ABOUT ME

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ABOUT ME

I AM A NEW YORK-BASED INDEPENDENT STRATEGIST.

There are lots of great agencies in New York City. And I've worked for a fair few of them.

SO WHY AM I FREELANCING?

Right now, the world is just too damn exciting to be working for just one company.

What brands can do for people and what people can do with brands is wide open. And the journey to get to those ideas is usually bumpy, often off-road, and always lots of fun. My way of understanding this wild and wondrous new world is to work with those who are changing it. I've been lucky enough to work with some of the most interesting companies out there - speed-learning, risk taking, experimenting, making and taking, and generally having a blast.

Which means I'll bring you everything I've learned in this crazy, shifting world out there, figure out what makes you great, and help you up your game where it makes the biggest difference.

And because R&D is important, not just for corporations but for people, I only work eight months a year. The other four months are 'lab time' - time to experiment with life itself, make stuff, volunteer and learn new skills.

I'VE BEEN WORKING WITH SOME INTERESTING COMPANIES

STUFF I LOVE

Projects where the solution goes beyond communications coming to life in a product or provocative actions.

Tough cases: brands facing big challenges who haven't figured out how to tap into changes in culture.

Supposed low interest categories - born from the belief that any category can and should be interesting.

WHAT I’M GOOD AT

Defining a brand's cause, its fight, its story in a way that's provocative and has a sharp edge.

Finding the big idea fast. I distrust insights that need six weeks of research to get uncovered.

Using human language to get at human truths - I hate marketing jargon and business-speak.

Tracking down interesting stories within big piles of supposedly boring data and information.

WHAT I'M NOT GOOD AT

Working as part of a large team where everyone has a say. I go quiet in rooms with 20 people talking over each other. Maybe because I grew up in a large family?

Standard brand templates with their endless tweaking of words. Trying to decide between 'refresh your life, every day' or 'refreshing vitality, daily' - aargh! I've found that 'higher order benefits' often become the enemy of doing something bold and different.

All-day meetings. Does anyone enjoy them?

RECENT STUFF

WHAT I'VE BEEN UP TO MOST RECENTLY

Brand & comms development for a new mental health & wellness initiative (client: strategy boutique)
Audience deep-dive for global job search engine (client: creative boutique)
Product and brand strategy for new apparel brand launch (client: premium apparel company)
Naming development for multinational technology company (client: strategy boutique)
Brand strategies for a couple of brands in the health & wellness space (client: creative agency)
Brand and product architectures for global information technology company (client: strategy boutique)
Brand and comms strategy for pitch for genealogy and wellness brand (client: creative agency)
Brand and comms strategy for pitch for large government agency (client: creative agency)
Creative and communications strategy for global software brand (client: creative boutique)
Brand repositioning for large national retailer (client: strategy & innovation boutique)
Brand positioning for an upscale male apparel company (client: apparel startup)

SPECIALTIES

Brand positionings

Brand, marketing and advertising strategies

New business pitches

Creative development

Cultural audits

Audience deep dives

Innovation/new product development

AUDIENCE expertise

Millennials and GenZ

Guys

Creative class and other experience-driven audiences

Health and wellness seekers

Affluent

Business owners and entrepreneurs

RESUME

EDUCATION

SCHOOL OF VISUAL ARTS (New York) - Master of Fine Arts in photography

OXFORD UNIVERSITY (Oxford, UK) - BA/MA in philosophy, psychology and physiology

JOBS

JWT (New York) - Group Strategy Director

BERLIN CAMERON UNITED (New York) - Partner/Chief Strategy Officer

FALLON MCELLIGOTT BERLIN (New York) - Senior Strategist

BARTLE BOGLE HEGARTY (London) - Planner

AWARDS

Three gold Effies, one silver and one bronze Effie, one silver Jay Chiat award, a bronze IPA Effectiveness award and a silver APG/UK award.

MY STORY

I grew up in a large family in a small village in the South of Germany. It’s lovely there, but I knew early on that I had to get out. I was punk, I was goth, I was shy, I was weird, I dropped out of high school. Working in a pants factory got old really fast, so I went on a German game show, made some money and ran away to London - note on pillow, early morning train, that kind of departure.

With no qualifications, no connections and dodgy English my career prospects were limited. I worked in fast food places and cafeterias for a couple of years, then decided to step up my game by learning to type and do shorthand. Working as secretary for a few years gave me the confidence to think about picking up my education. I took evening classes for a year and did my A-levels (SATs). I did pretty well, and got accepted by Oxford University, where I studied psychology and philosophy.

And then BBH London offered me the only trainee planner spot for the year. Which takes us to the beginning of my official résumé.

It’s a bit of an unusual bio, I’ll admit, but I thought it’s worth mentioning. I’ve learned a lot in those poverty years, the years of doing minimum wage jobs, where I was just another inarticulate foreigner.

Empathy - if you're forever on the outside you're forced to figure out how the rest of the world thinks and feels

Fearlessness - realizing that the only way to create change is to make big bets

Humility - respecting people from every walk of life, because they could be me, and I could be them

Gratitude - even when things are bad, it's not scrubbing toilets for three dollars an hour

Optimism - dreaming big has yet to let me down

Resourcefulness - good with spit and duct tape

INTERESTS

In no particular order

Art - Did I mention I have a master's degree in fine art, specialization photography (done at SVA a few years ago)? That means I'm usually pretty up to date what's in New York's galleries, museums and alternative spaces. I also make art - I've had group and solo shows of my work in galleries here and in Europe. Favorite artists: Gillian Wearing, Darren Almond, Peter Hujar, Boris Mikhailov, Sophie Calle, Stephen Gill and tons more.

Health, nutrition and public health issues - I care a lot about how we can solve our public health crises through changing behavior patterns and policies. I'm not only a voracious reader of the latest science research news but a conflicted self-tracker and experimenter. It's also why I won't work on processed foods and drinks (not judging you or your brand, just trying to put my money where my mouth is).

History - I'm a bit obsessed with 20th Century history, especially the World Wars and the post-war period. I have read endlessly about it and done personal research and a photographic project. It's also the reason I'm a volunteer for Selfhelp, an organization that takes care of Nazi victims living in the New York City area.

Fashion - I am interested in the intellectual, technical and creative aspects of fashion design. I know how to draft and drape my own patterns, make clothes and love designing my own fabrics.

I love Georgian music and culture and am currently trying to learn the panduri.

And I generally spend far too much time out hiking and hunting wild mushrooms.

SAY HELLO

Let's talk - whether it's about a specific project or just because.

sigridjakob at gmail.com