with Jörn Solfrian
Former General Manager
Today, media planning is a different exercise. Changing technical landscapes, changes in consumer preferences at an ever-faster pace, and the availability of real-time behavioral data require different media planning than a decade ago. We sat down with Jörn Solfrian, General Manager of Mediaplus Group, to learn how Infinity Planning can change the game.
Over the last decade, media planning has undergone a seismic shift. The traditional model, which heavily relied on pre-set schedules, broad demographic targeting, and static content, has been disrupted by the advent of digital technology and the rise of real-time data analytics. Until now, media planning has been driven by historical data and predetermined schedules. Advertisers buy slots in advance based on assumed audience behaviors. This approach has limitations; it lacks the flexibility to respond to real-time changes, often resulting in missed opportunities or misallocated budgets.
The rise of digital platforms, social media, and programmatic advertising has opened new opportunities. These technologies introduce the ability to collect and analyze data in real time, providing advertisers with immediate insights into consumer behaviors. This shift enables more precise targeting and agile campaign adjustments, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness. Real-time data analytics is the cornerstone of modern media planning. Marketers can now instantaneously track consumer interactions across various platforms, allowing immediate campaign adjustments. This real-time capability facilitates personalized advertising, responsive budget allocation, and adaptive creative content.
However, while real-time media planning could be a sophisticated blend of technology, data, and creativity powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, in reality, we still act in silos, particularly when media strategy is involved. Think of it in two data siloes. In one silo, the strategy data is driven by static research-based consumer insights. The second is the real-time data silo used for optimizing the efficiency of media campaigns. These two data siloes aren’t connected but should be. All real-time media data is behavioral data. This data tells us about how consumers react to campaigns and, therefore, their preferences. One of the reasons this data hasn’t been used more strategically is mainly procedural. It’s a question of how to operationalize the integration of data analytics, media strategy, and executions.
This is where Infinity Planning comes in; Infinity Planning ensures the flow of data is continuous, allowing you to optimize and strategize in real time. All data comes together in a single place, enabling strategic and tactical decisions in an integrated fashion.
“We’re creating strategies to solve business problems in real time. Clients don’t have media problems; they have business problems and need to use media to solve them.”
So, how does it work? It’s important to understand that we’re not doing media for media’s sake. We’re here, and paid, to solve business problems for our clients. Infinity Planning is a process that operates similarly to how big tech companies address their business challenges: by continuously improving products using all available data. And that’s what we do with Infinity Planning: continuously improve our media strategies and executions using all available data.
The first step is understanding the consumer, the brand in question, the culture, and the category. Based on this understanding, we define the most valuable consumer and then plan the media channels, the media plan, and how all media channels will work together. When choosing the media channels, we look at all the potentials, not only the ones we must pay for. An essential part plays so-called owned media channels. You not only don’t pay for them, but they’re ideal platforms to create first-party data.
Once the entire media strategy and plan have been created, we springboard the agile process with the help of clearly defined and standardized hypotheses that lead to precise learning agendas. The Test & Learn philosophy is necessary for the entire Infinity Planning Process. It keeps the quality of every media strategic output at the highest level. It ensures that no learning is lost. Ultimately, it’s the best recipe to guarantee our clients always get the highest quality output. Hypotheses and learning agendas guide our media executions, real-time measurement verifies that we get accurate information instantly, and our analysis tools check that we draw the correct conclusions. Then, the whole process starts over again. Either we find out we need to redo parts of the strategy, or we can confirm the hypotheses and focus on efficiency, such as optimizing media executions.
As a result, the role of media agencies is changing. It constitutes a paradigm shift where the media plan is no longer the final product but the starting point for continuous optimization to make the client’s brands a little better every day. Therefore, our offering as a media agency becomes the agile process of optimization rather than the static exercise of yearly planning.
“The Infinity Process has various layers. Although there are eight steps, each step contains its own process, with playbooks for each step. We also have products, tools, data, and specialists to support the eight steps. This is the most complete Strategy & Planning process I’ve seen in any agency thus far.”
But why should clients be interested? Marketing is a life science. It’s not important what happens to you; it’s about how you deal with it. Anything can happen – look at COVID-19 and how it changed the marketing landscape almost overnight. Suddenly, our audience wasn’t going to stores anymore. If you don’t have an agile system in place, you have a problem. Infinity Planning does precisely that. It takes an imperfect world into account. The process is geared for continuous optimization. It allows marketers to make informed, timely decisions that enhance the relevance and impact of their campaigns. By understanding and responding to consumer behaviors as they happen, brands can engage with their audiences more effectively, drive higher engagement, and make better returns on investments.
“Infinity Planning doesn’t promise the final media plan. It promises the right process to keep you moving from good to better marketing decisions.”
One of the best things about Infinity Planning is that it can help every type of client, from those who advertise 52 weeks a year to those who only advertise for four weeks. It doesn’t matter how long your campaign is; the impact it generates and how it does is what matters. Every campaign, no matter how big, creates behavioral data, such as:
Browsing History – Pages visited, time spent on sites, and interaction patterns.
Purchase History – Items bought, frequency of purchases, and spending patterns.
Social Media Activity – Likes, shares, comments, and content engagement.
App Usage – Frequency and duration of app use, features interacted with, and in-app purchases.
Analyzing consumer behaviors in real-time allows marketers to gain a deeper understanding of individual preferences, needs, and intentions. This insight allows for more precise targeting and the creation of highly personalized advertising strategies.
What about the future of Infinity Planning? We’re already looking into artificial intelligence and how to automate as much of the Infinity Planning Process as possible. Now that we have a clear-cut process, we can clearly define our automation needs.
Infinity Planning will be essential for continuously evolving trends in media, such as:
- Hyper-Personalization with Contextual Targeting: Ads will be tailored not only based on individual preferences but also to real-time contexts such as location, weather, and current events. AI will analyze granular behavioral data to predict future actions and adjust ads accordingly.
- Interactive and Immersive Experiences, such as Live Commerce: Real-time shopping experiences through live streams will merge entertainment and e-commerce, allowing immediate purchasing decisions.
- Predictive Media Buying Powered by AI-Driven Insights: Predictive algorithms will forecast the most effective times and platforms for ad placements, optimizing media buys before campaigns launch.
The last decade has seen media planning evolve from a static, one-size-fits-all approach to a dynamic, data-driven practice. Real-time data analytics is at the heart of this transformation, enabling more personalized, efficient, and effective advertising strategies. With Infinity Planning, Mediaplus positions itself as the media agency of the future.
“Infinity Planning is the future. The world’s speed has exponentially increased, and the half-life of consumer preferences is getting shorter. So, we have a system that can react quickly; the more familiar we get with that system, the better.”
