Right before the first lockdown in Canada, Wavemaker had launched a significant repositioning, which included a new model that pulled away from traditional linear planning and toward a more modular approach. The timing couldn’t have been better.

According to the agency, its new “provocative planning” approach – comprised of three modules: Maximize, Unlock and Transform – was pivotal in supporting its growth over the past year-and-a-half (with account wins from Bumbly to De’Longhi and DHL to MGA), ultimately leading to a Silver medla in the Media AOY competition.

“We call them ‘modules’, but they are really approaches,” explains Kristie Painting, CEO, Wavemaker. “Approaches for the different stages or parts of the client’s business, each with an eye toward stimulating growth.”

More specifically, she says, Maximize is an AI-powered planning tool; Unlock is an audit process; and Transform is a collaborative, creative-led approach.

The disruption of the last year no doubt called out the importance of scenario planning, as clients looked to media agencies for short-term pivots. Contingencies were increasingly top-of-mind, Painting says, which its Maximize tool was designed to manage. It was originally developed prior to the pandemic to help the agency “scenario plan in a superfast manner,” Painting explains, “providing flexibility so a whole new [media strategy] wasn’t required if this or that happened, when small adjustments would suffice.”

Maximize and its AI-planning capabilities are design to identify opportunities for growth against key target audiences, specifically non-traditional segments. “Instead of planning against women, 25 to 44, we can look at millennial parents who buy milk alternatives exclusively, and millennial parents who buy both milk alternatives and dairy milk, and plan against both audiences.”

As some brands scrambled to make the shift to ecommerce and figure out different ways to sell their products during the crisis, Wavemaker’s Unlock audit process helped them understand how clients were actually faring, says Andy Braunston, VP, managing partner, Wavemaker.