What is the AI Planner in Media Desk and how does it help media planners?

The AI Planner is a feature integrated into Media Desk that outputs placement recommendations, rankings, and optimization impulses based on existing data from past campaigns. The media planner communicates directly in the system with the LLM-supported planner and can apply suggestions immediately.

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Media planning and activation as a genuine
end-to-end media ecosystem

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Media Desk: End-to-End Media Planning Without Excel — From Briefing to Reporting in One System

For Media Planners No more Excel — plan, book, and approve in one system. Based on your campaign history, Plan IQ recommends the right placements for every goal: data-driven media planning instead of gut feeling.

For IO & Ad Management Line items directly pushed via API into ad servers and DSPs — bookings and adjustments at the push of a button. Pacing alerts run automatically.

For Management & Director Level Budgets, KPIs, and publisher commitments accessible live — without coordination loops. All data remains permanently in-house.

For Clients & Stakeholders Direct access to current plan versions and real-time reporting — approvals without email ping-pong.

Trust that is measurable — since 2011.

ISO 27001 certified. Over 1,000 active users. Leading solution for cross-channel advertising — with AI-supported media planning based on your own data, confirmed by recent OMR reviews.

15+ Years
Market Presence

1,000+ Active
Users

26 % Freed-up
Resources

ISO
27001 Certified

Award-Winning on OMR Reviews

Recent OMR reviews confirm: Media Desk is the leading solution for cross-channel advertising in Germany — Top Rated and Leader in Q1 and Q2/26, rated by verified users from media agencies and in-house teams.

OMR Reviews — Media Desk Top Rated Q1/26

Media Desk covers the entire process from briefing, planning, and buying to one-click ad management and reporting — cross-channel for digital IO, programmatic, and traditional media. Machine learning supports media planners in decision-making while eliminating redundant tasks.

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Intelligence Qube is the central data aggregation and BI platform of the DC Ecosystem. It collects, aggregates, and normalizes data from all advertising media, marketing, and tracking systems — providing the foundation for analysis, optimization, machine learning, and external BI reporting at the click of a button.

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Finance Desk digitalizes and automates all operational financial processes: from job management and invoicing to OCR document capture and e-invoicing (ZUGFeRD/XRechnung). Seamless API integration into ERP systems such as SAP or DATEV — including full connectivity with Media Desk.

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Media Planning, Activation, and Reporting — Seamlessly Integrated

Media Desk maps the complete campaign process for all participants in one system — planning, booking, ad management, and reporting converge. Data is created once and is available everywhere.

Media Planners

From Briefing to Completed Campaign

Media Desk & AI Planner

Media Desk maps the entire campaign process in one system — from the initial brief through planning, booking, and ad management to incoming reports. The AI Planner delivers data-driven recommendations from past campaigns: smart media and position suggestions, price benchmarks, and what-if analyses directly from the system.

Management & Director Level

All Campaigns at a Glance — Without Internal Inquiries

Dashboards & BI Evaluation

Agency-wide forecasts, benchmarking, and evaluations of budgets, prices, and KPIs for any clients, periods, and media — on the fly, without data preparation in external tools. Publisher commitment monitoring with a daily updated utilization overview and automatic deviation alerts. Clear permission and role concept for all hierarchical levels. All learnings and data remain permanently in-house.

IO & Ad Management

One-Click Ad Management — All Ad Servers and DSPs

Ad Server API Integration

Media Desk pushes line items via API directly into your ad server or DSP — without manual booking. Bookings, optimizations, and cancellations at the push of a button. Pacing overview of all placements in real-time with automated alerts to publishers in case of deviations. Plan optimizations can be linked directly with new bookings — the entire workflow remains in one system.

Fully Integrated — Into Your Systems and the Media Ecosystem

Media Desk Ecosystem: Integration with ad servers, DSPs, finance and BI systems

40 Hours per Month and Employee: How Media Desk Changes Resource Distribution

Conventional Media Planning

Strategy

15 %

Consulting

27 %

Act. Briefing

4 %

Planning

19 %

Buying

8 %

Reporting

15 %

Optimisation

12 %

With Media Desk

Strategy

15 %

Consulting

27 %

Act. Briefing

2 %

Planning

12 %

Buying

3 %

Reporting

11 %

Optimisation

4 %

▲ Freed-up Resources: 26 %

Current Effort

Saved by Media Desk

No More Excel — As a Measurable Competitive Advantage

Across the entire process chain of media planning, operational activities arise that create manual effort or require maintenance-intensive interfaces between standalone systems. Media Desk eliminates these activities — planners spend more time on strategy and client consulting, and less on booking routines and spreadsheet maintenance. The media budget managed per capita increases significantly: a tangible advantage in your next fee negotiation.

