Although behavioural science has made its way into most areas of marketing, its adoption within the world of media planning and buying has been limited. This is concerning, because we need to use cognitive biases to our advantage and design media experiences in the same way we design UX, product or creative experiences.

With the seismic shift in consumer behaviour over the past two years, the associated changes in media consumption and fragmentation, and the resulting debates around the attention economy, the ability to create meaningful connections has become limited.

As a result, it’s becoming harder to effectively influence behaviour through media in the way that we used to. In spite of this, the media planning community has been slow to fully embrace the single most important driving force that influences human behaviour – through a behavioural heuristic or cognitive bias.

There are up to 188 different biases, but each of them is ultimately a shortcut for decision making, as Daniel Kahneman taught us with his ‘System 1’ and ‘System 2’ thinking.

Human biases with little to no role in media planning

In my 10+ years’ experience in media strategy, planning and buying working across multiple markets, I’ve noticed one common thread. That is, the application of behavioural science concepts and tools has more often than not been limited to high-level strategy development and creative – not actual media planning and buying; the essence of creating tactics and experiences that should ideally help to change behaviour.

‘Framing up a consumer problem’, demonstrating a more ‘scientific approach to a creative solution’, to ‘ensuring the strategic direction and creative energies are focused’ are the most observed use cases in this context. In all those years, there has been little to no mention of how behavioural biases can and should impact channel choices, flighting, frequency, targeting and context.

Expert opinions are focused on wider marketing use cases

This picture is quite similar to major literature and discussions around behavioural biases and its application. The first link between behavioural science and marketing was made by Kahneman in 2002 when he was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize for Economic Science “for having integrated insights from psychological research into economic science, especially concerning human judgment and decision-making under uncertainty”.

Rory Sutherland, Ogilvy’s Vice Chairman, adopted Kahneman’s thinking and ultimately became a pioneer in bringing behavioural science into the creative advertising space whilst launching Ogilvy’s Behavioral Science Practice in 2012.

More recently, conversations in Australia led by behavioural economics expert Dan Monheit, have focused on the wider benefit for marketers. Monheit states that “recognising and understanding these biases gives marketers an edge to create stronger and more effective messaging, products and services that connect emotionally and create action”. 

So whilst the leaders in the field of behavioural science agree on clear use cases of cognitive biases to benefit marketing, pricing, UX and creative, there seems to be a blind spot when it comes to the application of the same concepts across media planning and buying. This is a missed opportunity.

An antipode to the ‘importance’ of media

With media investment contributing 36% to the sales outcome of a campaign  (with creative still being number one), media planners and buyers should take advantage of cognitive biases as much as any marketer, if not more. Especially so when considering actual media is in most cases the biggest expense, with an average of up to 80% of budgets allocated towards working media vs non-working media.

So what now?

We, who plan and buy media, need to start leveraging the evidence-based science of human behaviour when it counts the most – when we actually create the plans and tactics in media that humans will see and experience.

Let me illustrate this with a few practical examples on how some of the most common biases should direct media planning and buying.

The Mere Exposure effect – our tendency to develop preferences for things simply because we are familiar with them.

How to apply it in media planning and buying:

Look for ideas and media tactics that prioritise repeated exposure/frequency. Become part of your audiences’ daily routine and impact consistently eg. long-term radio/podcast sponsorship, daily news sponsorships, commuter formats. Don’t worry too much about wear-out as recent research supports the fact that media planners should strive for an average frequency of more than 10 to maximise brand preference and purchase intentions, which is contrary to prior findings due the increased media proliferation in society. Frequency drives preference: be consistent and ever-present.

The Licensing Effect – we are constantly weighing up our positive acts against our negative ones. It’s best encapsulated in the ‘because I did X, I deserve Y’ mentality.

How to apply it in media planning and buying:

Think about how you can evolve your targeting approach to increase relevance by adding a ‘mindset’ layer to it. For example, if your brand is an indulgence, focus on moments when people are looking for a reward/treat or vice versa eg. time-target after work/school timeslots, leaving gyms, Sunday night/Monday morning. Mindset matters: Think relevance, context and receptivity.

The Halo Effect – positive impressions produced in one area positively influence our opinions in another area.

How to apply it in media planning and buying:

With limited media budgets, think about targeted media initiatives that purposely build the desired brand cues so they lift perception of the entire brand, e.g. sponsorships, brand stunts and activations. This is specifically relevant for new product or brand launches that don’t have big budgets. If you do one thing extraordinarily well, the entire brand benefits.

The Peak-End Rule – our memories and emotions are more likely to be affected (positively or negatively) by key peaks of the experience or by the way an experience ends rather than by its entirety.

How to apply it in media planning and buying:

Rethink budget allocations and media experiences across the consumer journey. In some instances, it might be better to focus a brand’s efforts on creating high quality, innovative lower funnel experiences and tactics vs. investing the majority of budget on high-end awareness initiatives. Alternatively, use this bias to guide and negotiate placements across TV placements, sponsorships, event partnerships. Be brave enough to have a ruthless focus.

So to all media planners and buyers, I encourage you to dive head first into the world of behavioural science and cognitive biases. Read up on it (if you haven’t already after reading this). Make a list of the most relevant ones for your clients, categories and challenges you need to solve and then think about the ways these biases can help you shape your planning principles and media tactics.  

Let cognitive biases be an inspiration and toolbox for your media planning.

Let’s finally take those human ‘short cuts’ and biases further than we’ve ever done before – lifting them out of the ‘upfront’ strategic playing field into the art of creating media experiences and tactics that ultimately help to change human behaviours.