Thompson Spencer · Media
The Golden Thread
Our integrated planning process. One line connecting social, media, creative and tech.
Drawn here for SkyCity.
PlayMakeMove
The starting point
Four markets. One story, waiting to be told as one.
- SkyCity Masterbrand
- Auckland Precinct
- SkyCity Adelaide
- SkyCity Online
Today, brand and performance run on separate threads. Booked in different rooms, measured in different languages, reported to different rhythms. More media won't fix that. One system will, so every dollar knows what it's moving and why.
Play
Find what we're moving. Shape how we'll move it.
Every brief starts with a business problem. Before we plan a single channel, we uncover the behaviour, audience or cultural tension that creates the opportunity, and define the media behaviour that will make SkyCity distinctive.
- The briefBusiness, brand and media objectives, measurable and time-bound.
- The journeyConsumer journey mapped, moments of truth flagged.
- The audienceVolume/Protect and Momentum/Unlock. One framework, every market.
- The challengeThe media challenge, in one sentence.
- The insightCategory, culture, media and brand collide into the collision insight.
- The strategyOpportunity becomes Get-To-By becomes a one-line strategy.
- The architectureA communications architecture anyone can navigate.
- The media ideaMedia gets a creative role, not just a delivery role.
Make
Ignite the idea. Create the work. Build the ecosystem.
A connected ecosystem of the most effective touchpoints. The media behaviour stays constant; the execution adapts. Channels are chosen for role, not reach alone, and investment is allocated against role and prize, not history.
Ignite
Light the fuse. High-impact moments that put the idea into culture.
Immerse
Depth and dwell. Environments where the story can breathe.
Interplay
Channels planned so each one makes the next work harder.
Invite
The opening for people to take part and carry it forward.
One connected idea, expressed differently in channel.
Media isn't linear. People hop from a billboard to a feed to a search box in the same afternoon, and the idea meets them at every stop, acting in the behaviour of that channel instead of placing the same ad everywhere.
Investment, framed for movement
Plus a hold-back reserved for in-flight moves, so the plan can act on what the market tells us.
Move
Fan the flame. Measure. Optimise. Codify.
Turn media into participation. The strongest media ideas don't stop at paid reach. They create momentum that communities want to carry forward, so media becomes something people experience, share and take part in.
The measurement framework is set before a dollar moves. Success is defined, then bought.
Reporting built around decisions, not noise. Test, learn, reallocate. Every experiment lands in the test log.
The wrap doc codifies what stays in play, and becomes the input for the next Play.
Measurable movement, carried forward. Each campaign hands the next one a head start.
One thread. One system for brand and performance.
This isn't the same approach to media every time. It's an inbuilt behaviour in how we think about media and what we create, allowing for originality and infinite reinvention.
- Masterbrand
- Auckland
- Adelaide
- Online