Forvio Participates in “Master Cross-Channel Measurement with Meta" Event

Introduction

The Meta Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) Summit titled "Master Cross-Channel Measurement" was held on June 26, 2024 in London. This summit brought together global marketing measurement experts and top advertisers to drive innovation and improve the understanding of MMM in the SMB (Small and Medium Businesses) community. Forvio, along with DNA Era, contributed to the panel with case-study. Here are the key takeaways from the event.

Event Programme

1. Welcome by Lizzy Lillington-Lester
2. Summit kick-off with Georges Mao
3. Introduction to MMM with Elsa Ögren
4. Partner panel on MMM innovation with: Alfonso Calatrava (Meta), Sam Carter (Fospha), Juha Nuutinen (Sellforte), Joan Miro (Kraz), Michael Kaminsky (Recast)
5. MMM success stories from:- Gina Tricoty (Hanna Joelsson, Marcus Österdahl) and Cassandra (Gabriele Franco),
   - DNA ERA (Ewa Dolinska) and Forvio (Andy Kozak)
6. Open Source MMM, Project Robyn with Igor Skokan
7. Final thoughts with Lizzy Lillington-Lester

Event Introduction

Lizzy Lillington-Lester, Marketing Science Partner at Meta, opened the summit by highlighting the significant challenges in today’s advertising landscape, particularly with cross-channel measurement. She noted the difficulty in tracking and attributing performance across diverse channels, each with unique metrics and data points. This complexity, she explained, underscores the critical need for events like this summit, which focus on the role of Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) in addressing these challenges.

Opening Words

Georges Mao, Meta Director of Marketing Science EMEA, emphasized the growing importance of MMM in today’s dynamic marketing landscape. He noted that measurement is becoming increasingly complex, with no one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, it requires effectively combining various measurement techniques.

He also highlighted the significant evolution in privacy policies, including private regulations and large-scale policy changes, pointing out the ongoing transition to a cookieless world which will further emphasize user privacy. This transition makes measuring marketing efforts with third-party data more challenging.

Moreover, Georges stressed the importance of understanding how different channels complement each other and affect demand incrementally.

Georges Mao, Meta Director of Marketing Science EMEA

Introduction to MMM

Elsa Ögren, Global Marketing Science Consultant at Meta, provided an insightful introduction to MMM. She explained that MMM is not a standalone solution but rather a tool designed to complement other marketing measurement tools. MMM fills gaps left by attribution and experiments by covering opt-out users and cross-publishers without needing user data, relying instead on aggregated data, such as campaign-level data. This makes MMM privacy-friendly and signal-resilient. Despite being around for 40 years, MMM is now being rediscovered due to advancements in technology, machine learning, and predictive analytics, which have made it faster, more transparent, and accessible.

MMM Execution model

Elsa likened MMM to "un-baking a cake," a metaphor for deconstructing the factors that impact KPIs over time to adjust marketing strategies accordingly. MMM uses historical data and regression modeling to analyze the impact of various factors on marketing performance. Almost any business can benefit from MMM, provided they have historical data, consistent levels of sales data, and variations in their media mix.

Partner Panel

The partner panel on MMM innovation was hosted by Alfonso Calatrava, EMEA Third Party Measurement Specialist at Meta. The panel featured external speakers from leading MMM providers:

• Sam Carter (Fospha): Highlighted that MMM can fill the gaps left by pixel-based attribution, measuring all clicks and impressions.
• Juha Nuutinen (Sellforte): Described Sellforte as an intelligent MMM SaaS service that integrates all available client data, including ad platforms and Google Analytics, with a strong emphasis on data quality and model accuracy.
• Joan Mira (Kraz): Stressed the importance of consultancy in their service, despite having a SaaS platform.
• Michael Kaminsky (Recast): Emphasized the importance of speed, actionability, transparency, and making the model understandable to clients.

Partner Panel

Key topics discussed by Alfonso and the panelists included:

• Industry Challenges: The main challenges in cross-media measurements, such as pixel-based attribution and the lack of a single source of truth for marketing incrementality.
• AI and MMM Automation: The role of AI in MMM, focusing on model estimation and data integration challenges.
• Implementing MMM for Small Businesses: The difficulties small businesses face in implementing MMM and the importance of simplifying the process.
• Building Trust in MMM Results: The necessity of corroborating MMM results with other experiments and setting the right expectations for clients.

MMM Success Stories

Gina Tricot: A Swedish fashion chain partnered with Cassandra to implement MMM, resulting in a 53% improvement in ROI. They moved from last-click attribution to a cookieless solution and validated their approach with a case study in the Netherlands and Germany.

Gina Tricot and Cassandra: Case Study

DNA ERA: A Slovak biotech company working with Forvio used MMM to gain a holistic understanding of their marketing channels. They achieved a 20% increase in revenue and a 25% improvement in ROAS by making data-driven decisions and optimizing their marketing budgets.

DNA ERA and Forvio: Case Study

Open Source MMM, Project Robyn

Igor Skokan, Marketing Science Director and cofounder of Project Robyn, gave an enlightening talk about open-source MMM. Meta has been involved in open-source projects for years, believing that sharing ideas drives innovation. Project Robyn, an R code available on GitHub, aims to democratize superior MMM for advertisers of all sizes. It is modular, well-documented, and designed to complement other solutions by reducing human bias, aligning with experimental data, and enabling actionable decision-making.

"Robyn: Open Source MMM, Igor Skokan

Closing Remarks

The summit concluded with final thoughts, encapsulating key takeaways and encouraging attendees to continue exploring and implementing MMM in their marketing strategies. The increasing privacy policies and changing marketing landscape make it challenging to understand cross-channel ROI and optimize budgets effectively. MMM supports businesses in assessing and maximizing their return on ad spend (ROAS), providing valuable insights into their marketing efforts. Partners and open-source technologies offer various opportunities to simplify the adoption of MMM, whether through guided implementation or DIY challenges using tools like Forvio.

The Meta Master Cross-Channel Measurement Summit was a remarkable event, filled with insightful discussions and innovative ideas about MMM and marketing in general. We thank Meta for organizing this event and for inviting us. We also extend our gratitude to all participants and hosts for their engaging talks and enlightening insights.