How Linea Analytics provide the best Always-on Marketing Mix Modelling

The world of Marketing Mix Modelling (MMM) has changed. Going back a decade ago there was only one type of provider: we categorised it as traditional MMM. These providers were slow, detailed and only available for large enterprise-level businesses.

Since then, different approaches have evolved. At Linea, we have focused on making MMM available to brands of all sizes. Let's dive into how Linea’s approach compares to the current MMM landscape.

Comparing Types of MMM Providers

The table below demonstrates the four different areas of MMM providers. What is included and how they compare.

		Linea Always-on MMM	Traditional MMM Providers E.g. Ebiquity	Media Only “MMM” E.g. Fospha	Open source MMM E.g. Meridian
Measure Omnichannel (DTC, Partners [amazon], In-Store)		✅	✅	x	✅
Impact of price changes, promotions and product		✅	✅	x	?
Measure Marketing incrementality		✅	✅	x	✅
Fast data access with APIs		✅	x	✅	x
Time to Results		1-10 days	8-12weeks	1-10 days	8-12weeks
Transparent Access		✅	x	?	✅
Experts to help you take action from measurement		✅	✅	x	x
Tools to take action		✅	x	✅	x

What is included in the Linea MMM?

Measuring the impact of marketing on each route to purchase is important in MMM, be that direct to site/ app, through partners (e.g. Amazon) or in-store. This will mean setting up an individual model for each route to purchase.

Where this becomes tricky for Media Only MMM providers is when setting up models of DTC vs. in-store. The difference in drivers of sales, data access & the ability to run an automated MMM becomes more difficult when you have in-store sales. As such, in-store is not included.

At Linea, we build bespoke models for each KPI within our MMM infrastructure. Whilst this does increase complexity, it also means a more accurate view of marketing's impact on the total sales. To accurately measure ROI, all of these routes to purchase should be measured.

Measuring incrementality through MMM: Why you have to control for non-media factors

One key area of difference is MMM providers who include only Media variables vs. those that control for external factors. By definition, a Marketing mix model should include all marketing drivers: Price, promotions, product changes, paid media & seasonality.

Not including these elements means that you are not measuring the media's incremental impact. What does that mean? It's Black Friday or the January Sale. You are running a price discount and paid media at the same time. A non-incremental measurement will allocate all extra sales to paid media. In reality, some of those sales are driven by the paid media and some by the price discount.

A robust MMM model will be able to disentangle each contributor, measuring the incremental impact of paid media alongside that of price discounts. Understanding what is driving most value & how the two categories work together.

Linea Analytics: Results in days, Not Months

Scaling MMM to brands of all sizes requires faster & more efficient running of updates.

At Linea, we have set up our structure to deliver results in days, not months. We do this by:

• Reducing 80% of data wrangling through connecting to APIs

• Linea's proprietary infrastructure means delivery in days, ending the 6-12 week delivery cycle of traditional MMM

• Delivering results in the Linea Platform means we eliminate the outdated model of a single quarterly PDF report that provides no value to media optimisers

  This speed of delivery is important as it allows for monthly updates. Monthly updates allow Linea’s Partners to expand the questions we can answer, in particular:

• Set up a test & learn cycle, answering key business questions within the next month.

• Make in-campaign changes based on incremental impact

• Measure and make cross-channel decisions on upper funnel channels (TV, YouTube, OOH, etc) at the same speed as performance channels (Search, Meta)

  Take action from MMM

  Taking action from MMM requires a combination of trust in models, team & tools that drive growth. At Linea, we recognise that a successful implementation is bigger than just setting up software and expecting action. Linea's team focuses on ensuring that MMM gets implemented in the organisation. We deliver software and a service.

• Linea software, our solutions help improve cross-channel & campaign reporting that allows you to run scenarios to take action.

• Linea service ensures that MMM is understood & embedded in your organisation, we build models that answer your business questions and set up frequent tests so you take action with confidence.

  Summary

  Linea Analytics is setting a new standard with Always-on MMM, built to be accessible for brands of all sizes.

  Unlike traditional MMM and media-only approaches, Linea provides a unique combination within MMM. We accurately control non-media drivers such as price and promotions to measure incremental media impact whilst also delivering fast MMM results in days.

  MMM shouldn’t be another tool that doesn’t drive impact. Our combination of software and expert service is built to ensure you take action and drive growth through measurement.

  Linea Advantage

1. Speed: Results in Days, Not Months. Our API infrastructure bypasses the weeks of manual data ingestion required by consultants.
2. Scale: For All Brands, Not Just Enterprise. Our fast, efficient model makes powerful MMM accessible and cost-effective.
3. Scope (Omnichannel): Measure all drivers of Sales impact, not just media exposure.
4. Focus: Software + Service. Get cutting-edge technology and the dedicated Client Partner expertise to translate results into action.