Lessons from 20 years of trying to make better creative work.

After 20 years in strategy, Kit Altin has learned that some of the most useful lessons come from discovering what you got completely wrong.

In this candid and entertaining talk, Kit will revisit some of the beliefs she has had to unlearn about strategy, briefing and creativity.

Drawing on real experience and practical examples, she will explore what actually helps teams produce braver, more effective creative work – and how strategy can open up creativity rather than constrain it. The session will also consider why judgement, uncertainty and a willingness to entertain apparently wrong answers are becoming even more important in the age of AI.

What you’ll learn

Attendees will learn:

• How to make strategy useful and generative, rather than simply correct.

• Why sharper briefs depend on choice, sacrifice and productive tension.

• How strategy can give creatives freedom without becoming vague or restrictive.

• Why original ideas often need help to survive, develop and gain support.

• How to use uncertainty and productive wrongness to escape increasingly predictable thinking.

Who it’s aimed at

This session is for strategists, creatives, designers, agency leaders, account teams, marketers, freelancers and anyone involved in developing, shaping or selling creative ideas.

No formal strategy background is required. It will be particularly useful for anyone who wants to write better briefs, strengthen the relationship between thinking and making, or help more original ideas make it into the world.

About Kit

Kit is Chief Strategy Officer at The Gate London, where she leads a multidisciplinary strategy team across brand and customer experience.

A former DJ, set designer, theatre promoter, and copywriter, she has carved a distinctive career path that ultimately led to strategy where she has spent the last 20 years shaping commercially and creatively effective campaigns for brands including McDonald’s, Audi, the BBC, and Tide.

Her work has earned recognition including Campaign’s Global Strategic Leader of the Year and multiple Gold awards at Cannes Lions, The Marketing Society Awards, the Effies and APG Awards, including an APG Grand Prix. Her work on SMARTY mobile will win an IPA Effectiveness award this October.

Her campaign highlights at The Gate include “It’s OK I’m with The AA”; “Nobody Is Normal” for Childline; “Sex Never Gets Old” for Replens; and, most recently, “The Fine Print” for Plan International UK.

A passionate educator, Kit has spent 12 years teaching creative skills for D&AD, the IPA, and the APG. She has spoken at SXSW Austin for the past 3 years, where her inventive workshops have included live DJ sets and deep-dives into revenge.

Tickets

> Early bird BCI member tickets are available up until Fri 21st August at £30+VAT

> BCI member tickets from Sat 22nd August are £40 +VAT.

> Non-member tickets are £75 +VAT.

All tickets include a networking buffet lunch and refreshments.

 

 

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About Bristol Creative Industries

Bristol Creative Industries is the membership network that supports the region's creative sector to learn, grow and connect, driven by the common belief that we can achieve more collectively than alone.