#creative strategist

[honestwork]

I'm not here to advocate perfection. Not even close. I'm here to advocate progression. - I want creatives to see the ins and outs of the beautiful but challenging process of pursing an interest and making it a part of a daily routine. To not fall in love with the final product but the steps in between that made it all possible. To have fun making cool shit. Just because they can. - My parents never forced me to do anything, especially not art. They encouraged my art but they didn't put me in classes. They didn't pay for my education because I never asked them to. I didn't go to college by choice. Because I didn't want to study something I didn't believe in. Especially right out of high school when I didn't know who I was or what I wanted. - I've spent the last 6 years since graduating exploring all these various aspects of life and only recently came to the conclusion that art was something I actually enjoy. Something I could envision playing a larger role in both my life and others. I do these things for me, but I share what I do because it helps me understand and find meaning to my world, which then allows me to connect with a larger audience. However, no one is going to care about me as much as I do. So I've taken the initiative to pursue my creativity, listen to my gut, contemplate my possibilities and try my best to make my goals a reality. - I've made a conscious decision to spend time with art, work hard at it, learn from it, and grow along side it. A choice has been made. All of this--This is the trajectory of an emerging artist. This, is mine

[barbarasegalandassociates]

[portfoliomasterclass]

Career Insight: The Digital Strategist

The Digital Strategist

As media channels continue to increase, so does the importance of the Strategist. Often a client-facing role, the Strategist works across accounts to find insights that can drive business. 

Brandon Solis, Senior Digital Strategist at McCann New York, describes the job: 

These jobs require big-picture thinking. You need to be able to think ahead and recommend a course of action for the creatives, client, and brand that will work for the long term. You must be interested in following trends and uncovering insights. Patience and attention to detail is important since you'll be analyzing data. And, this job requires collaboration, so the ability to work with a team is essential. Much of a typical day will be spent thinking, writing, and presenting.

With one foot firmly in the planning department he is able to still participate on the creative side:

A big idea is key, which must be followed up with the right social and digital media channels. It is about listening to the conversation around the brand as well as guiding and starting new conversations. If you pay attention, you can provide content that is of real value to your audience.

Brandon served as Social Strategist on this Axe campaign: 

Daily Tasks

Although job requirements vary depending on the organization, here are some typical responsibilities. You'll: 

Build briefs that inspire creatives while paying particular attention to the audience that the client needs to reach.

Determine digital and social strategy for a campaign, provide a creative vision on how each idea comes to life, and follow the analytics as a campaign evolves.

Assist with the creation of case studies and decks for business development.

The Strategists Portfolio

Aspiring strategists showcase work on websites, write blogs, and utilize social media. Here's some important tips to consider as you build your portfolio:

Show campaigns or projects that roll-out across diverse media and around a central idea.

Make sure that all media platforms fit the big idea, will inspire conversation, and add value to the campaign. 

Explain the challenge of a project along with any anticipated results to demonstrate your long-term thinking abilities.

A campaign infographic or project GPS that presents a birds-eye view of a large campaign is a great conversation starter.    

Brandon Solis is a Senior Digital Strategist at McCann in New York and won a 2015 One Show Social Media Gold Pencil award. He leads our upcoming online course: Digital Strategy: Creative and Social Media at Portfolio Studio, where we connect ambitious students with industry professionals for training and portfolio building.

Want to know more about Portfolio Studio? Ask us a question.

[taboocopy-blog]

Yesterday, my creative strategist team and I were filming an interview with a University of Oregon student named Cooper about long boarding. As we attempted to learn the ins and outs of the subculture through Cooper, the gentleman on the left skated past and asked for what we were filming. We told him about our project of delving into the depths of what it means to be a long boarder, and he was incredibly passionate about and invested in boarding so we asked if we could interview him too. He was beyond excited to be asked for his help and knowledge. Seeing people talk about what they are passionate about is such a form of intoxication. It really brings this incredible vibrancy and electricity to a moment to see someone actually, truly care about something, and be willing to share that with other people. Maybe it seems minimal or even trivial, but it was so incredibly amazing to see the types of bonds people can form so easily about something as simple as skating around on four wheels. There was this instant connection between all of us over this subject that we care about and it just lead to this unbelievably warm conversation--the kind that reminds me of what it means to be born into an instinctually social species. Things like these just restore my faith in humanity and help me reflect on the kind nature of people who choose love and solidarity.

[thehundreds]

“Work your fucking ass off. Know what you’re good at, know what you like doing and make sure you are good at it. Make sure you have enough humility that even if you are amazing at it, realize you can only get better through hard work.”

Escape Artist—Storyteller—Creative Strategist :: Justin Kingsley’s Substance

[uk-jobvacancies]

Creative Strategist - LOM architecture and design - London, United Kingdom

Creative Strategist – LOM architecture and design – London, United Kingdom

The ‘creative strategist’ position is a key role in the practice: we are looking to recruit creative thinkers, with the brain power and presentation skills to analyse information and data, and formulate and present creative, strategic real estate strategies for our retail and workplace clients in the UK and overseas in Africa, the Middle East and Turkey. Your role will extend through to influence…

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[tmhdvg]

Throwback Sunday Funday

[tmhdvg]

Just Do It

You could only have a second chance if you had the first one.

That being said itself, should encourage all of us to break through our fears of being wrong and simply do what we love doing. Not getting it right at first shall not hold us back from creacting, as we all can have a second chance if not a third of fourth. It has been my philosophy for many years. Not saying, it was easy since just like many others, I had a tendency to wait for the perfect time. But then with many projects behind me, waiting for the perfect timing never helped me to avoid failing. So was it worth waiting for it, not really…

It took me quite some time to understand what it really meant to rely on my gut feeling. First and foremost I did not know how to connect to my gut or how to listen to it. Why create if I could not rely on my natural instinct when the urge of creation came naturally in the first place. So I learned to listen then respond instantly to the vibes and assured myself of focusing on the journey of success rather than the fear of failing.

People tend to do what they are good at instead of what they love doing. I did prefer to be the latter. Bumpy? Yes. Was it worth following it? Absolutely, yes. So one of the many reasons I decided to share these thoughts was to inspire all of you to create, as the chances to be happy comes only if you try. Don’t worry about the rest. Deepak Chopra wisely said: the past is gone, the future is not here, so now you are free of both.

Now you can decide and take your chance knowing you will only have a second one after you tried. Do well or do good, but do it!

tom