FIRESIDE CHAT #7: THE ART OF STRATEGY

As Sun Tsu once said, “Tactics without strategy is the noise without the defeat.” In the context of advertising, the same is true. Strategy is essential to creating work that truly connects with consumers. That breaks through their defenses. And that ultimately… wins them over.

It’s this that we talked about in our most recent Fireside Chat featuring some of the best planners in the business. Our panel this time featured Ed Tsue, CSO at Publicis Samsung, Lexie Pérez, Global Planning Director at Disney, Katie Dreke, CSO at DRKE, Bryan Smith, Executive Strategy Officer at 72 & Sunny, Suzanne Powers, Global President & CSO at McCann Worldgroup, and Dagny Scott, Founder at Fearless Unlimited.

The discussion kicked off with personal mottos, quickly imparting bite-sized chunks of wisdom such as being sure to always use human words over jargon and to focus on human truths. From there, we talked about identifying ways for account and strategy leaders to partner with clients, consumers, and agency creatives to ensure the most effective and impactful marketing. As well as topics including how to break into the strategy side of marketing, various approaches to research, developing stimuli, seeking inspiration from culture and how to build the most inspiring briefs.

One of the favorite topics came from a question about if the panel had any books they would recommend for anyone interested in honing their strategy and account planning skills. The answers covered many genres, from learning how to tell an engaging story from sci-fi books to titles like Story by Robert Mckee, Pattern Recognition by William Gibson, Naked Economics by Charles Whelandsdl and Truth, Lies & Advertising by Jon Steel. These titles will help you gain a complete, well-rounded understanding of all the pressures a great strategy person juggles every single day, from finding the right angle to telling a compelling story and even its positioning within the larger economic and business landscape.

For the most impact, be sure to check out the full video below:



Huge thanks to our presenting sponsors, One Club Denver, Fortnight Collective, Cactus, 11 Dollar Bill, and Denver Ad School.

Stay tuned for info on our next Fireside Chat. In the meantime, if you want to donate, volunteer, or become a member of the One Club For Creativity Denver, stop by denver.oneclub.org. ‘Til next time!