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Karen Strauss

Karen loves winning trophies for clients, believing awards affirm how much strategy and creativity matter. As Ketchum’s chief strategy and creativity officer, as well as co-lead of Ketchum’s 50+ specialty, she is an evangelist for courage and creativity in communication, and she ensures strategic discipline and creative liberation for the firm’s global network of planners. Her devotion to studying human behavior, crowdsourcing creative ideas and working across silos have contributed to Ketchum winning more awards for clients than any other PR firm. Some of her initiatives include the creation of Mindfire, Ketchum’s crowdsourcing site for fueling creative ideas; the Ketchum Creative Community and related Passion Panels to solve client challenges; and the Ketchum Media Optimizer, the first media planning discipline in the public relations business. As a member of the small minority of female agency creative chiefs, Karen is on a mission to inspire and empower more women to take on lead creative roles.

Posts: Karen Strauss

Cannes, Man and the Machine

by Karen Strauss| June 15, 2018

How prophetic that the debut of Marcel, the AI platform Publicis says will transform its business, is scheduled at the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity at virtually the same time I will be speaking about a campaign to change the human behaviors that caused the opioid crisis.

Hail to the YOLD and the Bold

by Karen Strauss| October 16, 2017

Unsolicited, and only after a little sip of wine, a lovely woman I had just met attending the Mature Marketing Association’s Summit in London last week tugged down her skirt and showed me the newish and rather colorful tattoo on her hip and boasted she was having the best sex of her life. In her […]

There is a Creative Echo Chamber: Now what are you going to do about it?

by Karen Strauss| June 19, 2017

With all the evidence that echo chambers polarize society by affirming people’s beliefs, it had to be asked whether this phenomenon is also warping creativity. Simply put, it is. And the reasons are complex, extending far beyond our reliance on like-minded people and media that echo back what we already think or want to hear. […]

Three Creative Directors Walk Into the Gutter Bar… Where’s the Comic Relief?

by Karen Strauss| June 16, 2017

A creative director for an ad agency, a PR firm and a digital shop all walk into the Gutter Bar in Cannes. Over cocktails, together, they mastermind a campaign of such noble purpose and seriousness, it’s a lock to win a Cannes Lion award in 2018. And you were hoping for a humorous punchline? Actually, […]

Invisible No More – The Power of 50+ WonderLust

by Karen Strauss| October 18, 2016

“A woman her age is supposed to be invisible. But Hillary Clinton, who is 68, refuses to disappear — and there is no shortage of people who despise her for it,” writes Petula Dvorak, as she reflects on society’s pervasive and persistent views on older women in her Washington Post column. When I shared this […]

Fishing For Your Sole

by Karen Strauss| June 23, 2016

Early each morning here on the French Riviera, anglers can be seen casting their lines in search of a perfect catch. Their leathery, tanned skin and white hair are outward reflections of their age and love for fishing. And they are reminders that we are all, no matter our age, hoping to snare a big […]