By John Clarvis, Data and Insight Director
Media jobs may well prove to be the first casualty of the burgeoning growth of AI models. With network agencies opting for large-scale redundancies and restructuring with an aggressive focus on automation via AI, the industry faces an existential question: what value do human planners bring in an age of algorithmic optimisation? The answer lies not in doubling down on invasive data collection, but in embracing geographic intelligence as the foundation for strategic thinking.
- The cookie crumble: Why micro-data missed the mark
The gluttony with which the media industry has gorged on user data may have inadvertently painted a huge target on its own back. The irony is that the volumes of data collected were never truly interpretable or useful to planners. Cookie-level data, for all its granular detail, can only provide insight into optimisation, missing the bigger strategic picture entirely.
Cookie-level tracking has driven a wedge between what should be the most natural partnership: planners and data teams. The focus on micro-behavioural optimisation has reduced planning to a series of algorithmic adjustments, stripping away the strategic thinking that makes human planners invaluable. This invasive approach has contributed to the clickbait culture and engagement-driven content that has fundamentally altered our information landscape.
I don’t believe cookie-level data has ever provided anything that a smart planner couldn’t work out themselves. The race toward hyper-personalisation has created a race to the bottom: data-led, boring spam that prioritises clicks over genuine connection.
- The AI threat: Why automation loves bad data
Big networks confidence in AI-driven synthetic data and identity tech both seek to replace something that wasn’t particularly good in the first place. They’re betting the house on the premise that if human planners are just optimising based on behavioural data, why not let machines do it faster and cheaper?
This presents an uncomfortable truth: if planners continue to compete on optimisation alone, they will lose. Why pay a human to create uninspired campaigns with average results when a large language model can produce the same output at scale and a fraction of the cost?
But this threat also reveals an opportunity. The value of planners has never been in micro-optimisation, it’s in imagination, creativity, and strategic thinking. In the coming AI transformation, planners must play to these strengths rather than compete on tasks that machines can perform more efficiently.
- Geographic Intelligence: The Goldilocks Solution
When data is used well and in balance, it gives planners direction without constraining creativity. Geographic data provides exactly this balance, enough insight to inform strategy without getting lost in the granular details of individual conversions and behavioural patterns.
Geography offers the right amount of inspiration for great work. Unlike cookie data, which funnels directly into optimisation engines, geographic intelligence opens up creative possibilities. It allows planners to understand context, culture, and community in ways that individual user tracking never could.
Consider the strategic value: geographic areas can be grouped into meaningful cohorts of 80-120 segments, providing substantial insight without violating privacy. This approach respects user autonomy while giving planners the contextual intelligence they need to develop resonant campaigns.
- The Data Democracy of Place
Geographic data democratises insight in ways that cookie tracking never could. A wealth of information can be inferred from location: voting patterns, economic indicators, demographic trends, cultural preferences, and lifestyle behaviours. This data is often publicly available, ethically sourced, and contextually rich.
Unlike the opaque world of third-party cookies, geographic data is transparent and verifiable. Planners can combine census information, local economic data, cultural markers, and regional preferences to build sophisticated audience understanding without compromising individual privacy.
More importantly, geographic thinking encourages planners to consider the broader social and cultural forces that shape consumer behaviour. Instead of responding to individual clicks and views, planners can understand the communities, values, and shared experiences that drive authentic engagement.
- Preparing for the Cookieless Future
Despite ongoing delays in cookie deprecation, smart agencies should plan for a cookieless future. The technology may persist longer than anticipated, but the ethical and regulatory pressures aren’t disappearing. Geographic intelligence offers a sustainable alternative that doesn’t depend on invasive tracking.
This shift requires a fundamental change in how we approach planning. Instead of starting with individual user behaviour and working outward, geographic intelligence starts with community context and works inward. This approach naturally leads to more thoughtful, culturally aware campaigns that resonate with audiences as people rather than data points.
- The Strategic Advantage
In an age where AI can optimise campaigns and automate targeting, the planner’s role becomes more strategic, not less important. Geographic intelligence supports this evolution by providing the contextual foundation for creative thinking that AI cannot replicate.
The ability to synthesise geographic data with cultural insights, local knowledge, and strategic intuition represents a uniquely human capability. While AI can process behavioural signals and optimise delivery, it cannot understand the nuanced relationship between place, identity, and consumer motivation that geographic intelligence reveals.
Conclusion: Location as Liberation – How we, as an Indie, are adapting
As the industry faces an AI-driven transformation, planners who embrace geographic intelligence will find themselves better positioned to demonstrate their unique value. Instead of competing with machines on optimisation tasks, they can focus on the creative and strategic thinking that makes great campaigns possible.
At The Kite Factory, we’ve developed KiteGeo™ as part of our commitment to innovative and ethical data products that serve effective media planning. Rather than chasing the industry’s obsession with invasive tracking, we’ve built tools that respect user privacy while providing the contextual intelligence planners need to create resonant campaigns. KiteGeo™ represents our belief that the future belongs to planners who can balance insight with imagination, using geographic intelligence as the foundation for work that is both data-informed and genuinely human.
In this future, location isn’t just a targeting parameter—it’s the key to understanding the communities and cultures that give meaning to our work. Through products like KiteGeo™, we’re demonstrating that ethical data practices and strategic effectiveness aren’t mutually exclusive, but rather the foundation of sustainable competitive advantage in an AI-driven landscape.