In our first installment in our ‘Zoz in the Spotlight’ blog series, Senior VP Director of Strategy and Planning, Jake Gerber, provides a background and analysis of our strategy department. With a focus on customer journeys and brand architecture, our strategy team is ready to make your brand’s dreams come true today.
Zozimus Strategy
Great strategy is your foundation for success, and great strategies are what we produce. No matter the type of strategy, from business strategy to product strategy, to brand strategy, to creative strategy, to media strategy, to experience strategy and more, it requires a deep, objective understanding of the opportunity, a clear, actionable choice to achieve goals, and the discipline to stay the course.
At its core, strategy is a choice that reflects people, both individuals, and groups. From end-users, to investors, to boards, to employees, to influencers and other groups, a great strategy identifies which human needs and desires will help your business achieve success. How do people think and behave, and why? Which types of people are important to achieve business growth, and which are not? What cultural, societal, categorical, and technological forces are shaping their actions, views, and expectations? How can past and current purchase behaviors project into future consumption? Who should be purchasing your services, and what barriers must be removed? What messages and experiences will win in both subconscious and conscious thought and activities?
These are some of the critical questions we work to objectively answer for any type of assignment, from business planning to product extensions and/or culling, to advertising and marketing initiatives.
What sets Zozimus apart?
Zozimus is unique in that it offers a full suite of marketing, advertising, and consulting services for mid-sized partners. Our leadership team has experience across industries and across a range of agency and client-side roles, and we all still work on the day-to-day needs of our clients. We enjoy doing the work! And our agency talent earlier in their careers also have the same combination of skills and approachability.
We’ve been very successful in integrating our branding and performance marketing offerings for clients. This is something we all take pride in as the division of brand and performance is an issue most agencies are still grappling with.
Jake majored in Psychology and Sociology at Bates College, where he was also a member of the Brooks Quimby Debate Council (don’t judge, it’s a great skill!).
Jake was lucky enough to get a summer internship at AMP Agency while in college, which eventually turned into a full-time job. He spent four years traveling the country moderating focus groups, conducting ethnographies, and helping small to large clients with a range of marketing and business opportunities from beer to sneakers to ice cream to toys. He then joined Digitas and spent over 12 years improving his strategic, digital, and leadership skills. He worked on Fortune 500 clients in automotive, financial services, QSR, and energy.
He was recruited to join Zozimus to establish and run the strategy and planning department, an offering that is normally only found at much larger agencies. He has spent the past four+ years helping clients across all different industries establish their brand, understand their target audience and create marketing and advertising that drives business results.
BOSTON, MARS
