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Change jobs. It’s a matter of being at the right place at the right time for the right opportunity.
I started out as a writer doing what you were doing. I found that I had to do more than just write. Started joining strategy calls, even wrote a few briefs. Not only did it help my writing improve but it positioned me more as a leader, letting me work on brand and other big picture stuff. I ended up making the switch full time to strategy but just by getting out of my lane I got more opportunities. Find a leader on a team you want to be on and ask for a project or just to participate in a brainstorm to build relationships.
Raise your hand to help with extra work beyond your regular responsibilities. It’s a grind but that’s how I’ve always expanded into new roles and opportunities.
This is a recipe for burnout so be really mindful how this plays out when asking for extra work.
More important is connecting with the right people to be put you on the right work for the right experience. Be really intentional, your work time is precious and limited. Make sure it’s put toward the kind of work that will get you experience for what you WANT to do.
Often times asking “how can I help?” ends up being an open invitation to being abused and overworked to others’ advantage without any effort/interest on what’s advantageous to your goals.
From my POV as an ex-AD wanting to get into strategy, you need to just do it.
Move from campaign executional into more creative platform or strategic work. Look what teams are working on and proactively share ideas. Or ask to join new business / pitch work. Sometimes chats with Line Managers don’t materialise because if the current client/process is working then why rock the boat.
Perhaps see if you can pair up with your strategy team on projects that bring the creative flair earlier on across positioning, naming, architectures. But double down on business impact and effectiveness areas.
Good luck.
Feel this, same boat. Feel like I just need 1-2 more conceptual brand pieces at my current agency to hopefully leverage for a gig at a more conceptual agency. Hard though when 90% of the work at my current spot is churn and burn social. Any other recs beyond just connecting with strat folks at current place?
I did. Send me a message with your book, I’ll tell you what I can about how to get there. The biggest thing holding most people back is they aren’t willing to work on their portfolio outside of working hours.
Rising Star
I'm constantly begging for more concepting work.
Before I landed in advertising, I worked for many years as a writer for a PBMs internal communications. I worked on internal corporate communications as well as both B2B and B2C direct mail and marketing. Every project was different and I got to do so much out-of-the-box creative. So first ask yourself if you even like advertising. Maybe you belong somewhere else…