Rethinking Our Craft as Creative Strategists

Creative strategy lights up the darkness, revealing a vision.

September is often a time for reflection. At Touché, this summer, we had the chance to work on several ambitious repositioning projects with clients who truly value long-term thinking. Defining a mission, reshaping values, uncovering the right insight, refining a brand territory… It’s always teamwork. And when this work is shared with the client, when we move forward together, something happens: an idea takes root, and everything else can flourish.

I see the role of a creative strategist as that of a midwife. We help a brand bring its essence into the world. It means stepping outside the frame of a brief at times, challenging the obvious, then returning to the core when necessary. And above all: remembering that the client is the North Star. An idea only matters if it helps them project further, stronger, truer.

This is the part of the job I love most, even though craft also fascinates me. Being at the beginning, at the tipping point where an intuition becomes a narrative, where a guided thought opens the field of possibilities. It’s also where the work is most fragile, because it’s invisible.

And yet, I still notice a reluctance to properly credit those who shape the idea before it turns into an image. Naming this work sometimes feels taboo, as if acknowledging strategy somehow diminished creation. But giving credit is not about egos. It’s about intellectual rigor, about recognizing the value chain for what it truly is. You cannot champion recognition and inclusion, then invisibilize the very people who built the backbone of a campaign.

Creative strategy is not secondary. It is often the origin. And it deserves to be told as well. Not to flatter egos, but to remind us that every great idea begins with a well-framed intuition, a clearly guided thought.

I believe it’s time to reframe creative strategy not as a technical prerequisite, but as an art in itself. An art of thinking, listening, framing, imagining. An art that makes the work of others possible.

This September, that’s the energy we bring at Touché: continuing to defend the value of ideas, working hand in hand with those who bring them to life, and reminding ourselves that creativity always begins with a clear thought.

Sarra Messaoudi

Founder & Creative Brand Strategist at Touché Agency.