For Planners & Strategists
MPG Training
The Fundamentals of Media Planning
Our inaugural course has been designed and written by the best strategic thinkers from across the industry.
This course will take place in person in London on 19th May 2026.
Who is it for?
This course will be helpful if you understand the basics of putting an implementational media plan together but you want to understand how to approach a client brief from a strategic point of view. You might already have 3-5 years of agency experience or you might simply want a planning refresh.
What are the course modules?
Module 1 - Comms planning fundamentals
Tutor: Paul Gayfer
Module 2 - Identifying sources of growth
Tutor: Greg Newman
This session is primarily about budget setting. It might not be the sexiest topic, but hopefully by the end you’ll appreciate its importance in a new light.
Why? Money talks. In our particular case, putting the right money in the right places signals our priorities, determines how close we get to achieving our clients’ goals and shapes the conversations we have about the role(s) of – behaviours for – media.
In this session, we’ll get into how to think about setting budgets – considering alignment with business goals, balancing across different jobs for comms, distribution of resources across markets and portfolio planning.
This isn’t just about how to carve up cash, but also about how the exercise itself can inform the conversations we have with clients and the direction we take in media behaviour.
Module 3 - Focusing on the task
Tutor: Joe Wood
Module 4 - Engineering the plan
Tutors: Jack Winter, Ben Cunningham and Pam Odumusi
Module 5 - Media creativity
Tutors: Paul Gayfer, James Shoreland and Emily Fairhead-Keen
This session empowers you to take that creative 'pike' and bludgeon it through the treacle, to get to work which moves people, businesses, and the world. We've arguably never had a greater challenge - or more opportunity to find the best holes for the creative message, but also to elevate the media and actually start with the media as the creative itself. You'll explore some of the best ways to tell the creative story in channel, as well as some nickable principles to explore around the media as creative.
Module 6 - Measuring for success
Tutors: Lucy Verby, Ben Cunningham and Jas Mahil
Who are the course tutors?
Ben Cunningham
Media Director at IMA
Greg Newman
Strategic Consultant at Craft Media London
Jack Winter
Head of Planning at Craft Media London
Emily Fairhead-Keen
Strategist at Lego Group
Pam Odumusi
Senior Planning Director at PHD
Joe Wood
Strategy Lead at Wavemaker UK
Paul Gayfer
Chief Strategy Officer at Goodstuff Communications
James Shoreland
Chief Executive Officer at VCCP Media
Jas Mahil
Managing Business Partner - Marketing Science at dentsu
Lucy Verby
Founder & CEO at We Are Masterplan
What is the cost of the course?
You will need to be a member of the MPG to attend the course.
You can easily sign up for membership here.
Cost*: £250+vat
*When you sign up for MPG membership between 1st April and 31st May 2026, you will receive 50% off this training course.
What are the course details?
Date: Tuesday 19th May 2026
Time: 9am-5pm BST
Venue: TBC, Central London
How do I sign up?
First, you will need to become a member of the MPG
After your membership is activated, please get in touch with Lexi@apg.org.uk. She will send you the link to sign up.
The MPG team will follow up with all the details.
Get in touch
MPG training course queries: Sally Weavers - sally@craftmedia.london
MPG membership queries: Lexi Campbell - Lexi@apg.org.uk
MPG Training Course Cancellation Policy
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Should you cancel your booking for an MPG training course, the following cancellation policy will apply: For a cancellation made more than 30 calendar days in advance of the training course, a full rebate will be applied. For a cancellation more than ten calendar days in advance of the training course, a rebate of 50% will be applied. For a cancellation less than ten days in advance of the training course no rebate will be applied.
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Training sessions will not be recorded/filmed and we can’t offer catch-up sessions on future courses, if for any reason you can’t attend.
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On occasion we may need to re-schedule training sessions - we reserve the right to do this at any time although we will aim to give you as much notice as possible.
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Attendance on Training Courses is entirely at the discretion of MPG. There is no automatic right to attendance.
The new home for media planners and strategists at the heart of the APG