Increasing the frequency for Marketing Measurement: Why Annual MMM is a Thing of the Past

"We run our Marketing Mix Modelling annually, and nobody takes any notice of it."

This is a common and often frustrating thing that I hear.

A company invests in a major Marketing Mix Modelling (MMM) project, receives a detailed report, and then... nothing happens. The insights are quickly out of date, and the team is left with a static report, not a tool for action.

If your marketing measurement strategy feels like a once-a-year event, it's not a failure of the methodology itself; it's a failure of frequency.

To act on your measurement shouldn’t be a point-in-time analysis. It should be consistently testing objectives and then acting on outcomes.

Why are so many brands still stuck in the annual MMM cycle?

The Problem with Annual Marketing Measurement

The biggest reason behind annual measurement is that historically, MMM has been slow and expensive.

The process was a lot of effort: gathering data, building a model from scratch, and waiting for the results.

By the time the final report landed on a marketer’s desk, the campaigns and market conditions had already changed. You're left with a snapshot in time, not a living guide for decision-making.

This lack of agility creates several problems:

• Slow to Action: You can't react to a competitor's new campaign, a shift in consumer demand, or the performance of your new creative.
• Lack of Trust: The long lag between spend and insight means its already out of date. Teams revert to relying on last-click attribution because it's "faster," even if it’s misleading.
• Not understanding your objectives: When you only interact with the team annually, it's difficult for them to understand your business priorities.

Increasing frequency with "Always-On MMM"

We believe marketing measurement should be as dynamic as your marketing strategy. This is why we have pioneered the concept of always-on Marketing Mix Modelling. It’s the new standard for brands that demand continuous marketing measurement

We've delivered this by using automation to turn a slow, manual process into a fast, transparent, and continuous one - without scaling the cost.

This may not mean live MMM. We recommend working with teams to move from annual to quarterly to monthly to live updates. Brands can then understand at which cadence they generate maximum value.

When increasing the frequency, you can focus on:

• Faster Insights: Automated systems provide frequent updates. This means your insights are always relevant and, most importantly, more tailored to your needs.
• More Transparency: You get better access to the data and tools. This builds trust and empowers your team to understand the "why" behind the numbers.
• Scenario Planning: With more relevant updates, you can run "what-if" scenarios at any time. Allowing teams to proactively plan their next move.

It’s time to move beyond the static annual report to an approach & frequency that allows you to build trust and take action.