TL;DR
In this free 30-minute Spark Session, AI strategy coach Charlotte May demonstrates a workflow from the Spark AI Accelerator. She shows strategists how to use Google's Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) to ground pitch research in the right sources, so the time she saves goes into the thinking.
SPARK SESSIONS EPISODE 6
Spark Sessions with Charlotte May: Gemini Notebook for Strategists
This is the sixth episode of Spark Sessions and part of our coaches mini-series. In each episode, one of the coaches from Spark Accelerator, our 10-week AI transformation programme for agencies and brand teams, gives a live demo of a workflow we teach clients on the programme.
In this session, Charlotte May, our AI coach, shows strategists how to use Google's Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) to bring a brief's research into one place. Working through a pitch-style brief, she shows step by step how to set up a notebook, question your sources and check the evidence behind each answer.
Duration:
30 Minutes
Who its for:
Strategists, planners and anyone in an agency or brand team who turns research into a response to a brief.
What is it about:
Gemini Notebook
Format:
On-Demand Video
Why Gemini Notebook is a great tool for strategists
Gemini Notebook answers from the sources you give it, so every response is grounded in the data you give it. If you need more material, you can search the web for new sources, but nothing goes into the notebook until you choose to add it. Each answer links back to the passage it came from, and you can narrow a question to specific sources, such as only the focus group or only the trend reports. You can also save specific responses to return to later.
Since July, when NotebookLM became Gemini Notebook, it can also run code to analyse the data in your sources. It also connects to Google Docs and Drive, so your notebook keeps up with your working files.
What counts as data
For a pitch, your sources might include the client brief, the transcript of the briefing Q&A, the agreed timeline, category analysis, and consumer and cultural trend reports. Often the most valuable material is the first-party data your agency already holds, where people describe their challenges in their own words. Keep one notebook per client or project, check that every source is credible, and use a business or enterprise account for anything client-sensitive. A notebook loaded with hundreds of documents is more likely to miss what matters.
The role of thinking
Gemini Notebook is very good at collecting observations and facts, which gives you a strong starting point. The strategy itself still comes from you: spotting the tension, and the "so what" that turns research into an idea worth pitching. As Charlotte puts it, "so much of the art of strategy is simplifying things and sacrificing things." Now that AI can surface far more research than before, choosing what to keep and what to leave out matters more than it used to.
About the speaker guest
Charlotte May is an AI strategy coach at Spark AI. She spent nearly a decade in media agency strategy, including roles across GroupM and Omnicom. She now combines that experience with coaching to help agency teams build confidence in their work with AI.
FAQs
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No. Charlotte starts with the basics: where to find the tool and how a notebook is set up.
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This session is one exercise from AI for Strategists, a role - specific stream within the Spark AI Accelerator, run by coaches with agency strategy backgrounds. Working on a realistic client brief, your team learns to use AI at every stage of the strategy process: interrogating the brief, conducting and distilling research, developing strategic territories, honing the narrative and presenting the pitch.
Everything is designed around how your agency already does strategy, so the skills carry straight into live work.
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Each session is free to attend. We announce upcoming episodes on our LinkedIn, through the Spark Intelligence newsletter, and our Events page. Recordings are available on demand via the Spark AI website after each session. If you want to make sure you don't miss one, the best way is to subscribe to the newsletter.
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The Accelerator is our 10-week AI transformation programme for agencies. It has role-specific streams for Leadership, Client Services, Strategy, Operations, Creative and Media Planners. You can book a single stream or the full programme, and every stream is built around your own client work.
A clear path from AI experimentation to strategic advantage
Every programme is built on the Spark AI Maturity Model®. Find your stage below, or take the free Spark AI Maturity Score™ to see where you stand.
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