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Marketing Mix Modelling 101

Why it matters – and why brand expertise makes all the difference.

Marketing Mix Modelling 101: Why it matters – and why brand expertise makes all the difference

In an era where marketing accountability is under the spotlight, many brands are asking the same questions:

  • “What’s really driving our sales – brand or performance?”
  • “How should we allocate budget in a tightening economy?”
  • “Can we prove marketing impact without relying on last-click attribution?”

If you’ve asked any of the above, it’s time to talk about Marketing Mix Modelling (MMM) – and what it can (and can’t) do for your business.

What is MMM?

At its core, Marketing Mix Modelling is a statistical approach used to quantify the impact of different marketing activities – across both offline and online channels – on business outcomes such as sales, conversions, or brand KPIs.

MMM helps you:

Understand the effectiveness of each media channel
Separate short-term activation effects from long-term brand impact
Simulate and optimise future budget scenarios
Support strategic planning with hard numbers – not assumptions

Why marketers need MMM today

The pressure is growing:

  • 65% of marketers struggle to prove ROI (HubSpot, 2024)
  • Performance marketing channels are reaching saturation
  • Third-party cookies are disappearing
  • Boards are asking tougher questions

MMM gives marketing teams a much-needed shift: from fragmented reporting to holistic insight. From reactive optimisation to proactive decision-making.

But here’s the catch: not all MMMs are created equal.

MMM without brand insight is only half the story

Most MMM providers do a solid job at modelling media impact. But many models are built for performance teams and media planners – not for marketers who also need to grow brand equity, reposition in a new market, or plan long-term.

That’s where the biggest gap lies.

Without integrating brand tracking data, you risk:

  • Underestimating the long-term impact of your marketing
  • Overinvesting in high-frequency short-term channels
  • Making decisions that optimise for this quarter, but damage next year

Why Nepa?

At Nepa, we believe MMM only works if it’s connected to a bigger picture.

That’s why we combine cutting-edge econometrics with deep brand expertise.

Here’s what makes us different:

🧠 Brand-first insight
We’re not just number crunchers. We’re brand growth experts. We enrich MMM with continuous brand tracking, campaign evaluation and category understanding – so you can see the full impact of your marketing.

🔁 Holistic thinking
We interpret MMM results in the context of your entire marketing strategy – helping you balance short-term sales with long-term brand building.

📊 Independent and transparent
We’re not tied to media buying. Our only agenda is to help you grow efficiently – with decisions based on business outcomes, not spend levels.

📈 Continuous decision support
Choose a one-off MMM for strategic planning, or go continuous with cMMM – a flexible setup with dashboards, scenario tools and regular updates aligned to your needs.

Final thought

If you're ready to stop guessing and start optimising with confidence – make sure your MMM is built on more than data science. Make sure it’s built on brand understanding.

👉 Let’s talk about how we can help you turn your media spend into meaningful, measurable brand growth.

Published on: 25TH MAY 2025