New Feature: Media Authorizations with Managed Approval Workflow

Release date: Week of January 8, 2024

A key benefit of a media planning solution is communicating the media plan to your client and getting his approval before sending insertion orders to media vendors on his behalf.

MediaPlanHQ always provided a tool to generate a professional media authorization pdf you could send your client that he would return with his signature to approve the media plan.

It also provided basic media authorization numbering & versioning and audit information of who/when the pdf was generated.

However, the process was mostly manual without a clear way to track the workflow.  Your team had to generate the PDF, send it to your client, process adjustments through email, and use an imaginative workaround to track the status.

With this release, the media authorization workflow is managed end-to-end. 

Your marketing team will be able to:

• Prepare the media authorization documents without changing the number until it's ready for approval.
• Send an email to your client with a link to access the media authorization and automatic reminders.
• Get notified when your client makes his decision to approve/reject the media authorization.
• Track changes to the media insertions after the media authorization is approved.
• Generate change revision while keeping previous revisions.

Your client will be able to:

• Easily access the media authorization documents by clicking a link without requiring logging in.
• Add comments to the media authorization for questions/feedback.
• Approve/Reject the media authorization.

Let's see how it works...

Activating the media authorization module

The media authorization module is opt-in, meaning that you need to activate it to use the media authorization features.

Existing users: The media authorization module is automatically activated in your account with a default managed workflow if you generated media authorization PDFs in the past.

Follow these steps to activate media authorizations:

Step 1: Go to the Administration > Media authorization module

Step 2: Click the Activate media authorizations button

This will activate the media authorization module with the default settings and workflow that you then can customize to fit your needs.

It also automatically grants access to the Authorizations module to all users who have Administration permission:

You can customize the permission to access/manage media authorizations in the Administration > Groups module.

Define the media authorization scope of a media plan

Now that your account supports media authorizations, you need to tell the system how your media authorization process works for a given media plan.

This is defined by the media authorization scope on a media plan which tells the system how to include media insertions in your media authorization process:

None	The media plan does not have a media authorization process.
By media plan	The media authorization process is for the entire media plan. This means you'll have one media authorization that includes all media insertions of the media plan.
By media plan / organization	The media authorization process is for each organization independently within the media plan.   This means you'll have multiple media authorization, one for each organization, that includes only the media insertions of the organization within the media plan.
By campaign	The media authorization process is for each campaign independently within the media plan.   This means you'll have multiple media authorizations, one for each campaign, that includes only the media insertions of the campaign within the media plan. For example, if you have an annual media plan with multiple campaigns that need to be approved independently.
By campaign / organization	The media authorization process is for each campaign and organization independently within the media plan.   This means you'll have multiple media authorizations, one for each campaign/organization combo, that includes only the media insertions of the campaign/organization within the media plan. For example, if you have an annual media plan with multiple campaigns that need to be approved independently by each organization.

Follow these steps to define the media authorization scope on a media plan:

Step 1: Go to the Media plans module

Step 2: Click on a media plan in the left pane.  This will display the details, including the media authorization scope, on the right pane.

Step 3: Click the Edit button.  This will display the Update media plan window.

Step 4: Set the media authorization scope to fit your process.  

Step 5: Click the Save button.

Existing users: The media authorization scope was determined automatically on media plans that had media authorizations.

Creating a media authorization

You can create media authorization from multiple locations in your account, but the most probable location is within the Planning module - when the media insertions are ready for the approval process.

In the Planning module, you'll notice a new widget in the header -  Media authorization widget, which allows you to quickly create new media authorization, or access existing media authorizations.

The Media authorization widget adapts to Planning filters.

When the filters include media insertions from many media authorization scopes, the media authorization widget will list the media authorization scopes:

This allows you to quickly...

1. View existing media authorization status and number and quickly view the M.A. in the Authorization module.
2. Create new media authorization to start the process.
3. Set your filters to a specific media authorization scope.

When your filters include media insertions from a single media authorization scope, the media authorization widget will display the information for the media authorization scope directly or a create button when the media authorization scope does not have a media authorization:

Follow these steps to create a media authorization:

Step 1: Click the Create media authorization button within the Media authorization widget.  This will display the Create media authorization window:

Step 2: Fill in the required information.

Media authorization scope	The scope determines the media insertions to include in the media authorization.
<Account> representative	The person who represents your account to formalize the media authorization agreement.
<Organization> representative	The person who represents the organization to formalize the media authorization agreement.
Signature required	Requires that the recipient provide a signed media authorization to approve.

