We’re entering another pressure cycle — tariffs tightening, inflation lingering, political stakes rising, and AI chaos rewriting the rules of…everything. For marketers, that means fewer resources, higher expectations, and almost no room for error. The instinct in these moments is to scale back and cut what feels unproven. 

And strategy — in all its various forms and focuses — is almost always first on the chopping block. 

But that instinct misses the point. Because more and more, strategy is starting to look like the most expensive PowerPoint hobby in the business — and if we’re really being honest, we have no one to blame but ourselves. 

The problem isn’t that strategy is too abstract. Or too costly. Or too slow. It’s that it’s woefully unaccountable. 

Strategy talks a big game — about long-term vision, emotional resonance, and the power of an evocative narrative. But too often, it’s not delivering where it counts: in making moves, earning wins, and showing the receipts. 

The Deck Is Not the Deliverable 

In a results-first world, strategy doesn’t just look vulnerable — it looks expendable. Budgets are shrinking, timelines are collapsing, and scrutiny is rising across the board. So it’s no surprise that in this climate, strategy — whether it’s brand, business, marketing, experience, or innovation — is one of the first things to be questioned. Anything that lives upstream of execution is on the chopping block. The more removed from a measurable result, the more likely to get cut. 

Saying it loud enough for the strategists in the back: Much of today’s strategy work lives in slides, not systems. In presentations, not in-market. In insights, not in implementation. 

And in that gap between ideas and action, strategy loses its seat at the table — and strategists lose their lunch (read: jobs). We’re easier to cut when we make ourselves harder to prove. 

The Truth We Don’t Present 

As strategists, we love to talk about impact — lasting, meaningful, brand-defining. But too often, we don’t want the pressure that comes with proving it. We cheer when creative is measured. We track media to the decimal. But when it comes to our own work? We stay vague. We say we “influence.” Most strategy wraps at the brief. The KPIs, if they exist, are fuzzy at best. 

And that’s the problem: we show up to direct, not to deliver. We’ve turned strategy into a performance, not a practice — a beautifully crafted tale, delivered with poise and polish, that too often fails to actually move the needle. 

The lesson? If your strategy can’t be tested or iterated on, you’re not building a brand — you’re just storytelling. 

Language Is Part of the Problem 

In any cost-cutting environment, words like “purpose,” “territory,” and “essence” feel indulgent. They make strategy sound like a luxury, not a necessity. Clients don’t just want poetic metaphors. They want moves. Leverage. Proof.  

So maybe it’s time to shift the language: 

If we want strategy to survive this moment, we need to update our vocabulary…fast. Because strategy can’t just “inspire” anymore, it has to earn its keep. Not just upstream, but all the way through. 

The Brief Behind the Brief 

From clients and the market — the boardroom to the bottom line — the message is clear: strategy, in any discipline, must deliver three things. 

The most successful agencies won’t be the ones with the most engaging decks. They’ll be the ones clearly and consistently proving that strategy can’t be decoupled from execution — and showing that when strategy has done its job, there’s no need to ask if it worked. Because you’ll see it in product innovations, media choices, CX shifts, and brave brand risks. 
 
So Where Do We Go From Here? 

Let’s stop treating strategy like a museum artifact — priceless, untouchable, frozen in time — and start treating it like a working model for continuous improvement. Something that evolves, flexes, and faces the same scrutiny as creative and media.   

Strategy isn’t dead. But the old ways of doing it are. Strategy doesn’t need saving. But it needs skin in the game. 
 
If strategy doesn’t drive a decision, shift a dollar, or spark a measurable move, it’s just decoration. And if strategy can’t move the market, then what exactly are we really doing? 

It’s time to rebuild strategy for purpose. For business, not just brand. And for growth that’s real, relevant, and earned.