Prophesy Digital’s Mehrak Saheb launches new resource for media planners – the ‘Pocketbook of Behavioural Science for Media Planners’

The media industry’s increasing focus on tech and data is leading to a training gap among media planners: the importance of consumer behaviour and psychology –  so Prophesy Digital Founder & Digital Media Strategist, Mehrak Saheb (pictured), created a resource every planner should have in their pocket: the Pocketbook of Behavioural Science for Media Planners.

The book is a collection of behavioural science principles designed to elevate media strategy by putting the consumer mindset back in the frame.

After spending more than two decades at the crossroads of media, marketing and consumer behaviour as a digital media strategist, Saheb believes that media planning is as much about psychology as it is about media mechanics. She has specialised in going beyond data and technology to bring consumer behaviour – how people think, feel and act – into media planning.

“I was growing increasingly concerned about how focused our industry had become on technology and data. These tools are incredibly powerful, but they seem to have pushed the importance of consumer understanding into the background — less and less on the radar of modern media planners, especially in digital, where I’ve spent most of my career,” she said.

“This book is my way of putting that back on the agenda. Because the real magic happens when we combine the power of data and technology with genuine insight into how people think, feel, and make decisions. That’s when media planning becomes truly impactful.”

The book contains 20 easily digestible chapters on the principles of behavioural science, such as ‘Social Contagion’, ‘Habit Discontinuity Hypothesis’, and ‘Moral Licensing’, which break down the theory, and then provide guidance on how to apply each to media planning for clients. It includes bite-sized lessons, memorable studies and real-world examples that make behavioural science instantly useful.

“There’s an incredible generation of media planners coming up who are fluent in digital platforms, data and dashboards — and that’s no small achievement given how fast the industry evolves. But because the focus in recent years has been so heavily on tech and tools, many haven’t had the chance to develop an understanding of consumer psychology and how it can inform strategic media choices. It’s not a gap in talent — it’s a gap in training,” Saheb said.

“Many planners haven’t been taught to consider mindset or behavioural context in their planning, because it’s simply not part of the standard toolkit anymore. That’s what sparked the idea: to reintroduce the human side of planning and help put behavioural science top of mind.

“This book brings that human lens back. It’s not about replacing data and tech — it’s about complementing it with behavioural insight so we can make smarter, more effective media decisions. The aim is to make behavioural science accessible and instantly useful for planners — not in an academic way, but in a real-world, everyday-media-decisions kind of way.

“If the book encourages planners to look at a brief through a more human lens — to consider mindset, behaviour, and context alongside technology — even just a little more than they did before, I’ll consider it a success.”

To access a copy of the “Pocketbook of Behavioural Science for Media Planners” go to https://amzn.asia/d/6d1pdYz

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