Analytics only influence 53% of marketing decisions, according to 2022 Gartner research. Yet 81% of marketers say they would use analytics more if the quality improved. This gap between having data and acting on it represents both wasted marketing spend and limiting business growth potential. How do we, as an industry, address this?
Nicole Kane, VP/GM of the Breakfast Category at Bimbo Bakeries USA, recently shared how her organization has been bridging this divide at the ANA Measurement and Analytics Conference. Working with Ipsos MMA as their Unified Marketing Measurement partner, Bimbo Bakeries has transformed decision making, enabling data-driven investment optimization at the portfolio, brand and retail partner-level on an annual, quarterly and monthly basis. Kane’s presentation reveals practical transformation steps that any marketing organization can replicate.
The Problem: When Good Data Goes Unused
Most marketing leaders recognize the scenario that is at the heart of this statistic. Reports accumulate faster than anyone can read. Duplicative analyses come from different teams and often with different conclusions about the same marketing programs as leaders receive data dumps without clear recommendations and business implications.
Three years ago, Bimbo Bakeries USA faced a similar challenge. Their omnichannel, media, and marketing analytics teams operated independently, each advocating for budget allocation to their respective areas. Each team applied different measurement approaches and spoke different analytical languages, making it difficult for Senior Leadership buy-in and trust this information, resulting in an inability to impact decision making.
The omnichannel team focused on ROAS using last-click methodology. The media team relied on Marketing Mix Models that considered broader business drivers and provided ROI. With different data inputs, KPIs, methodologies, and lookback windows, agreement was difficult if not impossible.
Brand managers found themselves caught between competing analytical narratives. They needed comprehensive, objective data to guide growth decisions but instead navigated conflicting recommendations from different teams.
“As a brand person, this situation was frustrating as I need to look at the business holistically and without bias,” Kane explained during her presentation. “I need the data to help inform my decisions, as my goal is to grow the business by recruiting, retaining, and building breakfast loyalists.”
The Solution: Organizational Transformation
Bimbo’s transformation required changes across teams, measurement approaches, and reporting structures. Each shift built on the previous one to create lasting change.
Unifying Teams and Operations
When Kane joined BBU, three separate teams handled retail media without coordination. Each had its own agencies, likely competing against each other for the same media inventory.
The restructuring happened thoughtfully. In the first year, they integrated shopper marketing and eCommerce under single leadership, forming the omnichannel team. The following year brought consolidated media buying for all non-search retail media under the media team. Spring 2025 completed the transformation with one leader overseeing brand media and retail media planning, buying and measurement.
This consolidation delivered three major benefits.
- Strategic alignment meant decisions could be based on marketing objectives and data rather than departmental preferences.
- Analytics became embedded throughout the process from planning to execution.
- KPI clarity emerged with ROI as the primary focus, supported by metrics tailored to specific tactics.
Building an Aligned Measurement Framework
With unified teams in place, Bimbo could develop a coherent unified measurement approach and a comprehensive toolkit aligned to business needs.
Working with Ipsos MMA, Bimbo leveraged MMA’s Unified Marketing Measurement Framework integrating Marketing Mix Models with Monthly Agile Attribution and Testing along with their Activate Platform. Activate’s scenario planning capabilities were used to inform leadership budget discussions and media investment decisions at the portfolio, brand and retail partner level. The Agile Attribution models enabled granular media optimization across platforms, within platforms, within Retail Media Networks (RMN) and at the campaign, creative, targeting objective and audience level, connecting the dots from strategic investment planning to everyday tactical media decision making and RMN level reporting.
Experimentation happens through their Learning Labs program, which runs small-scale, low-cost A/B tests across media, creative, and revenue growth management hypotheses.
The teams learned that organizational alignment on methodology drives faster decision-making.
Kane emphasized this point during her presentation. “Companies often forget that delayed decision making can impact business outcomes. When everyone is aligned on when to use what methodology, opportunity is captured through faster decision making.”
Designing Reports for Business Decisions
Instead of departmental reports generated on different schedules, Bimbo has been transforming their approach to measurement communication. The new framework begins with business needs rather than functional capabilities.
Four questions guide every report:
- What business decision needs to be made?
- Who makes that decision and what information do they need?
- What format works best for that audience?
- How frequently do they need updates?
Success requires understanding each audience. Different stakeholders require different detail levels. Executive and Financial leaders respond to profit and loss language. Practitioners need campaign-specific performance data. Brand teams want cross-channel performance comparisons. CMOs seek optimization opportunities.
Making Change Stick Through Education
Building new systems and processes represents only half the challenge. Sustainable adoption requires addressing the human element of organizational change.
Like many organizations navigating measurement transformation, Bimbo found that stakeholders brought varying levels of familiarity with different methodologies and different perspectives on which approaches worked best.
Their solution involved creating a cross-functional steering committee led by the marketing analytics leader. Small group sessions allowed stakeholders to share perspectives openly while building confidence with new approaches. The committee designed solutions that addressed diverse business decision-making needs across the organization.
From Analysis Paralysis to Strategic Action
Bimbo’s marketing organization has moved beyond the report overload that once defined its decision-making process. Teams now depend on measurement insights to guide budget allocation and campaign optimization. The unified structure allows holistic evaluation of where marketing investments can have the greatest business impact.
Kane reflected on the transformation during her presentation: “We are maximizing marketing effectiveness with improved alignments. While we still have our disagreements like every healthy relationship, we are on a journey to maximize marketing effectiveness with alignment between the cross-functional teams.”
The transformation requires collaboration, simplified ways of working, and constant reminders that everyone shares the same goal of enabling the BBU portfolio of brands to grow profitably.
What This Means for Marketing Organizations
Bimbo’s experience highlights a fundamental issue in marketing measurement adoption. Technical capabilities have advanced significantly, but organizational structures often haven’t kept pace. The most sophisticated measurement systems fail when teams can’t align on how to use them.
For marketing organizations, the lesson centers on structure rather than technology. Companies that successfully leverage measurement insights share common characteristics. They’ve solved the organizational design challenge first, then applied technical solutions.
The persistent gap between having analytics and using them reflects a deeper challenge. Most organizations treat measurement as a technical problem when the real barriers are people, process, organization structure. Bimbo Bakeries USA highlights the business impact and transformation that is possible when closing this gap through a purposeful approach to change management.
