Creative Strategist

Karla Otto is a renowned public relations and communications agency with offices across 15 locations in the UK, EMEA, US and Asia. Established in 1982 by Karla Otto herself, the agency has since grown to become a global leader in luxury brand PR and events.

With offices in major fashion capitals such as Milan, London, New York, and Los Angeles, Karla Otto represents some of the most prestigious fashion, beauty, and lifestyle brands in the industry.

In 2017, Karla Otto and K2 merged to form The Independents, a global group of agencies for industry leaders across luxury and lifestyle. Currently this group comprises of Bureau Betak & Bureau Future, Karla Otto, K2, The Qode, Lefty, Prodject, CTZAR, Atelier ATHEM, Atelier LUM, INCA Productions, Kennedy, Sunshine, BUREAU BÉATRICE and Kitten.

This role will sit within KITE, a specialist division established to position global companies, brands & products in the luxury lifestyle segment, through holistic marketing & communications that balances a creative and business mindset. This division has a particular focus on clients outside Karla Otto’s well-known categories such as fashion.

Our network of expert strategists, creatives, marketeers and publicists work tirelessly to deliver exceptional results and establish long-term partnerships with our clients. We are passionate about the world of lifestyle and luxury, with everyone bringing their unique expertise and insights to the table. We are driven by a shared commitment to excellence and a deep understanding of the ever-evolving industry landscape.

Key Responsibilities

• With support from the senior team, interrogate client briefs/RFPs by dissecting objectives and finding creative solutions to KPIs, goals and objectives.
• Actively participate in creative brainstorms for new business and retained clients equally, bringing strategic thinking and aligned ideas that uniquely represent brands to required briefs.
• Project manage and engage with clients on day-to-day activities, presentations and key milestones, ensuring communications remains efficient and to an excellent standard.
• Research and image/video sourcing; organising and laying out digital assets for client decks and proposals.
• Create decks for clients, ensuring high attention to thinking, visual and written detail. Where relevant, collaborate and coordinate with colleagues in multiple workstreams to produce decks.
• Collaborate with the division teams (Strategy, Marketing, Digital Marketing, Comms and Production) and wider Karla Otto & Group colleagues to ideate and implement a cohesive creative strategy framework for clients.
• In partnership with Digital Marketing and Production teams, research and manage the internal database for creatives (e.g. photographers, stylists, graphic artists, social content creators), building an active network to support various client objectives.
• Stay on top of relevant cultural moments, current events, and trends in the lifestyle/digital landscape that can be relevant for clients – both on and offline.
• Remain ahead of all news at the intersection of cultural topics such as hospitality, fashion, and tech to advise clients on new opportunities and emerging strategies.
• Keeping up to speed with client competitors and current events relevant to the luxury space.
• Collaborate with teams across the agency’s various international offices, as and when required.
• Support the wider Karla Otto team during activations and events, as and when required.

Key Attributes

• Agency/ client-facing experience is a plus.
• A creative and independent thinker with strong interest and knowledge of current global trends within luxury and lifestyle and complementary verticals (i.e. music, art etc.) is essential.
• Ability to effectively communicate information and ideas in written and visual format
• Strong ability to build and maintain relationships.
• Strong organisational and time management skills: managing your own time across multiple clients and platforms and managing time to meet strict deadlines.
• Comfortable to network on the client’s behalf, as and when required, together with colleagues.
• Knowledge of and interest in a diverse range of international creative sources, online and offline e.g. social channels, digital creative platforms, live installations etc.
• Knowledge of international cultural events in fashion, music, art, design, etc.
• A real team player who will excel in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.
• Open attitude and eagerness to learn new things.
• Willingness to support senior team members on various tasks, especially around tight deadlines.
• Strong interest in and understanding of various execution channels and how to tailor creative approach to different platforms i.e. social media, press, events.
• Clear attention to detail.
• Good knowledge of Microsoft Office programs including PowerPoint, Excel, Word.
• Good copywriting skills are required, with the ability to adopt a range of writing styles to project desired tone of voice for multiple clients.
• Experience with design programs (Adobe Photoshop / InDesign) a plus.

As an equal opportunities employer, Karla Otto is committed to the equal treatment of all current and prospective team members and does not condone discrimination on the basis of age, disability, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy and maternity, race or ethnicity, religion or belief, gender identity, or marriage and civil partnership. We aspire to have a diverse and inclusive workplace and strongly encourage suitably qualified applicants from a wide range of backgrounds to apply and join our team!