Strategy Director at Southpaw
Career to date:
2015 - Southpaw (Strategy Director)
2014 - Southpaw (Planning Director)
2013 - Southpaw (Senior Planner)
2006 - DLKW Lowe (Board Account Planner)
2001 - Unilever (Category Strategy Manager & Senior Brand Manager)
1998 - Rank Hovis McDougall Ltd. (Category Manager)
1996 - Taylor Nelson Sofres (Account Executive)
Niki Macartney: Growth. Growth of our strategic and creative product, growth of my strategy department and growth in new business. We’re all very hands on here and I love what I do. The day I stop writing creative strategy is the day I stop working in Adland.
Niki Macartney: I studied Business at Uni, then spent the first five years in quant and qual research. I moved to Unilever as Strategy Manager, developing their 5-year strategy for their skincare portfolio (Dove, Vaseline, Impulse, Lynx). After 2 further years at Unilever as a Brand Manager, I gave up my comforts and travelled the divide to agency life where I stayed at Lowe for the next 7 years, becoming Board Account Planner on some wonderful clients such as Organix, Merlin, Johnson & Johnson and Microloan. 2.5 years later and I’m Strategy Director at Southpaw, my most challenging, thrilling and rewarding role yet. I’ve been responsible for upgrading the agency’s strategic thinking and winning new business such as Miller Genuine Draft, St Tropez, Charles Worthington, Gallo Family Vineyards and Rimmel. My most recent success was developing the strategy behind Sanctuary Spa’s highly successful #Letgo movement.
“The industry needs more meaningful communications that make a marked improvement to people’s lives.”
Niki Macartney: We are a genuine challenger agency with a brave attitude and ambition. Despite being owned by Hakuhodo (the seventh-largest holding company in the world), we feel complete ownership of our futures. Our colleagues are hungry and driven for success but at the same time really nice people, no egos or politics just great at what they do. We all have a challenger mindset, having to fight hard to get the big pitch and brief opportunities against the top 10 agencies and we know once we are considered, we convert; we’ve won 8 out of 10 pitches over the last 12 months.
Niki Macartney: A few months back I went to a TEDx event on Diversity. There were 15 or so thought-provoking speakers setting out to inspire positive change. It was a valuable lesson to always search for a new perspective. It not only makes you a more interesting person, it’s a good reminder that the world doesn’t revolve around the marketing industry.
Niki Macartney: Our #Letgo campaign for Sanctuary Spa. We set out to create a new movement, challenging the current femvertising landscape which piles the pressure on women and instead empowers them to spend more time ‘being, not doing’. In the first month since launch, we’ve already achieved more than 10 million views of our online film and women across the world outpouring emotion and encouraging others to let go too.
Niki Macartney: Good creativity – work with purpose. Leo Burnett’s thought provoking ‘suffocation’ cover for Cosmopolitan challenging honor-violence. Kim Gehrig’s #Thisgirlcanfor seeing women as they really are. Volvo Life Paint, for well, saving lives.
Niki Macartney: My Book Club. Admittedly a euphemism since we don’t read many books but I learn so much about women – from all backgrounds, all motivations, all stages of life. It’s the best grounding experience you can get.
Niki Macartney: Southpaw’s own cultural newsfeed ‘Furiously Curious’. A platform for everyone in the agency to share and discuss interesting cultural matter.
Niki Macartney: Influential? This makes you want to adjust yourself
Niki Macartney: Remaining relevant to clients who are building in-house capability and ensuring we can continue to add value. Pushing up stream to CEO level to fend off the top 5 consultants who are after our lunch. Continuing to stay close to society and understanding cultures as they form and translating that into opportunity for clients. Not a lot really.
Niki Macartney: Programmatic – digital transforming the buying process of all media. Agencies and clients need to develop and understand the importance of this now before it’s too late and they are left behind.
Niki Macartney: Far too costly. The model through the traditional intermediaries is shot and needs to evolve as they are still pigeon holing agencies whilst the world has moved on.
“We set out to create a new movement, challenging the current femvertising landscape which piles the pressure on women and instead empowers them to spend more time ‘being, not doing’”
Niki Macartney: The Sanctuary Spa pitch – The brief was to make women cry. Half way through the pitch, the client asked us to stop as they left the room for 5 minutes. They returned and awarded us the business there and then based upon the strength of our strategy and creative concepts. 2 weeks later we were presenting the treatment of the film to 19 stakeholders….all were in tears and we knew we had something special. 9 months later, we have engaged with 10 million women globally who have signed up to our cause.
Niki Macartney: The industry needs more meaningful communications that make a marked improvement to people’s lives.
Niki Macartney: We have a very ambitious leader in Tom Poynter. We have achieved double digit growth in the last 2 years and we will do the same again by 2018. Our offering to clients is going to be a real thorn in the side of mainstream agencies, especially as our London presence builds.
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