Buying time: why media must shift for new viewing habits

Opinion: Strategy Leaders

It’s time to use tech and the critical thinking humans bring to reverse media planning and buying’s calcification into a Jurassic boneyard.

I wouldn’t be the first person to claim media planning and buying is an industry ripe for disruption, but surely it’s time we all take action and reset our behaviours for good.

For a time, it looked as though things were changing. Brands and their media strategists displayed agility during Covid, adapting to the new needs; like price volatility, flexible cancellation policies and changing audience habits to reach new consumers and shore up revenues.

However, old patterns have emerged once more, with lumbering media models dusted off, and agile short-term planning shelved in favour of lazy long-term approaches.

Simply trying to maintain share of voice might well be a way to stay above the waterline. But it’s the product of protectionism: resting on the laurels of the ‘best deal’ available, and legacy media partnerships rather than taking a considered approach that optimistically looks at all the opportunities our media landscape affords.

Let me be clear – I’m not challenging the science that underpins our industry, I’m challenging the practice and fellow practitioners to be better.

Time to think beyond the box

Much of the industry is still stuck with the notion that you need to plan everything TV-first, despite evidence to the contrary. TV’s standard bearer, Thinkbox, argues today’s consumers must be seen in the round, with modern viewing habits needing a nuanced planning approach spanning multiple platforms, publishers and devices.

Thinking ‘TV-first’ is not only an inefficient use of media budget – especially at a time of inflated tariffs – it also harms creativity. Start with building a campaign for TV and you’re less likely to find an idea that works well through the line, especially on YouTube and TikTok, who command over two thirds of all device-based video viewing. You’re left with ‘matching luggage’ that doesn’t travel well in a fragmented AV landscape. That slashes penetration and attention rates, resulting in wasted budget.

In part, this comes down to a battle in controlling reach and frequency in a volatile market, but also agency inertia and reliance on existing, profitable relationships with publishers. As a result, it becomes impossible to get in front of the right consumers at the right time.

Far better, therefore, to begin viewing the whole media planning and buying process through the lens of a brand’s business problem. Consider what’s best for the client, not which channel might seem most cost-effective without a closer investigation. Sounds obvious right? You’d be amazed at the idle comfort in planning by numbers…

Disrupting the dinosaurs

With a channel agnostic approach to media planning and buying, brands and agencies can step back, consider overarching business challenges, taking a more efficient and effective approach as a result. No silos, no protectionism.

This also works wonders for creativity. An idea can live, breathe and grow, without being boxed in by the box using a TV-first execution that doesn’t render well in other channels.

If agencies can persuade clients to take this approach from the outset, the chances of getting a restrictive brief that ends up with a cookie-cutter media channel plan solution – one that effectively ignores the need for a campaign idea – is reduced. Every touchpoint can be stress-tested for media and creative effectiveness.

Coke is an example of disruptive yet holistic media thinking. Some of our senior team were among the brand-agency collaboration that became “Connections Planning”. This was perhaps the first model to truly bring creative and media close together, through a consumer-centric workshop aligning different disciplines and partners to form one plan of attack.

This approach continues at Coke, and it also organises all our thinking as an agency. We treat each brief as a separate, unique task. We know people want brands to entertain, engage and enable, which requires a tailored approach each time.

Outsmarting not outspending

It’s good to see some brands are already shaking-up media strategy and taking a more modern approach to campaign planning. You don’t always have to outspend; outsmarting is just as valid a way to get ahead of rivals.

In fashion, for instance, the likes of Gucci and adidas clearly map creative ideas against touchpoints, to ensure each execution has relevance and impact among the different segments existing within their target audiences.

With pricing and consumption equally in flux, how can long-term deals be the best option? Far better to be agile, see the market signals, react in quarterly cycles, test and learn – and recognise media houses are receptive to negotiating break clauses as part of shorter-term strategies.

We have the technology at our fingertips to be able to safely stray from the well-trodden track of media buying and planning, bringing rigour to the process and the creative ‘big idea’ to consumers in progressively far-flung channel outposts.

It’s time to use tech and the critical thinking humans bring, to reverse media planning and buying’s calcification into a Jurassic boneyard.

Jonny Grum is co-founder and chief marketing officer of independent ad agency Trouble Maker