Business objective
One business number per phase, such as enquiries in two new states or trials in new outlets, and the communication task that serves it.
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Strategy · Media & communication planning
Mediaplanning
Since 201565+ in-house team6 cities
Media planning for companies whose channels each claim credit while sales stay flat. Which channel does which job, what it gets and when.
A strategist calls you in one working day.
/ 01 Media planning agency
One plan forevery channel.
Spread money over six channels and every agency will say its own channel worked, while sales haven't moved. PromotEdge is a media planning agency, and a marketing company, that gives each channel across TV, print, radio, outdoor and digital one job, one market, one time slot and one number to be judged on.
Media planning decides where, when and how much to advertise. Media buying books the space at a good price. This page is about planning, which comes first. The TV agency plans TV, the digital agency plans digital, and nobody checks whether a buyer meets one story or four.
We plan the whole mix from one brief, one calendar and one set of numbers. The plan is media-neutral: if your category is won at the dealer counter, we say so, even if that means less advertising and more trade marketing.
- 2015working with Indian brands since
- 65+in-house team: strategy, creative, media and tech
- 4pillars under one roof: strategy, advertising, digital, on-ground activation (BTL)
- 6cities: head office in Kolkata, teams in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Guwahati and Bhubaneswar
/ 02 What you get
What's inthe plan.
Audience and moments
Who you need to reach, where they are when they decide, and which language they decide in.
Market priority list
Which states, cities and towns get weight first, based on your distribution, search demand and rivals' activity.
Channel roles
A job for each channel: TV for fast reach, print for dated offers, radio for cheap repetition, outdoor to own a route, search to catch demand, BTL for trials.
Reach and frequency goals
Reach is how many different people see the ad. Frequency is how often each sees it. We set both per market.
Media flowchart
A week-by-week chart of bursts and always-on activity, timed to the sales season, festivals, year-end and trade shows.
Budget and buying brief
The split by channel and phase with the logic behind it, current rates for your markets, and a clear brief for whoever books. We buy through our media partners.
Measurement plan
What each channel is judged on, how it is tracked, and what the monthly report looks like.
/ 03 What usually gets in the way
Where media money leaks,and how to stop it.
“Every agency says its channel worked. Sales didn't move.”
Each report measures its own channel. We judge the whole plan on shared numbers: enquiries, cost per lead (what you pay, on average, for one enquiry), branded search and sales in the markets that saw the campaign.
“We spent heavily in the festive season and got lost in the noise.”
Festive weeks cost more and every brand is shouting. Go in earlier, or own one city or one medium instead of fighting everywhere.
“We run a little TV, a little print and a little digital. Nobody remembers any of it.”
Enough weight in fewer markets and fewer weeks beats a light presence everywhere.
“Our TV ad runs in states where we have no dealers.”
Mass media should follow distribution. We start from where you can sell and deliver, then pick the media that cover those markets.
“Leads arrive on Saturday and nobody answers until Monday.”
Then media isn't the problem. We fund tracking, landing pages and follow-up first, because unanswered paid enquiries are money thrown away.
“Our buyers in the districts don't read English, but every ad is in English.”
Language is planned market by market: regional TV and newspapers where they fit, with creative adapted for each audience, not subtitled.
“Last year's split was copied into this year's plan.”
Budgets should follow this year's job. If the problem moved from awareness to conversion, the split moves with it.
“Can you plan media for our state or city?”
Yes. Our servicing team is based in cities across India, and we stay in touch every day. We meet you in your city at least once every three months, with reviews on video calls in between. Outdoor goes on the routes your dealers use. Our team and partners come to you.
Our beliefChange is the only constant.
Not sure which channel is earning its place? Send us last year's media bills and we will read them with you. Get a free growth plan
/ 04 How we work
How we build the plan,in the order we decide it.
The order is the same every time. The amounts change with your category, markets and budget.
- 01
Start from the business number
Enquiries, trials, dealer orders or sales in named markets. The plan serves that number, not a reach target.
