Marketing measurement is having a moment, but can it deliver?
Marketing effectiveness has never been more scrutinised, yet despite more models, metrics and dashboards than ever, too little actually changes. Unless measurement moves beyond diagnostics to drive real decisions, we risk repeating the same ineffective cycles, writes James Zipeure, group CEO at Mortar AI.
Marketing effectiveness has a credibility problem. For more than a decade, the industry has clung to attribution models and econometric reports that promised rigour, but often delivered little more than rearview diagnostics. The language of accountability has been everywhere, but the impact? Less so.
Now, as marketing mix modelling (MMM) enjoys a revival, spurred by the decline of third-party cookies, pressure from CFOs, and a broader shift toward commercial accountability, we find ourselves at a familiar crossroads. Models are back in fashion. Dashboards are proliferating. But the fundamental issue persists: many of these tools diagnose, display and reassure, but they rarely drive decisions.
Unless that changes, this latest wave of MMM enthusiasm risks becoming yet another cycle of complexity masquerading as control.
That’s why the current momentum toward transparency is so important. For the first time in years, marketers are being invited to look inside the models they’ve long been told to trust. Open-source frameworks, shared inputs, and replicable outputs offer a path toward greater rigour and scrutiny, and that’s undeniably progress.
But while transparency is a necessary step, it is not the solution in itself. The real test is whether insight leads to action. And more often than not, that’s where things fall apart.
It’s not uncommon for brands to invest heavily in measurement infrastructure only to discover that the outputs rarely influence actual decision-making. Strategy teams produce slides, consultants offer quarterly recommendations, but little shifts in practice. Budgets still get allocated based on historical norms. Creative briefs don’t change. Campaigns run as they always have.
James Zipeure
What’s missing isn’t intelligence. It’s integration.
For measurement to matter, it must be embedded into the operating rhythm of marketing. That means taking insights and tying them directly to planning cadences, media briefs, budget allocations, test agendas and performance reviews. It means moving from static reports to dynamic systems, ones that not only tell us what happened but help determine what happens next.
And this requires more than a model. It requires infrastructure, one that links marketing analytics with the levers of execution in real time. It also demands a cultural shift. Effectiveness must be seen not as a once-a-quarter check-in, but as a living, breathing layer of the marketing engine. One that evolves with business priorities, media behaviours, and market dynamics.
The models themselves must also become more expansive. Understanding paid media performance is useful, but it’s only one piece of the puzzle. Pricing, promotions, brand equity, creative quality, distribution, seasonality, macroeconomic shifts, these factors shape outcomes just as much, if not more. For any system to be truly decision-ready, it must account for the full commercial context.
The real opportunity today lies in creating marketing systems that are both accountable and adaptive. Ones that allow teams to not just reflect on the past but respond to the present, with speed, precision and confidence.
Because in the end, the effectiveness of a model is not measured in how well it explains the last campaign. It’s in whether it makes the next one better.
That is where the next wave of innovation in marketing measurement must focus. Not just on better models, but on systems that turn insight into motion. Until then, we risk building ever more elegant explanations for why nothing changes.
Keep up to date with the latest in media and marketing
If you’re going to talk about our frameworks, at least have the decency to credit them!
User ID not verified.
Henry, thankyou for taking the time to read the article. Completely agree. By working together with more openness, about methods, data, and outcomes, we can build real trust and give clients the confidence they deserve. Transparency should be the norm, not the exception. Lets discuss.
Have your say