The virtues of a brand strategist.
What are some of the soft-skills and virtues we can learn to become better brand strategists? That is the question of this article.
Thanks to my podcast I have had the opportunity to talk with a lot of different types of people in the strategy spectrum, people from advertising, marketing, branding, science, ...
There are a couple of things I can see across these people that makes the good strategy, besides their obvious experience and knowledge.
Not feeling like reading? You can also listen to the podcast version of this article below or on your favorite podcast listener.
Hard skills and knowledge
Becoming a brand strategist does require some ‘hard-skills’ and knowledge of course.
You need to understand the fundamentals of marketing, branding, and business (for a deeper look into what brand strategy is, check out this article). You need to know how these disciplines work together to build a brand and grow a business.
Another big part of the brand strategy is research. Getting a deeper understanding of the customer, the competition and the industry takes time. Of course, when doing research there are some really important things you need to know in regards to understanding the difference between quantitative and qualitative research.
And on the deeper levels of research, when creating surveys, knowing how to ask the right questions takes an understanding of survey design.
Just one example of the knowledge we need to develop as a brand strategist: survey design.
After that, analyzing that data takes some understanding of statistics, at least knowing that the insights you are gathering are significant and not just 'pattern noise' is important.
Me and my books, a second love.
And that’s only the ‘research’ part of brand strategy, there is of course the understanding of different frameworks, methodologies (such as SWOT analysis) and exercises. I’m an avid book reader myself, because that keeps me informed on new and old ideas. Feel free to check out my resources page to find out more.
As you might suspect, being a strategist demands you to be informed in many fields. This may sound difficult and contradictory to a lot of the 'specialize' thinking that's out there. And it's true, I believe brand strategists probably are better 'generalists' then they are exceptionally well versed in one area.
Of course, everything you learn is from a perspective of 'brand'. That's why I believe we are not really 't-shaped' profiles but probably more triangle-like. Having a broad knowledge base that becomes narrower and narrower, with a focus on building brands as the end goal.
T — 🔽
Also, some brand strategists with bigger resources can hire specialists for certain tasks, such as consumer research. In smaller agencies or companies, however, brand strategists often need to take on those different roles.
What makes a good brand strategist?
But what makes a good brand strategist? Is it the amount of knowledge you have learned? Is it your education? As far as I know there a not a lot of 'brand strategy' specific trainings out there in the universities. Is it the framework you use? Truth be told, I don't think any of those specifically make you a good strategist, because you might use different tools and perspectives and come to the same results. But there are some similarities across good strategists, and it's those I want to explore today.
Virtues of a brand strategist 📿.
It seems like a lot of those things are very much 'left-brain' thinking, analytical, methodical thinking. But brand strategy is as much about theory and science as it is about emotion, alchemy, and humans. Let's look at some 'softer-skills' or virtues a brand strategist should have.
One note before I begin, these are not per se 'built-in' personality traits, in a sense that if you don't have them, you can't be a strategist, some of these skills or virtues I had to develop, some of them were originally there. So don't listen to this thinking 'I can't be a strategist because I'm not 'x'. Think about how you can develop these skills or pay more attention to them.
Every person has a different way of doing things, and there is no magic formula or set of rules.
That being said, let's dive in!
1. Be curious 🧐.
Being curious about people, about your clients business is crucial to being a good strategist. It motivates you in peeling away different layers and makes you passionate about finding out real insights, not just doing the research as a checkbox.
Curiosity is what drove me in learning more about brands, about science, about art and about the companies I work with. I've noticed that most projects I work on are in different industries, and that really excites me, because that gives me the opportunity to immerse myself in this new world. But even if you work within a niche, every client, every company is an opportunity to learn new perspectives, so be curious.
Curiosity is also something that should help in doing better research, because if you see something, a certain 'pattern' in the data that surprises you, it will motivate you to understand the reasons behind. That leads you to insights that are new and refreshing, that can lead you to brand propositions that are solid.
Curiosity should also motivate you to keep going. It's sometimes so overwhelming to see the amount of knowledge we can consume when it comes to brand strategy. Because of the vagueness of the discipline, it seems like it just never stops. Every time you have reached a point where you think you got it, a new mountain dooms up on the horizon. Curiosity helps you to keep exploring, to understand that there is not real 'top', that the essence is the climb itself.
