A great ambition statement is like an electric hare: it makes things run faster and in the same direction.
And there should only be one hare.
09 Feel like a brand strategy impostor?Your ‘odd’ background is a potential superpower.
The thing that makes you atypical is the thing that probably also makes you a good brand strategist (and maybe even a great one).
Write! Often!
The ability to come up with good ideas is one of the most essential skills of a brand strategist, but this counts for little if you’re unable to express those ideas clearly and beautifully.
Learn to love unpaid pitches.
If you can learn to love unpaid pitches then you’ll have a superpower that people who loathe them lack.
There’s no such a thing as a low interest category.
There’s no such thing as a low interest category. It’s just that a lot of categories are stuffed full of excessively samey, low interest brands. And every job is an opportunity to elevate your client’s brand beyond the unspectacular.
Listen to dinosaurs and focus on fundamentals
Yes, dinosaurs are old, but they’ve also seen a lot of bubbles inflate and subsequently burst. More importantly, they don’t lose sight of the fundamentals that drive value-creation and they don’t lose their minds with every new idea or technology that comes along.
There is such a thing as a bad idea.
There is such a thing as a bad idea. If you don’t know how to spot one, then you’re not going to last very long as a brand strategist.
Big consultancy or little consultancy?
Working in a big consultancy is great if you like structure and gives you lots of credibility. Working in a small consultancy is great if you crave autonomy, like mucking in with dirty jobs and don’t mind that the world hasn’t heard of where you work.
What the hell is a brand strategist, anyway?
A brand strategist is not a marketing planner.
All brand strategy is made up
Twenty-five years ago, I started a job as a junior consultant in the brand valuation team at Interbrand. I wanted to do something more serious than advertising and more fun than management consultancy, which didn’t involve spending yet more time in a classroom. I didn’t know anything about branding when I signed up. I know […]