EU creatives, keen to hear your take on this.
Alex Morris is a Strat in USA and ran a survey for Creatives on Strategists.
I assume most / all responses will be from USA - but there is a general negative view on strategy in agencies in the US.
I am keen to hear what EU Creatives POV is on the strategy and if your experience is similar?
Part 1 Survey Results:
https://pitch.com/public/9e5eebf1-0b14-4ae5-9ec3-2da307662a42/c8b4a634-744c-468d-b4a8-a1793f43bb72
Continued below👇
I have lots of love for good strategy.
But I also have lots of hate for bad one.
Good strategy is a rarity though, so the sentiment is usually negative.
We also see agencies like VML and other holding-co networks that don’t even to try to hide their intent of becoming consultancies and sacrificing the very core of our industry —creativity — in their fight against the Deloittes of the business world, a fight doomed to lose.
BUT.
I’ve worked on the client side a lot. And I realize how vital strategy is in an ad agency. So we need it. We want it. But only good and not too much of it.
A good strat is worth its weight in gold. It’s the blueprints from which you can build a good idea. And it’s a fire that you can hold a clients feet to.
That said, my main issue with strat is that it’s too often used to sell a client on, without first stress testing if it yields strong creative. You can then get held to a proposition that promises the world but doesn’t lead to interesting work. Strat needs to flex and adapt, same as creative has to.
All that said again, in my experience strat wins pitches. And that’s invaluable to any agency.
I’ve said strat a lot.
Strat.
Thanks for the love 🫶 I do agree though there are loads of bad strategists.
Survey Feedback/Results Include:
Role of strategy
How to have impact
What’s needed from strategy
Frustrating habits
What’s to keep in mind with creative
Purpose of a brief
Critical info required
Anonymous Tip from Creatives
Defining a quality brief
Things that get overlooked
How to give feedback
What’s not helpful
What’s helpful
AOB
He’s running the survey again with additional prompts if you are keen.
https://creativeonstrategy.com/