Jim Smith

About Jim Smith

The best strategists do more than solve problems. They make change feel possible, practical, and worth following.PEOPLE SAY I DO EXACTLY THATClients, partners, creatives, account leaders, and fellow strategists alike describe a consistent pattern in how I work: I get pulled in when the challenge is complex, the stakes are high, and the team needs a more differentiated answer. I’m known for asking why before how, simplifying complexity without flattening it, and helping teams turn smart thinking into action.OTHERS SAY I BRING CLARITY, ENERGY, AND MOMENTUMPeople often talk about the energy I bring to the work. I keep it fun, exhilarating, and moving. I make meetings memorable. I help create the kind of environment where people think bigger, speak more openly, and leave with more clarity and conviction than they had coming in.MY PEERS WILL TELL YOU I’M A THINKER AND A DOERI’m not interested in being strategy-adjacent. I like being in the work. I build the deliverables, shape the frameworks, create the story, and step in front of clients to help sell the thinking, pressure-test it, and move it forward. I think deeply, but I also make. I bring perspective, and I help operationalize it.OTHERS SAY I MAKE STRATEGY PRACTICAL AND PERSUASIVEI’m relatable, truthful, and wired to persuade. People describe me as generous with my time, quick to lend a hand, and willing to roll up my sleeves wherever needed. I’m also a self-starter. If I see a gap, I step into it. If the team needs a framework, training, or a simpler way to understand something complex, I build it. I believe in practical knowledge, clearly delivered, in a way real people can understand and use.I’M LEANING HARD INTO WHERE STRATEGY IS GOINGI’m especially energized by blending decades of strategic experience with the latest innovative technology to make the work smarter, faster, more connected, and more useful.My work has spanned customer experience, omnichannel strategy, digital and brand strategy, account-based marketing, lead generation, and business development. The through-line is simple: creating connected conversations between brands, HCPs, patients, and the teams responsible for serving them.WHAT PEOPLE TEND TO REMEMBERNot just the thinking.The clarity.The truthfulness.The momentum.The energy.And the fact that the work moved forward because people did, too.

Experience

1. Vice President, Customer Experience Strategy

   GSW, powered by Syneos Health

   Aug 2014 — Present · Columbus, OH, US

   Serve as a client-facing strategic leader for healthcare and pharmaceutical brands, guiding omnichannel strategy, customer experience, ABM, lead generation, product launch planning, performance marketing, and marketing automation to drive growth across U.S. and global markets. Client experience includes Eli Lilly, Amgen, Quest Diagnostics, Roche Diagnostics, Bavarian Nordic, and Hollister. Member of the Columbus leadership team and an 8x internal award winner.OMNICHANNEL EXPERIENCE STRATEGY: Develop journey map-driven, data- and insight-driven experience plans that reduce friction, align to audience needs, and create mutual value for brand and customer.ABM, LEAD GENERATION & MARKETING AUTOMATION: Help clients maximize ABM programs across 1:1, 1:few, and 1:many strategies, contributing to documented new business wins, revenue growth, and multi-million-dollar contracts. Design and guide lead generation programs focused on acquisition, scoring, nurturing, and progression from MQL to SQL. Experienced with Demandbase, Terminus, Veeva, SFMC, Marketo, and Eloqua.BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT: Revamped the agency’s new business pitch approach through stronger storytelling and more insight-driven opportunity framing, resulting in an immediate win and adoption across offices.PRODUCT LAUNCH & GO-TO-MARKET LEADERSHIP: Led multiple U.S. and global medical device, drug, and vaccine launches, along with competitive response plans, translating complex business priorities into actionable, integrated go-to-market strategies.PERFORMANCE MARKETING & CAPABILITY BUILDING: Created best-practice playbooks for Paid Social, Email, and Banner Advertising to improve creative quality, reduce rework, and strengthen performance marketing execution.CLIENT WORKSHOPS & FACILITATION: Designed and facilitated brand, experience, and omnichannel workshops across the U.S. and Europe, aligning teams around customer journeys, channel strategy, martech enablement, and smarter, data-informed planning.

Skills

• Web Design
• Digital Strategy
• Internet Strategy
• Integrated Marketing
• Piercing
• Advertising
• Website Development
• Beef Cattle
• Media Planning
• Strategic Planning
• Online Branding
• Mascot
• Strategic Leadership
• Interactive Marketing Strategy
• Chickens
• B2b Ecommerce
• Poultry
• B2c Marketing
• Creative Direction
• Crm
• Mobile Marketing
• Brand Development
• Online Marketing
• Social Media
• Darts
• B2b Marketing
• Creative Strategy
• Pyrotechnics
• Social Media Marketing
• Business Development
• Beer
• Mobile
• Digital Marketing
• Koi Ponds
• Lead Generation
• Team Motivator
• Strategic Thinking
• Strategy
• E-Commerce
• Interactive Marketing