Junior
Mid-weight
Senior
Director
Associate
VP
Head of
CSO
Executive Director
We see a lot of briefs flying around in the community asking for strategic support on projects - often with a label attached. But how useful are those labels? Are they consistent? Do they help define the need? Is one agency’s Senior another client’s Middleweight?
And what do they even proxy to? Is it years of experience? Depth of knowledge? Capability? Day Rate?
I’ve literally seen briefs asking for people using the same job title from £450-£1200.
“I don't think they are consistently defined at all. Almost all of them have ranges for years of experience, pay, and the responsibility. They keep changing from agency to agency (although the pay range doesn't change).” - explains one of our community.
For me, they’re mental shortcuts - “middleweight” is agency-speak for: “We need someone who has done this before, they’re not going to be leading the project but doesn’t need a huge amount of hand-holding, and I don’t want to pay too much”. “Senior” generally means “They just need to crack on, take ownership, and mustn’t embarrass me when we put them in-front of the client, and okay, I’m willing to pay a bit more”.
Unfortunately these short-cuts matter. In the days of LinkedIn Easy Apply, or posts with 600 comments saying “I’m available”, being able to scan/review/discard quickly whether someone fits the bill is an unfortunately reality of how work works right now.
The chance of getting in-front of a potential client and having a longer conversation to a) understand the brief, b) share your experience for the role, c) position yourself as the right person - regardless of perceived job title - feel like it’s flown out the window for a huge amount of projects. Work is being increasingly commoditised, as it the process of relationship-building.
I think we need more friction, not less.
I think hirers should be looking for quality over quantity.
I don’t think the model of shouting on a Friday for someone you need on Monday works.
But so often, the reason hirers are bringing us in, is because they lack time and capability, and need to offload to us.
“I don’t have enough time to look for the right people to help me”. I’ve heard this too often. And it results in hiring the person who’s available, not who’s right.
What does this mean for us? As people who NEED time to explore, think, challenge, provoke, interrogate. Who thrive on being a square peg in a round brief?
The answer is of course, proactivity - hirers need to find the right people before a brief, and us lot need to build awareness and relationships before the brief. So we’re already sold-in before they realise they need us.
But when hirers have no time to meet new people to help them for a not-yet-defined brief - what’s the answer?
(📣 Wanna share your stories of working as an independent strategist? Let me know. )
Each week, I’ll try to profile one of our members, so you get to know each other better, and find folk you might want to connect to. Shout if you fancy having your face here.
Hi, I’m Carsten Wogatzky
I’m a Strategy and Innovation Specialist from Cologne, Germany, currently working as a Strategy Director and Service Design Lead for a major banking group. The focus of my current job is on customer journey analysis, digital brand experience, and service design innovation. I’ve been working as a strategist for over eight years now, following more than 12 years in client services.
I made the decision to go freelance in September last year and was fortunate to land a strategy innovation project in financial services right away. At the same time, I started working on a startup idea with a UX designer and an art director. It’s evolving well, even though we’re all working on it alongside our day jobs.
I’m looking to expand my network and connect with potential clients while also finalizing a prototype for our startup, which revolves around AI-moderated conversations. I’d love to take on projects related to AI-driven experiences that ideally go beyond marketing automation and customer service.
Things I’m reading/consuming/loving at the moment:
Reading - "In the World Interior of Capital" (The german title sounds even better: Im Weltinnenraum des Kapitals) by Peter Sloterdijk — brilliantly written and offering a really interesting perspective on Western economic behavior and why we do business the way we do today.
Listening - Alongside my day job, I spend a lot of time on indie music production, so I’m constantly listening to albums — both new releases and classics. Right now, it’s The Murder Capital’s new album — definitely worth checking out. One of my go-to sources for fresh music is albumoftheyear.org — you’ll find every genre there, with filters for latest releases, best albums, and more. Great place to discover new music!
Say hello to Carsten on LinkedIn, or via the community.
I spoke to Peter Thickett, strategy director at TRIPTK and Editorial Director at Sober Futures, an editorial platform devoted to charting the future of the no and low drinks category.