Additional cost savings result from better negotiation outcomes thanks to a complete deal database and significantly reduced error rates in operational execution. The ISO 27001 certified infrastructure ensures that media plans, purchasing prices, and client data are processed with the highest security standards.

The Complete Ecosystem

Media Desk is the centerpiece. If you want to exploit its full potential, add Intelligence Qube for automated reporting and BI integration, as well as Finance Desk for the end-to-end financial process — from booking to outgoing invoice, without manual transfers.

Overview: Savings potential through Media Desk in media planning

What Makes Media Desk Unique

AI-Supported Planning

Plan IQ — the AI feature in Media Desk — suggests the placements that best suit your goal based on your own campaign history. Instead of spending hours searching old plans: a well-founded shortlist in minutes. For all channels, across all campaign goals — and every recommendation is comprehensibly justified. Available from Q3 2026.

One-Click Ad Management

Media Desk pushes line items via API directly into all common ad servers and DSPs. Bookings, optimizations, and cancellations with one click — error-free ad management with minimal effort. Publisher communication via the integrated inbox function.

Icon Live Reporting and Financial Controlling

Live Reporting & Financial Controlling

KPIs like ROI and CPC are calculated live from ad server and planning data. Agency-wide statistics and benchmarking. Full financial controlling — performance history of all line items documented in an audit-proof manner.

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Ready to Go in Four Weeks: The Structured Rollout Process

Analysis

We understand your processes before we begin — system landscape, roles, use cases, and roadmap are developed together.

Requirements Analysis Roles & Permissions Roadmap

Setup

Technical setup, all integrations to ad servers, DSPs, and finance systems — accompanied by power user training and going live.

Ad Servers & DSPs Finance Integration Going Live

Rollout

Ongoing requirements management, feature expansion, and individual customizing — as you grow, Media Desk grows with you.

Ongoing Support Feature Expansion Customizing

What Media Desk Does for You

End-to-End in One System From briefing through planning and buying to reporting — all stakeholders in one platform.

Measurable Time Savings Automation of operational processes gives planners their time back — for strategy and client consulting instead of administration.

Data-Driven Media Planning with AI Plan IQ recommends the right placements based on your own campaign history — cross-channel, explainable, in minutes instead of hours.

One-Click Ad Management API push to all common ad servers and DSPs — optimizations and bookings at the push of a button.

Data Guarantee Your data remains your data — complete data ownership, forever, without exception.

Flexible Role Concept Clear permissions for planners, management, and clients — depth of collaboration individually controllable.

Audit-Proof Documentation All bookings, prices, and receipts versioned and traceable at any time.

Full API Integration Connect tracking, ad serving, finance, and internal systems via the proprietary Media Desk API.

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MD Case Study

Liakou Consulting digitalizes the entire media workflow with Media Desk

Using Media Desk, Liakou Consulting manages the entire paid media process – from planning to reporting – centrally in a single system. The platform connects teams, automates budget and booking workflows, and ensures full transparency across all channels.

This saves the agency valuable time in day-to-day operations, freeing up resources for strategy and consulting.

Read the case study to discover how Liakou Consulting digitalized their media planning, streamlined processes, and achieved data-driven optimization with Media Desk.

— A field report by Mario Widmann, Founder of Liakou Consulting GmbH

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Conventional Media Planning vs. Media Desk Comparison

Criterion	Conventional Media Planning	Media Desk
Planning	Excel spreadsheets, manual maintenance, high error rate, no version control	Fully digital planning with audit-proof version management — approval workflows controllable directly in the system.
Bookings	Email or fax, without automatic feedback	One-Click directly from the system — all booking orders generated and sent, overview of booking statuses and confirmations in the system.
Ad Management	Manual entry into ad servers and DSPs — time-consuming and error-prone	API push directly into ad servers and DSPs — Media Desk controls line items, optimizations, and cancellations at the push of a button.
Pacing Control	No central overview — manual publisher inquiries required	Pacing overview of all placements in real time, automated alerts to publishers in case of deviations.
Budget Overview	Manually consolidated, often outdated	Live — accessible at any time for all participants incl. publisher commitments and discount agreements.
Invoice Matching	Manually assign publisher invoices, target-actual comparison in separate spreadsheets	The complete document trail is visible in the Financial tab of the media plan. Quotes, order confirmations, and outgoing invoices can be generated directly from the media plan — with Finance Desk, an additional automated accounts payable matching is included.
Reporting	Manually consolidated from multiple systems, delayed	Live KPI calculation from ad server and planning data — ROI, CPC, and other KPIs accessible at any time. Agency-wide statistics and benchmarking on the fly.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions about Media Desk

What is Media Desk and who is the platform suitable for?

