what’s it like being a digital strategist at Wieden + Kennedy?
This article previously appeared on YCN.
Matt Simpson works as a strategist at the London office of advertising agency Wieden + Kennedy. Here he shares his professional story to date and some valuable pointers for those looking to follow in his footsteps.
YCN: What does your role entail?
Matt Simpson: A Digital Strategist works with the Creative and Planning teams to ensure a brand and its digital output are fully optimised for success online. This means understanding online behaviour and ensuring the creative work coming out of the agency fits into how people naturally consume internet culture. It's about finding the right time, place, audience and method to launch branded content online and then maintaining it long term. Internal education and client education is also a big part of the job. What's new? How does it work? How can we use it to help the brands we work with?
How did you get to where you are now?
Coming out of university straight into the recession wasn't ideal and I didn't have a clue what I wanted to do. I got offered a few jobs in different sectors and turned them down as they didn't feel right. I couldn't visualise myself doing them long term. My friends and family thought I was mad, but I look back now with no regrets.
I canvassed all the areas around the media industry and luckily landed an internship at a research agency called Face. They were dipping their toe in the water with how to do research online. I worked hard and let my love for all things digital shine. Having grown up with the Internet, I had an advantage over people who had been working for much longer. I played to this strength, and after a year I was offered a job and within a couple of years was heading up the community management team. It was at this point that Wieden + Kennedy came calling.
Essentially, I worked hard, found my niche and played to my strengths.
What was the biggest challenge you came across along the way?
After my first six months at W+K we lost our biggest client, Nokia. Half the agency was let go; and I was one of the unlucky ones. I took it personally and it hurt. It was during this point that I learned a lot about work life and came to terms with reality. W+K didn't not want me or the other 50 plus people they had to let go, it was just business. It taught me that no matter how much you like a place of work or how much they like you, you can never be too comfortable, things change quickly. You have to stay on your toes and keep your chin up.
I was kept on for three months, during which I found a couple of new jobs. I was just about to accept one when W+K told me that they wanted to reverse their decision and keep me on. I had mixed feelings about it, but decided that I wanted to prove myself and make sure I didn't have any regrets leaving one of the best agencies around. A year and a half on and that decision is looking like a good one.
What does W+K look for from Strategists?
I'll speak generally here as digital strategy is a really new career path and there are only two of us in the building. I would say that the W+K digital department, as a whole, looks for understanding and passion in people; understanding of how digital devices, the internet and technology work, and how they fit in to people's lives. Technology doesn't stop moving forward, so we look for people with a thirst and hunger for the unknown.
How can grads inch towards a role in strategy?
You don't need to start in advertising to become a strategist, so use your first working years to further your online education. Get to grips with working life and understand the industry you want to get into.
Don't be afraid to start with somewhere else. Digital strategy is still a niche, so get yourself some experience any way you can. Establish yourself in a role that has online at its core and then make the right moves.
I started as an intern, saw that community management interested me and worked towards that. The experience gained in community management opened up strategy as an option for me.
Look at other routes that will help you get there. Start-ups always need help, as do blogs and smaller agencies. Find the people who are doing interesting things and contact them to see if they need a hand. Riding the wave of a small business is equally as rewarding as working for one of the big agencies, as you learn a lot in a short space of time.
Never stop going on the Internet. That extra hour you spend pointlessly surfing the net matters. When you find yourself in the dark depths of YouTube or the back end of Reddit at 4am, see it as research for the role. Remember, you are part of a new generation. You know and understand a culture that some seasoned professionals don't. Don't underestimate the significance of culture in the ad industry. If you truly understand internet culture, then you'll have a great head start in the world of digital strategy.
Whatever you do, make yourself indispensable. Do the things other people don't want to do and do them well. Work hard, make an impression and never turn your nose up at any opportunity.
This interview was conducted by Mandy Cobb for YCN.
