Ron Sneddon
22 Mar 2026 · 6 min read
Most media plans are written to be approved, not questioned. Here's what to look for — and the three questions that uncover most problems.
Media plans are often impressive-looking documents full of audience data, reach curves, and channel rationale. They're also frequently built around assumptions that nobody has checked.
Here's how to read one without having spent a career in the industry.
Start with the audience section
Every media plan should include a definition of the target audience — not just demographics, but a behavioural description of who you're actually trying to reach.
Ask: Where does this audience data come from? Is it a NZ-specific source, or is it adapted from Australian or global data? Is it current, or is it from a study done three years ago?
If your agency can't answer these questions specifically, the audience section is a heuristic dressed up as analysis.
Look at the channel rationale
For each channel in the plan, there should be a specific reason why that channel reaches your audience at the right moment. "TV provides broad reach" is not a channel rationale. "TV reaches our 45–65 target audience during evening news programming at a cost per reach point of X" is a channel rationale.
If the rationale is generic, the recommendation might be generic too.
Check the buying terms
This is the section most clients never read. What are the cancellation terms? What flexibility exists if the campaign isn't performing? What audience delivery guarantees are written into the buy?
If there are no guarantees, ask why. If the terms are entirely favourable to the media owner, ask who negotiated them.
The three questions that uncover most problems
1. "What would make this plan wrong?" Ask your agency what assumptions, if incorrect, would change their recommendations materially.
2. "What did you test this against?" A recommendation is stronger when there's a benchmark — a previous campaign, an industry average, an independent audience study.
3. "What does success look like at 90 days?" If the answer is vague, the plan probably is too.
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