How Could Generative AI Transform Media Planning?

Not just for content creation, generative AI can already optimize ad personalization, predictive analytics, and real-time data monitoring.

Generative AI, the advertising industry's buzziest buzzword, is emerging as a powerful tool that could potentially reshape the way we as advertisers strategize our campaigns.

But for media planners, it can be difficult to see how generative AI can actually help in day-to-day tasks. When you're constantly planning, launching, and optimizing campaigns, it's easy to dismiss anything that doesn't immediately improve efficiency or increase ROI.

But the truth is, generative AI is already proving its worth in media planning and will only become more important in the future. Initial findings show that when AI-based media buying is employed the ROAS can double or triple compared to previous efforts.

So:

How can generative AI be used for media planning?

Here are a few applications available TODAY that we're testing for our clients.

Precise Audience Targeting

AI's Deep Learning enables a breadth and depth of knowledge in how targeting is applied to ad campaigns. Instead of broad audience targeting segments like "in-market auto shoppers", AI unlocks the nuances of an individual's consumer journey and has a much deeper understanding of the context of the ad. It analyzes customer data and third-party signals to provide segmentation recommendations, making data-based strategies more effective and efficient.

The uncomfortable truth is that traditional audience targeting wasn't just legally problematic—it was strategically flawed. We paid a premium "audience tax" for behavioral segments that promised precision but delivered diminishing returns. Consumers rejected invasive tracking. Regulators caught up. And the foundation crumbled.

But here's the opportunity: The collapse of cookie-based targeting is forcing brands to rebuild smarter, more sustainable segmentation strategies. At Exverus, we've been helping clients navigate this transition for years, and the results speak for themselves.

The new playbook: Three pillars of post-cookie targeting

1. Contextual intelligence. Modern contextual advertising goes far beyond keyword matching. It's about aligning your message with the emotional tone, content environment, and audience mindset. Research from Integral Ad Science shows contextually aligned ads deliver 23% higher ad recall and 27% better brand narrative recollection. We've seen it work: Our campaign for The Chosen achieved 4.6x the industry standard brand lift by meeting viewers in content they already trust and enjoy—no personal data required.

2. First-party data as your moat. The brands winning right now are building direct relationships with customers through owned channels: email lists, loyalty programs, zero-party data collection. This isn't about replacing third-party cookies with creepy alternatives—it's about earning trust and permission. Retail media networks exemplify this perfectly, offering first-party purchase data at scale while respecting consumer privacy.

3. Privacy-first measurement. Ditch vanity metrics like clicks and impressions. Invest in tools that respect consumer privacy while delivering real business insights: marketing mix modeling (MMM), attention metrics, brand lift studies, and AI-powered contextual solutions. These aren't workarounds—they're upgrades that measure what actually matters.

Ad Personalization

Generative AI can be used to create custom ads based on the viewer. This capability is so much more than the "dynamic" ads of the past. Imagine the ability to deliver custom video ads informed by the viewer's demographics and location, and those decisions being made in real time and at a fraction of the cost of producing multiple video commercials for different markets/regions.

At Exverus by Brainlabs, we've spent 12 years refining our approach to full-funnel media planning for growth-stage, culture-creating brands. Here's what demonstrably works.

Improved Programmatic Advertising Performance

AI is driving improvement in programmatic advertising performance by powering recommendation engines based on past performance and enhanced audience targeting. Unlike its human counterparts, AI never sleeps. This makes real-time bidding and programmatic buys a breeze.

Answers to all the questions you never thought to ask.

Automated Planning Documentation

The generation of crucial media planning documentation such as investment plans, campaign parameters, creative assets, and media placement selection is being automated by AI, leveraging campaign-level insights in the process.

Data-Driven Virtual Assistants

Tools like Omni Assist provide data-driven insights, notifications, and recommendations throughout the planning and buying workflow, reducing discovery time and accelerating learning.

But as with any tool, generative AI is only as good as the data and inputs it receives. The onus is still on us to provide the strategy, prompts, brand information, and feedback to make sure the tech is working for us, and not the other way around.

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This piece originally appeared in our weekly Paid Media Insights newsletter. For more tips, research, and analysis; subscribe for free here.