Does your ‘strategy’ have a strategy?
Back in my home office, I’m a member of the strategy “department.” I put the word “department” in quotes because it seems that every agency decides to set up their group of strategists in different ways, including how they’re designed (read: hired) and how they’re organized (read: where they sit). Every department is different.
At Havas WW in Chicago, we use strategists much like mercenary soldiers. Most of our strategists have multidisciplinary skill sets because they’re asked to work on integrated campaigns. They sit embedded in their daily account teams, right next to the creatives, account execs, and project managers they’re going to fight the good fight with everyday. They’re usually the only strategist on a team. It’s the structure I’ve grown accustomed to.
Here in Sydney, they treat the strategy discipline a bit differently. All of the strategists sit together in one corner of the office. Instead of acting as lone wolves on projects, they routinely partner up on projects — strategy by committee. Driven by the notion that 2+ heads are greater than one, they routinely rely on their collective brain to solve problems, not just the savvy of one.
Without having to divide their resource allocation by account, the strategy department in Sydney is free to specialize along another dimension — strategic discipline. In just the small handful of strategists in the office this week, we’ve got:
Shannon, the data guy. He’s a Worldwide-Media hybrid who’s an expert on APIs, measurement, and reporting. This week, he taught the whole department how to use the dashboarding service Datorama.
Shea, the platforms guy. His first week here, he was asked to figure out how the hell we’re going to make Snapchat work for one of our biggest clients. He’s already planning on buying his next wearable, when he’s not busy wining-and-dining with Google to get the latest on their platforms.
Harj, the product gal. When it comes to figuring out the best app for the job, she’s the one you call. She designed the UX strategy for an entire fitness app for the Sydney office’s biggest clients, and she knows why no one is clicking on your microsite.
Ed, the research guy. This guy lives and breaths attitudes and behaviors, warming interviewees up over the phone, recorder in hand, as he quizzes you about your life. He’s cracking the code on why our targets do what we do, so the rest of our teams know what to make for them. In our one week together, he’s got four interviews and piles of qual. to comb through.
If nothing else, they’re helping me figure out what kind of strategist I want to be, making me take stock of what I want to bring to the table as well what the role of “specialization” could be in the way we treat strategy in Chicago.
