• by Richard Whitman , Columnist, February 22, 2015

Are you kidding me? Horizon Media has announced a mood-based roadmap for planning audio investments. It's a process that they claim creates recommendations based on the emotional experience brands want to create or connect with instead of the traditional demographic-based planning and buying approach.

The new approach is based on a study conducted by London-based consultancy Sparkler in partnership with iHeartMedia. The study found audio investment should align with listeners based on emotion and evolving consumption habits. Oh really? That's supposed to be a new approach? Or is this just one of those stupid repacking thingamajig agencies can't help but slap a new coat of paint on and call their own? 

Of the "new" approach, Horizon Media Chief of the WHY Group (yeah, that's really a title) Sheri Roder said: "We've turned the audio planning model on its head. By identifying and detailing the underlying motivations that compel people to choose different platforms and content, we were able to construct a fresh approach that transcends the existing audio landscape precisely because it is predicated on a person's desired emotional or sensory state. In the future, we will be able to make planning and buying decisions using mood and emotion as the pivot point, regardless of whatever new technologies and behaviors develop."

Okay -- so never before have planners and buyers taken into account the emotional state and mood of a potential brand customer when buying media before? For f*ck's sake! A good radio buyer was doing this in 1985. 

And by the way, it's radio. Not audio. Even if it's on the Internet. Just ask iHeartRadio, iHeartMedia's reason for being .