Helping planners make the move into strategy.
Planner to strategist is a series, aimed at closing the gap between the two disciplines, offering guidance, support and tips to those who are looking to make the move and cement their future. If you haven’t seen our first post, go and check it out here, as we cover off some of the most common questions that planners ask, when looking to make the move into strategy.
With AI taking centre stage this year, and the obvious fears of it’s impact, questions have continued to circulate across my feeds, by our candidates and clients, who are looking externally to understand how to navigate, implement and shape their own skills and experiences for the future.
This time I’m delighted in being able to bring real life advice, from some of the best in the industry and this is only Pt.1 – It’s been inspiring to see how many Strategists are keen to impart their knowledge, and go above and beyond to support this idea.
Over to the experts.
Lauren Raymond
Managing Partner, Strategy & Audiences at UM London
“Don’t think of being a strategist as a job title but as a way of approaching your work, and the communications problems that your clients come to you with. In the same way that everyone has the ability to think creatively, everyone has the ability to think strategically. Take every opportunity to tell a strategic story that you can. Whether that be internally, or to clients and media owners. Not only is this building strategic muscle memory, but it’s building your portfolio of strategic work, and strategic storylines to chat though on your CV or at interview.
Take those opportunities on the accounts that you work with strategists to learn their techniques. Take the opportunities on accounts that don’t have strategic support to practice it for yourself.”
Phillip Dyte
Group Global Strategy Director at EssenceMediacom
“My advice would be to work out how to build something only you can build. Figure out what you were doing better than other people in your old role, and develop a version of strategy based on that to create original value in your new role. In time, you should find that people increasingly turn to you for that viewpoint or way of working that has become irreplicably ‘your thing'”
Rosie Laurence
Chief Strategy Officer at The Collective Agency
“Someone once said to me that great strategy is obvious. Of course, it’s not immediately obvious, otherwise everyone could do it, and the client wouldn’t need it – so it’s all in the art of the storytelling. To create great (obvious) strategy you need to be able to synthesize a lot of information – not only the data points relevant to the client or brief, but also all the data that’s not immediately relevant – case studies, frameworks, tangential allegories, all in the aim of reaching that killer insight, upon which the story (and strategy) will hang. Then it’s a case of being able to weed out the unnecessary and be strict on what you include in the actual response – only that which supports the story/strategy should remain…the planning can include more data, to support the choices, but the strategy itself should be focused and concise.”
Tom Wild
Head of Strategy at Fuse
“Simplicity is key. Having a simple strategy doesn’t mean it isn’t intelligent – it means it knows what question you are answering and you can easily articulate it to all concerned. Refine the brief or problem into its simplest articulation and then make sure everything answers to that question, and you will never go far wrong. Strategy isn’t all about models and frameworks – it is about understanding the essence of the problem and setting the brand up to conquer it.
Make space for strategic thinking. Often find that people get excited by the creative or tactical execution, but it doesn’t mean much without a solid strategic foundation and a clear insight. Take the time to do the homework and build the strategic narrative, and everything will flow naturally from there. Also make time for strategic thinking – slow thinking is a real skill in strategic. It’s not always 100 miles an hour like in the implementation world, so you can use time to tease more of a brief in the strategy stage that will be useful later on.”
Hayati Alaluf
Senior Strategy Partner at Brainlabs
“For me, moving from media planning to strategy never felt like a leap — just a natural shift toward something I was already doing: asking why people behave the way they do, and how that drives business results. As a planner, I was already asking, Why does this audience act this way? Why does this message work better in one channel than another? Why isn’t this campaign shifting behaviour, even if the numbers look good?
Those were always questions about people, culture, and growth. Strategy just means applying that thinking earlier, shaping brand positioning, briefs, and comms for business growth, not just building media plans. It’s about zooming out from the “how” to the “what” and “why.” And in an age where AI can automate the “how,” it’s the human “why” that makes the real difference. That’s why I think strategy matters now more than ever.”
I’m always looking to speak with new planners and strategists, and if you’d like to impart a paragraph or two, in helping guide future strategists, please do get in touch with me via Alex@ultimateasset.com
Or if you’re thinking about a move in planning or strategy and want to seek some career advice or hear about the current opportunities in market, you can also reach out to me via the email address above.
