In this op-ed, Vince Niou of Skeleton Key looks at the role of the modern media planner buyer, and how it has changed as the ad tech ecosystem has evolved
Having spent the majority of my career on the agency side, I cut my teeth as an "old school" digital media planner/buyer. Back then, a significant part of the job was about rates and relationships —speaking to publishers, figuring out their offerings, and negotiating the hell out of CPMs. I remember one of my bosses telling me that a sign of a strong practitioner is the ability to "eyeball" an ad unit on a site and instinctively know what a good rate should be. This type of knowledge, built on experience, relationships, and gut feel, was essential in the pre-programmatic, direct IO era.
Fast forward a few years, and the landscape had completely changed. As the programmatic wave swept across the industry, many who brokered direct deals were replaced by hands-on-keyboard platform operators. Publisher relations still mattered in some cases (e.g., programmatic guaranteed), but for most media teams, the emphasis shifted to pulling levers inside biddable platforms, letting algorithms drive decision-making. Skillsets evolved, too — where individual publisher knowledge and a sharp eye for value once ruled, platform expertise became king.
Today the industry is poised for another evolution. As third-party identifiers continue to degrade and media buying becomes increasingly fragmented, we’re entering an era that echoes the past but with new complexities. The media planner/buyer role is shifting once more — this time toward something that resembles the planner/buyer of the past, but with a technical edge. It’s this blend of partner management, data literacy, and tech-savviness that will define the next generation of media practitioners.
What came before
The direct IO era
In the early days of digital media buying, everything was manual, from negotiating rates to signing off on insertion orders (IOs). Media planners and buyers built strong relationships with publishers, often spending hours on the phone or in meetings learning about the unique value propositions of each website or network. Buyers needed to understand the context of each inventory source and the audience it served to get the best possible outcome for their campaigns.
Rate negotiation was an important skill. Experienced buyers could, with a glance, determine if a CPM was too high or just right for a particular slice of inventory. Relationships were critical, and a buyer’s value was in part, tied to their ability to strike a favorable deal. In this world, technical platform knowledge wasn’t necessary. Instead, success was built on negotiation prowess, a deep understanding of publishers, and an instinct for what worked.
The scope of the media planner/buyer’s job was wide-ranging. Beyond purchasing inventory, they also used their knowledge to build media plans, assessing which properties offered the best ROI and guiding creative executions based on the context of each site. The skillset here was primarily split between market knowledge, media fundamentals, and relationship management (Figure A).
*Note that profile scoring is meant to be indicative only
Figure A - Direct IO Planner/Buyer role profile
The programmatic era
Then came the programmatic revolution, where algorithmic buying platforms took centre stage. Programmatic buying allowed media buyers to purchase digital ads in real-time through biddable platforms like demand-side platforms (DSPs). This shift made the buying process more operationally efficient, but abstracted away certain types of human decision-making that was previously required.
In this era, many media buyers became traders, setting up and managing campaigns through hands-on-keyboard actions. As such, the required skillsets shifted dramatically. Publisher relationships were still important in some cases, but the emphasis for most media teams shifted towards mastering programmatic platforms, understanding auction dynamics, and optimising campaigns based on real-time data. Knowledge of bidding algorithms and audience segmentation for media targeting were hallmarks of this era.
That said, the human element remained crucial—just in a different way. Programmatic trading required deep expertise in platform configuration, data deployment, and optimisation strategies, all of which allowed media buyers to maximise campaigns performance. Rather than negotiating rates directly, they managed platform levers and set up rules for algorithms to handle the heavy lifting (Figure B).
Figure B - Programmatic Trader role profile
How things are today and what’s to come
The fragmented future
Today, we’re in the midst of the next big shift in media, and it’s defined by fragmentation. With the degradation of third party identifiers, the digital landscape is now comprised of a growing number of first party data-powered closed and semi-closed ecosystems (e.g. walled gardens, retail media networks, gated premium publishers) and a smaller pool of desirable open internet inventory. This landscape will be traversed by a collection of privacy-centric solutions including data clean rooms, universal IDs, and browser-based APIs.
Fragmentation extends beyond media owners, it encompasses media channels too. Emerging environments like connected TV (CTV), digital out-of-home (DOOH), and audio bring their own complexities and data/identity challenges on top of existing channels like web and mobile app. New players and methods are also emerging in ad tech such as sell-side curation houses, modern measurement platforms, and data collaboration vendors. For media practitioners working on scaled brands, this means managing a greater diversity of vendors than ever before.
In this modern era, the tools of the trade have evolved. Manual bid adjustments and targeting parameters are increasingly replaced by all-in-one "black box" bidding solutions and campaign automation tools. Generative AI is also entering the media planning and activation process, enabling creative asset creation, and even powering campaign setup. Media platforms are abstracting away front-end complexity, giving buyers more time for upstream tasks and less on technical execution. This isn’t to say that there won’t be instances of complex front-end campaign setups, but these will become the exception, not the rule.
