The way consumers search, scroll, stream, and shop is constantly evolving. To keep pace, brands are showing up wherever consumers are — on multiple touchpoints, online and offline.
The brands that want to stay ahead, however, are taking the next step.
They’re using marketing mix modelling (MMM) to identify the touchpoints that deliver the most ROI and also fuel growth on other media. With that data, they can optimise the performance of key touchpoints and maximise the halo effect on other channels.
Two leading brands, health food company Suntory Wellness and video game company Nexon, have successfully used MMMs to discover and supercharge what drives their growth engine — Search and YouTube.
Suntory Wellness used a time-varying MMM to find its ROI-drivers
Suntory Wellness in Taiwan is known for its Japan-made health products. Its marketing strategy spans everything from TV advertising for telephone orders to informative YouTube content and Search ads that generate online sales.
It wanted to understand how its diverse online and offline marketing channels contribute to sales. So it partnered with Mutinex, an MMM platform, and Google to analyse how the interplay among the channels influence its results.
To kick off its MMM study, it looked at the brand and performance results of its Sesamin line of products.
The MMM used: Mutinex’s time-varying model was selected to determine the effectiveness of every marketing channel and the impact they each drove due to dynamic interactions among them. The analysis also took into consideration factors like brand impression, organic media, and seasonality.
What it discovered: Google’s AI-powered ads solutions Performance Max and Demand Gen drove the largest contribution across media, with the best-in-class cost per incremental acquisition.
And YouTube had the longest adstock among the digital media it used, driving sustained impact on consumer purchase behaviour.
In addition, it also found that the highest return on ad spend (ROAS) for Google media was achieved when YouTube in-stream campaigns were run.
What’s next: Suntory Wellness is using insights from the MMM study to maximise its ROI with Google media. It also plans to use Google’s open-source MMM, Meridian, to achieve a more comprehensive performance analysis.
Nexon used causal inference in MMM to find its iROAS sweet spot
Video game company Nexon publishes FC Online, a popular online football game in South Korea.
To market the game, it uses a diverse media mix that includes YouTube, performance campaigns, media in PC cafes, and digital out-of-home ads.
The complex media mix, however, isn’t the only factor influencing its acquisition. Dynamic forces such as a rebrand of the game, and sporting events like the Asian Cup, also play a part.
Nexon needed a sophisticated measurement approach that would show what’s driving its incremental ROAS (iROAS) and strengthen its data-driven marketing strategy. For that, it collaborated with analytics company Analytic Edge and Google to run an MMM study.
The MMM used: It opted for an MMM approach enhanced with causal inference and machine learning. That allowed it to analyse not only the direct impact of the different media channels but also the synergies among them.
What it discovered: Google Display Network, out of all the media channels Nexon used, contributed the highest ROI. And YouTube played a key role in indirectly improving the performance of the other media channels.
What’s next: Nexon is making more informed decisions about its marketing investment, based on insights about the platforms that help it drive iROAS on and across channels.
As brands use complex media mix to show up wherever their customers are today, they also need to embrace sophisticated MMMs. That will help them fully understand the impact of their marketing efforts and do more of what works to drive greater results.
Contributors: James Lei, Measurement Specialist, Google Taiwan; Ines Chang, Video Specialist, Google Taiwan; Megan Wu, Industry Manager, Brandformance, Google Taiwan; Dongjae Lee, Senior Account Manager, Gaming & Apps, Google Korea; Jack Ki, Industry Manager, Gaming & Apps, Google Korea
