Meryll FirmacionPaid Media Strategy & Performance Marketing

Business Review Case StudyCase Study 06

Moving a National QSR Brand Toward Integrated Annual Planning

RoleClient and Media Strategy Lead

ChannelsLinear TV, OOH, DOOH, YouTube, CTV, Meta, TikTok, Programmatic Video & Display

Led the business review process, synthesizing historical investment, channel performance, and media-quality findings into an integrated annual planning framework and executive recommendations.

This case study presents a media review for a QSR brand, focusing on portfolio performance, cross-channel decision-making, current investment allocation, and recommendations to guide future media strategy and spending.

Review Scope

Review Area

Focus

Planning Model

Shift from campaign-by-campaign spending toward annual fiscal-year planning.

Channel Portfolio

Evaluate the complementary roles of TV, CTV, digital video, social, and OOH.

Media Quality

Review viewability, brand safety, placement quality, and cost efficiency.

Decision Horizon

Establish recommendations for upcoming fiscal periods and future investment decisions.

Business Context

A national quick-service restaurant brand had historically planned and allocated media one campaign at a time, limiting visibility into how individual investments worked together across the full year.

The business needed a clearer portfolio-level view of channel roles, reach contribution, media quality, and investment priorities across traditional and digital media.

What I Reviewed

Key Findings

Fragmented planning limited portfolio visibility

Campaign-by-campaign budgeting made it difficult to evaluate total annual reach, duplication, and the combined role of each channel.

Channel roles needed clearer definition

Traditional and digital video investments required a more deliberate cross-screen framework to improve complementarity.

Media-quality standards were inconsistent

Viewability, placement health, brand safety, and cost benchmarks needed clearer decision rules.

Leadership needed a repeatable investment framework

Future planning required recommendations that connected historical performance with business priorities and fiscal-year investment decisions.

Recommendations

Recommendation

Business Purpose

Move to annualized media planning

Improve visibility across campaigns, channels, and investment periods.

Define cross-screen channel roles

Increase complementary reach and reduce unnecessary audience duplication.

Establish media-quality guardrails

Improve consistency across platforms, publishers, and media partners.

Create executive investment guidelines

Support clearer channel and budget decisions for future quarters.

Business Value

The review helped move the client from fragmented, campaign-led decision-making toward a more integrated annual planning approach with clearer channel roles, media-quality standards, and investment principles.

What I Bring

This work demonstrates my ability to assess complex media portfolios, connect channel-level findings with broader business priorities, and translate large datasets into clear recommendations for senior stakeholders.