Skip to content
Forest Header Image
Forest Full of Trees

Forest Full of Trees

Seeing the big picture in the small details

Tag: account planning

Posted on 2012-05-032017-07-21

On being a strategist

I’ve nearly always had a very tough time explaining my job to anyone outside the world of advertising.

When I first started out in account services, it was difficult enough to explain my job. “Account (coordinator/manager/supervisor/director), what does that mean?” I’d get asked by everyone from my mother to my friends in more tangible fields like medicine or law. Some folks would confuse the role with that of an account manager in a sales organization; others would assume that every advertising job was in the creative department. Over the years, I tested out various answers to this question, the most expedient of which might have been “I’m a juggler in a 3-ring circus”. But, as a great scene in this week’s episode of Mad Men shows us, the job of account man (or woman) has been around for decades and has been misunderstood for just about the same length of time:

Pete Campbell: “So, I manage those accounts.”

Émile Calvet: “I don’t understand. What do you do every day?”

Pete Campbell: “Well, what do you do? You’re a scholar and an intellectual, right? Actually, from what I hear, you’re a bit of a trailblazer. [ . . . ] I bet the world would be better off if they knew about the work you were doing.

Emile: You are very kind.

Pete: That, Émile, is what I do every day. 

– Mad Men, Season 5

Strategic planning has always been a core component of my job, but it’s only in the past few years that the word “strategist” has appeared on my business cards. And here, it seems, I’ve finally found a title that’s even tougher to explain than account services.

Continue reading “On being a strategist”

About Me

Sari Stein

Digital marketing geek, Habs fan, travel addict, and chocoholic extraordinaire. Experienced agency-side Strategy Director, and blogger at Forest Full of Trees.

Find Me On

Latest Tweets Latest Tweets

  • Settling in with my coffee to spend a Saturday full of creativity, listening to some AMAZING speakers share their e… https://t.co/o2hneVDyAf, Apr 2
  • "Yet despite the countless times I’ve clicked 'I accept all cookies on this website,' no cookies whatsoever have ev… https://t.co/2O4hfMqoJp, Dec 4
  • It's just been announced, and already the jokes about Meta are epic., Oct 28
  • How @googlecanada is helping tackle the #COVID19Vaccine accessibility challenge by integrating vaccine clinics to M… https://t.co/plPpa1mMPI, May 13
  • Sad news about a brand that's long been a personal favourite of mine. On the road, backpackers with Canadian flags… https://t.co/KDpXeDiX0V, Sep 15
Follow @sari_stein

Recent Posts

  • Endings, beginnings, and change: Being a planner in times of crisis
  • Remote work is here to stay. What does that mean?
  • The fragility of trust: Airlines and the COVID dilemma
  • Marketing during COVID: A 4-step plan
  • How to be data-driven in a crisis

Categories

Tags

  • #elxn42
  • advertising
  • analytics
  • bixi
  • branding
  • canada
  • content
  • copyright
  • copyright modernization law
  • coronavirus
  • COVID19
  • crisis management
  • crowdfunding
  • digital marketing
  • election
  • facebook
  • gofundme
  • harper
  • hockey
  • indiegogo
  • industry insights
  • jerry bance
  • kickstarter
  • KPI
  • marketing
  • measurement
  • metrics
  • netflix
  • peegate
  • personas
  • pirate bay
  • politics
  • privacy
  • ROI
  • social media
  • strategic planning
  • strategy
  • success
  • success metrics
  • tim dutaud
  • travel
  • tripadvisor
  • trump
  • user experience
  • vpn

Recent Comments

  • Jschacter on Finding new lands
  • Susan Patrick on 5 tips for community managers
  • Sari Stein on Strategy versus tactics
  • Philippe Daigneault on Strategy versus tactics
  • Philippe Daigneault on Anonymity, compartmentalization or multibranding?
Proudly powered by WordPress