MMM comes to walled gardens

As privacy restrictions bite, major digital advertising platforms are offering marketing mix modelling (MMM) solutions to brands. 

Who’s doing what?

• After Apple introduced ATT, Meta developed Robyn, an open-source tool that automates much of the MMM process.

• In late 2022, Amazon launched an automated MMM application to make it easier for brands to export their Amazon Ads data for MMM analysis.

• Google told AdExchanger it is looking into building an MMM tool to help brands measure advertising campaign performance across various channels, adding that “any solution we explore will be open to the industry to leverage and validate”.

Why marketing mix modelling matters

As a recent WARC report* noted, a focus on evidence-based planning and privacy-safe measurement solutions is driving a return to marketing mix modelling (MMM) as more data becomes available to connect marketing and retail channel activity. 

While brands have often undertaken such work themselves, platforms have shied away from an approach that gives credit to rival “walled gardens”. Some observers wonder how far cross-platform metrics produced by a platform’s own MMMs can be trusted. 

Key quote

“I don’t think there’s anything dishonest about [Robyn] preferring digital channels, but to the extent Meta can get agencies like us using [the tool], it’s going to maximize the chances that Facebook’s advertisements continue to look productive” – anonymous.

*Next wave measurement: Marketing mix modelling in the age of retail media

Sourced from Ad Exchange, WARC