“Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
Over my last 10+ years as a Marketer, including stints in start-ups, academia, and agencies, I’ve been lucky enough to get experience working across the consumer journey from brand to demand. While each stop of my career provided an opportunity to learn a diverse set of skills, each also had its own set of frustrations and challenges.
Managing digital marketing teams in tech startups was great for learning how to be agile and cost-efficient but there was hardly enough time and resources put towards long-term planning and understanding the behaviours of our customers.
Completing an MBA at HEC Paris gave me a great understanding of where marketing fits across the different corporate functions and how to integrate it more effectively, but none of the projects we worked on allowed much room for creativity and innovation.
Working as a Strategist in a creative agency allowed me to learn how to use modern research methods to find behavourial insights and build sophisticated brand and communication strategies, but working with Fortune 500 brands meant that much of what I worked on was siloed and it took months to years of work and approvals to get to market.
My strategic approach is informed by both the learnings and frustrations from these experiences. I believe the role of Strategy should be to provide a North Star for marketing activities and lead to implementable next steps. Leveraging trends in technology and culture, my approach to strategy involves collaborating with clients to create clear and dynamic brand and communication plans for more effective marketing.
Core Strategic Principles
My ABCs of Strategy are informed by an extensive background working with enterprise and emerging brands across three continents.
Actionable and Adaptable Implementation
The pandemic showed us that change is the only constant. As complexity increases from an overload of technological and cultural influences, brands need to be able to adapt quickly to ensure they are keeping up with the changing needs and wants of their audience. I believe strategies should be firm and clear in their vision and values but dynamic in implementation and execution.
Behaviours and Business Driven
As a strategist, I believe my role is twofold. One is to focus the work on changing audience behaviours. Two is to ensure that the work leads to an abundance of returns for clients. I believe prioritizing both behaviours and business when crafting bespoke strategies for brands leads to the most effective marketing.
Curiosity and Collaboration Informed
The best and most creative ideas come from drawing insights from diverse sources and tapping into the collective knowledge of everyone around you. This means casting a wide net when researching insights and speaking with a diverse set of stakeholders throughout the strategic process while collaborating closely with clients, creative talent, and account management teams.