- 02
Fund the basics first
Tracking, the website, landing pages and follow-up in WhatsApp and your CRM (software that keeps all leads in one place).
- 03
Protect demand capture
Search and retargeting (ads shown again to people who visited but did not enquire) for buyers already looking.
- 04
Fund this year's main job
If the problem is awareness in new markets, mainline and outdoor take more. If it is conversion, digital, trade and on-ground do.
- 05
Concentrate, then phase
Enough weight in fewer markets and weeks to be noticed, with a test reserve held back for what works.
- 06
Re-split every month
We'd rather be blunt than pleasing, so money moves on cost per lead and pipeline, not on the most flattering report.
Tell us what’s not working. We’ll send you an honest one-page growth plan, free.
Go deeperMore on this
How we deliver it, and why
How your business model changes the plan
A diagnostic centre opening a branch leans on local search, radio and outdoor near the branch. A developer opening bookings for a housing project mixes newspapers, search and site-visit ads. A machine maker backing dealers in new states (industrial buyers) puts weight on trade shows and regional press. D2C and quick commerce sellers lean on search, social and video, timed to local stock.
Seasons and languages
In India, when matters as much as where. Durga Puja shapes the east, Onam shapes Kerala, Pongal and Sankranti shape the south, and Diwali touches most of the country. The same idea can run in Bengali on a hoarding, in Hindi on TV and in English on LinkedIn.
- Start from one business number. Reach is easy to buy and hard to turn into cash. A number per phase that every channel serves.
- Fund tracking and follow-up first. Media before these buys enquiries nobody answers. Tracking, landing pages, WhatsApp and CRM set up.
- Concentrate weight. A thin spread is forgotten. A strong burst in fewer markets is noticed. A flowchart against festivals and stock.
- Re-split every month. Money should follow cost per lead and pipeline. A monthly review with cost per lead by channel.
Go deeper: the Indian market and who sets the rules
The market
The FICCI-EY report put India's media and entertainment sector at ₹2.78 trillion for 2025. Advertising rose 13% to about ₹1.5 trillion, and digital took 63% of it, or about ₹94,700 crore. The other 37% went to other media.
Source: FICCI-EY report, released 24 March 2026 (EY India press release; Storyboard18 coverage), read 10 October 2026
Who sets the rules and who measures
ASCI, set up in 1985, is advertising's self-regulator and keeps The ASCI Code. BARC India measures TV audiences; its owners are the broadcasters' body IBDF (60%), the Indian Society of Advertisers (20%) and the Advertising Agencies Association of India (20%). MRUC, running since 1994, produces the Indian Readership Survey and the Indian Outdoor Survey. AAAI, formed in 1945, is the agencies' national body.
Source: ASCI, BARC India, MRUC and AAAI websites, read 10 October 2026
AI in media planning: today and next
Today
Google's Meridian is an open-source marketing mix model. It helps measure what each channel adds and plan budgets, can be calibrated with experiment results, and can include search demand. A model is only as good as the data fed in, so we set up tracking first.
Source: Google, Meridian developer page, read 10 October 2026
Next
Our view: model-based advice will reach mid-size brands. Until then, run the plan in some cities, hold others back, and compare sales. Want us to show how it would look for you? Ask us.
Want a second opinion on this year's split? Talk to us
/ 05 Industries
Where this works best.
01
Construction equipment
Contractors trust the machine their peers run on site more than any brochure.
02Building materials
The person who pays for the cement is rarely the one who picks the brand.
03Industrial & manufacturing
Procurement checks you out long before your sales team is invited to talk.
04Automotive
A buyer's interest fades fast when the enquiry reaches the right showroom late.
05Real estate
Enquiries are easy to buy, but the sale is won or lost at the site visit.
06FMCG
Your ad works for a rival if your product is missing from the shelf.
/ 06 Cost
What media planning costs.
We don't publish a price list. Our planning fee and your media spend are shown separately, and media is billed at actuals.
