Creative Strategist

Advantage Sales & Marketing dba Advantage Solutions • Minneapolis, MN

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The Creative Strategist is responsible for identifying and translating market and consumer trends into actionable business opportunities. This role leverages trend research (macro, product, cultural, and behavioral) and industry insights - from global trend resources, trade shows, and digital analysis - to uncover white space that aligns with retailer, merchant, and client strategies. Partnering with cross-functional stakeholders including Sales, Category Management, Consumer Insights, and Merchants, the Creative Strategist delivers tailored trend reports, consumer mindset updates, and inspiration sessions that drive strategic decision-making. This role influences assortment planning, product development, and new business opportunities, while also shaping merchandising strategies. The Creative Strategist collaborates closely with Creative Team to bring concepts to life through merchandising, marketing, and showroom displays.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree
• 6–8 years experience in relevant field (Trend forecasting, product development, strategy preferred)
• Advanced proficiency in PowerPoint and visual storytelling, with a strong eye for design, composition, and creating persuasive, client-facing presentations.
• Some travel expected
• Strategic: demonstrates mastery, self-motivation and expertise in trend research with the ability to connect the dots between multiple resources. Able to identify and triangulate white space/new business opportunities that align with Retailer/Merchant strategies, market opportunities and client strategies to provide actionable insights/recommendations tailored to each client
• Ability to prioritize numerous projects concurrently, ensuring timely completion. Assess the urgency and importance of tasks, allocating time and resources accordingly
• Storytelling – ability to take complex ideas or large amounts of research/data and simplify into understandable and concise stories to influence business decisions and drive new business growth
• Dynamic presentation skills: comfortable presenting to groups of 30 people or more, and upward to senior leadership. Ability to inspire and motivate teams into action
• Strong visual and graphic design skills to make impactful trend presentations using presentation and graphic design tools
• Demonstrates a customer-centric approach with a service mindset. Understands the value of providing exceptional service and fostering trust. Cultivates positive relationships to deliver contributions to the team’s success

Responsibilities

• Research market and product trends: macro, consumer, cultural, and category specific trends. Demonstrates mastery in researching and tracking market trends using trend resources, observational trends from trade shows, market tours, and extensive digital research to gain deep insights to identify retail trends and white space opportunities. Uses trend curve to align findings within company definitions and expectations
• Trend reporting: Using understanding of company strategy and initiatives, connects the dots between observations from the market, trade show analysis, reports from leading trend publications and digital media. Expertly analyzes and applies trend research to create custom trend analysis reports that include macro, consumer, and product trends for a category. Creates and presents impactful reports inclusive of concise yet aspirational storytelling that shape product and merchandising strategies
• Business development: Actively identifies new brands, products, style and new business opportunities that align with company initiatives while understanding the difference between a fad and a long-term trend. Proactively partners with sales and insights leads to ensure continuous focus on outputting trends and white space opportunities for current brand partners that grow share of wallet with the company
• Strategic guidance and inspire action: Lead and inspire clients through trend safaris, brainstorms, workshops, line-review support, and ad-hoc projects. Curate itineraries to inspire new ideas, create ideation plans, prepare stimulus aligned to client needs, highlight innovation and trends to drive new product development, and support seasonal strategy through strategic guidance and trend material
• Relationships: Serves as a trusted advisor and strategic thought partner to clients. Responsible for intimately understanding company strategies, brand strategies and the marketplace to help identify opportunities that can best drive business and grow share of wallet. Demonstrates the ability to navigate and balance needs of clients and the company. Able to interact at all levels of clients with comfort and ease
• Lead creative experience: Through the lens of company strategies, directs and inspires the Creative team to bring white space opportunities and merchandising concepts to life in a realistic and meaningful manner both in store and online

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level