Brand Strategist

Zambezi; Minneapolis (MN); On-site; USD 75,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance (100% employer-paid)

Life insurance

Disability insurance

401(k) matching

Open PTO policy

Wellness stipends

Continuing education stipend

Job summary

Zambezi is an independent, women-owned agency recognized as Ad Age Small Agency of the Year 2026. We’re seeking a Brand Strategist in the Los Angeles area to drive audience insights, cultural relevance, and impactful briefs across client projects.

The role emphasizes collaboration with creative, media, and account teams, with a focus on strategic grounding for breakthrough work and active participation in new business and AI-informed diagnostics.

Qualifications

• Approximately 3+ years of brand strategy or similar experience in marketing or advertising.
• Capacity to distill information to what’s most interesting.
• Excellent verbal, written and collaboration skills.
• Ability to present information clearly and concisely.
• Highly organized and have high attention to detail.
• Proficient with data tools like MRI and Waldo.
• Well-versed in social media, including experience across key platforms - TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook.
• Excited to create the best work of your career.
• Eagerness about strategic planning and brand development, with a desire to grow within the field.

Responsibilities

• Research & Insights: Hunt for what’s interesting and fresh; keep team up-to-speed on trends; build audiences by running MRI data; organize resources; gather insights from social listening; leverage AI tools as a source of information.
• Brief Development: Research cultural trends and client backgrounds; distill to what’s most important; unlock opportunities; bring a point of view on breakthroughs; write narratives, not just briefs.
• Shaping the Work: Partner with account and creative teams to digest client input and guide ideas; ensure strategic grounding for breakthrough work; present in the strongest media context for target audiences.
• New Business Support: Assist with data and thinking for new pitches; run data/analysis for proprietary AI diagnostic The Brand Performance Gap.

Skills

Brand strategy

Audience insights

Collaboration

Presentation

Tools

MRI

Waldo

Gemini

Meltwater

Job description

Zambezi is a proudly independent, women-owned agency and the 2026 winner of the Ad Age Small Agency of the Year award, giving you the room to do the best work of your career. We are looking for a Brand Strategist to join us. This position is designed for a highly motivated and ambitious thinker with a passion for strategic thinking and how that inspires great creative. This person will provide essential support across a variety of client projects and relied upon for audience and cultural insights and brief development. This role is ideal for someone eager to bring insights to the table and contribute to a fast-paced agency environment.

You’re the right person for this role if…

• You’re naturally curious. You are eager to dig into culture, categories, and audiences, turning interesting information into insights.
• You can think macro and micro. You can run an audience on MRI or design a survey with detail, but still think about the brand opportunity.
• You understand and are knowledgeable about how strategy and creative deploys in multiple channels including social –we are seeking a generalist not a specialist.
• You champion your ideas with confidence, articulating your perspective clearly regardless of the room's dynamics.
• You are a strong collaborator. Someone who thrives in a fast-paced environment. You enjoy working in an integrated environment with all departments including creative, media and account.
• You are ambitious and entrepreneurial. You’re willing to jump in and bring solutions at every step.
• You care deeply about creative work and want to be an active partner to creative teams to craft ideas and push for breakthrough thinking.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Research & Insights:
  • Hunt for what’s interesting and fresh, not just what’s right
  • Keep the team and agency up-to-speed on trends, social conversations, or sub-cultures
  • Build target audiences and personas by running and analyzing MRI data, and leveraging other data tools
  • Help maintain and organize audience research resources/tools
  • Gather interesting insights leveraging social media listening (i.e. Meltwater), and provide a perspective on how to best activate a brand and brief on respective social platforms
  • Leverage AI tools, like Gemini or Waldo, as a source of information, but not imagination
• Brief Development:
  • Conduct research on cultural trends, competitive landscapes, and client backgrounds and then distill to what’s most important
  • Unlock the opportunity with every brief
  • Bring a point of view on what makes breakthrough creative work
  • Write narratives, not just briefs
• Shaping the Work:
  • Partner with the account team to help digest client input briefs, ask the right questions, and provide a point-of-view
  • Partner with the creative team to help guide ideas and executions, ensuring we have the strategic grounding for breakthrough and effective work
  • Partner with the media team so that the strategy and creative ideas are presented in the strongest media context for a client’s target audience
• New Business Support:
  • Assist in the foundational data and thinking around new business pitches
  • Become a go-to source for running the data and analysis for our proprietary AI diagnostic, The Brand Performance Gap

REQUIREMENTS:

• Approximately 3+ years of brand strategy or similar experience in marketing or advertising
• Capacity to distill information to what’s most interesting
• Excellent verbal, written and collaboration skills
• Ability to present information clearly and concisely
• Highly organized and have high attention to detail
• Proficient with data tools like MRI and Waldo
• Well-versed in social media, including experience across key platforms - TikTok, Instagram, YouTube and Facebook
• Excited to create the best work of your career
• Eagerness about strategic planning and brand development, with a desire to grow within the field

Must be located in the greater Los Angeles area.

$75,000 - $90,000 a year

Exactly where a prospective employee will be paid within this range will depend on, among other factors, the candidate’s depth of experience and qualifications in relation to the job description and the actual job duties of the role.

We also offer comprehensive benefits including:

• 100% employer-paid employee medical, dental, and vision insurance
• Term life insurance and supplemental long-term disability
• 401(k) matching
• Open PTO policy
• Monthly wellness and technology stipends
• Continuing education stipend

The range above is for the expectations as laid out in the job description; however, we are often open to a wide variety of profiles to find the right candidate for Zambezi.