Planning decides how much goes where, in what sequence, against which audience. Buying is the execution: negotiating rates, placing the spend, verifying it ran as agreed. We do both across digital, and we plan around offline and influencer activity where it exists, so the mix is judged as one system rather than as separate teams defending their budgets.
Any of this sound familiar?
If two or more of these are true, this is usually the right place to start.
Budget is split by habit rather than by evidence
A launch is coming and there is no plan for reach, frequency or sequence
You are buying from platforms and publishers without benchmark rates
Nobody checks whether placements delivered what was booked
Retargeting takes credit for sales that would have happened anyway
Marketing and finance argue about the same spend using different numbers
Everything in scope, written down.
No line item appears in a proposal unless it earns its place in the plan. If something here is not relevant to you, it comes out and the price comes down.
- Audience definition and reach modelling, including how much of your market you can realistically touch
- Channel mix and budget allocation with a written case per channel and a stated risk level
- Flighting and sequencing plan: what runs when, and what supports what
- Rate negotiation and insertion order management for direct and programmatic buys
- Verification and reconciliation, so delivery is checked against what was booked and paid for
- Post-campaign analysis including incrementality reads where budget allows
Four stages that feed each other.
This is not a funnel with an end. Each stage makes the next one cheaper, and the loop gets stronger every time it turns. Tap a stage to hold it.
The route map.
What gets shipped, what we measure, and the decision waiting at the end of each stretch. Tap any stop on the route.
Swipe the route sideways to see all four stops
What ships
What we measure
The decision
Do you need planning, or just better buying?
Tick what is true today. Nothing is sent anywhere, and the answer changes as you go.
What lands, and how often.
A retainer should be a list of things that arrive on a schedule. Here is ours for this service.
| Deliverable | Rhythm |
|---|---|
| Media plan with allocation and flighting | Per campaign or quarter |
| Rate negotiation and booking | Per buy |
| Delivery verification and reconciliation | Monthly |
| Mid-flight optimisation report | Weekly during flight |
| Post-campaign analysis | Per campaign |
| Benchmark refresh for your category | Quarterly |
Four numbers, defined the same way every month.
Effective reach and frequency
How much of the target audience saw the campaign enough times to remember it.
Cost against benchmark
What you paid versus what the placement should cost. This is where negotiation shows up.
Delivered versus booked
Whether you received what you paid for. Checked, not assumed.
Incremental contribution
Sales that would not have happened without the spend, separated from those that would have.
What we don't do.
We do not take undisclosed rebates from publishers or platforms. You see the actual rate.
We do not fill a plan with cheap impressions to make reach numbers look impressive.
We do not count retargeting conversions as incremental without testing whether they are.
Straight answers.
A flat fee scoped to the work, not a percentage of spend. Percentage models create an incentive to recommend bigger budgets, which is exactly the wrong incentive in planning.
We plan digital and coordinate around offline, print and influencer activity so the sequencing makes sense. For large offline buys we work alongside a specialist rather than pretending to be one.
Commonly 10 to 20 percent of the plan, ring-fenced. Below that you learn nothing new. Above that you are gambling with money that should be working.
Platform numbers, then delivery verification, then incrementality testing where the budget justifies it: geo holdouts or spend-off periods. Each layer costs more and answers the question better.
Tell us the number you need to hit.
Send us your brand and your goal. You'll get an honest read on what's realistic, two or three ideas worth testing, and a clear next step. No pitch deck, no pressure.