Q™ User Spotlight: Michael Loper, RAPP, on the Shapes of Strategy
Michael Loper is the VP of Experience Strategy at RAPP and a power user of our cultural intelligence platform Q™. We had a chance to sit down with Michael and dig into his approach, how he leverages Q™ week-to-week and what cultural trends he’s keeping a close eye on.
Can you tell us a little about yourself, your responsibilities, and your focus at work?
I’m a Brand Planner and Professional Nerd at heart, now navigating the digital multiverse with amazing teams across the network. I came to RAPP in 2019 along with a super commute from Asbury Park, NJ. Prior to RAPP, I’ve worked across multiple agency networks and leadership teams to help keep strategy at the heart of powerfully creative ideas and experiences. At RAPP (based out of New York), as the VP of Experience Strategy, I work with teams on American Family Insurance, Palo Alto Networks, and Kroger via DDB. Our growing strategy department has quickly become an extended family throughout the crazy within the past year.
What do you enjoy most about your industry and how has it changed over the years?
I love strategy because at its core, it’s storytelling. Many can disagree, but I don’t think strategy has really changed. That being said, I’ve worked on so many versions of “strategy” in slide forms and brainstorms, from the brand level, down to the banner and email levels. As a comic book nerd, I look at every problem like a comic strip, focusing in on the characters, plot twists, enemies, and tensions, and ultimately the moral of the story we are always trying to tell. If anything has changed, it’s likely that strategy and strategists are now closer in proximity to the business KPIs than ever before.
What kinds of problems do you need to solve most frequently?
Finding ownable but somewhat universal truths that can drive the work and experience forward. This can come in the form of “insight mining” or “trend hunting.”
How does Q™ help you in the “insight mining” process?
Q™ helps me frame the competitive discovery in a new lens to pivot the strategy from being brand or product-driven, to audience and persona-driven. As a strategist, I look at the 2x2 boxes as highly subjective observations. Q™ helps me shape (with actual shapes!) audience or behavioral segments and competitive observations into ownable insights rooted in cultural truths. This feat absolutely involves some form of mental gymnastics, but over time, Q™ has helped me trust my gut and imagination as a storyteller by giving me the data and the tools to create compelling narratives. It’s always fun to see the art balance out the science when it comes to “data-driven strategy.”
How does understanding culture impact your day-to-day at work?
It doesn’t. HA joking joking!! It constantly helps to keep a pulse on what’s changing. Strategists must rely largely on their instincts and ability to construct and bring a story to life for peers, creatives, and clients. Having a tool like Q™ to support your curiosity and ground intuitional observations with elements of culture feels like the wishes I made as a Junior Planner are finally being answered.
Last question, what are you keeping your eye on in culture right now?
Two things: (1) what start-ups are going to pop out in the next 2 years that will have been born from the many drastic lifestyle changes we’ve all made in the past year (from travel, commuting, and work-life balance, to family, health, and the concept of homeownership). (2) how brands (via partnerships) are going to be working more closely together based on how people live or change their lives. I LOVE the recent work from Oreo Thins, because it tells me that brands, decision makers and agencies are willing to work together to create native and authentic experiences based on what people already do, vs. trying to “create behavior change.”