When to rebuild media architecture instead of optimising what's already there

Optimisation assumes the underlying structure is basically right.

Sometimes it isn't.

Euka Future Learning is a useful example. Its media had been structured around Australia as a single national market. On the surface, that makes sense. Same business. Same service. Same country.

But the market wasn't actually behaving as one.

The requirements around home education differ between states and territories. Families in different markets can face different administrative requirements, different barriers and different questions when considering the same service.

Once we understood that, the media architecture changed.

Rather than treating Australia as one homogeneous audience, activity was separated so individual markets could be understood and managed with greater nuance. Messaging could respond to different barriers, performance could be evaluated market by market, and investment could respond to what was actually happening in each one.

The audience hadn't necessarily changed.

OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE AUDIENCE HAD.

That's the point.

Sometimes another round of bids, budgets and targeting adjustments is exactly what's required. Other times, the better question is whether the structure you're optimising still reflects the market you're trying to reach.