Every brand wants results. But too often, budgets are the last thing on the table. Sometimes they’re guarded like state secrets. Sometimes they’re an afterthought.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: your budget defines your reach. And reach is determined by one thing, how long, and how often, you can be in the market.

At SimonSAYS, we work on a simple 30/70 principle:

• 30% for production; this includes strategy, design, and execution.
• 70% for media, the channels that actually get your brand seen.

That 70% is your muscle. It’s the money that fuels Facebook boosts, Google PPC campaigns, billboards, radio spots, YouTube pre-rolls, and print placements. Without it, even the most powerful creative is just a file sitting on a server.

Too many great campaigns never get their moment because the media spend wasn’t there to back them up.

Why Clients Hold Back

There are reasons brands don’t share their budget.

1. They’re nervous the agency will “spend to the ceiling.”
2. They’re unsure what’s fair value.
3. They’ve been burned by overpromises and underdelivery.

But here’s the flip side: without knowing the budget, your agency is guessing at the scale, channels, and frequency that are possible. A R50,000 campaign and a R500,000 campaign don’t just differ in size — they’re entirely different beasts. The wrong assumption can leave you underexposed and underperforming.

The question every client should be asking is: “What’s your split between production and media?” Because creative without distribution isn’t marketing — it’s just art.

Case Study: Just Property – From Audit to Impact

When Just Property came to us, they wanted more than a campaign. They wanted alignment, clarity, and a stronger market presence.

We started with a full brand audit, every logo, every touchpoint, every inconsistency and evolved the brand into a sharper, more cohesive identity. Out of that came More or Less / Min of Meer, a concept that worked in both English and Afrikaans. In one reading, it’s a casual “more or less” conversational and approachable. In another, it’s a question: “Are you more or less ready to sell your home?” or “Do you need more or less space to live?”

The campaign spoke directly to the emotional and practical sides of property decisions. And it was built with the right budget split to make sure it reached the market with force. We deployed it across radio, outdoor, social, digital, print, and PPC. The result? Over 21 million projected impressions at R0.04 per person. That kind of scale doesn’t happen without a media plan that’s properly resourced.

Because we knew the budget from day one, we could allocate spending strategically, weighting channels by reach potential, timing the bursts for maximum visibility, and keeping the message consistent across every touchpoint. The takeaway? The thinking and the creative matter. But the media spend is what makes them matter to anyone else.

If you’re investing in marketing, start with the budget conversation. Share it. Own it. Build the plan around it.

We are SimonSAYS. A little unexpected. Always intentional. Never average.

We are different. And you can be, too.

www.simonsays.co.za