1. RETHINKING MEDIA
BY DESIGN
Driving innovation through a new way of working

2. Driving innovation through a new
way of working
With the elevated role of media and technology in
the lives of consumers, marketers are increasingly
demanding more from their media agencies — more
strategy, creativity, innovation and accountability to
drive business outcomes.
However, media agencies need to change their way of
thinking and working if they are to meet these demands.
And the change could be radical. Media agencies need
to embrace design thinking, made popular by firms like
IDEO and Frog Design.
By shifting their focus from planning to design, media
strategists will become valued opportunity spotters and
creative problem solvers... and have the opportunity to
fuse design thinking with performance marketing. By
bringing analytics and imagination together, creativity
becomes better informed and directed toward achieving
a measurable business outcome.

3. Driven by their penchant for media math, media agencies
were once quite comfortable being left to speak their
own language of half-lives, gross rating points and cost
per thousands. Only occasionally did they dare to visit
the world of exploration and imagination governed by
the advertising agency brethren. However, with the
elevated role of media and technology in the lives of
consumers, media agencies have evolved to meet the
needs of marketers by strengthening their strategic
capabilities, progressing beyond traditional media
planning to offer communications planning, and offering
strong performance analytics capabilities. And, as part
of this evolution, some media agencies have elevated
the role of creativity and innovation in their processes,
products and talent recruitment.
Progressive media agencies want to be “whole-
brained,” embracing both the art and science of
marketing. They believe this approach will increase
their value with marketers and secure their position as
business consultants and creative problem solvers,
both of which are directly tied to the bottom line.
This transforms media from a marketing expense to
a marketing asset that can be directly linked to sales.
Although “art and science” is not a new concept, it can
be argued that no agency has successfully balanced
the two on a large scale. Since media agencies have
Rethinking
Media,
By Design
Kendra King
EVP, Worldwide Director of
Insight & Innovation, Initiative
Progressive media
agencies want to
be “whole-brained”,
embracing both the
art and science of
marketing

4. stimulating, hands-on, experiential training (and a bit of
brainwashing) based on three easy steps, according to
Dziersk:
1. Defining the challenge at hand
2. Creating and considering many options
3. Learning from prototypes and refining
selected options
Borrowing from three principles of design thinking
- The Art of Reframing, Visual Synthesis and Idea
Iteration - we can create an imaginative new road map
for media practitioners to learn and adopt.
The Art of Reframing
Designers refer to reframing as the ability to see
problems from multiple perspectives resulting in a
revolutionary idea. Apple, the master re-framer, is one
of the most innovative companies in the world. They
don’t create products; they invent categories. From
the Macintosh that redefined personal computing,
and the iPod that changed how music was consumed
and bought, to the launch of the iPhone that powered
mobile computing, an entirely new phone category.
Apple zigs when everyone else zags.
already been entrusted by their clients to manage
and analyse large amounts of data, coupled with their
focus on creative talent recruitment, they are in a good
position to embrace both art and science.
In a recent interview, Tom Hardy, former global head
of design at IBM and current design instructor at
Savannah College of Art and Design in the US, said
that creative problem solving is only possible by using
both qualitative and quantitative data to properly frame
business challenges, understand what the consumer
wants, and create effective solutions. This “art and
science” approach that Hardy outlines is at the core for
what is commonly known as “design thinking,” made
popular by firms like IDEO and frog design. Design
thinking is a new approach for most media agencies
and could be a way to easily bring these two worlds
together. It is a practical approach focused on solving
problems and discovering opportunities from various
perspectives. There will of course be naysayers that
question whether a media agency can successfully
leverage design thinking. For them, the image of
graphic designers or fashion designers creating
masterpieces conflicts with their perceptions of the old-
school media stepchild. But as Fast Company’s Mark
Dziersk revealed, the emphasis should not be placed
on the act of designing, but instead on design thinking.
The question evolves from ‘why should media agencies
embrace design thinking?’ to ‘why not?’
Media agency leaders that have offhandedly flirted
with the notion of firing everyone who doesn’t fit
with their new vision for media should embrace
design thinking as a way to mentally transform their
employees. Transformation can be achieved through
Agency leaders
should embrace
design thinking as
a way to mentally
transform their
employees

