Carat Conversations… with Clay Schouest, Global Head of Planning
Clay Schouest was recently appointed as Global Head of Planning at Carat after a six-year stint at our APAC and Shanghai offices in key Strategy roles.
We caught up with him to find out more about his career to date, life in Asia and what it takes to be a strategist.
So Clay, give us a snapshot of your career to date.
I left University in Chicago and joined a global creative agency in NYC in 1996. After a short stint there I decided it wasn’t for me and went back to school to do an MA in Cultural Anthropology. I wanted to be a professor! But the media industry beckoned and I went back to a creative agency in New York again in a role that was a hybrid of insight, creative and media thinking. I was then given the opportunity to go to Istanbul just when the market was opening up, and spent the next five years there focusing mainly on media, returning to the UK in 2006.
I joined Aegis in 2010, and spent some time in the UK team in an EMEA planning role before going to China for two years as Head of Strategy & Innovation for Carat and then Singapore as Chief Strategy Officer before returning back to the UK — and here we are today.
You’ve spent a lot of your career in Asia, what will you miss most?
Personally, I’ll really miss the environment; from the weather to the flora and fauna — you’re in a melting pot of culture, influences and tastes where you can jump on a plane and be in a total different culture in less than an hour. I’ll really miss living in that gateway to the Asian world.
Professionally, I’ll miss the dynamism of those markets — they’re constantly evolving at a rapid pace and not all in the same direction. If you don’t embrace it, it can be completely overwhelming but once you do it’s brilliant.
What’s it like building and activating a global strategy across Asia?
There are so many nuances in Asia; the pace of change in different markets, technological development and consumer attitudes requires a fundamental understanding of the marketplace and a strategy that can overarch multiple markets. Consumer understanding is really critical in Asia.
China is a fascinating micro-economy in itself, especially with the BAT (Baidu, Alibaba & Tencent) triopoly. Although it’s difficult to follow the consumer journey through their walled gardens, it doesn’t factor into a high-level strategy. However, when it comes down to the planning it becomes more interesting as you have to work out how you activate against these three platforms.
We may also have a potential new market opening up after the news today (Trump — King Jong-un truce) which is really exciting and not like anything in the other regions. We may finally have the chance to tap into and understand what it’s really like to be a future consumer in North Korea.
What is your mantra when building a strategy?
Simplify, simplify, simplify — and then some more. One of the greatest strategists of our time is Hegarty. His ability to simplify is astounding. Outside of our industry it would be Hemingway — again, his ability to distill something down to its simplest form is amazing.
Trends are changing all the time; how do you stay on the front foot?
I always look outside of the industry for ideas and consciously avoid our industry’s literature; it can be self-serving and can create a cloud of conformist thinking.
I have a real interest in architecture and art. They’re being disrupted by Technology in the same way that our industry is, so it’s really interesting to watch and see how people in those fields are adapting and taking ideas from there.
What is the biggest misconception about working in strategy?
That only strategists are strategic thinkers.
What does your perfect working day look like?
Getting into work and receiving some great feedback from a client, followed by a few hours with one of our pitch teams cracking some ideas together in a collaborative workspace — I really love working with people. To top it off, it would be a phone call to find out we’ve won a new client that we’ve spent a lot of time working on. That for me would be perfection!
What are you looking forward to most in the next six months?
Finding out in detail what’s been going on outside of Asia for the last six years! I’ve been involved in a lot of global pitches so maintained a good understanding of the US and UK, but things have changed so much since I’ve been in Asia, and it will be great to find out how markets in Africa, Europe and LatAm have developed and learn new things from them.
What keeps you busy outside of the office?
I’m a keen marathon runner, and looking forward to getting back into it. When I was based in the UK, I ran marathons as an excuse to travel; it’s a great way to discover a city. I’ve done London a couple times, Berlin, Florence, Rotterdam, Paris and Shanghai.
London was my favourite. Not only was it my first, but you can’t beat the experience. One of the things I missed about London was the sense of humanity and comradery here. As indifferent as we seem to be about each other, you can see it exists during events like that.
Why do you love working at Carat?
I joined Carat eight years ago, and I remember feeling like the place was a breath of fresh air. I still have that same feeling now. There’s a real entrepreneurial spirit; some people come here and say it’s chaotic but it’s this environment that attract those special people who have an innate maverick streak that you cannot train or buy.
What does Redefining Media mean to you?
I’ve always been a big advocate of the Redefining Media mantra. It’s timeless and it’s active. It’s the ability to do new things for brands and consumers; bringing them together with Tech, Media & Creative to pioneer something new and exciting.