2. Be patient 😌.
That brings us to patience. 'Good things come to those who wait'. And that is what strategy is often about. Waiting, not idle, but doing the work, doing the research and understanding that insights will come. Because the first stage of a strategy project can often be very daunting in terms of complexity. You are mapping multiple layers of narratives, trying to see it all clearly and bringing it into a single slide.
You need to understand that gathering insights often takes time and that you must immerse yourself in that complexity. I've had a lot of projects where I felt somewhat 'hopeless', because nothing really stood out or felt good enough to work with. And then, that one interview, that one sleepless night can mean the breakthrough for the whole project.
That's why patience is important. If you want results straight away, you are going to go the easy route, you are going to go for the insights that are readily available
3. Listen 👂🏻.
Empathy is crucial in developing good brands. A lot of entrepreneurs started their company because they listened, they wanted to solve a certain problem. But there are also a lot of businesses that started from something else, a business opportunity, a technical innovation.
Whatever it may be, your role as a brand strategy is to be that voice of the consumer as Claire Strickett said on the podcast. But it's not just about the consumer, it's about having empathy for your client as well. Understanding what drives them is key to getting everyone on board.
Just shouting at your clients that they don't understand their consumer and you do won't get you the result you want. Lean into frictions and try to understand them as human beings so you can build rapport and align everyone, by listening to what they are saying, but also listening to your gut. Understanding that some things that aren't said are going to play a big role.
4. Be humble 🙌.
I've had to admit being wrong a lot of times. As strategists, we are constantly trying to turn uncertainties into risk (a great article by Faris on WARC). We are creating 'informed opinions' on how to win. But those opinions can be wrong. We can be wrong or someone else can be wrong. Be humble about your opinion and open for different opinions. If you have done the work, you will be able to show why your strategy is a good way forward.
5. Be pragmatic 🧹.
We are not academics, scientists or philosophers, although sometimes we might feel like one. We should be pragmatic. At the end of the day, we are helping organizations build better, stronger brands. But we can't let the theory win. If someone like Byron Sharp would have helped a small business move forward, maybe his advice would be way to academic. On the other hand, if I should write a book about brand growth, it wouldn't be as groundbreaking as his. Our role as strategists is to bridge the theory with reality, to make it tangible and actionable. Don't get lost in fancy words or strategies, never forget that you are here to help an organization move forward, not deliver a TED talk.
6. Excite people 🕺.
Brand strategy is about winning. You should make people feel really excited, almost like a football coach before the match motivating everyone in the team to destroy the competition. Don't be afraid to be bold, to swear, to laugh, to tell a story. After all the data and analysis, it's still about having a certain belief and getting everyone on board, getting everyone motivated to act on that belief.
7. Write often ✍️.
Writing is key to being a good strategist. Expressing your thoughts in a concise way is crucial in getting everyone on board. As Mark Pollard says: strategy is your words'. I've had a few people on to talk about writing, one tip I've heard a few times is: 'read literature'. Reading some Hemmingway or another piece of poetry can be great to trigger new thoughts. The biggest thing for me when it comes to writing is doing it often and starting really rough.
My first draft of an article or podcast is almost always a stream of consciousness just blurting out on paper, so learning how to type might be a good starting point here. Then read those streams and start organizing them, adding titles, subtitles, and bullets. You will start to see structure emerge. I use Notion to gather all my thoughts.
8. Learn to present 🖥.
Knowing how to build up a presentation is often key to getting everyone on board. This is really about building a narrative. I have a course on exactly this, it's called 'sell your thinking' and you can get it here. Your presentation is one thing but you should really focus on learning how to be 'present' during your presentation. Focus on the energy in the room and ask people questions along the way, pause often, get the temperature.
9. Accept ambiguity ⚔️.
This has been a hard lesson for me, I like theory and reality to align, while often, these things don't align, there's noise, there are causal issues, there are exceptions. Learning how to deal with the fact that more things can be right at the same time is an important 'skill'. It teaches you don't have to 'win' arguments, you have to have that 'informed' opinion'. It teaches you that however much information you consume, there won't be an absolute truth or solution.
Of course, there are a lot more virtues a strategist can have, things like being kind, honest. But I guess those are just traits of any good human. Don't get me wrong, a lot of these things shouldn't be perfect. For example, I often struggle with being pragmatic, because I love thinking about complex layers and theory. So I have to remind myself from time to time to come back to earth and create something simple.
A great tip to end this is to walk a friend, a family member through a strategy deck, do they get the story? Do they understand what you are trying to tell? If not? You might be making things to much about you and being 'strategic'.
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