More Than Data

How MMM Saved an Account Manager from Client Tough Questions and Won a Contract Renewal

More Than Data
Apr 01, 2025By More Than Data

Introduction

Picture this: It’s Tuesday night, and an account manager at a major media agency is staring at the ceiling, wide awake. Tomorrow morning, he has to face one of his biggest clients—a leading Australian well-being and nutrition brand—to justify last week’s media spend.

The problem? His agency excels in creative and media execution, but when the client asks:

  • “Why did we spend $120K on TV last month?”
  • “If we’re already running brand awareness campaigns on TV and OOH, why do we still need paid search and paid social for brand keywords?”
  • “Prove that bus ads work better than train station panels.”

…he has no solid answers.

Every Wednesday meeting is a grilling session, filled with poke-faces (that look of skepticism and dissatisfaction) from the brand’s marketing manager. He leaves each meeting with a pile of new requests, stuck in a reactive loop—until Marketing Mix Modelling (MMM) turns everything around.

Before MMM: The Account Manager’s Nightmare

1. Sleepless Tuesday Nights & Dreaded Onsite Meetings

  • Every Tuesday night, the account manager tosses and turns, rehearsing responses to questions he knows he can’t fully answer.
  • Every Wednesday morning, he walks into the client’s office armed with printed Excel tables—only to be met with crossed arms, frowns, and relentless probing.
  • The brand’s marketing manager rarely smiles—instead, her poke-face (a mix of skepticism and frustration) dominates the room.

2. No Data, No Confidence, No Trust

  • Media decisions were based on best practices, not hard evidence.
  • When asked, “What’s the ROI of our OOH spend?”, he could only say, “It builds awareness…”—no numbers, no proof.
  • The client felt like they were spending blindly, leading to constant budget scrutiny.

3. Reactive, Not Strategic

  • After every meeting, the account manager scrambled to pull new reports, tweak plans, and answer follow-ups.
  • He was always one step behind, never leading the conversation.

After MMM: From Stress to Success

1. Real-Time Dashboards Replace Paper Reports

More Than Data (MTD) replaced messy spreadsheets with a live performance dashboard, showing:

  • TV & OOH: Spend vs. estimated reach
  • Digital (Paid Search, Social, Video, Display): Cost, clicks, Impressions, CTR, conversions, CPC etc.
  • Cross-channel impact in one glance

Now, instead of flipping through papers, the account manager clicks through interactive charts—keeping the client engaged and impressed.

2. Three MMM Models That Answer Every Question

MTD built custom models for:

  • In-Store Sales → “TV contributed 5% to in-store sales last month.”
  • E-Commerce Growth → “Paid social drove 6% more online conversions when paired with TV.”
  • Brand Awareness → “Yes, we still need branded search—because even with TV, 32% of conversions start with search.”

Now, the account manager walks in with answers before questions are even asked.

3. Budget Simulator: No More Guesswork

Instead of defending past spend, he now plans future spend using MTD’s optimization tool:

  • “If we shift 15% from TV to YouTube, here’s the expected +3% sales lift.”
  • “This is why we recommend branded search alongside TV—it captures demand we’re creating.”

The marketing manager finally trusts the recommendations—and even smiles occasionally.

The Transformation: Before vs. After MMM

Before MMM

😨 Sleepless Tuesday nights

📄 Printed Excel sheets

🤨 Poke-faces in meetings

“We think this works…”

Reactive firefighting

Client skepticism

After MMM

😴 Restful sleep (no more 3 AM panic)

📊 Live, interactive dashboards

🙂 Nods of approval

“Data shows this drove +6% sales.”

Proactive strategy

Contract renewal

The Results: Happy Client, Happy Agency, Happy Account Manager

1. No More Poke-Faces—Just Results

  • After 8 months of MMM-backed reporting, the marketing manager stopped questioning every decision.
  • Meetings shifted from interrogations to collaborative discussions.

2. Sales Growth & Contract Extension

  • In-store sales ↑ 4%
  • Online sales ↑ 6%
  • The brand renewed the contract for another year—securing the agency’s revenue.

3. A New, Confident Account Manager

When MTD’s co-founder checked in: “How’s Tuesday night sleep now?” The answer? “Yes! Like a baby.”

Testimonial: The Account Manager’s Turnaround

“Before MMM, I was a glorified spreadsheet jockey—drowning in client questions I couldn’t answer. Every Wednesday meeting was a poke-face marathon, and I left feeling like I’d failed.

Now? I walk in with real-time dashboards, predictive insights, and clear ROI proofs. The client doesn’t just trust me—they ask for my advice. And yes, I finally sleep on Tuesdays.”

Conclusion: MMM Turns Account Managers into Trusted Advisors

For any account manager tired of defending spend with hunches, Marketing Mix Modeling is the game-changer. It: 

✅ Replaces guesswork with data 

✅ Turns poke-faces into smiles 

✅ Transforms reactive workers into strategic leaders

The result? Happy clients, contract renewals, and—finally—good sleep.

Ready to turn your account managers from stressed to strategic? More Than Data makes it happen. 🚀