Media Buying interview prep.

A media person owns CHANNEL STRATEGY + AUDIENCE + BUYING + OPTIMISATION + MEASUREMENT, turning a brief into a plan that reaches the right people in the right context at the right cost, and proving it worked.

What interviewers look for

  • Does the candidate think in CHANNEL STRATEGY, reach + frequency + context + role of each channel, not just 'we'll do paid social + paid search'?
  • Can they build a media plan from a BRIEF, audience, objective, channel mix, budget split, KPIs, measurement, not just plug into a template?
  • Do they have BUYING + NEGOTIATION craft, rate cards, value adds, PMPs, agency commitments, programmatic mechanics?
  • Are they measurement-honest. MMM vs MTA, brand lift vs last-click, viewability, incrementality, not just last-click ROAS?
  • Do they understand LONG / SHORT, reach-driven brand-building plus short-term activation, not just performance addiction?
  • Are they collaborative with planning + account + creative, media flows from the brief, not separately?
  • Are they commercial + sustainable, agency economics, pitch culture, hours; media is intense, especially at quarter close + pitch windows?

Behavioural questions to expect

  1. Walk me through your CV.

    What it tests: Story coherence + media fit, evidence of audience + channel + numbers + buying interest, not just 'I like marketing'.

  2. Tell me about a media campaign you're most proud of.

    What it tests: Depth + ownership + measurable outcome. Bar: channel logic + audience strategy + buying craft + result, not 'we ran it across paid social + paid search + TV'.

  3. Tell me about a weakness, a failure, or feedback you've received and worked on.

    What it tests: Self-awareness + maturity. Fake media weaknesses ('I'm too detail-oriented', 'I work too hard') downgrade.

  4. Why media agency, vs client-side, vs ad platform, vs performance / in-house?

    What it tests: Authentic interest in agency media (variety, buying scale, planning craft, holding co reach), not 'I want to do marketing'.

  5. Which media agency type appeals, full-service media specialist, integrated agency media unit, digital-first, performance shop, independent?

    What it tests: Genuine fit + understanding that craft differs by agency type (media specialists do scale + AV + planning at depth; performance shops do biddable + ROAS at depth; integrated agencies do tight planning + creative + media collaboration).

  6. Why this firm?

    What it tests: Agency-specific homework. Bar: specific evidence from the agency's media practice, recent awarded work, client roster, holding co context, not generic 'great agency'.

  7. How do you see this firm's media practice + recent work?

    What it tests: Firm-specific homework + understanding of the agency's media POV, awarded work, client mix, proprietary tools.

  8. How does a media agency create value for the client vs in-housing?

    What it tests: Whether candidate understands media agency value: scale + buying clout + planning + measurement + cross-channel orchestration the client cannot easily replicate in-house.

Technical concepts to master

Channel strategy + planning

Reach vs frequency vs context
Reach = % of audience exposed; frequency = average exposures per person; context = the environment ad runs in. Plans trade-off across these within a fixed budget.
Channel role + media architecture
Each channel plays a role, reach builder, frequency layer, brand layer, conversion engine, contextual moment. A plan is the architecture across these roles, not a list of platforms.
Effective frequency + recency
Effective frequency = exposures required to drive response (varies 3-10+ by category); recency = closer-to-purchase exposure matters more than total exposure.
Audience planning + targeting
Defining + reaching the audience, demographic + behavioural + interest + contextual + lookalike + custom segments, through platform tools + data providers.

Programmatic + biddable craft

Programmatic stack (DSP / SSP / DMP / Ad Exchange)
DSP (Demand-Side Platform) buys impressions in real-time auctions; SSP (Supply-Side Platform) sells publisher inventory; ad exchange is the auction venue; DMP (Data Management Platform) manages audiences.
Deal types, open / PMP / programmatic guaranteed / direct
Open auction = full inventory pool; PMP (Private Marketplace) = invite-only auction with premium publishers; programmatic guaranteed = fixed price + fixed volume; direct I/O = traditional negotiated buy.
Paid search + paid social mechanics
Paid search (major search engines) = keyword auction + Quality Score; paid social (major social platforms) = audience targeting + creative auction with relevance / engagement modifiers.
Brand safety + viewability + ad fraud
Brand safety = avoiding adjacency to harmful content; viewability = ensuring ads actually seen (IAB MRC standards); ad fraud = bots + invalid traffic.

Measurement + attribution

Last-click vs multi-touch attribution (MTA)
Last-click credits the final touchpoint; MTA distributes credit across the journey using rules-based (linear, position-based) or data-driven (algorithmic) models.
Marketing Mix Modelling (MMM)
Econometric regression of media + non-media drivers vs business outcome (sales, share). Captures brand + offline + digital + non-paid effects MTA misses.
Brand lift studies + incrementality tests
Brand lift: awareness / consideration / favourability shift vs control (platform-served or survey-based). Incrementality: conversion lift vs holdout / matched-market geo test.
Effectiveness frameworks. Binet + Field + Sharp
Binet + Field: 60 / 40 brand / activation optimal; long-term brand-building drives share growth + protects margin. Sharp: brands grow via reach + mental + physical availability + light buyers.

Commercial + holding co dynamics

Agency revenue model, fees + AVB + rebates + tech
Revenue = client fees (retainer + project) + AVB (Agency Volume Bonuses, declining) + media owner rebates (under transparency scrutiny) + tech-platform margin + production margin.
Holding co buying clout + commitments
Holding cos (WPP, Omnicom, Publicis, IPG, dentsu, Havas) aggregate spend to negotiate rates + secure inventory commitments (upfronts) + walled-garden platform deals.
Pitch + new business
Media pitches are intensive cross-team efforts, strategic frame + audience POV + channel architecture + cost forecast + chemistry. Senior media planners lead pitch teams.
In-housing + agency response
Clients have brought programmatic + paid social in-house; agencies respond with hybrid models, consultancy services, specialist depth, and platform partnerships.

Practical drills

  • Walk me through a media campaign you planned or bought, from brief to result. ~10 minutes.
  • [Interviewer presents brief, e.g. 'launch a new D2C skincare brand in the UK, £2M Q1 budget, 18-34 female-skewed audience, brand awareness + trial as objectives']. Build me the media plan.
  • A CMO says they want only biddable digital, no TV, no OOH, no brand spend. How do you respond?

Smart-question anchors

  • Channel specialism + media practice, the firm's strengths across linear / OOH / programmatic / biddable / retail media
  • Holding co context, buying scale + commitments + tools + transparency POV
  • Proprietary measurement + attribution tools
  • Awarded effectiveness work. Effies / IPA / WARC / Festival of Media
  • Long / short POV, reach + brand-building vs activation balance

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