There was a time when media planning was largely about identifying the right channels, securing reach, and amplifying a brand’s message. Today, however, media sits at the intersection of culture, commerce, communities, creators, and technology, making the consumer journey far more fragmented and dynamic than ever before.
As audiences move fluidly across platforms and touchpoints, the rules that once governed media planning and leadership are being rewritten in real time.
At the same time, the industry is navigating another inflection point. Artificial intelligence is reshaping decision-making, automation is redefining execution, and brands are under increasing pressure to deliver not just visibility, but lasting impact. In a landscape flooded with data, the challenge is no longer access to information but knowing what to do with it, while balancing short-term outcomes with long-term brand building.
Against this backdrop, Navin Khemka, President, Client Solutions, WPP Media South Asia, spoke to Marketing Mind about the evolving role of media leadership, the changing nature of media planning, the enduring value of human instinct in an AI-driven world, the importance of building memory structures for brands, and the transformative shifts he believes will redefine the media and advertising ecosystem over the next few years.
With media today extending far beyond amplification to influence culture, commerce, and consumer behaviour, Khemka shared his perspective on how the role of media leadership has evolved alongside this transformation saying that it has evolved significantly, especially for everyone who are steering this industry today.
He said, “There was a time, particularly when we started our careers, when we would be deeply involved in every aspect of media planning- examining every nuance and bringing a great deal of rigor to every plan. However, the landscape today is vastly different. With increasing fragmentation has come a high degree of specialisation, making the ecosystem far more complex than it once was. So, what is the role of a media leader today?”
Furthermore, Khemka went on to say, “The role of a media leader is almost what I would call a “jack of all trades.” You may not be the master of everything happening around you, but you need to be able to orchestrate what is right for your brand or client.”
It’s much like an orchestra. There are individual musicians who play different instruments, and then there is the person who directs the orchestra and brings everything together.
“That is the role of a successful media leader today- someone who can navigate and orchestrate across multiple specialisations while responding to the complexity that now defines the media landscape,” Khemka emphasised.
When asked whether the traditional concept of media planning still exists in an era where consumers seamlessly move between platforms, creators, commerce, and communities, Khemka highlighted that media planning is all about the consumer.
“It is not about deciding whether you want to do traditional or digital media. The starting point is always the consumer and how they have evolved over the years,” he said.
As consumer behaviour evolves and the way people spend their time continues to change, media planning evolves alongside it. That’s the reality of the industry today.
Khemka explained, “As media planners, all of us – including the new people coming into media planning today – are dealing with a very different landscape. They are a very different breed altogether in terms of the media they consume and how they consume it. Similarly, when we started our careers, we were a different breed altogether compared to today’s generation.”
“So, I would say that if you are able to keep pace with the changing media habits of the consumer, then there is no question of traditional versus digital. It should be seamless,” he added.
With the industry now having access to unprecedented volumes of data and AI-driven intelligence, Khemka explained what continues to give human instinct a distinct advantage.
“Even when I look at AI, data, and the vast amount of information that media platforms and clients are giving us, there is still no one solution. For any given problem or situation that a brand might face, even with all this data available, there could still be three possible routes to take. And that is where, I would say, a little bit of grey hair matters,” he said.
You may have three strong options in front of you, but the real question is: which one do you go with? What is the gut feeling that guides your decision? What is the experience from the past that makes you believe that option A is better than option B, or option C?
“That is really the expertise that we bring to the table-our ability to make informed judgments beyond the data,” Khemka added.
When asked why some campaigns achieve visibility while only a few leave a lasting impression, and what separates media effectiveness from true brand impact, Khemka said, “Today, brands that consciously build memory structures, by design and not by default, will genuinely do well over a period of time. There are brands that operate with a very short-term mindset, focusing on questions like: What is my impact this quarter? What is the impact of this campaign? In doing so, they often lose sight of where the brand needs to be six, 12, or 18 months down the line.”
“If your vision is largely short term, your memory structures will not be built effectively. You become very tactical and focused on the here and now. However, if you adopt a longer-term perspective, looking 18 to 24 months ahead, you can do a phenomenal job of building very strong memory structures for the brand,” he said.
When that long-term vision is in place, everything changes. The creative strategy will be different, the media strategy will be different, the treatment will be different, and all the nuances will be different as well, Khemka added.
When asked to identify the one major shift that could redefine the media and advertising ecosystem over the next three to five years, and whether the industry is prepared for it, Khemka said, “I’ll just quote my Global CEO, Brian Lesser, here. I remember him making a very insightful comment during a Town Hall. He said that over the next three to five years, two major shifts will take place. First, no media plan will be touched by a human. Second, every media touchpoint will become transactable.”
“These are the two big shifts that we, as an industry, need to prepare ourselves for. In many ways, they are already happening, and the pace of change will only accelerate from here. That is precisely why we have been investing heavily in AI, including WPP Open, which we have launched for our clients, as well as the agentic systems that have been rolled out globally and in India. So, yes, that is how we are embracing change- we are moving in the fast lane and preparing ourselves for what lies ahead,” he added.
