The Compound System

The free case

The client cut the budget by 30%. Launch is Thursday.

  • About four minutes of reading
  • No signup
  • You commit before any reasoning is shown
  • After it: what your call commits you to, the numbers in your hands, and a new brief

Your role. You run the account. You can rework the plan. You can’t change the markets, the targets or the launch date without Maya.

The briefing

Maya
the client’s marketing lead. Sent the email. Can approve changes to the plan.
Faris
your media buyer. Has the bookings ready to place at 14:00.

Tuesday, 09:14. The launch plan was approved last week: four markets, six weeks, $120,000, a lead target per market. Trafficking starts at 14:00 today. Launch is Thursday.

Email · Maya · 09:14 · Budget

We’ve had a 30% budget reduction. Please revise the plan and send it back before noon. Simplest is to trim everything evenly. Markets, targets and launch date all stay as agreed.

The approved plan, and what 70% looks like
MarketApprovedLead targetAt 70%Minimum for its target
UAE$48,0001,100$33,600$32,000
KSA$36,000800$25,200$26,000
Kuwait$20,000400$14,000$17,000
Qatar$16,000300$11,200$15,000
Total$120,0002,600$84,000$90,000

“Minimum for its target” is the plan’s own figure for what a market needs to reach its lead target at the planned cost per lead, before any awareness line. The rest of each market’s money is awareness.

Your call

It’s 09:20. What do you change first?

Choose one, then commit it. A committed call stands.

About this case

This is the free case from The Compound System: practice for the paid media decisions you have to explain to a client or a manager. It isn’t one of the 38 cases in Media, 2027 Edition, so it spoils none of them. It runs the same loop: the situation, your call, then the reasoning against the call you made, one rule and one thing to keep. After that, what your call commits you to, the plan’s own numbers to move around, and a second brief with new numbers to try the rule on.

The edition is 38 cases across Brief, Plan, Build, Run and Prove, written for people who run campaigns and are starting to own the reports, the recommendations and the difficult replies. Most give you four options, like this one; some ask for two decisions, or a line-by-line sort. Every call you make is kept in your Callbook, and your Playbook is built from it. See the 38 cases and the price.