Helping planners make the move into strategy.
Welcome to part 2 of Planner to Strategist. Our first post focused on answering some core but simple questions we get asked very often. If you’re yet to read it, I would recommend taking a read, as there are some useful tips to get you thinking about the expectations and realities of strategic roles. You can read it here.
This part is going to be largely focused on helping you build a plan, ideally over the course of 4 weeks, but it’s mouldable to suit your own diary. Included within that, there will be some resources that will help you on your way, strategy minds that are well worth setting post alerts for on LinkedIn, as well as some simple guidance if you’re struggling on where to start with your planner to strategist journey.
Each week you’ll have different prompts, either watching something, reading something or in some cases posting something, all with the aim of setting you on a path way to becoming a media strategist.
Week 1: Understand the strategist mindset
Watch or Listen: Sweathead’s episodes with Mark Pollard on the Strategist’s role, more information here.
Read: “Strategy is your words” again by Mark Pollard.
Task: Write down what strategy means to you in 3 bullet points.
Follow: Julian Cole, Tom Roach & Rob Estreitnho on LinkedIn for daily bursts of strategic thinking and content.
Week 2: Dive into tools & frameworks
Subscribe: To Julian Cole’s, Strategy Finishing School. Start with the free resources here.
Read: APG case studies (focus on media strategy)
Watch: Google skillshop planning modules (or YouTube alternatives)
Task: Practice writing a comms brief using one of the toolkit templates.
Week 3: Apply strategic thinking
Listen: On Strategy Showcase podcast (choose an episode with a media campaign)
Read: Tom Roach’s “The wrong and the short of it”
Task: Choose a campaign you admire. Break down the strategic choices behind it and attempt to answer the following questions. What was the insight? What was the audience? What was the role of media?
Week 4: Test and share your thinking
Create: A mini strategic plan for a hypothetical brand or a brand you know well.
Join: APG webinars or WARC free trial to test your knowledge (you may already have a subscription via your agency).
Post: A short strategy breakdown on LinkedIn and ask for feedback.
Task: Reach out to a strategist at your current agency, or an industry mentor to share your plan and ask for probing questions around your thinking.
I certainly don’t proclaim to be a strategist, but this felt like a good plan for someone looking to test their appetite for making that career defining move into strategy. All this information has been build up over a period of time, and it may be incorrect or it may just be in the wrong order, but the podcasts, the books and the resources have all been recommended to me personally by strategists to help planners (if it’s all wrong, you can blame them).
I’ll soon be sharing a long list of resources, that include some of the best, yet controversial strategic minds across our industry. If you’re interested in learning more about strategy roles in the media industry, or have further questions, get in touch with me on the email below.
Blog post created by Alex Swain, Managing Director at Ultimate Asset