Media Desk is an end-to-end media ecosystem for professional media planning and activation — from briefing, planning, and buying to one-click ad management, reporting, and financial controlling. The platform is designed for media agencies, in-house teams, advertisers, and publishers who want to map their entire paid media value chain in a single system. Recent OMR reviews confirm Media Desk as the leading solution for cross-channel advertising in Germany.

How much time does Media Desk save in daily practice?

On average, users free up 26% of their operational resources with Media Desk — which corresponds to about 40 hours per month and employee. The biggest savings occur in planning (from 19% to 12% of working time), buying (from 8% to 3%), and reporting (from 15% to 11%). This time is available for value-adding activities such as strategy, client consulting, and negotiations.

What is Plan IQ in Media Desk and how does it help media planners?

Plan IQ is the AI feature in Media Desk for data-driven media planning based on your own campaign history. You describe your campaign goal — Plan IQ suggests the placements that worked best for this goal in the past. Cross-channel, across all media types, in minutes instead of hours. Every recommendation is comprehensibly justified: you see why a placement is recommended — and can justify the result to clients. Plan IQ does not replace the media planner — it supports them so they can focus on strategy and consulting. Plan IQ will be generally available from Q3 2026 and requires an Intelligence Qube license.

How does one-click ad management work in Media Desk?

Media Desk is connected via API to all common ad servers and DSPs. Line items are pushed directly from the media plan into the ad server or DSP — without manual booking. Bookings, optimizations, and cancellations are done at the push of a button. The pacing overview shows all placements in real time and sends automated alerts to publishers in case of deviations. All communication with publishers is bundled via the integrated inbox function.

How does Media Desk integrate into existing systems?

Media Desk features a comprehensive proprietary API through which all data held in the platform can be integrated into client-side systems. Existing interfaces to ad servers, DSPs, and finance systems (e.g., SAP, DATEV) enable a complete connection of the media and marketing ecosystem. Finance Desk links planning and accounting seamlessly — from booking to outgoing invoice, without manual transfers.

Can publisher deals and framework agreements be mapped in Media Desk?

Yes. Media Desk fully maps all publisher commitments and GTC contracts — with a daily updated utilization overview, automatic deviation alerts, and optimization recommendations for contract structures. Revenue streams from framework agreements are calculated algorithmically based on ongoing booking data, not estimated. Contribution margin optimization takes place directly from the system.

Is Media Desk also suitable for media in-housing?

Yes. Media Desk can be used as a joint platform for the agency and the in-house team. The permission and role model controls who sees and edits which channels and data — the agency remains a strategic partner, even if parts of the execution are taken over internally. Read more on the Media In-Housing page.

How long does the rollout of Media Desk take?

The rollout process follows a structured three-step scheme: Analysis, Setup, and Rollout. For a typical media agency or an in-house team, a complete, operationally usable setup can be realized in four weeks. More complex structures — multiple mandates, international markets, extensive ad server integrations — require 6–12 weeks. Implementation in complex system landscapes is daily business for the Digital Control team.

Which channels and media types does Media Desk cover?

Media Desk covers all relevant paid media channels cross-channel in one system: Digital IO (Display, Video, Audio, Native), Programmatic (incl. DSP connections), Social Media Advertising, and traditional media (Print, TV, OOH, Radio). All channels are managed in a unified planning and booking system — with a central budget overview and consolidated reporting across all media types.

For which markets is Media Desk by Digital Control suitable?

Digital Control has been on the market since 2011, is ISO 27001 certified, and specializes in the German-speaking market — Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (DACH). The platform is fully available in English and German, GDPR-compliant, and covers the specific requirements of the DACH media market, including common publisher structures and local booking formats. Over 1,000 active users manage media budgets in the nine-figure range annually with Media Desk. Support and implementation are provided by the local team in Düsseldorf.

What Our Clients Say

IQ Bericht

All marketing data under control – without manual work.

From spreadsheets to strategy: Intelligence Qube automates data preparation – see how add2 saves 30% of team time every week and can focus on creativity and consulting instead.

Read the case study to learn how decentralized data silos are transformed into strategic value.

— A field report by Christian Schwierzowski,
Director for Strategy and Operations, add2 GmbH

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