You know that quote from The Usual Suspects? The greatest trick the devil pulled off was convincing the world he didn't exist?
It's also one of the greatest skills of strategy types. Few creatives will work with your thinking, certainly not your ideas, if you're going to take credit for them.
It's the same with clients to a certain degree. They love having planners around, for extra advice, stimulus and stuff. But they then need to pass your thinking off as your own.
It takes a genuine removal of ego on your part and years of practise, to the point where people struggle to work out what you do, they just know that when you're around everything works better.
In other words, great strategy types are like waiters, or kettles. You only notice then when they're not doing their job well.
I'm convinced it's why we have the conversation over and over again, about the role for planners and strategy types in agencies and client relationships.
We've done too good a job at getting our thinking through by making people believe it was their idea.
Of course, this presents a problem that goes to the heart of good FMCG brands too. If you become too good at getting people to use you without thinking too hard about it, that habit is easy for shiny new folks to disrupt.
For a great shampoo brand, it's easy to lose share to someone else with a new sciency promise, or maybe in this day and age, an aromatherapy wellbeing fragrance thing (I do think that Herbal Essences are missing a trick building on their 'orgasm in a shower' base to more, wholesome, experiences that go deeper than hair).
For a strategist, there is the threat of management consultancies, brand consultancies or some big data whiz. Or even the account directors actually thinking they can do the job, rather than looking like they can thanks to your generosity.
Which means, like brands, you have to tread a fine line between helping people not to think too hard.
While constantly, well, refreshing memory structures (to quote good old Byron Sharpe). Getting folks excited about what you do, showing some leg now and again.
ANNNNNND 'removing reasons not to buy'. Doing data better than the data folks, but with intelligence rather than cleverness for example. Simplifying the guff around Alexa into an actionable pros and cons for clients.
I'm saying that while you need resolve the tension between the need to be invisible and not taken for granted. The greatest trick you can pull is being modestly indispensable in the areas worrying your agency and client the most.
Prepare and present an e-commerce strategy to your FMCG client before Amazon does.
Help agency build expertise in marketing to people over 40, while the market chases Gen Z who don't have any money.
You get the idea.
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