How a leading Italian luxury maison, with Cassandra and Limitless Innovation, used a Marketing Mix Model (MMM) to optimize media investments in the United States — understanding the real impact of each channel, measuring campaign ROI, and steering budget with data.
Introduction
The luxury brand partnered with Cassandra and Limitless Innovation to build a Marketing Mix Model (MMM) tailored to its U.S. market. The goal was to better understand the impact of different marketing channels on revenue, both online and in-store, and to support data-driven investment decisions.
The Problem
Despite significant investments in media, the company lacked clear visibility into the actual ROI of each channel. Decisions on budget allocation were based on assumptions and platform-specific KPIs, without a holistic view. The company needed a way to measure true incremental impact across online and offline sales, and to justify or adjust its media mix accordingly.
The Solution
Cassandra built a MMM starting from digital revenues and media spending. Over time, the model was expanded to include retail revenue, allowing analysis of over 150 million euros in total sales. The model integrated media data from Meta, Google, programmatic campaigns, newsletters, affiliates, organic social, and offline investments (OOH and print). The Cassandra team worked closely with the brand to clean and aggregate 19 initial media channels into 12 consistent categories. An incremental lift test was also conducted: the fashion house reduced its Meta Awareness budget by €11,643 across seven U.S. states, while measuring the impact on revenue.
The Impact
The test confirmed a measurable and statistically significant impact:
- Revenue in test regions dropped by €68,581 during the 4-week period
- An ROI of 5.89 — 18% higher than the expected benchmark
- The model showed a lift of -10.8% in revenue, validating the incremental value of Meta Awareness campaigns
- Media contributed to nearly 70% of total attributed revenue in Q4 2024 in the U.S.
- The luxury brand generated €52M revenue in that quarter with €4.4M total investments — a global ROI of 11.8
These insights helped the executive team reassess budget allocations and strengthen its case for continued investment in high-performing channels.