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Plan IQ: AI-powered media planning
Finds line items, builds media plans, optimizes them — and explains why.

Plan IQ: AI-powered media planning in Media Desk

Plan IQ is one of the central AI features in Media Desk. The planning agent finds the best placements across your company-wide data foundation and scores every booking with AI-driven models — against all relevant metrics (KPIs) and based on the real data from every connected platform and system, rather than relying on market studies or bare ad-server figures. Media Desk is part of the Paid-Media Ecosystem from Digital Control — the platform that unites the entire paid-media process, from briefing to invoice, in a single system.

Plan IQ – mix optimisation in Media Desk: budget, blended CPC, forecast, CPC curve and line-item table with budget sliders

Data-based recommendations Plan IQ scores every booking on real, measured data from every connected platform and system — not on generic LLM prior knowledge.

Goal-led, not filter logic You name the campaign goal — Plan IQ translates it independently into the right metrics and scores accordingly.

Explainable, not a black box Every recommendation comes with a traceable rationale, and the weighting of the factors can be adjusted.

Human-in-the-loop The planner decides, adopts, refines or discards — the final media plan remains a human responsibility.

Plan IQ is a feature of Media Desk.

Plan IQ is part of Media Desk: on the market since 2011, ISO 27001 certified, over 1,000 active users. Data sovereignty remains fully with you.

15+years on
the market

1,000+active
users

ISO
27001certified

Q3 2026available

How Plan IQ works — from briefing to media plan

In five steps — with the planner at the wheel. Plan IQ takes on the operational logic; the strategic decision stays with you.

Briefing in natural language

You describe your project: client, industry, target audience and campaign goal.

ClientIndustryCampaign goal

Goal becomes a metrics matrix

Plan IQ translates the goal independently into the relevant metrics and target values — adjustable at any time.

Goal → KPIsWeighting

Scoring every placement

The scoring models evaluate every available placement against your target profile — on the full data foundation of Intelligence Qube.

ScoringIndustry fitAudience fit

Build a shortlist

You move suitable placements into a shortlist — several per project are possible, and teams can work on them together.

ShortlistCollaboration

Media-plan proposal

From the shortlist, Plan IQ generates a media-plan proposal. You adopt, refine or discard it.

Media planHuman-in-the-loop

Your media plan is ready

From here, the regular Media Desk process takes over.

≈ 40%

less planning time per campaign Derived from initial measurements in pilot operation.

What sets Plan IQ apart

A complete data foundation of your own

Plan IQ draws on the real, measured data from every connected advertising, marketing and tracking system that comes together in Intelligence Qube — the Data Hub for Paid Media. A depth that classic planning tools don’t have.

Goal orientation instead of filter logic

Classic tools require technical filters. Plan IQ asks for the goal — and translates it independently into the right KPIs. You think strategically; the tool handles the operational logic.

Explainability as a principle

For every recommendation, Plan IQ shows the weighted contributions, the raw sub-scores and the metrics over time. Every score is defensible in front of clients and stakeholders.

Request a live demo

A feature in the Paid-Media Ecosystem — not a standalone tool

Plan IQ is an AI feature within Media Desk, not a standalone product. Its strength comes from the interplay of two data worlds: Media Desk supplies the planning and booking data, and Intelligence Qube — the Data Hub for Paid Media — the real, measured data from every connected platform and system.

Plan IQ links the two and scores every placement against your campaign goal — data-driven, explainable media planning right at the data source. As the AI layer of Digital Control’s Paid-Media Ecosystem, the feature draws on the same data foundation that carries the entire paid-media process, from briefing to invoice.

The connection point

Plan IQ is an add-on and requires a Media Desk instance as well as an Intelligence Qube license. ISO 27001 certified, hosting in Germany.

Full data sovereignty

Plan IQ works exclusively with the reporting and booking data of your own tenant. Every recommendation is traceable to your own tracking and stays under your control — GDPR-compliant.

PDF preview

One-pager

Plan IQ on a single page

The compact overview to take with you: how Plan IQ works, its benefits and where it fits — ideal for reviewing at your own pace or sharing internally with colleagues and decision-makers.

How it works & concrete benefits at a glance
Where it fits in the Paid-Media Ecosystem & prerequisites
Free and without registration

Download the one-pager

Classic AI approaches vs. Plan IQ

Criterion	Classic AI approaches	Plan IQ
Data foundation	LLM chat over generic internet or training data	AI agent over your own curated, tracked paid-media history
Performance history	No access to real campaign performance	Complete KPI history per line item from Intelligence Qube
Traceability	Fixed logic with no insight (“black box”)	Explainable sub-scores, trends over time, manually adjustable weightings
Reach	Siloed solution per channel	Cross-channel on a shared data foundation
Result	Recommendation only, no follow-through	Direct transition into selection and a finished media plan

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about Plan IQ

What is AI-powered media planning?

AI-powered media planning refers to the selection and assembly of advertising placements (line items) by an AI agent that uses real, measured data to assess which placements best fit a specific campaign goal. Unlike classic media planning based on experience or static study models, AI-powered media planning (AI Media Planning) relies on your own tracked data foundation and delivers explainable, traceable recommendations. At Digital Control, this task is handled by Plan IQ, one of the central AI features in Media Desk.

What is Plan IQ?

Plan IQ is an AI-powered planning agent within Media Desk. Based on your own historical media data, it recommends the line items that best fit a specific campaign goal — across all channels, all media and all metrics already being tracked.

Is Plan IQ a standalone product?

No. Plan IQ is an AI feature within Media Desk, not a standalone product. It requires a Media Desk instance and an Intelligence Qube license.

Do I need Intelligence Qube to use Plan IQ?

Yes. Plan IQ is only available in combination with an Intelligence Qube license. The value comes from linking the planning data in Media Desk with the cross-channel data foundation of Intelligence Qube, the Data Hub for Paid Media.

Does Plan IQ replace the media planner?

No. Plan IQ is designed as a human-in-the-loop tool: it delivers recommendations, and the planner reviews, re-weights, adopts or discards them. The final media plan remains a human responsibility.

How explainable are the recommendations?

Fully. For every recommendation, Plan IQ shows the weighted contributions of the factors to the score, the raw sub-scores and the trend of the underlying metrics over time. The weighting of the factors can be adjusted manually — so every recommendation stays defensible in front of clients and stakeholders.

What data does Plan IQ use?

Exclusively the data within your own tenant: the line-item data from Media Desk and the tracked metrics from Intelligence Qube. No personal data of end users is processed, no cross-tenant use, and no generic LLM training on your data. Digital Control is ISO 27001 certified.

Which channels does Plan IQ work for?

For all channels that can be planned in Media Desk — including display, video, programmatic, social, audio, TV, retail media, print and out-of-home. Scoring is performed cross-channel on a shared data foundation.

When will Plan IQ be available?

Plan IQ is generally available from Q3 2026.

Contact:

Martin Stark
Senior Project Consultant

Digital Control GmbH & Co. KG
Kaistraße 16a
40221 Düsseldorf

+49 (0) 211 97532080

info@digital-control.de

Plan-IQ