Why Brands Need Less Channel Planning and More Ecosystem Design — with Arena Media's Hamid Habib

Why It Matters

Cultural ecosystem design expands measurable brand impact beyond clicks, enabling marketers to allocate spend to high‑growth, community‑driven channels and stay competitive in a fragmented media landscape.

Key Takeaways

• Shift from linear channel plans to holistic ecosystem design.
• Brands must embed themselves in culture to drive growth.
• Measuring "dark signals" like brand presence is becoming feasible.
• Agency collaboration replaces traditional client‑agency hierarchy in media.
• Gaming and AI represent under‑exploited growth opportunities for brands.

Summary

In the Media Leader podcast, Havas Village’s Arena Media MD Hamid Habib argues that the era of linear channel planning is over. He proposes a shift toward "ecosystem design," where brands are woven into cultural moments and community touchpoints rather than merely buying media slots.

Habib explains that cultural relevance fuels growth – he cites internal IPA research suggesting brands embedded in culture achieve disproportionate revenue gains. He also stresses the need to value "dark signals," such as brand visibility at festivals or in streetwear, which traditional digital metrics miss.

Examples include Red Bull’s cross‑platform culture‑clash events and Arena Media’s roster of gaming heavyweights like Sega, Pokémon and Bethesda. Habib notes that while some studies claim a six‑fold growth advantage, the real impact is modest but measurable, and the agency is working with the IPA to quantify it.

The takeaway for marketers is to redesign media plans around narrative IP, collaborate across agencies, and tap under‑invested channels such as gaming and AI. Doing so aligns brands with the communities that matter, improves ROI, and future‑proofs media spend.

Original Description

Last week on the show, The Media Leader spoke with Thinkbox’s Elliott Millard about how brands can reconsider their cultural impact, and this week, we wanted to continue that conversation with an agency that bills itself as sitting right at the centre of culture.

Hamid Habib is the managing director of Arena Media within Havas Village. Habib and Arena Media pride themselves on working on inventive campaigns that embed brands within culture and communities.

Habib discusses what it means to work for a “cultural media agency”, how he has moved his clients away from channel planning and toward ecosystem design, and the overarching cultural changes he thinks every brand should be aware of.

He and host Jack Benjamin also talk about why brands are underinvesting in gaming, and how AI is changing the role agencies play for their clients.

Highlights:

4:55: Arena Media's unique client proposition and why brands "grow when they move with culture".

11:24: Less channel planning, more ecosystem design: Why the brand and performance dichotomy is not fit-for-purpose.

18:00: Important cultural shifts this year: Bifurcation of media behaviours across generations, AI changing customer journeys

26:32: Brands need a BANG: Breadth, authenticity, newness, granularity

31:33: Zig when others zag: Why Reddit, gaming are underinvested channels

45:06: Are agencies still relevant as automated planning, buying and creative becomes common?

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How marketers should reconsider culture and short-term strategies — with Thinkbox’s Elliott Millard (https://uk.themedialeader.com/how-marketers-should-reconsider-culture-and-short-term-strategies-with-thinkboxs-elliott-millard/)

Is there still room for human creativity in the AI era? (https://uk.themedialeader.com/believe-it-or-not-ep-3-is-there-still-room-for-human-creativity-in-the-ai-era/)

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