SARATOGA FOR MEDIAPLUS

Mediaplus
& Saratoga

Prepared for Mediaplus 29 September 2026
SARATOGA SOFTWARE
01 · WHERE WE'RE STARTING FROM

What we understand about Mediaplus

The world's leading independent media agency — data-driven media consulting, planning and implementation, part of Serviceplan Group.

“Transformation fails on culture and governance, not on more technology.” KARIN IMMENROTH · GLOBAL CHIEF DATA OFFICER, MEDIAPLUS
1
Part of Serviceplan Group, alongside sister agencies Serviceplan and Plan.Net.
2
Roughly 2,200–3,000 staff across 25 locations worldwide.
3
Founded 1983 in Munich; a partner office here in Cape Town.
4
Named clients include Hornbach, OTTO, bonprix, C&A and Bosch.
What brought us together: our understanding is that Mediaplus is looking to replace an existing Indian vendor, most likely on data-related work. We don't yet know why — that's what we want to understand together, today.
02 · THE OFFSHORE PROBLEM

Why offshore engagements break down

The same failure points, again and again. The result: data without insight — the exact gap your own CDO has raised publicly.

OFFSHORE
VENDOR MODEL
1

Time-zone gap

Overnight hand-offs, slow feedback loops.

2

Junior-heavy teams

High turnover, low continuity of knowledge.

3

Order-taking

Requirements followed, rarely challenged.

4

Weak delivery discipline

Go-live dates slip; QA is inconsistent.

5

Data without insight

Lots of reporting, little that changes decisions.

6

Ungoverned AI adoption

AI work without governance becomes a maintenance nightmare.

03 · THE SARATOGA DIFFERENCE

What changes with Saratoga

Same dimensions the offshore model struggles with, mapped row for row.
WITHOUT
WITH SARATOGA
Time zone
–Overnight hand-offs, slow feedback
→
✓Same time zone as Munich — real-time collaboration
Team stability
–High turnover, junior-heavy teams
→
✓Senior, stable teams; long-running UK clients
Way of working
–Order-taking, no pushback
→
✓BA-led delivery — we challenge requirements
Delivery discipline
–Slipping dates, inconsistent QA
→
✓Structured agile, QA built in, go-live on the committed date
Data value
–Lots of data, not much insight
→
✓People who combine technical and business understanding
AI governance
–AI adopted ad-hoc, without oversight
→
✓Mature AI governance, processes and experience
WHERE THIS LEADS
We don't have your answer yet.We're here to understand what you need solved — together, in your time zone.
04 · HOW WE DELIVER

Real people, modern tools

The same structured approach on every engagement — augmented by AI, never replaced by it.

1

Discover

BA-led discovery, captured straight into a shared knowledge base — not left in one person's head.

›
2

Build

Structured agile delivery, with AI-augmented tooling speeding up the routine work.

›
3

Assure

QA and governance built into every sprint, including how we govern our own AI use.

›
4

Go live

Delivery on the date we commit to, backed by documentation that outlives the project.

Every engagement feeds our AI Wiki — a living, structured record of requirements and business process, so what we learn doesn't stay locked in one person's head.
05 · PROOF — MEDIA AT SCALE
A Leading News Publisher
Digital publishing — one of South Africa's largest news portals
5.5 million monthly visitors, rebuilt without breaking a live platform.
Delivered end-to-end by senior Saratoga consultants.
CHALLENGE

The platform needed a full rebuild — new CMS, mobile, a responsive framework — without losing traffic on a live, high-traffic site.

APPROACH

Four phases over roughly ten years: a CMS migration, a microservices middle tier, an AngularJS mobile rebuild, then a single-codebase responsive/PWA framework.

5.5m
Monthly visitors across the portal
+113%
Session growth in 6 months, one title
6.9m→9.8m
Visitor growth, one Western Cape title
Source: Saratoga engagement data, publisher platform rebuild, 2014–present.
This publisher is publisher-side — it sells audience and ad space; Mediaplus buys that space for brands. Related worlds, not the same business — but the underlying problem, rebuilding a live, high-traffic platform without breaking it, is the same one.
06 · WHERE WE OVERLAP

An honest map of where we already overlap

Worth checking together against how you see it — a starting point for the conversation, not a claim.

STRONG FIT
  • Data & AIMigrating and running large data estates without breaking a live business.
  • Performance marketingSpeed, SEO and measurement gains we've actually delivered and measured.
  • Future of searchTechnical SEO and search-visibility work that speaks directly to GEO/AEO/AIO.
ADJACENT
  • Ad tech & programmaticIntegration experience, not built specifically for a media agency's stack.
  • Proprietary platformsPatterns like Track.AI & Ecosystem.AI — we've built the same shape elsewhere.
  • Commerce & retail mediaData and platform skills transfer; no retail-media delivery yet.
NOT OUR BUSINESS
  • Media planning & buyingNot something we do, or are offering to do.
  • Creative, social & influencerOutside our world entirely.
  • Marketing in ChinaNo footprint, no intent to build one.
07 · DATA & AI EXPERIENCE

Where our data and AI work already runs live

This isn't a generic AI pitch — it's work we've already shipped.

SHIPPED

Several data and AI engagements delivered and running today — not pilots.

GENERIC AI CLAIM

Unproven pockets of experimentation, with no live production use.

PROVEN IN PRODUCTION
Three areas where this experience lines up directly with Mediaplus.
1

Data engineering at scale

A fund-management data warehouse spanning South Africa, Namibia, Ireland and the UK.

›
2

Natural-language access

A text-to-SQL / MCP prototype — the same pattern behind Track.AI and Ecosystem.AI.

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3

Applied AI, live

Personalisation, an NL tag suggester and text-to-speech shipped on a live publisher platform; agentic AI for FinTech; four UK charity sites consolidated into one.

08 · WORKING TOGETHER

How we could work together

Three ways to structure the work — the right shape depends on what's actually changing hands.

Team augmentation

BEST FOR: FILLING SPECIFIC SKILL GAPS FAST
  • Senior specialists embedded in your existing teams
  • Fastest to start
  • Scales up or down with need

Managed squad

BEST FOR: OWNING A DEFINED SLICE OF THE ESTATE
  • A dedicated Saratoga team
  • Clear ownership and accountability
  • BA-led, structured delivery

Fixed-scope project

BEST FOR: A SMALL, PROVABLE FIRST STEP
  • Clear deliverable, price and timeline
  • Can start as a Discovery Sprint or an Azure Health Check
  • Lowest commitment to start

We'll shape the right model together once we understand what scope is actually changing hands.

09 · DATA PROTECTION & COMPLIANCE

GDPR, POPIA and data residency

GDPR and German-hosted Azure shape how we'd approach this from day one — not something to figure out later.

1

Contractual clauses

Standard contractual clauses for handling EU personal data from South Africa.

2

Data residency

Access controls and EU tenancy, where required.

3

POPIA alignment

Practice aligned to POPIA, consistently applied on our side.

4

Security posture

Certifications, insurance and references ready before we're asked.

NEXT STEPS
Let's shape the next step, together.
1

Tell us what's not working

The specific gaps with the current vendor, so we can scope precisely.

2

Agree the shape

Whatever fits best — a Discovery Sprint, an Azure Health Check, or something else — decided from what we hear today.

3

Start small

A contained, evidence-based first step, shaped by this conversation, not before it.

www.saratogasoftware.com