In recent years, the role of the media planner has been changing in a profound and, in some ways, radical way. It is no longer enough to monitor the channels: they must be understood, in order to anticipate the behaviors that pass through them.
Content consumption has become fluid, fragmented and transversal. Linear TV coexists with streaming, gaming and apps, within an ecosystem in which the boundaries between entertainment, information and interaction are becoming increasingly blurred. Planning no longer means hitting a predefined audience, but intercepting behaviors, contexts and intentions.
In this sense, the Samsung Ads TV Phone Home report is valuable not so much for the numbers themselves, but for the approach it promotes: a cross-device and cross-behavior reading, capable of restoring the complexity of our daily habits.
The document identifies three key environments of use, highlighting a decisive change in perspective: TV is no longer a simple channel. It is a content hub within an increasingly convergent ecosystem: from streaming to gaming, from passive viewing to active interaction. Every access to the device is potentially a portal to entertainment. And in this scenario, every “moment of use” becomes an opportunity for communication.
The speed with which these behaviors evolve varies significantly from country to country, highlighting not only demographic, but also cultural and behavioral fragmentation in Europe.
The data confirm profound differences between European markets:
Linear TV remains a relevant touchpoint: 41% of the European population watches it regularly. However, the rise of streaming is profoundly redefining consumption habits, fragmenting the audience and multiplying the contexts of use.
In this scenario, Italy stands out for a still strong bond with linear TV, with a usage rate that reaches 54%. This is a cultural specificity that does not slow down, but rather accompanies a profound transformation of the media landscape, increasingly oriented towards digital and hybrid models.
This is also confirmed by the UPA dashboard in collaboration with Nielsen: advertising investments are progressively shifting towards digital, a sign of a strategic adaptation to the evolution of viewing behaviors.
Digital investments (in green) are constantly growing, reflecting the evolution of general usage behaviors while TV (in blue) maintains a central and stable role. At the center, however, with variable trends, we find investments destined for traditional media (periodicals, newspapers and radio).
This trend confirms the need to adopt a truly omnichannel logic, capable of integrating the strengths of traditional channels with the flexibility, measurability and customization offered by digital.
Understanding and managing decision-making complexity
Omnichannel reflects an increasingly complex and non-linear customer journey, which is activated from the first stimulus received and continues until the final purchase decision. This intermediate phase is effectively described by the Messy Middle theory, now well-known among marketers, which helps us understand the behavioral mechanisms that influence choices.
During this journey, people move between two mental modes: exploration, which pushes them to search for and compare options on multiple channels, and evaluation, which leads to progressively narrowing down the alternatives until the final choice.
Of the two phases, exploration is often the most delicate. Here the user moves from one channel to another, consulting search engines, social networks, reviews, price comparison sites and apps in search of information.
It is a space of indecision, curiosity and continuous comparison, in which the user is exposed to multiple stimuli and can easily get distracted.
In this context, getting noticed is crucial: being present in the most relevant touchpoints, with useful, coherent and well-positioned messages.
In concrete terms, this means overseeing the critical moments of the decision-making process with convincing messages, helping to shorten it, offering fluid, omnichannel and coherent experiences.
Omnichannel and targeting: towards more fluid and integrated planning
Exploiting omnichannel means going beyond the fragmentation of channels, to build more precise and personalized strategies, capable of recognizing the same user on different devices and adapting messages to the right time and medium.
For example, someone who has just seen a commercial on a Smart TV can receive a related ad or a personalized call to action directly on their smartphone, even in the minutes immediately following.
Daily Insights for Data-Driven Planning
The Messy Middle theory redefines the role of the media planner, from a mechanical approach to a more interpretive one, centered on the ability to draw relevant insights and build flexible and data-driven planning.
In this context, the insight that we found most useful and relevant for our work concerns the temporal analysis of the user's daily behavior.
Knowing the audience, and when or how they connect, is essential today to maximize the effectiveness of campaigns and enhance every strategic moment of the day.
For example, knowing that between 9:00 PM and 10:00 PM there is the maximum peak in simultaneous use of TV and smartphones profoundly changes the way we can manage and optimize advertising investments. In this time slot, interactive formats and synchronized content can generate significantly higher levels of engagement than standard and non-contextualized campaigns — such as the use of QR Codes on TV, which can encourage interaction and increase conversions.
As media planners, we should test synchronized TV-mobile formats more systematically, especially for brands with a high experiential component.
In short, the future of advertising planning will not only be a matter of choosing the right channels, but of building relevant and measurable experiences around real behaviors.
SUNTIMES: what we carry forwar
Today, people move between platforms, channels and content in a frenetic way. They no longer follow a linear purchasing path, but live fragmented experiences, made up of stimuli, comparisons and continuous changes of direction. Every interaction leaves a signal and for brands, the point is not to be everywhere, but to understand when and how to be found. Therefore, decode the signals, read the context and tune into the intentions.
As can be seen from advertising investments, brands are focusing on digital and TV channels, understood as devices and no longer just as a means of broadcasting, and for this reason an omnichannel approach is needed, which knows how to make the strength of classic channels interact with the flexibility, measurability and customization of digital.
The future of planning will no longer be just a question of presence or relevance, but of the balance between both: understanding how people behave, creating experiences that make sense and making every point of contact a moment that counts. It means abandoning the logic of interruption and embracing that of connection, where every media choice is driven by an intention.
Credits
SUNTIMES
Eleonora Cisini - Junior Media Planner
Gabriele Coviello - Junior Media Planner
Guglielmo Vanasia - Senior Media Planner
SOURCES
- Samsung ADS EMEA: Behind the screens - TV Phone Home - Italy Data (Samsungs ADS EMEA)
- UPA - Nielsen: Andamento annuale degli investimenti pubblicitari in Italia dal 1962 (Tableau Public)
