Nielsen vs More Than Data: What Modern Marketers Need from Media Measurement in 2025

Introduction: The Shifting Landscape of Media Measurement

In 2025, marketers operate in a world of complex, cross-channel campaigns spanning linear TV, streaming, social, search, retail media, podcasts, and more. Audience attention is fragmented, and advertising effectiveness is harder to measure. Traditional metrics—like Nielsen TV ratings—offer partial insight, but modern marketing demands speed, transparency, and real-world ROI. Emerging competitors like More Than Data are disrupting legacy systems with real-time, outcome-based, MMM-driven analytics. 

Nielsen in 2025: Legacy Rooted in Reach, Limited in Impact

Solid Foundations

• Founded 1923, Nielsen built its reputation on national TV measurement via panels and later introduced its Nielsen ONE cross-platform measurement solution [Nielsen releases its 2025 Annual Marketing Report looking at the power of data-driven marketing].
  
• Renowned for delivering reach and audience insights, Nielsen remains entrenched in media buying and broadcast negotiations.

Emerging Weaknesses

• Slower reporting cadence of days to weeks fails modern optimizations [Nielsen releases its 2024 Annual Marketing Report surveying global marketers on ROI strategies | Nielsen].
  
• Panel-based data struggles with granular coverage of CTV, digital, retail, and podcast audiences [2024 Annual Marketing Report | Nielsen].
  
• Perception vs performance gaps: Nielsen’s 2025 report found that perceived digital effectiveness often outstripped actual ROI. For example, marketers rated earned channels higher even when ROI didn’t support it [Maximizing your marketing effectiveness with data-driven decision making | Nielsen].
  
• Transparency concerns persist: many marketers cite difficulties comparing across platforms and trust in measurement [Marketing measurement lessons learned and what to expect in 2025].

What Modern Marketers Demand: Capabilities for 2025

According to industry research:

• Forrester (2023): Unified measurement methods adoption grew 13% since 2021; MMM is now a top-five technology priority [The Latest And Greatest Marketing Measurement Service Providers].
  
• Nielsen 2024 report: 63% of budgets shift to digital, yet only 38% of marketers unify traditional and digital ROI [Nielsen releases its 2024 Annual Marketing Report surveying global marketers on ROI strategies | Nielsen].
  
• Funnel.io (2025): 55% of US marketers report revenue loss due to poor data integration; 34% don’t trust existing measurement systems [Marketing measurement lessons learned and what to expect in 2025].

Marketers now require:

• Fast, granular reporting
  
• Outcome-linked metrics (real sales, leads, retention)
  
• Full transparency & explainability
  
• Omnichannel inclusion—digital, offline, retail, programmatic, audio, CTV

Legacy systems like Nielsen often fall short in one or more of these areas.

More Than Data: A Modern, Outcome-Driven Alternative

More Than Data (MTD) delivers a self-serve, quick-turnover, MMM-based analytics platform—designed with modern marketers in mind:

• Transaction-level modelling connects cost to business outcomes (e.g., turns per dollar)
  
• Fast insights: weekly refreshes, scenario simulations, budget reallocation tools
  
• Fully transparent models: no hidden algorithms, full visibility for stakeholders
  
• Broad channel integration: spans social, search, retail, display, TV, audio, OOH

This aligns with the 2025 Forrester and BCG call for transparent, agile, outcomes-based, omnichannel analytics.

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

Real-World Impact: A Modern Measurement Case Study

A major Australian retail chain spent ~$3M/month across TV, Meta, search, programmatic, and in-store media. They sought clarity on how each channel affected store traffic and sales.

Initial State:

• Nielsen provided reach and comparability but couldn’t tie activity to actual footfall.
  
• Meta and Google dashboards painted Facebook as the star performer—an overly simplified view.

More Than Data Implementation:

• Integrated weekly ad spend (all channels), in-store transactions, and pricing/promos.
  
• MMM revealed:
  • Meta’s reported gains were inflated by overlap with TV and search.
    
  • TV + in-store campaigns drove distinct foot traffic lifts with strong ROI.
    
  • Reallocating 20% of ad spend from Meta to in-store prompts and CTV increased media ROI by 19% within two months.

This level of insight—clearly linking spend to outcomes and enabling rapid budget decisions—was beyond what Nielsen panels could offer.

The Future: Where MMM and Measurement Are Headed

Privacy-First and Cross-Channel

With cookieless tracking and identity regulation, measurement must adapt. MMM provides a privacy-safe aggregate model — ideal for the new digital era. 

Integrated Audio & Emerging Channels

Nielsen studies confirm that properly sized budgets make audio (radio/podcast) measurable via MMM [Unlocking the potential of radio in marketing mix models | Nielsen]. Similar logic applies to retail media, CTV, and programmatic channels [Nielsen Launches its 2025 Global Media Planning Report].

Real-Time Scenario Planning

Platforms now allow marketers to test budget reallocation on the fly—essential in economics with rapid shifts. More Than Data integrates this functionality directly into its dashboard.

Conclusion: Choosing Measurement Built for 2025

• Nielsen remains indispensable for traditional broadcast reach—but it lacks speed, transparency, and optimization tools needed for today’s complex media ecosystem.
  
• More Than Data brings modern marketers what they truly need: granular ROI tracking, rapid insights, transparent MMM, and omnichannel coverage.

To pivot from reach-focused vanity metrics toward revenue-based, growth-driven marketing, media teams must adopt measurement platforms built for this decade—not the last.