Strands of Genius: Claire Strickett + The Shoppable TV Report: 2024 and Beyond
featuring: an interview with our guest editor and a research report
Welcome to the Bonus edition of Strands of Genius! On Fridays, we’ll be publishing interviews from our guest editors, and sharing a research report. Thanks for being along for the ride. Oh and by the way, you look great today :)
:: STEAL THIS THINKING | RESEARCH REPORT ::
The Shoppable TV Report: 2024 and Beyond uncovers U.S. consumer perceptions around “shoppable” TV advertisements一such as scannable QR-enhanced ads 一as well as subsequent purchasing behavior after seeing TV ads.
:: DIVE IN | THE INTERVIEW ::
CLAIRE STRICKETT, STRATEGY DIRECTOR, ANOMALY LONDON
>> Claire Strickett guest curated Strands on April 18th, 2024. Read it here.
Tell us a little bit about yourself and what keeps you busy. How did you end up doing what you’re doing today?
My main job, as anyone who knows me from social media will know, is full time live-in staff to Peggy the three-legged cat. In what time I have left, I am lucky enough to help set the global direction for some amazing brands, and work with fantastic creative minds to bring that to life in both communications and wider brand experience. I got into this world by having the sheer good fortune to meet a strategist on holiday (in Barcelona - we were both at Primavera). I thought her job sounded like my dream job, and spent a long time wriggling my way into the industry. I was extremely lucky that the wonderful Cat Wiles, then Head of Planning at VCCP, gave me a chance to get my foot in the door.
What excites you most about what you do?
I get to think about how meaning gets made for people ... And then figure out how to make that happen, to the advantage of my clients. I can't really imagine anything more interesting.
What beliefs define your approach to work? How would you define your leadership style?
Relationships really are everything. You can be right, but if you aren't trusted and respected, people won't listen to you, no matter how smart or correct what you're saying is. That takes time and it takes real emotional effort but it's what I do my utmost both both to practice and to model.
I also really believe in candour wherever possible. Leadership involves difficult decisions, and I've always most respected and admired leaders who are truly transparent about the dimensions - including the emotional dimensions - of the decisions they've had to grapple with, when they communicate what the outcome of those decisions is.
What has been the most rewarding project you’ve worked on and why?
I've always wanted to created a character in advertising that people would genuinely love, and while I was at adam&eveDDB, I got to do just that, for the Automobile Association, with a lovable puppet dog, Tukker, who the nation loved so much that people actually started making and selling their own versions on eBay. It's a campaign that we conceived and delivered during the darkest days of the Covid lockdown - when I spent most of my time surviving, not thriving - so I'm very proud of myself and the whole amazing client and agency team for taking inspiration from something so difficult, and turning it into a brief that genuinely brought so much joy to people. We also won an Effie for that campaign, so it did more than just bring joy - which is good to know.
We are big believers in diversity -- Not only because we believe in equality, but because we also think it’s better for business. How do you frame these kinds of conversations, both internally and with clients? Is there an emphasis on action, or are the conversations really more about communication?
The entire discipline of planning in agencies was created to bring the voice of the consumer into the work, because it makes the work better. That means a real, representative, diverse set of voices - and if we don't do that, we literally are not doing our job. The narrower the experiences we draw on, the narrower and more predictable our answers will be - and vice versa. You have to be willing to have challenging conversations about not reaching for what seems (from a certain perspective) like the obvious answer, if different perspectives point to another answer - and you need to help internal and client teams with the practical implications of widening their aperture, in order to really bake it into everyday practice, from hiring, to timings. There is much more I can do on this front - which goes for the vast majority of people in my world, I think.
Switching gears a bit, how do you find time to balance personal interests with your career? Do you believe work/life balance is possible? Anything you’ve implemented that you recommend that others try?
Work/life balance is possible for me right now, but there have been times it hasn't been. I really believe organizations have a big responsibility to create proper guardrails around this, and not just expect their employees to impose and police their personal boundaries, which is a form of work in its own right - because these things must be achieved systemically / are hard for anyone to achieve unilaterally. On a much more practical note, in the realm of things individuals can control - I am a huge believer in keeping your tech separate. I never have work messages or emails etc on my personal phone, and my work phone goes into my desk drawer every Friday, and doesn't come out until Monday morning - the same for holidays. Out of sight, out of mind...mostly.
What’s your media diet? Where do you find inspiration?
I'm completely addicted to podcasts. I probably listen to about 3-4 hours a day. I learn so much, even if I sometimes can't remember where I heard it, and drive myself mad months later trying to remember. The FT Weekend is my other favourite source of everything from hardcore markets analysis, to incredible long form writing, art direction/photography, and cultural analysis. They don't sponsor me (although let the record show I am open to it), but I can't recommend a subscription enough as a weekend treat. Finally, I am in some fantastic WhatsApp groups that almost act as personal curated feeds of interestingness, including one dedicated to long-form journalism. Smart, generous, nerdy friends are the best media outlets there are!
What’s the best piece of advice/knowledge you’ve stolen, and who/where’d you steal it from?
I can't remember where *she* got it from, but a dear friend of mine sent me something that said, “It's not just about making the right decision, but making the decision right”. In other words, while of course there are some objectively terrible decisions you could make (and should try not to), a lot of the time, if you make a decision, commit to it, and back it fully, it will be the right decision - by very dint of your doing so. That is incredibly true for setting strategic direction for clients; for leadership, and in life in general. And most importantly of all, in a world where we don't have crystal balls, it's a point of view that gives us real agency over outcomes in a way that simply trying to guess or divine the best way forward never can. So yes, I try to make the right decisions... but above all, I then try my hardest to make the decisions right.
What does success look like for you?
It's a question so easily answered by reference to things like status or specific achievements, or even by quite baggy phrases like "doing work I love/am proud of". But to answer it properly involves a great deal of self examination. If you have a high external locus of evaluation, then it may involve fame, awards and so forth - and you should go after that. If you have a high interpersonal locus of evaluation, then those things may not satisfy you as much as knowing that you have made other people happy, and enabled them to meet *their* goals. And so forth. You have to really pin it down or you'll end up taking an "off the peg" model of success, chasing it, and then wondering why you don't feel as good as you thought you would, even if you smash all your goals. I've learned that for me, it's about getting to do work that is both intellectually satisfying, and genuinely experienced as helpful by the people who've asked me to do the work. As long as I tick those boxes, I'm succeeding.
You can keep in touch with Claire on Twitter.
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rockON,
faris & rosie | your friends over at geniussteals.co
(still want more? @faris is still “tweeting” while @rosieyakob prefers instagram stories)