Half of Strategists Are Focusing More on Upstream Planning- WARC Report

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Strategists are following the opportunity in upstream planning – 52% say they are spending more time on upstream business or brand planning, according to WARC’s survey of practitioners in the Future of Strategy 2021 report. Just 12% say they are spending less time on upstream business or brand planning compared to before COVID-19.

The same growth is not visible for downstream execution and working on specific campaigns. Just above one-third (35%) of strategists say they are spending more time on this, compared to 46% who report no change and one-fifth (19%) who say they are spending less time downstream.

In the report, Mark Lester, Head of Strategy at WE ARE Pi, argues the gap between upstream and downstream work is widening, and strategists need to pick a side. However, Zoe Scaman, Founder at Bodacious and Co-Founder at MCX, suggests breadth of experience surpasses depth for the modern strategist.

WARC’s latest Future of Strategy report also finds:

Strategists are busier than ever as economies open up. The emphasis on strategy has continued from the first year of the pandemic, with workloads and productivity remaining high. However, mid-level strategists are increasingly looking beyond agencies for new challenges.

Training is a problem. Few strategists have formal training and few receive the funds or opportunities to pursue such training – the report identifies this as a potential weakness for agencies looking to retain strategic talent.

The past year has driven renewed dialogue around DEI issues, but there remains a disconnect between discussion and action within strategy.

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