Christine Olivas, CEO and Founder of No Single Individual is on a mission to change the way agency teams think about strategy. Christine’s “teamlancing” approach uniquely buffs up agency strategy teams that are usually stretched thin – giving her team access to dozens of agencies and hundreds of clients. Needless to say, she’s done it all because she’s seen it all – and insights from this episode will have you playing checkers while everyone else is playing chess.
How “yes, and” can help build a good strategy
We all know that client-agency relationships can be tricky. Some agency teams find client briefs uninspiring and lacking creative freedom. When this happens, agencies rewrite them. While this might feel like more creative freedom for the agency, clients can feel like critical information is missing. Pushing the client to think differently is welcomed; agencies just have to do it the right way.
One way is through the common improv practice of “yes, and.” With this practice, agency teams do not completely discount the client’s brief; instead, they build on it, creating a more collaborative and welcoming space for new ideas. “Yes, and” enhances your relationship – and in our industry, a better relationship often results in better opportunities.
Getting to an effective creative brief quickly
Christine has worked with more than 50 agencies and has seen 100+ brief templates. From her experience, templates are great for presenting capabilities and key agency differentiators, but not creative briefs. When an agency has truly poured their heart into a project, they should do so in a way that sticks with the client.
An effective creative brief can be as simple as a short video clip and one slide of provocation. As long as you have the classic components – the tension and insight – you can present the brief how you see fit. In other words, you don’t have to do what everyone else is doing or what you’ve always done. Practice what most agencies preach, be unique, and tell a story with your brief.
Sprints vs. longer strategic processes
Strategy is situation-dependent. We had Christine compare the “sprint” to the longer strategic process. Sprints are perfect when the client's ask is straightforward and less intricate work is required from the strategist. These are the moments agencies can break the shackles of typical processes and templates. Here, strategists can be more creative and follow their instincts.
A longer strategic process is required when the brief is more intricate and has multiple KPIs. As Christine says, a complex brief calls for a complex strategy. Whether it takes weeks or months, you’ll never regret investing in the strategy phase – especially if it gets sparks flying for the creative team.
So which is best? Well, as you may have guessed, it depends. Great strategists can do both.
Strategy advice for CMOs
For CMOs looking for a breakthrough strategy, Christine recommends being clear with your agency about what you’re looking for. In this industry, “Strategy” can mean four or five different things. When expectations aren’t clear, the agency will likely waste time and money trying to nail it through trial and error – and nobody wants that.
Advice for future women agency owners
Women own less than 1% of agencies. While the industry has a lot of work to do, there are some critical steps women agency owners can take to ensure we change the ratio.
While building her agency, Christine struggled with imposter syndrome. When she saw that her business had huge potential she invested in the right structures, people, and operations to get to the next level. Key things that helped propel No Single Individual were bringing in a head of finance and operations, consulting with lawyers, creating a real P&L, developing a growth strategy, and investing in a CRM. She also leaned on her network to unlock new opportunities. Christine calls out the “Own It” community as a game-changer in her agency's growth.
And there’s sooo much more …
Want to hear more from Christine? Like how her American Idol audition made her a better leader? Or why the demand for teamlancing is growing in the industry? Catch the full episode on YouTube, and stay till the end as we put her in the hot seat answering our “This or That” questions. As always, drop your favorite takeaways on our social posts, and be sure to leave a review wherever you listen to your podcasts. See you next month.👋
ABOUT THE QUESTION EVERYTHING PODCAST
Part interview, part therapy, part Price Is Right, the Question Everything podcast puts your favorite CMOs and thought leaders in the hot seat. That means while they're facing off against our game board, you'll learn from the successes and failures of the best in the biz who were daring enough to be curious.
