How to be useful: practical tips for better strategy - with James Caig

Great strategy can unlock the potential in any situation.

It takes rigorous research, creative thinking and a relentless hunt for competitive advantage.

But in the pacy whirl of day-to-day business and delivery, the power of strategy is easily weakened.

There is never enough time, always too much information, and So. Many. Questions.

Which is the right problem to solve? How to balance all these competing expectations? How to know you’re right? Which voices to listen to?

Everyone’s an expert, right?

But it’s still you in the hot seat.

So let’s take the pressure off.

How To Be Useful is a half-day session to help you approach the problem of strategy with confidence, and turn those voices into collaborators. We’ll look at strategy through the lens of the people you do strategy for, and with: clients, stakeholders, creatives, audiences. And we’ll cover tools and hacks to help you move forward with what you have, whatever stage of the process you’re at.

We’ll look at:

• how to start
• how to harness perspectives via workshops
• how to generate your ideas that can fuel a creative brief
• how to sell your thinking

There will be ideas, tips and models to steal, and some exercises to try out on the day.

We’ll cover a lot of ground, so come prepared to work and give that imposter syndrome a good kicking.

This workshop is for junior-mid-level planners and strategists. You’re already doing the job but you’d love ways to make your contribution more valuable – and more valued.

Tickets are are £125 + VAT for BCI members and £185+VAT for non-members

James is a comms and creative strategist who has worked in London and Bristol agencies for 20 years. James teaches a course called Nailing Your Strategy for APG, and teaches the comms and media planning modules on APG’s flagship courses. He’s been head of strategy at True Digital, Prophecy and Edit in the south west, and worked for Isobar, Droga5, Wavemaker and Mindshare in London. He is currently strategy partner at WPP Media with responsibility for the UK Government’s comms strategy.

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