Media strategy formation: An exploration of unmet information needs in media briefing and implications for strategic development.

Abstract

This research is focused on media strategy and planning, a specialist area within marketing communications, focused on selecting media channels and defining the strategic approach for their use to communication an organisation’s messaging to their desired audience. The media planning task has become more complex over the last decade, due in part to the continued proliferation of media options, rapid evolution of digital technologies and changing media consumption patterns. In this environment planners have expanded their remit through investment in research and technology solution to meet these conditions. In this context the study explored the information exchanged between marketing managers and their agencies when briefing in requirements for new campaigns, with the intention of contrasting current practice with best practice advice offered through the literature. The literature indicates that planners need to understand both short and long-term goals for the campaign and that the briefing should include all details from the marketing plan and wider marketing environment, together with current consumer insight, to enable the best strategic decisions to be made. However, current practice indicates planners are not gaining access to marketing information and that relevant metrics, analytics and insight into the wider campaign aims are not always shared, indicating siloed and role focused structures still prevail. Further research is needed to explore why this is happening and identify potential solutions.