Planning for the Best: Being Electrified by the Task at Hand with Maggie Walsh

Maggie Walsh is a strategic thinker with experience picked up at stints at record labels, television networks, and ad agencies. She’s passionate about work that drives culture and has led teams for award-winning work for Oreo, Absolut, HBO, Johnnie Walker, and MINI, while currently leading teams for clients at GLOW like The Roku Channel, Paramount+, WarnerMedia Discovery and more. 

LBB> What do you think is the difference between a strategist and a planner? Is there one?

Maggie> What a beautifully British question! I personally don’t distinguish it too much and use strategy/planning as sort of an umbrella term with various sub-types under that that may be useful for the task at hand.

LBB> And which description do you think suits the way you work best?

Maggie> I relate to the word strategist best. I think of strategy’s role as a problem solving one so that language alludes best to the type of work we do.

LBB> We’re used to hearing about the best creative advertising campaigns, but what’s your favourite historic campaign from a strategic perspective? One that you feel demonstrates great strategy?

Maggie> 'Like a Girl' still is a favourite. It’s so insightful and provocatively addresses a real problem. 

LBB> When you’re turning a business brief into something that can inform an inspiring creative campaign, do you find the most useful resource to draw on?

Maggie> Curiosity that borders on obsession. I can get excited about all sorts of problems and am a fan girl at heart. It’s one of the things that really drew me to Glow, because of how they’ve been able tap into fandom for clients across every vertical. 

LBB> What part of your job/the strategic process do you enjoy the most?

Maggie> I absolutely love learning about people and culture. The more niche the better. 

LBB> What strategic maxims, frameworks or principles do you find yourself going back to over and over again? Why are they so useful?

Maggie> The two things that come to mind are just two quotes two of my strategy mentors repeated frequently that I definitely did not appreciate at the time and are doomed to stick with me forever.

“Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take off one accessory” - Coco Chanel as frequently told to me by Lee Maicon. Taking something off a brief is almost always so much more useful than adding something to it. 

““If I had an hour to solve a problem I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and five minutes thinking about solutions.” - Einstein as frequently quoted to me by Raig Adolfo. Reminding me to slow down and stay focused on my literal job.

LBB> What sort of creatives do you like to work with? As a strategist, what do you want them to do with the information you give them?

Maggie> I love working with all types of creatives! That’s probably an annoying answer!  

I love working with people that surprise me. I love working with people that make me feel dumb. I love working with creatives that are as obsessed with the problem to solve as I am. My hope is that creatives feel electrified by the task at hand, clear on the mission, and like they have a partner in crime in our quest make interesting work. 

LBB> There’s a negative stereotype about strategy being used to validate creative ideas, rather than as a resource to inform them and make sure they’re effective. How do you make sure the agency gets this the right way round?

Maggie> I mean, sue me, but I don’t really care if strategy is used to validate creative ideas. Our job is to stand out and be effective. To me, “getting it right” means solving the problem and there’s lots of ways to get there. I emphasise both strategy fundamentals and nimbleness in our process. But shame on me if I don’t get excited for the creative team’s brilliantly effective, off-brief idea and shame on us if we get more enamoured with making ideas for ad people than the consumer we’re supposed to be serving.

LBB> What have you found to be the most important consideration in recruiting and nurturing strategic talent? And how has Covid changed the way you think about this?

Maggie> Curiosity. When recruiting, I look for people that are curious about the world around them, the people we serve, and the businesses’ we are lucky enough to work with. When nurturing talent, I do everything I possibly can to keep that sense of curiosity thriving in a business that gets more risk averse every day. Covid hasn’t necessarily changed what I emphasise in nurturing talent, but it’s certainly made me rethink how I do it. We’re fully remote at Glow, which is amazing because it emphasises creativity and autonomy, but also means we have fewer opportunities to wonder aloud together. We’re always experimenting with new ways of working as a result, though, which tends to be a pretty great antidote to complacency.

LBB> In recent years it seems like effectiveness awards have grown in prestige and agencies have paid more attention to them. How do you think this has impacted on how strategists work and the way they are perceived?

Maggie> I’ve been lucky enough to always work in places where strategy is not only appreciated, but core to the success of the agency. The strategists at Glow are in high demand from clients and creatives alike, which is a testament to their diverse range of experience and relentless pursuit of the most effective work possible.

LBB> Do you have any frustrations with planning/strategy as a discipline?

Maggie> Honestly, sometimes I feel so lucky that I get to do this job and that I get paid for something I actually love to do. My frustrations in strategy are probably pretty universal: clients love their strategists, but clients never want to pay for strategy, and my mom still doesn’t understand what I do.

LBB> What advice would you give to anyone considering a career as a strategist/planner?

Maggie> Read a lot. Write more. Nurture your little obsessions.