| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Media and Advertising |
| Level | Mid level |
| Reports to | Strategy Head |
| Direct reports | None |
| Experience | 3 to 6 years in account planning, brand strategy or research |
Creative Strategist job description template
Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.
Job title: Creative Strategist
Department: Media and Advertising
Reports to: Strategy Head
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Creative Strategist finds the insight that makes a campaign work. They study the brand, the category and the audience, distil research into a sharp problem and a single-minded proposition, and write the creative brief that the copy and art teams build from. The role sits between planning, servicing and creative in an agency. A good one gives the creative team a springboard, not a straitjacket, and keeps the final work true to the strategy so campaigns connect with real people and move the brand's business.
Key responsibilities
- Study the brand, competitors, category and culture, and gather consumer insight from research, data and conversations.
- Define the real business and communication problem behind the client's brief before any idea is made.
- Write a sharp creative brief with a single-minded proposition, target audience and tone that the creative team can build on.
- Present the strategy and brief to the creative team and the client, and align everyone on the direction.
- Shape the campaign idea alongside creatives, and check that the work stays true to the proposition.
- Build audience personas and journey maps that guide messaging across channels.
- Recommend the channel and content approach so the idea lands where the audience actually is.
- Set the success measures for the campaign with the client, and review results after launch.
- Run or brief consumer research and turn the findings into direction the team can use.
- Feed strategic thinking into new-business pitches to help win accounts.
Requirements
- Bachelor's or master's degree in marketing, mass communication, psychology or a related field
- Experience in brand planning, research or strategy
- An MBA in marketing is an advantage
- 3 to 6 years in account planning, brand strategy or research
KRAs and KPIs for a Creative Strategist
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Brief quality | Creative briefs accepted by creative and client with a clear proposition on most projects |
| Strategy to work | Launched campaigns judged on brief against the agreed proposition and audience |
| Campaign results | Campaigns meet the success measures agreed with the client for most projects |
| Insight depth | Each brief carries a genuine consumer insight, not a restated client fact |
| Pitch contribution | Strategy input into a set number of winning new-business pitches each year |
| Client trust | Clients accept the strategy route with limited pushback at review |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: Consumer research tools, Google Trends, Social listening tools, MS PowerPoint or Keynote, Survey tools.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Strategy Head, Planning Director
Interview questions for a Creative Strategist
- What is the difference between a client fact and a real consumer insight? Give me an example.
- Walk me through a brief you wrote that led to strong creative work.
- How do you find an insight for a boring, low-interest product like a cleaning liquid?
- The creative team goes off brief with a fun idea. How do you handle it?
- How do you set success measures for a brand campaign with a client?
- How do you turn a pile of research into a single-minded proposition?
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What does a creative strategist do?
A creative strategist finds the insight behind a campaign. They study the brand, category and audience, define the real problem, and write the creative brief with a single-minded proposition that copy and art teams build from. They keep the final work true to strategy and set the measures that show whether the campaign worked.
What is the difference between a creative strategist and a creative director?
A creative strategist decides what the campaign should say and why, and writes the brief. A creative director decides how it is expressed and leads the copy and art execution. Strategy sets the direction and the proposition; creative brings it to life. The two work as partners on every campaign.
Is a creative strategist the same as an account planner?
In most Indian agencies they are the same role, or very close. Account planning is the older term for finding consumer insight and writing the brief; creative strategist is a newer title for similar work, often with more digital and content focus. Both bridge research, the client and the creative team.