What affects the cost
- How many states, cities and languages the plan covers
- How many channels are in the mix, and whether BTL is included
- One campaign, or a full year with monthly re-splits
- How much research it needs: rate checks, audience data, rival activity
- Whether we also book the media, or brief your buying agency
How we quote
- We talk about your goal, your markets and the budget range you work in.
- We look at your current channel mix, past rates paid and the results you can show.
- We write down the markets, languages, channels and months the plan will cover.
- You get a quote within 2 working days, with our fee on one line and each channel's media at actuals.
What you get in the quote
- The states, cities and languages in the plan
- The channels in the mix, and whether BTL is part of it
- One campaign, or a year with monthly re-splits
- Whether we book the media or brief your buying agency
To compare quotes fairly, check that media cost and planning fee are on separate lines in each one.
/ 07 What happens next
What happensafter you ask.
For projects we think we can help, this is how it goes.
- 01
A strategist calls you
In one working day: a 30-minute call with one of our strategists about your business and what is not working.
- 02
You get a 1-page plan
A short, honest plan: what to fix first and what we would do. It is free.
- 03
A quote, if you want one
If you want to go ahead, we send a quote within 2 working days.
We confirm the timeline in the quote. Contracts start at 3 months, with 30 days' notice to stop.
Brands and people are named only as public examples. They are not PromotEdge clients or endorsers unless stated.
Keep exploring
Related pages.
The same work in your city and your industry, and the services that go with it.
Media & communication planning: specialist services
More strategy services
Proof and reading
What people say
In their own words
“An aligned partner is always a welcoming step. Someone who can think deep through lines, understand the matrix of product management. Fortunate enough, PromotEdge has been a partner in progress for me. …”
Bobby SrinivasChief Manager Marketing & Brand Marketing at Utkarsh India“PromotEdge is one of the most hard working creative agency that LISTENS ! Do I need to say anything more ?!!!! …”
Harsh GuptaManaging Director at Rishta Foods“As a progressive and emerging digital marketing company, PromotEdge is doing something right to enhance the experience of companies associated with them. …”
Anish Basu MallikMarketing Executive at Unimark Group
No pressure. No sales pitch.
Tell us where your media money goes.We'll show you the plan.
Straight answers.
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It decides which channels a brand should use, in which markets, at what weight and when, within a budget, then tracks whether the plan delivered. Buying negotiates rates, books the space and checks that it ran. We plan the media ourselves and buy it through our media partners.
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Integrated marketing communication (IMC) means every way a brand talks to buyers, from TV and PR (press coverage) to the dealer counter and WhatsApp, carries one idea and is planned together. A media plan is one output of IMC: the schedule and budget for paid channels.
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ATL (above the line) is mass media: TV, radio, newspapers and outdoor. BTL (below the line) is face-to-face: events, dealer meets, shop displays, demos and sampling. TTL (through the line) mixes both, usually with digital. ATL makes the brand familiar, and BTL turns interest into orders.
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CPM (cost per mille) is what you pay for 1,000 ad views. A gross rating point (GRP) is reach as a percentage, multiplied by frequency: 40% of your audience seeing the ad three times is 120 GRPs. Cost per lead is what you pay, on average, for one enquiry. CPM and GRPs show reach; cost per lead shows business.
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Enough for each channel in the plan to be noticed in the markets you choose. A smaller budget on fewer markets and channels usually beats a larger one spread thin. We will tell you plainly if a channel isn't worth funding at your budget.
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Planning is priced by the work covered, and media spend is kept separate from our fee so you can see both. One campaign in one state costs far less than a year across many states and languages. We quote after a first conversation, with media at actuals.
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It depends on the category and the distribution. Regional TV can be the quickest way to make a brand familiar where you sell, which makes search and social cheaper. If buyers can't find you after seeing the ad, the TV money is wasted. See how we plan TV advertising.
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With numbers that cut across channels: branded search, enquiries by source and cost per lead. We also compare sales in markets that saw the campaign with those that didn't. Reach and impressions are reported, but they are not the result. You see these every month.