Despite drowning in data, seasoned marketers like Tom Noble, Sam Ayre and Jemma Downey say measurement is still a minefield. Fragmented channels, flaky attribution and out-of-date dashboards are muddying the waters – not clearing them. And when the numbers don’t line up, gut feel is still doing more heavy lifting than it should. While working at Stellantis, Medibank and a range of other companies, all three turned to marketing mix modeling (MMM) in a bid to cut through the noise — and make the numbers work as hard as the budget.
Turning Jeep around was one thing. Justifying the media mix was another. Tom Noble (former Head of Communications across Jeep amongst other brands), who landed in Australia in 2020 to revive the struggling auto mark, quickly got results — launching a new platform, backing it with a major TV campaign and delivering rare year-on-year growth in a pandemic-hit market. But proving TV’s long-term role in that turnaround? That was harder. “I always felt that when we were on TV, everything seemed to work better,” Noble says that position was hard to defend. “I wanted to take the opinions out — and get to numbers you can’t argue with.”
For Downey, the clarity of MMM was the gamechanger. Across her career she has faced a different set of challenges — but no matter where she worked, the measurement dilemma was the same. Fragmented insights and internal noise can make confident decision-making difficult. “Working with MMM gave me the clarity and confidence to make decisions that directly drove business growth,” she explains.
“They challenged us in the right way.” Why MMM isn’t just software and the right partner matters
Having run marketing mix models at Mini and BetEasy, Noble knew measurement could cut through the noise – but finding the right partner was key. If MMM was the answer, then the real question became how – and with whom.
At Medibank, Sam Ayre was asking the same. After a break from MMM, Ayre – then Brand Marketing Lead – needed more than just a model refresh. “I felt with our previous provider that things had become a bit stale – the results weren’t dynamic enough,” he says. “Mutinex immediately gave us a fresh perspective.”
Noble landed with Mutinex via a recommendation from an agency partner. He was impressed with the high quality of the software and anticipated that a regular cadence of results would help to craft a sharp narrative. But the difference wasn’t just in the quality of the software but also the promise of how Mutinex would leverage their marketing science partners (assigned to each customer) to challenge the team constructively, pushing for analytical rigour without ego.
Ayre notes the same approach. “Yes, Mutinex has built great software and there’s a lot to differentiate it. But I think the team really care…they’ve come from the industry and they really understand the pain points of marketers and can actually talk to them. I think that’s a big thing to have access to people who have lived and walked in those shoes.”
Yes, Mutinex has built great software and there’s a lot to differentiate it. But I think the team really care…they’ve come from the industry and they really understand the pain points of marketers and can actually talk to them. I think that's a big thing to have access to people who have lived and walked in those shoes.
From gut feel to operating system
For Noble, Downey and Ayre, the shift from traditional consulting-led MMM to an always-on SaaS platform marked a structural change — not just a tech upgrade. Access to regular, scenario-based insights gave them licence to move faster, experiment more, and build internal alignment around marketing investment.
But as these marketers have found, the right MMM partner doesn’t just deliver on the promise of great software. “Mutinex is a standout partner – not only did their product consistently give me the insights I needed to invest with confidence,” says Downey. “But more than that, they supported me to build critical capability.”
MMM’s next chapter: always-on, AI-augmented and cross-functional
Looking forward, the trio agrees that as media channels multiply and finance teams demand greater accountability, MMM will become a strategic operating system — not just a reporting tool. Noble cautions against the drift back to short-term, digital-only measurement. “If you’re only measuring digital, you’re not seeing how brand activity actually worked.”
Ayre, now with AI-powered creative startup Cuttable, sees further gains on the horizon. He believes embedded AI agents like Mutinex’s MAITE could make sophisticated analytics available to any marketer, at any level: “AI makes MMM more usable. It demystifies the data. And that’s the bit that unlocks adoption.”
Confidence comes from clarity — and the right partner
For Noble, Downey and Ayre, MMM isn’t a theoretical value-add — it’s the foundation for a more confident, more aligned marketing strategy. It’s about shifting from gut feel to evidence. From lagging reports to real-time guidance. And from outsourced analytics to in-house confidence.
But getting there means more than buying a dashboard. It means finding a partner who knows how marketers work — and works the problem with them. As the next wave of marketing leaders look to scale effectiveness under scrutiny, that combination of great software and embedded support might just be the secret weapon.