Measuring marketing’s true impact on business growth can be challenging for many businesses. Even with sophisticated analytics and mountains of data, most global enterprises still struggle to prove which investments actually drive real, incremental revenue that finance and marketing can align upon.
A recent Gartner case study, “Prove the Value of Marketing by Driving MMM Adoption,” examines a fundamental question many enterprises face: proving marketing’s long-term value requires sophisticated measurement approaches, but gaining stakeholder buy-in and trust can often be difficult due to analytical complexity. The case study examines how Prudential Financial partnered with Ipsos MMA to successfully navigate this complexity. As a result, Prudential changed how their organization thinks about, measures, and optimizes marketing’s contribution to growth.
The Real Measurement Challenge
Many measurement initiatives face predictable hurdles such as stakeholders remaining uninvolved during critical development phases, executives lacking familiarity with statistical methodologies, measurement processes appearing opaque to business leaders, and teams expecting immediate results from complex analytical programs.
For Prudential, these represented opportunities to build a more comprehensive measurement approach. They recognized that transforming measurement from a marketing function into an enterprise capability required deliberate stakeholder engagement and cross-functional collaboration from the outset.
Strategic Co-Creation vs. Traditional Implementation
To build enterprise-wide measurement capabilities, Prudential partnered with Ipsos MMA to develop a collaborative approach centered on stakeholder ownership through several key strategies:
- Joint development of model specifications across functions
- Systematic assessment of each department’s business drivers and metrics
- Transparent evaluation of data capabilities and measurement scope
- Long-range planning for continuous measurement evolution
This strategic partnership with Ipsos MMA focused on building the foundation for sustained cross-functional adoption rather than purely technical implementation.
The Finance Partnership: Building Analytical Credibility
Prudential’s approach recognized finance as a natural and essential partner, given their analytical expertise and organizational influence. Rather than positioning finance as simply budget approvers, they engaged them as collaborative partners in methodology development.
Jadon Wellman, Vice-President of Marketing Effectiveness and Digital Analytics at Prudential, explained their approach: “Engaging in open, constructive dialogue with the finance team was crucial as they are key in determining the measurement program’s impact, whether for securing additional funding or defending the current budget.”
Finance brought valuable econometric knowledge that, when combined with marketing’s methodological transparency, created powerful advocates who became a key ally in validating the statistical approach.
Building Capabilities Through Enterprise-Wide Engagement
Kalli Chapman, Head of Paid Media and Content Marketing at Prudential, emphasized this strategic evolution: “Our consistent investment in brand and product advertising has proven to be a powerful catalyst for tangible, incremental business growth. Advanced analytics, combined with the strategic storytelling from our Chief Brand Officer, enabled us to engage the executive leadership team in a meaningful dialogue.”
From Immediate Insights to Long-Term Value Creation
Understanding that transformative analytics programs require sustained commitment, Prudential and Ipsos MMA developed a multi-phase roadmap balancing immediate value with long-term capability building. The implementation plan included:
- “Step-by-step specification of model development”
- “Built-in timeline extension” with flexibility for adjustments
- “Clear stakeholder collaboration points” with stages identified for involvement
- A multi-year approach with iterative model development
This thoughtful planning addressed the natural tension between demonstrating early value and building comprehensive measurement capabilities. By creating clear expectations and showing ongoing progress, Prudential secured the extended commitment required for enterprise transformation.
Charlotte Tsou, Head of Marketing and Analytics at Prudential Financial, captured this strategic perspective: “The beauty of marketing mix modeling lies in its ability to provide a comprehensive view of how different marketing channels contribute to overall performance. However, it’s crucial to not get bogged down by historical data alone. We need to incorporate forward-looking signals to stay agile and responsive to market changes.”
The strategic timeline enabled Prudential to build a comprehensive measurement ecosystem capturing marketing’s complete impact spectrum – from immediate performance indicators to enduring brand equity.
The results speak for themselves. Within a year, Prudential validated over $2.1B in short-term sales impact and measured $2.5B in long-term brand equity contribution. Media efficiency improved by an estimated 5-10%, and marketing secured a central role in three-year strategic planning.
As Caroline Feeney, Global Head of Retirement and Insurance at Prudential Financial, noted: “Marketing changed the paradigm so that they are not viewed as a cost. It never should be. It should always be viewed as a very powerful investment, as part of our growth journey.”
Real Measurement for Real Business Growth
Prudential’s story shows what’s possible when organizations take a strategic approach to marketing measurement. Success isn’t just about better analytics. It’s about co-creating with stakeholders, providing transparency into methods, setting clear expectations, and continuously adapting to evolving business needs.
The case demonstrates that effective marketing measurement starts with early stakeholder involvement in model specification, ensuring that all relevant voices shape the analytical framework from the beginning. Transparent communication about methodologies and scope builds trust across functions, while clear alignment on business-relevant KPIs ensures everyone is measuring what matters to the organization. Perhaps most critically, successful programs require a long-term roadmap with flexibility to evolve as business conditions change, supported by continuous validation against actual business performance to maintain credibility and drive ongoing improvement.
“We have seen an accelerated maturity of Unified Marketing Measurement capabilities across industries and driven globally by cross-functional executive adoption, transparent collaboration environments, expansion of commercial business drivers, AI enabled speed, insight generation, predictive accuracy and activation,” said Douglas Brooks, Chief Client Officer at Ipsos MMA “These advancements are enabling marketing and finance to confidently invest in marketing and commercial drivers while measuring the true incremental business/financial impact.”
When marketing measurement evolves from a technical exercise into an enterprise-wide capability, it transforms marketing from a cost center into a proven value creator, with results everyone from the CMO to the CFO can trust.
This analysis is based on the Gartner case study “Prove the Value of Marketing by Driving MMM Adoption,” which examines how Prudential Financial partnered with Ipsos MMA to build enterprise-wide marketing measurement capabilities through stakeholder co-creation and cross-functional collaboration.