Step 3: Click the Save button. This will create the media authorization to track your approval process.

The Planning header now includes 4 widgets to easily track the media authorization process:

1. Media authorization status widget
2. Media authorization widget
3. Comments widget
4. History widget

Generating the media authorization documents

The media authorization process is currently document-based.  This means that you need to generate a media authorization PDF and optionally a media authorization blocking chart.

Existing users: The media authorization documents are exactly the same as before.

You can generate the media authorization documents from multiple locations in your account, but the most probable location is within the Media authorization widget in the Planning module or in the Media authorization view in the Authorizations module.

Follow these steps to generate the media authorization documents:

Step 1: Go to the Authorizations module

Step 2: Click the Eye button to open an existing media authorization.  This will display the Media authorization view.

Alternatively, you could open a media authorization view by clicking on the Open button in the Media authorization widget:

Step 3: Click the Generate button within the Media authorization widget. 

This will display the Media authorization documents(s) window.

Step 4: Fill in the information.

Notes	Optional text that will appear in the media authorization PDF
Language	If your account supports multiple languages, you can select the language of the documents.
Include blocking chart	Include a blocking chart spreadsheet of the media insertion included in the media authorization

Step 5: Click the Generate button. This will generate the documents into the media authorization.

You can access the media authorization documents in the Documents section:

Note that when the media authorization is in the Working status, you can update the media insertion and regenerate the documents without impacting the media authorization number version.

Step 6: Click the Ready button.  This will lock in the media authorization for review and approval.

The media authorization is transitioned to the Ready for approval status.

Sending the media authorization

Now that the media authorization documents are ready, you can send them to your client for review and approval.

Follow these steps to send the media authorization:

Step 1: Open a media authorization

Step 2: Click the Send button.

This will display the Send media authorization window.

Step 3: Fill in the information.

To	The recipient of the media authorization
Message	An optional text to be added to the email sent to the recipient
Language	If your account supports multiple languages, you can select the language of the email.
Send me a copy	Add yourself as a CC to the email

Step 4: Click the Send button.  This will send an email to the recipient with a link to access the media authorization. It also updates the email audit and adds an event to the history for traceability:

[Client] Accessing, Reviewing, and Approving the media authorization

Your client be able to access, review, and approve the media authorization without a login.

Follow these steps:

Step 1: Open the media authorization email

Step 2: Click the Open the media authorization button.  This will open the media authorization:

Step 3: Review the media authorization documents.  If a blocking chart is included, click the Blocking chart button to access the spreadsheet.

Step 4: If you have questions/feedback, click the Add comment button.

Step 5: Finally, click the Yes, I approve it! button.  This will display the Approve media authorization window.

Step 6: Click the Approve button.  This will approve the media authorization.

Tracking media authorization decision

You will receive a notification email when a client submits a decision to approve or reject a media authorization:

The media authorization is transitioned to the Approved status.

The media authorization view records the decision in the Decision section and adds an event in the history.

Detecting changes when updating a media insertion

When the media authorization is committed (Not in the Working status), the system will detect changes made to the media insertion that may impact the corresponding media authorization(s).

The media insertion form now displays the associated media authorization(s)

When the lock is closed, it means the media authorization is committed.

Changing something on the media insertion that impacts the cost of the media authorization will be highlighted in the Media authorization section.

Trying to save a media insertion with a change that impacts the cost of a Committed media authorization will prompt a confirmation.

If the change is wanted, click the checkbox to confirm.  This will initiate a new revision on the impacted media authorization(s) to apply the changes.

Tracking changes on a media authorization

Multiple things happen when a change revision is initiated,

The media authorization is transitioned to the Changed status.

The previous revision is backed up in the Previous revisions section for traceability. This includes the documents and decisions.

The documents are reset in the Documents section.

The email is reset in the Email section and the decision is reset in the Decision section.

An event is added in the History section.

The media insertion(s) with changes are highlighted in the Media insertions section

You can decide to restart the approval process (generating documents, sending to the client, waiting for a decision), or use the information for post-mortem analysis to compare what was approved with what actually happened.

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That's it ! We hope you'll enjoy the Media Authorization with Managed Approval Workflow. 

Give it a try and let us know what you think !

As always, don't hesitate to send us your great feedback or other ideas for new features !

Have a great day,

The MediaPlanHQ team