Most agencies don’t lack strategy. They lack activation.
One of the most common challenges I hear from agency leaders is that the business strategy stalls by mid-year. They have a strong vision, a well thought-through strategy to get there and an annual business plan with milestones and metrics.
They’ve presented the plan to the business and heads of departments are all geared up and ready to go, but by the middle of year, it’s either got messy, misinterpreted or it’s been forgotten about. People cite many challenges and problems that have got in the way of different strategic objectives.
The strategic plan has become a static document, not a living system. And the business goals it was designed to deliver? They drift further out of reach.
Why does this happen?
Because strategy doesn’t live in the boardroom or in a Powerpoint presentation.
It lives in people, how they behave, how they interpret, how they make decisions and tackle problems. It’s in the client conversations, the internal trade-offs, the operational tensions and how well people engage with systems, use the tools and deploy ways of working.
Too often, the business plan or strategy is shared in an all-hands get together then neatly filed on the company share drive with an email link to everyone.
Occasionally there may be a follow-up engagement session by an enthusiastic team leader or head of department.
Less frequently, a switched-on people manager will endeavour to build it into their team’s Professional Development Plan.
But these good intentions still seem to stall, and the year end arrives. The plan is dragged out of hibernation and its success assessed and sadly noted.
Without a clear activation framework, strategy remains abstract. Leaders feel dragged into the weeds. Department Heads feel unsupported. And the business feels stuck.
What to do about it
Activation isn’t just implementation. It’s interpretation, translation, and collaboration but most of all, it’s about ownership.
Successful activation is the process of turning strategic ambition into personal ownership. – when each person in the business can understand what they can do to deliver the goals, what it means to them and how they will feel the benefit.
Successful activation is also a robust framework of actions with a programme of monitoring.
This is where I come in.
My Proposition
I help creative agencies activate their business strategy in order to deliver their vision and achieve growth. Not by adding more theory—but by embedding diagnostics, actions, and measurable outcomes into every layer of performance.
Two Tools to Start With
To help agencies assess their activation potential, I’ve developed two proprietary diagnostics:
- Activation Readiness Scan
A diagnostic questionnaire that scores how ready the business is to activate their business strategy – or any other strategy!
- Client Growth Gap Audit
A targeted assessment that uncovers where your client development efforts are stalling.
Both tools are designed to give you clarity before you embark on a programme of activation, where friction or confusion lies, and what needs to shift to unlock growth.
What to Do Next
If you’re an agency leader seeking velocity, an MD/Operations leader focused on ops excellence and profit, or a Client Services Director focused on client growth—don’t ask for another strategist. Ask for someone who can activate the strategy you already have.
Let’s make it live.
Book an Activation Call https://calendly.com/hello-joannaanthony/30min
I help creative agencies and inhouse Creative Ops teams translate strategy into systems, behaviours, and results. As a client service and change specialist with 30+ years’ experience inside agencies, I am skilled at ‘making it happen’.