The paradox here is that while platforms are becoming easier to use, the broader landscape is more complex than ever. Media practitioners are once again spending more time building relationships—not only with publishers, but also with ad tech, data and identity partners. This new roles requires a blend of the following skills:
- Strong technical knowledge of ad tech and data/identity solutions
- A solid grasp of media planning principles and broad awareness of the evolving modern sell-side landscape
- The ability to manage disparate relationships across a fragmented ecosystem.
What’s old is new again
In many ways, the modern media practitioner will resemble the planner/buyer of the direct IO era. However, individual publisher knowledge and rate negotiation savvy are now deprioritised in favor of ad tech expertise, data literacy, and an understanding of the evolving media channel and publisher landscape. These individuals also need to be familiar with post-cookie technologies (e.g., data clean rooms, universal IDs, and browser/app-based APIs) while navigating the rules governing walled gardens and semi-closed ecosystems.
Instead of pulling levers in media platforms, modern practitioners will spend more time orchestrating partnerships and making tactical decisions across different channels and ecosystems. It’s a role (or set of roles) that blends skills from previously distinct disciplines — a chimeric skillset fit for the complexity of the modern digital marketing landscape (Figure C).
Figure C - Modern Media Practitioner role profile
What this means for marketers and agencies
The fragmentation of the industry has significant implications for marketers and agencies. As discussed, the ideal modern media practitioner role now requires multiple specialised skillsets. To adapt, marketers and agencies must rethink their approach to hiring, training, and structuring their media teams.
New roles for a complex ecosystem
The evolving media ecosystem requires new roles that merge traditional media planning/buying with data strategy, ad tech, and programmatic trading. Agencies need individuals who understand data and technology but can also orchestrate partnerships across media owners, ad tech vendors, and data solution providers. Individuals who possess all of these skills are rare. As such, agencies will likely need to create hybrid roles that blend select skills in ratios tailored to client objectives and focus areas.
For marketers, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity. The complexity of the current ecosystem means that agencies and in-house teams alike will need more highly specialised talent. This could mean hiring different types of talent for media roles or training existing employees to develop the technical fluency needed to navigate today’s ad tech and data environments.
Upskilling and continuous learning
With platforms automating much of the campaign execution process, media teams should re-allocate the time savings towards upstream planning and understanding the technical mechanics that underpin today’s media landscape. This places an emphasis on upskilling — particularly in areas like identity resolution, data orchestration, and what is (and isn’t) possible across inventory sources of different shapes and sizes across the ecosystem.
Both agencies and marketers will need to foster a culture of continuous learning, equipping teams with the necessary knowledge to stay ahead of rapid technological changes. Education focusing on privacy compliance, first party data utilisation, and identity solutions will become essential. More than just technical knowledge, teams must understand how these solutions can be applied to and augment marketing best practices. Agencies that invest in both technical training and practical application will be better positioned to help clients navigate this complex, evolving landscape.
Reimagining client relationships
Agencies’ media buying proposition will become increasingly strategic and consultative. Savvy clients will expect more from their agency partners than just campaign execution — they’ll look to agencies for guidance in traversing fragmented ecosystems and making informed media decisions. Agencies will have to deepen their involvement in planning and coordination, advising clients on how best to deploy customer data, choose identity solutions, and tap into new ecosystems.
In light of these shifts, the client-agency relationship is evolving. Agencies that can serve as strategic partners, offering expertise across ad tech, data and media planning in synergistic ways, will stand out. Those that fail to adjust may struggle to remain relevant.
Past and Present
The evolution of the media practitioner reflects the industry’s ongoing transformation. What began as a direct, negotiation-based role between planners and publishers shifted to one focused on campaign execution via biddable platforms. While programmatic buying brought new efficiencies, it reduced the human element and emphasised platform expertise over partner management.
Today, as fragmentation increases and privacy-first approaches reshape the landscape, we’re seeing a return in the importance of partner management — but with a modern twist. Tomorrow’s media practitioner will need the strategic partnership mindset of the old school buyer, combined with technical fluency and data literacy to navigate a fragmented landscape underpinned by first party data, disparate media ecosystems, and privacy-by-design technologies.
Figure D illustrates the shift in emphasis for different media planner/buyer skills across industry eras.
Figure D - Media Planner/Buyer role comparison
In many ways, the role is coming full circle. Relationship management and strategic planning are once again vital, but the tools of the trade are more complex than ever. To thrive, media practitioners must blend the skills of the past with the demands of the present, ensuring they bring maximum value in today’s (and tomorrow’s) industry landscape.