Cotopaxi
Marketing Mix Modeling Unlocks 20%+ New Business Growth
MMM & incrementality testing enabled Cotopaxi to reallocate budgets & invest in more incremental channels.
Solutions
Cotopaxi, a leading outdoor apparel brand, needed a way to maximize their marketing budget while continuing to drive new customer acquisition. The brand faced a series of headwinds, including channel fragmentation, last-click attribution accuracy, and true incrementality of Brand Search efforts.
As a growing brand, sustainable expansion required a steady influx of new customers, making it critical to pinpoint the most efficient channels for acquisition. But precise measurement and optimization were the key to ensuring that Cotopaxi’s media dollars were spent in the right place at the right time.
Immerse
To address Cotopaxi’s challenges, we conducted a comprehensive Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM) analysis to understand how each marketing channel contributed to revenue. We began by deconstructing the entire media mix, evaluating performance across all paid and organic channels to identify true return on ad spend (ROAS). By moving beyond last-click attribution, we uncovered deeper insights into where marketing dollars were driving actual business impact. Our analysis revealed a surprising finding: while Google Brand Search had the highest last-click attribution value, it exhibited the lowest modeled ROAS, indicating over-investment. This insight underscored the need to reallocate budget to more effective channels, forming the foundation for the next phase of our strategy.
Inspire
To validate the MMM findings and ensure a data-driven approach to budget reallocation, we implemented a geo-based incrementality test. This test allowed us to measure the true impact of shifting ad spend from Google Brand Search to higher-ROAS channels like Meta and Performance Max (PMAX). By segmenting test and control regions, we were able to isolate the effect of these changes and gain clear, measurable insights.
The hypothesis driving this experiment was that diversifying spend across Meta and PMAX would yield a higher incremental lift compared to over-investment in Brand Search. As such, this step was vital to proving the model's accuracy and guiding Cotopaxi toward more efficient (and higher-impact) media spending.
Implement
Based on the insights garnered through the MMM, we used the following tactics to restructure Cotopaxi’s media investments and anchor the brand’s core business objectives: efficiency and revenue growth.
Shifted spend away from lower-ROAS Google Brand Search campaigns and into higher-performing Meta & PMAX campaigns.
Ensured ongoing optimization of media allocations.
Allowed for real-time, data-driven adjustments.
Impact
This comprehensive, MMM-driven strategy unlocked a winning formula for Cotopaxi, improving overall business Marketing Efficiency Ratio (MER). Reducing inflation from Google-attributed ROAS proved our hypothesis that traditional models were over-attributing the incremental value of the channel. In turn, this crucial finding revealed the upside in distributing a higher share of funds to channels like Meta.