Q. What is Sober Futures, and why has it been created?
Sober Futures is an editorial platform devoted to charting the future of the no and low drinks category. It was designed to offer up nuanced, culturally situated perspectives on the category and its development, that move beyond reductive data points alone. I’ve spent the majority of my career consulting for spirits brands – so have always been deeply engaged with the ingredients, processes, and mythologies that surround drinks. As I started to dip my toe into sobriety, I saw an opportunity to apply my knowledge from the BevAlc space to this emergent category.
Q. The project has a deeply editorial style, this vibe is quite a departure from the more traditional trends docs or insight reports - why did you take this approach to the project?
I wanted the freedom to explore the category from multiple, and sometimes non-conventional, angles – so steered clear from a cookie cutter approach. The subject really dictated the form for each of the existing articles. I’m also a published poet (my first book will be coming out later this year) – so enjoy formats that allow me to have a bit of fun with language and metaphor. I think others enjoy this from me too.
Q. What trends are you seeing right now in the AF category?
Terroir-driven propositions: non-alc drinks that express the quality / character of a specific place and its natural topography
Zebra-Striping: alternating between alc and non-alc options within a single drinking session
Sparkling Tea: a fantastic contender in the wine occasion. Tea has such wonderful diversity and provenance, and can make for some genuinely complex liquids when treated with care
Q. What behaviours and shifts do you think we'll see adjacent to AF/LA categories?
The emergence of third spaces (e.g. members clubs) where alcohol consumption is decentralised and focus is given to building ‘conscious connections’, and improving holistic wellbeing
The quest for the mystical: increased interest in substances and practices that can facilitate numinous experiences. Potential re-engagement with animistic belief systems and cultures.
Sustainable Consumption: more mindful alcohol consumption may have a potential knock on affect across broader consumption behaviours – encouraging consumers to become more ‘conscious’ of what and how they consume
And then of course, so much in the wellness space that need not be said
Q. This isn't your day job, are passion-projects like this important for strategists, especially in the context of unsettled marketing industry and agency landscape?
Passion projects are certainly a useful tool for giving people a flavour of your thinking, and ensuring that you’re building up ‘personal equity’ that can exist beyond your past, current or future workplace. Our identities can become so easily tied to a specific organisation – so there’s something freeing in creating something on your own terms.
» Check out Sober Futures
So much chatter around Adolescence this week, Lucinda Bounsall writes for Livity on the Great Gender Divergence.
Joe Burns on the “Sloppening” got some good traction, on the ever-invasive AI.
Nikita Walia writes about the tiktokification of ‘expertise’.
MullenLowe’s alternative cultural calendar.
» Nike subscriptions? - funny (in an The Onion/Black Mirror way) stories from the future.
» Medieval comeback - first the 90s, and now 590s? (thanks Nick)
» Place your bets, on anything - the world of Polymarket (thanks Joel)
» Founderpal.ai - tools for marketing people (thanks Jan)
» The ghosted generation - Gen Z and rejection
» Am started to get really into this exploration of ‘fourth spaces’
Wanna share your work, ideas or thinking with the community? - drop me a message, and I’ll pop it in the next issue. This is a scrapbook of our ideas, so please open up your brains.
At home, but lovely coffees from new roaster, Studio Black, 1% of which goes to support the Film & TV Charity. Support a small business, and fellow freelancers at
https://studioblackcoffee.co.uk/
Tell us where you’re sat, who you’re working with, what you’re drinking and thinking.
Every week, we share a list of roles found and shared via the the community. Some are directly from businesses who come directly to share their briefs with us. You can get these in real-time if you’re on whatsapp, telegram and slack.
freelance content strategist with b2b saas exp (Remote,USA)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250321-pharma.html
Freelance Senior Social Strategist (Seattle,USA)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250321-copacino.html
Freelance Communication Strategist (Remote)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250318-permaculture.html
Freelance Senior Strategist / Strategy Director (3m) (London,UK)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250318-pack.html
VP level Brand Strategist with HCP, DTC pharma exp (NY,USA)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250318-omnicom.html
Influencer Strategistsa (NY,USA)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250318-newgen.html
freelance social media writer & strategist (Remote,USA)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250318-lickability.html
Freelance Senior Strategy on tobacco brand (Remote,UK)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250318-creativecrowd.html
brand strategist with fs exp (US)
https://outsideperspective.co/gigs/20250318-co.html
That’s all for this week.
mk ✌️
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