And it’s costing you! 

It's an uncomfortable truth for many of you.

But I’m seeing, time and time again, that most media mixes are wrong, or being overused in one area because they’re misaligned to the business’ real ambition for growth. And what’s wild is how consistent the conversations are. CEOs, marketers, business owners… they’re genuinely lost when it comes to how their agencies are buying and planning media.

Honestly? I don’t blame them.

CFOs are squeezing CMOs for outcomes, there I just said it, I’m not scared to say that. I think all the marketing people who read this will agree. Marketing budgets are flatlining, Gartner reported average marketing budgets sitting at 7.7% of company revenue, and half of CMOs are working with 6% or less. That environment creates fear… and fear pushes people into what feels “safe”.

Which leads to the biggest problem I’m seeing right now:

Execution is happening before strategy

That line has always resonated with me. A CMO I worked closely with used to repeat that the core problem wasn’t capability, it was sequencing. We would rush to execute what we wanted to achieve, and only afterwards step back to define the strategy. He consistently reinforced that strategy should lead and execution should follow not the other way around.

Instead, the logic sounds like this:

• “It’s cheap and drives leads.”
• “We reduced TV because it feels expensive / no one watches.”
• “META, because that’s what I’m on all the time.”
• “We increased digital because it’s measurable.”
• “We cut brand because performance looks safer.”
• “We’re only using one channel because it’s easy to buy.”

Guess what! If those answers are familiar, you don’t have a media strategy. You have a media habit.

And yes, the performance trap is real. Here’s the uncomfortable part: over-investing in performance can lower ROI. WARC’s research on brand + performance integration shows that businesses that over-index into performance, can see ROI decline by 20–50%, while shifting to a more balanced approach can lift ROI materially (in some cases dramatically). The point isn’t not do performance, it’s that performance without brand becomes a race to the bottom. Don’t hate on me either, we plan performance all the time, there are reasons for performance but don’t make it the only answer.

Short-term looks good guys… until it doesn’t.

So, what’s the answer?

Well, I don’t want to give you the silver bullet, that’s not the idea here and also, it’s not going to change things right now for you, but what I really want to do is prompt you with questions you should ask yourself as a marketer, CEO or business owner.

1. What is your budget – does it support what you want to achieve?
2. What is the maturity of the category you play in – are you a start up? Mature or challenger?
3. Is your market heavily competitive?
4. And of course, the most important question – what is your main objective? For example, awareness to reach a new category of buyers and build mental availability?

Now, in all honesty, this is exactly why I’m raising it, and the purpose behind this issue of Media Matters. We’ve been asked this question repeatedly, so about six months ago we decided to build a platform designed to bring more structure to media mix decision-making: a new Media Investment Calculator.

If you’re looking for a practical way to stress-test your thinking, the calculator allows you to model different scenarios and pressure-test your assumptions. It’s not there to prescribe answers. It’s there to elevate the conversation grounded in industry benchmarks and established effectiveness principles. Our goal was to give businesses a starting framework: a clearer way to think, to challenge internal bias, and ultimately to shape strategy with intent and commercial impact. We’ve invested a significant amount of work into this, so I’d genuinely value you giving it a try and I’d love to hear your thoughts.

So last words from me…

I really want to stress that your media mix isn’t about preference, or the latest 21-year-old in a promo video promising you millions overnight. It’s about asking the right questions, answering them honestly, and building a strategy that matches the commercial reality of your business.