and views to the table is priceless. When conversations like that happen, creatives will easily leap into awesome ideas and solutions.

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?

Fabio> This is a matter of culture and trust. It takes time to build and requires equal amounts of process, structure and discipline. By everyone. From account management, to strategy, to creative. It’s a relationship that needs work. Eventually, there will be trust. And throughout the process, be thorough, work hard, get involved, contribute and listen. Be humble, yet never allow anyone to walk over you. Show value.

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

Fabio> Listening and eating humble pie. 

I remember a quote from David Ogilvy: “If each of us hires people who are smaller than we are, we shall become a company of dwarfs. But if each of us hires people who are bigger than we are, we shall become a company of giants.”

To this day I still take that as a north star. I want to learn from my team, and I want to hire people who can come and take over my role soon. Smart, good-hearted, curious people are rare, so, spend time looking for them and then invest every minute looking up to them.

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?

Fabio> It couldn’t have impacted us, our agencies and the business more positively.

Looking at effectiveness shouldn’t be optional. We exist to deliver against our clients’ KPIs. It’s as simple as that. The rise of ‘creative that works’ is, however, not restricted to the likes of the EFFIE, as notorious festivals of creativity have introduced categories centered around effectiveness. There’s a clear shift in the relationship between agencies and ‘clients’, as measurable results and impact monopolise conversations.

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

Fabio> Yes and no. It’s an evolving discipline and for those who can’t stand boredom as a way of life, it’s probably the best job out there. We’re paid to think, to challenge and to learn. Feels like a playground, and that’s as close to perfection as it gets career-wise. All that being said, it can be a very lonely job with tremendous amount of pressure and responsibility to be carried…sometimes unnecessary…and that takes a tow on aspirations, focus and even one’s health.

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

Fabio> Be open-minded. Be curious. Listen.

But most of all, don’t be lazy and be prepared to work hard (until you learn to work smart).

Don’t be afraid to speak up, to challenge and bring a different point of view to the conversation. Be critical of yourself and of everything around you – of everyone. Just ensure you do it with respect and empathy.