What Makes for an Effective Modern Chief Strategy Officer

The modern agency C-suite is one of rapid change. The typical top-down structure is slowly flattening and the roles of each C-suite position are constantly being altered. Adweek is dedicating a series of stories to analyze what being a modern agency C-suite member entails, talking with people holding those positions at agencies big and small and those independent or operated by holding companies. What is a modern CSO? Strategists, who were titled account directors and planners before "strategy" became the norm, have always been a necessary cog in the advertising machine. They were vital to keeping the creative process moving and campaigns on track. The CSO has mandates to help clients establish growth strategies for building their businesses—including positioning and purpose, brand experience guidelines, product development, communicative architecture and deployment—and must do the same for the agency, David Srere, co-CEO and chief strategy officer at Siegel+Gale told Adweek. The CSO is responsible for the agency’s overall strategy, which means that person must have the vision and skills of a strategist but also serve as a good partner to the CEO and others on the leadership team. A CSO must be a thought leader, an influencer within the agency walls as well as with clients, and must bring both data and insights to the table. Above all, a CSO must be able to make decisions quickly and effectively. “Job one as a CSO is to understand how we do things around here and…mapping out how best to let the good parts shine through,” said Aki Spicer, CSO at culture agency Cashmere, adding that the CSO must be fluent in finance, creative, planning and other agency tasks, because “if you can't advocate for your discipline, and your department, you can't actually be effective for a body of people.” The Modern Chief Creative Officer Must Lead Through Inspiration and Communication Agencies are also marrying creative and strategy closer together, leading CSOs to work side by side with chief creatives to more effectively deliver the insights needed to fuel strong work. The rise of the CSO While strategy has always been a part of advertising, planners and strategists were mostly behind-the-scenes players for decades. In the past several years, especially during the rise of the big data era, the CSO has risen to prominence because they can bring insights and guidance to the table. Agencies quickly got on the data bandwagon and understood its power. "But you still need that married to really strong qualitative insights,” Jasmine Dadlani, CSO at McKinney, told Adweek. “Being able to bring those two things together is so critical that really only strategy has the best lane at doing that.” CSOs also a play a role shaping the vision for the company. “The classic job of strategist is to paint a vision of the market—where the future is going—and inform and help build an agency that can meet that vision of the market,” said Spicer. Srere added that CSOs should set an overarching strategic direction to drive an organization’s growth. “Specifically, they should focus on scenario planning, identifying new market/target opportunities, ensuring that programs being pursued advance overarching growth planks, driving content creation and integrating large-scale economic, political and societal trends with specific company challenges.” That may seem like a lot, but strategy has always been a plan for action and knowing what every role needs, finding out who the real audience is and planning how to reach them in a way that is comprehensible to the agency, the client and the consumer. “As the tides of our business continue to change and we shift from AOR work to project-based retainers, it’s become a key responsibility of the CSO to hunt for the ways in which strategy can really make a difference,” Amie Chan, partner and head of strategy at Barrett, told Adweek. Staying a step ahead One thing a CSO absolutely cannot be is complacent. The CSO must constantly stay ahead of trends to engineer changes for the betterment of the agency and its clients. “Strategy has to be a continuous process,” Harjot Singh, global chief strategy officer at McCann told Adweek. “Our role is intangible but influential at once because a good CSO is a vital and critical force to anticipate the future and share that understanding in such a way that it becomes a competitive advantage for the rest of the agency in shaping its ambition and accomplishing the goals that realize that ambition.” Strategy must work hand in hand with creative and media to identify ways to recognize opportunities where they didn't exist before. Put yourself out there. Have your antennae always up, read everything, go to whatever museum and absorb culture. Dig into the rabbit holes. Jasmine Dadlani, CSO at McKinney, gives advice to future CSOs. Strategy is humanity Many may think that strategy is all about planning, data and technical tools, but the CSO must also understand both the employees at the agency and the clients in a human way. Dadlani sees the role as one where strategy must be used to manage and grow the people who work at the agency. She said a strategist helps unpack what is important to people from an organizational standpoint but also must marry that to the brand and the business. “Strategists have a lot of empathy for what clients are going through. A lot of clients tend to rely on us,” said Dadlani, adding that the job is a balance of being a good listener but knowing when and where to push and how far while providing direction and guidance. “It’s always a balancing act.” Advice for future CSOs Those looking to get into the strategy game must be nimble and driven, and many who take that career path already are that way. Spicer sees young strategists coming into the field on a mission to represent passionate communities and subcultures, trying to bring authenticity to the work. “Many of these younger generations are trying to hold brands accountable in unique ways that I didn't see in the 2000s,” said Spicer. Dadlani noted that strategists should never stop being curious. “Put yourself out there. Have your antennae always up, read everything, go to whatever museum and absorb culture. Dig into the rabbit holes. Some of the best insights have come from strategists who told me ‘I went down a Reddit rabbit hole,’” said Dadlani. Chan added good strategists help push the agency outside of the comfort zone and “remind us of our own creative bravery.” Singh concluded that a chief strategy officer must be practical and visionary in equal measure. “We have to be attentive listeners and brilliant translators in equal measure. We are doers and advisors in equal measure because our role is to engender commitment to change and drive change.”