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Media buying operations · Marketing

Most media money leaks after the booking, in the paperwork nobody reads.

Media planning and buying picks the placements and argues the rate. Everything after the signature is a different job, and it is where a campaign loses money without anyone noticing.

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Scope, fee, reporting and term are agreed in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you.

Editorial illustration for Media buying operations

In one paragraph

Media buying operations is everything that happens after a media plan is signed: orders, deadlines, artwork specifications, proof of what ran, and the bill checked against the booking. GullySales runs that paperwork campaign by campaign and vendor by vendor, so a short run is claimed instead of quietly paid for.

The release order is the contract. It names the vendor, the dates, the spot lengths or the site, the rate, the payment terms and what counts as proof. A campaign held together by an emailed quotation leaves you nothing to argue with when the run comes up short.

The other half is proof. A newspaper sends a tear sheet, a broadcaster sends a telecast certificate, a screen operator sends a play log, an outdoor vendor sends mounting photographs. None of it arrives unless somebody asks for it every month.

Who it is for

This is written for you if these sound familiar.

  • Businesses running print, outdoor, radio or television across several vendors in the same quarter
  • Marketing heads who sign release orders and never see evidence that the run happened
  • Companies where accounts pay whatever the vendor invoices, because nobody holds the booking record
  • Dealers and distributors on co-op campaigns, where the brand reimburses only against documented proof
  • Owners who learned after the burst that a whole week of spots never went out

Not for

It is not the right fit if.

  • Businesses buying only through self-serve platforms, where the platform's own reporting is already the record
  • One hoarding a year, where the paperwork costs more effort than it protects
  • Anyone who wants us to hold their media money, since payment runs between your company and the media owner

The problem

Does this sound like your business?

What owners tell us on the first call, in their words.

  • “The material deadline passed before the artwork was approved”

    Every vendor closes materials days ahead of the run date, and each one closes at a different hour. Miss it and the slot carries somebody else's advertisement while your invoice stays the same size.

  • “The invoice does not match the release order”

    A plan promised sixty spots and fifty-two ran, some of them outside the band that was paid for. Nobody sees it without the order and the log side by side, so the full amount goes out.

  • “Nobody asked the vendor for proof”

    Tear sheets, broadcast certificates and mounting photographs all exist, and vendors send them when chased. Six months on, the campaign cannot be shown to have run at all.

  • “The wrong file reached the vendor”

    A print-ready file made for one panel size went to a vendor working to another, and somebody at their end resized it without asking anyone.

What we do

Everything that is included.

Each deliverable, and what it gets you. Nothing here is an extra.

  1. A release order for every booking

    One order per vendor naming the dates, the units, the rate, the payment terms and the proof expected, issued before anything is scheduled.

  2. Material deadline calendar

    Each vendor's closing date and hour set against each run date, worked backwards to the day artwork has to be approved inside your own company.

  3. Specification sheet per vendor

    File size, colour, bleed, resolution, audio length or loop duration, collected once so creative is built correctly the first time.

  4. Delivery of the material

    Files sent to every vendor ahead of the close, with a written acknowledgement that the correct version arrived and is readable.

  5. Proof of performance collection

    Tear sheets, broadcast certificates, screen play logs and dated site photographs chased and filed against the order each one belongs to.

  6. Bill reconciliation

    Every invoice read line by line against the order and the proof before it reaches your accounts team, with any shortfall raised as a claim.

  7. Make-good and credit claims

    Missed spots, late mountings and wrong bands taken up with the vendor for replacement airtime, extra display days or a credit note.

  8. A campaign file that stands up to an audit

    Order, proof, invoice and payment for each vendor kept together, which is what a brand reimbursing a co-op claim asks to see.

How the result is measured

  • Spots, insertions and display days delivered against booked
  • Material deadlines met without a rushed change
  • Proof of performance received per vendor
  • Invoice value corrected before payment
  • Replacement airtime or display days recovered

Recorded as a baseline before work starts, so every later report has an honest comparison.

How it works

How the media buying operations work runs

The work itself, in order. How an engagement starts, from your brief to a written scope, is set out on our method page.

  1. 1

    Turn the plan into orders

    The approved plan becomes one release order per vendor, and each order is accepted in writing before the schedule is treated as real.

  2. 2

    Build the calendar backwards

    From the run date to the vendor's material close to your internal approval, with a named person against each step.

  3. 3

    Deliver and confirm

    Material goes out to specification well ahead of the close, and the vendor confirms which version they hold.

  4. 4

    Watch it while it runs

    Spot logs, published copies and site photographs are collected during the campaign, while a shortfall can still be replaced.

  5. 5

    Reconcile, then claim

    Invoices are matched to orders and proof, and anything short is claimed before payment rather than written off after it.

  6. 6

    Close the file

    Delivered against booked, the value recovered, and which vendors are worth using again go into the report.

Where this fits

Three pieces of sales work, in this order.

This work sits inside sales process design, at stage 1, prospecting and lead generation. The audit comes before it, and sales management keeps it running.

  1. Step 1

    Sales audit

    Find where deals are being lost and what to fix first.

    Start here if you cannot say where orders are lost.

  2. Step 2 · you are here

    Sales process design

    One written way to sell, from first enquiry to repeat order.

    Start here if every salesperson sells differently.

  3. Step 3

    Sales management

    A target, a review routine and someone who owns the number.

    Start here if the team has targets and no routine.

Tell us what you need Your brief is read before we call. Scope, fee and term in writing.

FAQ

Questions owners ask before they call.

Not here? More answers, or ask on WhatsApp.

Tell us what you need
What is a release order and why does it matter?
It is the booking contract with a media vendor, setting out the dates, the units, the rate, the payment terms and the proof owed to you. With one signed, a short run becomes a claim instead of an argument. A rate confirmed on WhatsApp is not a release order.
What proof should we ask for from each medium?
Print gives a tear sheet and the publisher's insertion certificate. Television and radio give an airing report listing the time and duration of every spot. A digital screen gives proof of play, and outdoor and airport vendors give geo-tagged photographs at the start and the end. Fix which one applies in the order itself, before the campaign starts.
Can we recover money for spots that never ran?
You can ask, and a vendor holding a signed order settles it more readily with replacement airtime or a credit note than with cash. Raise it before the invoice is paid, because after payment there is nothing left to hold back.
Do you pay the media owners on our behalf?
No. Payment runs between your company and the media owner or their agency, on the terms written into the order. We issue and track the paperwork, chase the proof and check the bill before it reaches your accounts team.
How is this priced?
There is no published price. Our fee covers the orders, the deadlines, the proof and the reconciliation, and it is put in writing after we have read your brief and spoken to you. It sits apart from the media cost and from producing the creative.
How long is the contract?
The term is agreed in writing after we have spoken, along with the fee and the reporting. It is never a default twelve months, and renewal is decided on the numbers against the baseline recorded at the start.
How soon will we see results?
It depends on the trade, the channel and what is already in place. After we have read your brief and spoken to you, we say what we would expect to move first and how it will be measured against the baseline. Nothing here is guaranteed.
Who will actually do the work?
The person you speak to before anything starts. We work from one office in Nagarbhavi, Bengaluru, with no account managers in between.
What do you need from us?
Your brief, and a conversation. After that, access to whatever this work touches, such as your website, your accounts or your enquiry record, and time with the people who handle your enquiries.
What if we are not happy with the work?
Tell us and the plan changes. Everything is reported against the baseline, so a number that is not moving is visible to both sides. The term is in your written scope, and the refund and cancellation policy sets out the rest.

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