Planning is a conversation. The assistant checks the available inputs, explains the next trade-off, and works through open decisions with you. The responsible team retains the professional decision and approval.
1. Agree on the foundation and brief
Name the fair, target edition, and relevant reference years. A meaningful saved recommendation needs a confirmed brief, suitable media options, and applicable factors.
The brief contains the budget and price basis, objectives, audiences, priority markets, timing, and channel constraints. Refine drafts together. The confirmed version becomes the planning request. A newly confirmed version replaces the previous confirmation; existing plans keep the brief they originally used.
2. Evaluate markets
Discuss which countries to include, their strategic priorities, and the evidence behind those choices. The assistant can group countries and explain a funnel focus such as Awareness, Consideration, Intent, or Conversion.
Visitor figures, performance, strategic judgements, and assumptions have different meanings. Their roles should be visible in the reasoning. A strategic preference does not become a measured result.
3. Allocate the budget
The fixed calculation method for an initial country split uses compatible historical visitor counts. It can account for minimum amounts and fixed allocations. Overrides need reasons.
This calculation provides a starting point for the recommendation. It does not automatically turn every assessment or factor into a budget multiplier.
Market allocations plus the reserve must equal the brief’s budget. Selected media must fit within their allocation.
4. Select channels and media
Develop the mix of channels, audiences, and funnel stages for each country. Distinguish print and fixed bookings, performance activity, and separately managed special budgets. Select specific titles and formats from current catalogue items where supporting information exists.
A catalogue item can be a candidate, booked, or dropped. A recommendation does not itself place a booking with a publisher or agency.
Approved structured exclusions are enforced during validation. Other approved instructions need explicit human review. Resolve conflicts between the brief and applicable rules before saving.
5. Review and save
Ask to see the budget, channels, reasoning, sources, assumptions, and open questions for each country. Validation checks include budget reconciliation, applicable evidence, and exclusions. Errors need correction; review notes identify additional points to assess.
Before saving, show all budget overrides, weakly supported assumptions, and unresolved decisions. Explain how each could change the recommendation.
Once your team agrees on the result, ask the assistant to save the plan. It preserves the exact brief, selected factors, catalogue items, rules, source metadata, and method settings in a snapshot.
Review a recommendation explains how to inspect that saved result and use its Excel workbook.