Creative Strategist

**STRATEGY CONTRIBUTION**

**RESEARCH**
- Auditing for mentor brands, category & product landscapes, category cues, visual/verbal communications across touchpoints, benefit spaces and visualizations, language, 3D shapes, architecture systems
- Store checking - regular visits to document relevant activity in store, including product assortment, pricing, placement, merchandising and in-store communication

**STRATEGIC ROLE**
- Review brief from client, extract clear project objectives, pull out relevant insights as foundation for idea development
- Proficient understanding of all strategic tools, able to populate tools in collaboration with senior CS team members
- Ability to work fluently within established frameworks, demonstrating an intuitive grasp of how the framework contributes to project objectives
- Create upfront framework for basic packaging/strategy projects, with support from senior CS team members
- Begin to familiarize yourself with basic brand communications elements like positioning, benefit, RTB, brand ideas, campaign ideas - for a range of activities, from brand to product
- Working knowledge of Adobe software suite, able to design within a presentation template

**PARTNERSHIP WITH CREATIVE TEAM**
- At project kickoff, review brief with senior CS/CD and participate in developing outline for strategic framework
- Collaboratively with senior CS/CD, brainstorm insights and ideas to include in the framework, align to inputs needed to tell story around creative
- Collaboratively develop insights and concept spaces with senior CS/CD
- Participate in the development of basic strategic principles to inspire and guide creative
- Bring collected swipe to help inspire senior CS/CD when developing visual principles to inspire creative
- Ensure strategic and visual principles are clearly represented in work that is presented to client (creative should always deliver on the upfront framework)

**CLIENT MANAGEMENT CONTRIBUTION**

**INTERNAL PROJECT MANAGEMENT**
- Take thorough notes during all internal meetings and summarize next steps for CD where necessary
- Manage all budget and billing tasks, including estimate creation, PO tracking, invoicing collaboratively with Ken
- Maintain up-to-date budget status in NiCE IS on weekly basis, provide report to client
- Track financial spend/scope of work against scope of estimate - raise red flags where necessary, proactively manage internal/client expectations
- Collaborate with CD/AD to manage internal resource calendar/board to ensure projects are on track to deliver on time
- Collaborate with CD/AD to create project timeline at beginning of each project
- Track and collect all creative feedback, ensuring CD has full inputs needed to make creative revisions

**CLIENT MANAGEMENT**
- See Project Manager description - if no account support, Junior Strategist will perform all client management responsibilities listed - if needed, as secondary support to CD
- Strategic encyclopedia for your brands, providing a wide range of category-specific knowledge for each project
- Review briefs and proactively request inputs from client to clarify/complete where necessary
- Be an active listener in strategic portion of all creative discussions/presentations

**PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY**
- Create and maintain professional and appropriate style of communication with client, reflective of company values
- Keep reliable office hours (punctual, adequate vacation notice, etc.)
- Proactively completes assignments in a timely manner
- Collaboratively sets personal development goals

**NiCE CONTRIBUTION**

**TEAM**
- Provide relevant strategic insights, enabling the team to efficiently deliver quality creative
- Actively observe internal process and internalize best practices

**STUDIO**
- Regularly monitor trend sites for relevant information about studio-wide projects, sharing learning with studio team members where appropriate