Media Strategist

The Media Strategist is the fourth strategist in the Strategy phase. It reads Goals, Audience, and Comms outputs, then defines which channels carry which message to which audiences, and why.

Media Strategy vs. Media Plan. Media Strategist defines the what and why: channel rationale, allocation principles, flighting structure. The Media Plan delivers the how and when: schedules, frequency caps, bidding, and variants. Strategy first; Media Plan consumes it.

What it does

Eight sections surface on the Media tab after Strategy completes.

Executive Summary — strategic context, geo allocation (multi-market campaigns include a % budget split per market), media mix overview, and expected impact on Key Results.

Strategy Foundation Recap — eight flat bullets: Strategic Focus, Budget, Duration, Geography, Objective, Key Results, persona-to-KR mapping, and Comms pillar names verbatim.

Flighting Strategy — 1-3 campaign phases, each with budget % and daily spend range. No week-by-week tactical calendars; those belong to Media Plan.

Media Mix Strategy — a channel allocation table (Channel, % Budget, Primary KR, Primary Messaging Pillar(s), Objective, Strategic Rationale) with a narrative. Paid channels sum to 100%; owned and earned appear at 0%.

Creative Strategy — one section per Comms pillar: an opening paragraph plus four to five bullets on which channels and formats carry that pillar.

Audience Targeting Strategy — per-persona signal prioritisation: which targeting signals (interests, behaviours, lookalikes, placements) to weight for each persona.

Measurement Strategy — primary, leading, and diagnostic measurement approaches, plus a per-KR table of baseline, target lift, method, and cadence.

Risk & Mitigation — top campaign risks scored by likelihood and impact, each with a concrete mitigation.

Where to find it

Navigate to Strategy inside any brand or campaign (Research must be complete). Media is the fourth of four strategist tabs. The full Strategy run takes around 10-12 minutes; Media Strategist contributes roughly 2-3 minutes.

How it works

The strategists run in order: Goals, Audience, Comms, Media. Media reads the Goals KR table, Audience personas, and Comms pillar names verbatim. It also reads the brand profile, campaign brief, and Research outputs. Attached documents are processed first; web research fills gaps, capped at seven calls (the largest research budget of the four strategists).

For multi-market campaigns, regional shorthand ("SEA", "EMEA") resolves to up to three priority countries; spend floor shortfalls are flagged, not redistributed silently.

What you can adjust

Campaign brief — A stated budget and geo scope give the strategist what it needs for a defensible channel mix. Under-specified budgets produce directional allocations.

Document attachment — Media briefs, past debrefs, or agency channel frameworks feed directly into channel selection rationale.

Refine — Refining Media re-runs only this strategist. Refining Comms or Audience may trigger Media to re-run too. Prior versions stay in history. See Refine.

Limits and known issues

• Channel benchmarks lean on web research. For non-Western or niche-vertical markets, benchmarks may be sparse or dated. Validate against agency or platform data before committing budget.
• No tactical execution detail. Frequency caps, bidding strategies, and production timelines are excluded. Those belong to Media Plan.
• Geo decomposition is capped at three markets. Regional targets resolve to the top three priority countries; others are not modelled.
• Pillar names propagate verbatim. Refine Comms first if you want to change pillar names; then re-run Media.
• Beta software. Outputs are not infallible. Validate channel mix and flighting logic with your media team before briefing executional partners.