Strategists worldwide are looking for opportunities to demonstrate their value, as budget cuts and the evolution of AI disrupt the discipline, global authority WARC has found in its The Future of Strategy report.
Based on a global survey of 1,148 strategists there are three top challenges facing agency strategists today.
1. Lack of ‘whole’ strategy thinking
Specialists roles are important but the ‘splintering’ of strategy can be problematic, especially if teams are not connected to clients’ broader brand and business goals.
2. Strategy is undervalued
Only one in four strategists (24%) agree that clients pay sufficiently for the value of their work
Great strategy can have a profoundly positive impact on clients’ business, yet the impact of strategy can be hard to measure and prove.
Half of all strategists (48%) disagree that clients pay sufficiently for the value of their work, and only one in four agree (24%). This is consistent across all markets.
The Blue Print managing partner Geraldine Gaillemin said strategists are often essential to winning the client over during the pitch and longer term a key holder of the senior client relationship.
"Yet it’s hard for them to prove their value and their worth during a time when more and more is being asked of them," Gaillemin said.
According to the survey, the dominant agency time based business model needs a rethink: 44% of strategists prefer a fixed/project based fee.
3. Core skills are under threat
Only 43% of strategists agree that their company invests in training to support their professional development
Reduced training budgets, tight deadlines, hybrid working, and senior talent leaving agencies mean a skills gap is emerging. Strategists must hone their critical thinking or risk becoming mere transmitters of information.
Only 43% of strategists agree that their company invests in training to support their professional development, with 31% disagreeing. Regionally, agreement is lowest among strategists in North America (39%).
Three opportunities to reignite strategy and address the client-strategy disconnect
1. Adopt ‘whole’ strategy thinking
Strategy is bigger than an ad or digital idea. This means knowing the big picture and ensuring different ‘flavours’ of strategy are working in service of the broader brand and business goals.
Leaders should ensure the whole team knows and understands the ‘big ambition’. Knowledge of the commercial side of a client's business is important.
2. Understand the customer
Marketers have lost sight of the customer, and this is evident in client briefs. Just 24% of strategists say detailed information about the target audience features in the majority of client briefs, while 13% say this information does not feature in any briefs.
Strategists can close the client disconnect by showing clients they understand their customers and can help clients get to a better understanding of market dynamics, and the diagnosis of their brand.
3. Burst the ‘strategy bubble’
Marketers can operate in a ‘bubble’ far removed from the reality of their customers’ lives. Strategists must retain the link to ‘real life’, and can do so by using a variety of research tools, including in-person research.
Half of all strategists (48%) say they are spending less time conducting in-person research compared to last year.
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