Have you ever had to take a role that was 50% account work and 50% strategy? I have hesitations as I’d like to spend all of my time focused on brand planning instead of dealing with clients. Thoughts?

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I’ll be the lone wolf here - I have done this before (with the support of a project coordinator to help with strict admin) and found it incredibly useful over the long term. Understanding process, client needs, resourcing, etc I think ultimately made me a much stronger strategist. I did not do 50-50 however, more like 75-25 (strat vs account management). I also appreciated how it expanded my skill set - I am interviewing now for in-house roles and it has made me a lot more attractive because you understand budget, resourcing, project management etc.

likehelpfulfunny

Thank you! Same to you!

I’m a strategist who transitioned to account management. My first phase of transition was a hybrid role: 50/50. It was very difficult to balance both roles as it was the only hybrid role in the agency. The team still expected my turnaround times as a FT strategist while maintaining account responsibilities as the priority. Now, I’m FT account but heavily involved with strategic oversight and will jump in to do strategy work if the team is overwhelmed so we stay on timeline. I very much enjoy it because it keeps my strategy instincts sharp. My background in strategy makes me a better account manager and my clients see me as their go-to expert because I can speak about their business like a strategist. Other account people at my agency often get requests from their clients to loop “so and so” in and see that account person more as an admin. Meanwhile, my clients come to me and never go over me. I also keep the strategy team as involved/informed they need to be without weighing them down with pointless meetings. I’m pretty happy with where I’m at.

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Tell me more- sounds like the idea environment

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yikes, run

likesmart

Couldn’t agree more

I did. Earlier in my career but I did it. It’s a myth to say it’s 50/50. Account work is naturally more demanding in terms of when it has to get done, so strategy eventually becomes an extracurricular. Especially the higher up you are. It does come with a ton of valuable experience, but I reached a point where growing in either direction felt impossible, my heart was simply in strategy, and it’s hard to play both roles and do so successfully. So, if you have an option right now, I’d say don’t do it, unless you’re really aware of what it will demand and feel like it will truly benefit your long term career plans.

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Wholeheartedly agree with this. I am in a 70, 30 role. I was upfront about what I would and wouldn't do.
There are days I struggle because I'm stuck in AM brain when I need to be thinking strategy.

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Very often in brand consultancies the strategist is the account handler

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I did this for a few years as I transitioned from account to strategy. The tricky thing is balancing the left and right brain thinking. As a planner I want space to think, to work things out but it’s very hard to get it when you’re always on as an account person and need to respond quickly. The shift can be jarring. It’s definitely doable and will make you better at understanding the business as a whole. If you head that way I recommend blocking out chunks of time for strategy specific work rather than trying to do both all day. You’ll get burn out quickly that way.

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I’ve just come from a job like that and I found myself frequently frustrated at not having time to do either. It’s a different part of the brain - maker vs manager and it was difficult to have boundaries to protect the need for space to think.

Of course there has to be some crossover from a relationship perspective but I found it soul destroying working out timelines and sitting in finance meetings (small agency) when I knew I could be far more valuable having time to focus on the strat. I ended up leaving as I never really signed up for the 50/50 split and it was too difficult to reposition myself as strat-only once the owners had seen that I could do client services work too.

I think it depends on what you want. For me that was the strat work.

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Run, it’s a trap.

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I did this for about 2 years (50/50) but I was trying to transition full time into strat. Circumstances are obviously different. But learning how to balance those sides of the business was invaluable, it helped me find my voice as a strategist knowing what clients and account side folks need at every step of a project. It’ll be hard AF (pls pace yourself though) but you’ll come out of the other side more well rounded I think. Happy to chat more.

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Thank you!

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It's becoming more and more common.
Everyone must do everything

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I did this for 15 months and like some have mentioned, found it very useful in the long run.

That being said, were short staff in both accounts and strategy, so the level of work was absolutely crazy. A truly awful experience.

It was hard to move off the account after because the clients had their tentacles in deep at that point.

If it’s for a short duration of time and is properly staffed, I’d do it. You’ll be better for it in the long run.

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I never trust a planner who was an account man for longer than 5 years... it affects their objectivity and way of thinking

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Seems like exactly the kind of “tar everyone with the same brush” thinking that is a problem in society today.

I interviewed at a place once for a role that was a combo of account/PM/ and strategy. I only found that out after I had my SECOND in-person interview because the hiring manager/HR kept it a secret until the last minute. I was looking for a strategy or at least mostly strategy role at the time so I withdrew from consideration. However, they did disclose the salary which would have been lower than average for a mid level strategist let alone 3 roles in one. It felt like they were trying to take advantage like “let’s hire a mid level to do all that stuff but only pay them less than what they’d make for doing one! They’ll be happy for the privilege!”. Anyway, the agency also presented a ton of other red flags so I guess it’s for the best! That being said, it’s so incredibly valuable to have done experience with account/pm work in addition to your actual role (like managing a budget, putting together a project plan etc) It expands your skill set while helping you understand your fellow teammates.

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100%. On the surface enjoyed the client-facing time to build relationships and found that I was able to sell-through more, stronger, strategy work. BUT also total burnout. Like 24/7 job demands. So watch out for that.

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I understand running the other way if you despise account work and have a feeling you never will like it.

However, if it’s something you think you can get better at it will expand your choices and increase your power and salary if you are more well rounded.

I know I come from a different era but I became a Creative Director early on because I mastered creative and dealing with clients.

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Depends on what you want out of your career? If they see this role as a stepping stone, makes sense. Account people should know some strategy but struggle selling

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If you ever want to start your own shop then knowing clients, knowing how to sell to clients, and knowing how to manage clients are all completely critical (in that order), and something you are in danger of being shielded from if you only ever do strategy work. Something to consider.

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I did it and I was unhappy in the role. I wanted to do strategy and not mess with as much of the account stuff. It’s never evenly weighted

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