Every channel_has a job

01

What media strategy decides

Media strategy is the second step of the work. It takes the goals of the marketing strategy and what is known about the audience and decides what job each channel does. The media plan then turns those jobs into buys.

The strategy gives every channel a role, splits the budget by those roles and settles the balance between continuous advertising and campaigns. It also records what is expected of each channel and which metric shows it. We then assess whether each channel is doing the job it was given.

02

The audience and the division of work

The division of work between channels starts from where the audience is and what marketing has to achieve. Interested non-users are often the most important group in the strategy. When the brand is on the NØRR3 Media Insights brand list, or your own question has been added, we see which TV and radio channels, streaming services, social platforms and news media they follow.

The role also shapes the assets. When a channel's job is to build awareness, it needs coverage and an asset that carries the brand. When the job is to help people choose or to drive a purchase, targeting and message become more specific. The same channel can do different jobs in different seasons. The Assets page explains how the asset levels are produced.

03

The case for the budget split

The state of the brand funnel is one basis for the weighting. Low awareness points towards coverage, and a large group of interested non-users points towards advertising that builds consideration. The budget share is only decided once the goal, the size of the audience, competitors' spend and the sales season are also on the table. The Research page explains how the funnel is measured.

Coverage and response are different jobs with different metrics. In our campaigns, a campaign optimised for clicks has looked good on paper and still left low awareness unsolved. In that situation coverage has been worth buying, measured by reach and by change in the brand.**

The second lesson is about brands that are well known but rarely chosen. In our campaigns a bigger media budget has not fixed that.** The cause may lie in the message, the offer, availability or the customer experience, and we look into the options before the media budget goes up.

04

The rhythm of the year

The strategy follows the rhythm of the year, because media use changes with the season. On holiday, 62 %*, about 2 444 000 people, say they spend more time out of the home than on an ordinary weekday. For TV the change goes both ways: 25.5 % say they watch more on holiday and 26.9 % less.

So channel roles are weighted by season. Campaigns are timed for the seasons when the audience can be reached and is buying, and the level of continuous advertising is agreed according to the goal and demand. The same rhythm guides the negotiations with media owners.

05

What you get

You get a written media strategy: channel roles and metrics, the budget split and the reasoning behind it, the rhythm of the year and the balance between continuous advertising and campaigns. NØRR3 Media Insights is its evidence base, and a specialist makes the strategic calls. The media plan is built on this document.

* NØRR3 Media Insights, Norstat panel, wave 9, August 2026, n = 2 022, aged 18 to 74, margin of error ±2.0–2.2 percentage points. Question: how does your media use typically change on holiday compared with ordinary weekdays (clearly or slightly more or less). ** NØRR3's own campaign bank, campaign reports 2024–2026: each lesson recurs in campaigns across at least two industries and two advertisers.