5. As the keepers of the competitive scorecards, miners
of performance data and syndicated sources, media
agencies can learn to reframe by first transforming
their vast data sources into usable information. Then,
with a clear perspective of the media, consumer and
competitive landscape, they can embrace a variety
of creative exercises, such as those that encourage
random, non-linear thinking, the use of analogies and
making comparisons from unrelated categories. With
this new line of thinking (and the data to back it up),
media agencies can challenge client briefs providing
fresh insight into the real task at hand. This shifts media
agencies beyond traditional media objectives, such as
achieving awareness through a combination of reach
and frequency calculations.
Visual Synthesis
In “Exposing the Magic of Design” Jon Kolko, principal
designer at frog design, describes the design profession
as “a way of organizing complexity or finding clarity in
an overwhelming amount of data.” This is achieved
through a process of synthesis that seeks to organize,
reduce and clarify. In the advertising agency world,
this step is owned by account planners. However, in
many media agencies synthesis does not occur or it
is not given the proper amount of effort and time to be
fruitful. Kolko emphasizes the need to “externalize” or
visualize data to aid in synthesis, which can be done
simply with an affinity map using a big wall, a marker
and lots of sticky notes. By injecting visual synthesis
into the communication planning process, media
strategists are inspired to uncover meaningful insights
and breakthrough ideas.
At Initiative, we use our affinity mapping sessions to help
our analysts and strategists make sense of performance,
syndicated and primary data to inspire creative
solutions. All participants are given a stack of sticky
notes and asked to write down everything they know
about the consumer. Then, as a group, we segment
the sticky notes into category after category until a
clear pattern emerges that becomes the foundation of
our consumer understanding. By visualizing the data
it helps stimulate new thoughts that would not have
been apparent in a spreadsheet format. We have also
created proprietary tools, like the Insight Generator™
and Insight Image Maps™ that help our strategists
create “mental models” that simplify the complexities
of consumer behaviour and the relationship consumers
have with media.
Idea Iteration
Idea iteration borrows from iterative design by
encouraging a series of formal and informal creativity
sessions with participation from a cross-disciplinary
team that can analyse ideas from multiple perspectives.
‘Iterative design’ is a cyclical process that involves
creating a prototype of the solution followed by testing,
analysis and refinement in the effort to improve the idea
before a mass launch. Integrated teams of engineers,
programmers, social scientists and marketers are hand
selected based upon their experience, recognizing that
no two projects are the same. While most creative types
don’t envision such diversity of thought and experience
on design teams, in reality design thinking mirrors an “it
takes a village” approach.
It will be necessary for media agencies to break down
the silos that exist in order to benefit from the power
of iteration, ending the ‘hand-off’ of information that
prevented teams from working as one unified team.
Now, not only is teamwork a requirement, but it must
occur in real time giving all disciplines – analytics,

6. strategy, research, planning and investment – a voice
throughout the process. All should be encouraged to
share their expert knowledge and express their unique
point-of-view so that they are able to effectively work
together to create solutions.
By focusing on idea iteration, media agencies will rely
less on data-filled spreadsheets and flow charts and
more on simple, yet empowering, tools like a pen and
paper that help capture ideas in a visual form. While
creating real-life prototypes of media ideas may not be
feasible, having media strategists visualize their ideas
in the same way that interaction designers create wire
frames could help identify potential design flaws. This
approach is a much-needed improvement for those
media agencies that still rely upon the brainstorm
meeting as their sure-fire way to generate ideas.
Design thinking is a realistic goal for media agencies
and it will have a profound impact on what they will get
paid to produce. By embracing design thinking, media
professionals will go well beyond delivering syndicated
data runs, media plans and flowcharts. Media agencies
taking part in client brand planning meetings and
presenting in-depth knowledge of the consumer’s
path to purchase or perspective on the most relevant
KPI’s will become commonplace. With this evolution,
clients will become more accustomed to new voices
leading their integrated marketing briefings, proposing
innovative consumer research and allocating budgets
across paid, owned and earned touchpoints.
Media agencies
with a design
thinking mindset
will shift from
media metrics to
media creativity,
creating business
opportunities

7. It will also impact the role and function of the traditional
media planner and buyer. With their newfound freedom
and expectations to actively participate in the broader
communications planning process, it will be necessary
to formally re-define all roles and responsibilities.
Both planners and buyers will maintain ownership
of efficiently delivering relevant brand messages to
consumers, but will need to expand their skill set to
become what is referred to as a “T-shaped designer”
(deep experience and knowledge in one’s area of
expertise, with broad exposure to disciplines needed to
creatively solve problems). Media planners will need to
develop a broader understanding of general marketing
and branding principles. They may need to spend time
working on-site with the creative teams at an advertising,
design or digital agency to see how ideas are originated
and cultivated. On the other hand, the buyers will need
to be trained on data analysis, consumer insight and
strategy development.
Marketers looking for better agency collaboration
will appreciate media agencies that embrace design
thinking because they will have a greater understanding
and respect for the creative process. Design thinking
also creates a common language that can be shared
throughout the communications planning process.
It does not alienate those from other disciplines who
don’t speak media planning and buying jargon. As
team trust builds across agencies, marketers will see
more sharing, building and participation from media
agencies that now feel welcomed to contribute outside
of traditional media conversation.
But most importantly for marketers, media agencies with
a design thinking mindset will shift from media metrics
to media creativity, creating business opportunities.
They will gain a strategic partner with a clear point-of-
view that informs, teaches and inspires. Yes, they will
have to stretch a bit outside of their media comfort
zone to think more like consultants, creators, analysts
and investors than media planners and buyers, but the
results will be well worth the effort.

8. About Initiative
Initiative is a performance-led media communications company.
Initiative believes that all marketing should be performance-driven. Data, analytics, insight and innovation are central
to all our services, and we hold ourselves fully accountable to client business goals. This commitment to performance
is at the heart of Initiative’s unique process and culture.
Owned by the Interpublic Group, Initiative is part of media management group Mediabrands and a partner of Magna,
IPG’s centralized media negotiation entity. Initiative employs more than 2500 talented professionals, working in 89
offices across 71 markets, worldwide.
Initiative’s comprehensive range of performance-led communications services include: research and insight, media
planning and buying, digital communications solutions, content creation, and evaluation and accountability services.
www.initiative.com