Somewhere between the pitch deck and the final invoice, a media plan quietly decides whether a campaign works. Now researchers want to sit inside that process — and they are paying agency professionals to talk them through it.
A paid research study is recruiting advertising agency staff for remote video interviews focused on how media planning actually happens: how channels get evaluated, how budgets get split, and which dashboards agencies trust when the money moves.
A Study Built Around Your Screen, Not a Survey Form
This is not a multiple-choice questionnaire. Participants join a remote video interview and walk the researcher through their typical media planning process, step by step.
According to the study brief, the conversation is designed to flow organically rather than follow a rigid script. Participants may be asked to screen-share the software or dashboards they use to track media buys — the working tools, not the polished case study version.
Why Researchers Want the Messy Middle of Media Buying
Cross-channel planning is where theory meets compromise. A planner juggling search, social, display, print and connected TV rarely has perfect data for every channel at the same moment.
Understanding how professionals actually weigh those trade-offs — and where their tools fall short — is the stated purpose of the research. The organisers say the insights will inform how media buying workflows can be improved for better overall efficiency.
What the Interview Covers
The brief points to three broad areas of questioning: how different advertising channels are evaluated, how budget allocation decisions are made for campaigns, and how day-to-day campaign management is handled.
Screen-sharing of tracking dashboards is expected but framed as optional in tone — the emphasis is on describing real workflows rather than demonstrating software proficiency.
Who This Is Aimed At
The study targets agency marketing professionals — the people who sit between client expectations and platform realities. That typically includes media planners, media buyers, strategists and account leads with hands-on budget responsibility.
For mid-level planners in particular, the appeal is straightforward: a paid conversation about work they already do daily, without preparation or a presentation deck.
What the Brief Does Not Say
Several practical details are absent from the source material. No compensation amount, interview length, recruitment deadline or target number of participants has been disclosed.
It is also unclear how the research findings will be published, who the end client is, or whether any data will be shared publicly. Readers should treat those gaps as open questions rather than assume confidentiality terms that have not been stated.
Confirmed vs Unclear — A Quick Sort
Confirmed: the study is paid, remote, video-based, aimed at agency professionals, and centred on media planning, channel evaluation and budget allocation. Screen-sharing of tracking tools may be requested.
Unclear: compensation, duration, deadline, sample size, research sponsor and how results will be used. None of these should be assumed.
The Bigger Shift This Reflects
Research into agency workflows has been growing as advertisers demand clearer proof of where budgets go. Platforms multiply, attribution gets murkier, and clients ask harder questions about return on spend.
Studies like this one are a signal that the industry's operational layer — the spreadsheets, dashboards and judgement calls — is now treated as a subject worth studying in its own right.
If You Are Considering Participating
Before agreeing, ask the recruiter directly about compensation, session length, recording and data-use policy, and whether any client names will be required. A legitimate research session should answer these without hesitation.
If you do take part, think through two or three recent campaigns in advance — one that overperformed and one that missed. Specific examples produce a far more useful conversation than general descriptions of process.
What Happens After the Interviews
The stated outcome is improved media buying workflows. How quickly that translates into better tools is unknown, and no timeline has been shared.
What is clear is the direction of travel: the industry wants to understand how budget decisions are genuinely made, not how they are presented after the fact.
Our Take
This study matters less for what it pays and more for what it admits: that cross-channel media planning remains partly instinct, partly tooling, and rarely as clean as the reporting suggests. Getting practitioners to describe that honestly — dashboards and all — is a reasonable way to find where the friction actually lives. The open questions around compensation and data use are worth pressing before anyone signs up.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the agency media planning study about?
It is a paid research study examining how advertising agencies handle media planning and allocate budgets across multiple channels, including the tools and strategies used to optimise client campaign performance.
Who can participate in the cross-channel media planning interview?
The study targets agency marketing professionals involved in media planning, media buying and budget allocation. The brief does not specify a minimum experience level or agency type.
What happens during the remote video interview?
Participants describe their typical media planning process, explain how they evaluate advertising channels and make budget decisions, and may be asked to screen-share the software or dashboards used to track media buys.
Is compensation confirmed for participants?
The study is described as paid, but no amount has been disclosed in the source material. Participants should confirm compensation, session length and data-use terms with the recruiter before joining.
What will the research findings be used for?
The organisers state the insights will inform how media buying workflows can be improved for better overall efficiency. No publication plan or timeline has been shared.
