Strategy & Planning

Are ya’ll noticing a bunch of strategy director roles that seem to be open for more than a month or so? And reposted? I wonder what that’s about. Salaries too low? Not being able to find talent? Or ca… more

Are there any heritage-related campaigns that really stick with you? Open to anniversary campaigns or anything that taps into a brands past (as a means to push forward).

Guinness’s 250th “To Arthur” an… more

There’s a strategy role at Turner Duckworth and I’m wondering if anyone has heard anything about them and their strategy dept.

Has anyone ever worked for Interbrand? I’m curious how different it is from brand work at agencies. They talk a lot about commercial impact, is it very business/ numbers driven? Do you need to underst… more

Does anyone have a strong “how to use this strategy” slide they’ve used at the front of a company’s foundational brand strategy deck?

Specifically looking for something that helps teams apply the strategy cross-fu… more

Does anyone have any feedback or knowledge on Iqvia?

Anyone having luck getting freelance gigs from Toptal and Catalant or similar platforms? I applied to Toptal as a brand strategist and received a reply saying they were maxed out in my category. I won… more

I’m looking for some freelance strategists that would be available to meet during the day in either central or eastern time zones in the U.S. I’m creating a list of go-to folks for one-off projects o… more

Has anyone bothered to edit “Custom instructions” in the personalization section of their GPT account? Curious if there are any recurring rules you’ve set to increase good habits or just general flags… more

I'm an early career professional working as the first ever official strategist for a small agency. I seem to be suffering a case of "lack of work to do," and have been working on compili… more

I'm interviewing for a lateral role at a midsize agency. I've had several interviews with different members of the team and now they've scheduled an interview with the main client. I'v… more

How many years does it take to go from a Senior Strategist to an ASD usually? And what’s the YOE at that level?

Our agency has been forcing AI down our throats for a while now. I use it a ton and it’s starting to make my feel like it isn’t even my work anymore. Anyone else?
Don’t get me wrong - there’s a lot of … more

Those who’ve worked at both agencies and branding / design firms - are branding & design firms less toxic than ad agencies from a strategy perspective? Maybe I’ve worked at the wrong agencies but … more

How are Strats putting together portfolios these days? Any great success stories? I'm dreading it after being in my role for a long time... would rather do a slides deck than a website but is that… more

Kind of a specific Q but has anyone gone from agency side to in-house as a product marketing manager? I'm seeing a lot of these roles and am interested to make that leap but curious if anyone can … more

Where do you find freelance gigs?

Would love to get some input from you all. For competitive audits to look at spend, creative and capture share of voice within a category or comp set, what tools do you use and what hold co or agency do you work … more

Any examples of brands whose ATL work consistently feels very “of the internet” in an authentic and not forced way?

Maybe that means work that feels raw, unpolished, or UGC-fueled. Or something else entirely. Hon… more

Brand Attributes vs Behavior Principles

Has anyone developed brand attributes (or whatever you might call the traits most true to a brand) and then come up with a different layer of “brand behavior pri… more

I’m seeing a lot of creative strategy roles that require content creation experience. Wouldn’t that be the role of a creative director?

Anyone doing side gigs or advising? If so, how're you finding these opps?

Has anyone made the move from a creative agency to an in-house creative studio at a platform? Doing creative strategy for a TikTok or Snap or Amazon’s Brand Innovation Lab. What do folks think about t… more

Would you rather have Uncommon or Wieden on your resume?

Has anyone had the fortune of working with a client who was truly committed to building an enduring brand platform (a “long idea” some might call it) where the intent from day 1 is to create something that could last over a … more

Hey everyone! I help small businesses and personal brands grow organically on Instagram. I’ve grown a page from 0–6,500+ followers and come from a graphic design background. I create social media graphics… more

Have any strategists here made the switch to the creative side? I’ve been thinking about exploring copywriting. I enjoy strategy, but sometimes I wish the work felt more tangible and visible. Curious … more

Any success stories of getting out of ad agencies into another field? I have pharma/healthcare background and am open to an adjacent field.

Any thoughts?

Seriously, who watches YouTube shorts? I watch YouTube long form on my TV. Never once have scrolled through shorts. Am I missing something?

Anyone getting these recruiters that are recruiting for freelance jobs that are insanely low hour rates? Like $60-80/hr? Do they honestly think these rates are fair? Are they looking at the market? Th… more

Have you used a qual vendor/moderator in NYC that you’d recommend? Focus groups are about finance, but open to anyone generally amazing

Any strategy directors here have been affected by this weeks layoffs?

Hello S&P,

Trying to get up to speed on all things radio/audio for a potential campaign and creative route.

Does anyone know of any reports for radio effectiveness and any best practices?

Is there an awards site with cas… more

Kind of starting to freak out about the state of our industry & finding freelance. I’ve only had 2 days of work in 4 months when 3rd & 4th quarter are usually busy. Any words of encouragement … more