The measurement stack is broken. How do we fix it?

"Forget wasted budgets. The real crisis in marketing today is paralysis: teams stuck debating data instead of driving growth. Marketers are drowning in dashboards, but starving for clarity. And in a world of shrinking budgets, inaction is the most expensive move you can make. Marketers have never had more data at their fingertips, yet they've never been more uncertain about what truly drives growth."

"For years, we've layered together measurement tools in the hope they would create clarity. Instead, we've ended up with a fragmented and fragile stack: attribution models, media mix modelling (MMM) reports, incrementality tests, brand lift studies, and platform dashboards. Each one offers part of the picture, but none are designed to work together. The result? A Frankenstein measurement system built on different assumptions, inconsistent timelines, and conflicting methodologies."

"This broken system doesn't just waste time; it actively undermines decision-making. When leadership teams can't agree on what's working, marketing investment stalls. Too often, I've seen businesses fall into what we call 'budget paralysis': decisions made too late, or not at all, because no one trusts the numbers enough to act. The problem isn't a lack of tools. Attribution modeling, for instance, is fast but flawed."

Marketing teams face paralysis as debates over conflicting data prevent timely action and growth. Measurement tools have been layered into a fragmented, fragile stack that includes attribution models, media mix modelling (MMM), incrementality tests, brand lift studies and platform dashboards. Each tool offers partial insight but operates on different assumptions, timelines and methodologies, producing inconsistent conclusions. Attribution overweights last digital touchpoints; MMM is slow and misaligned with performance channels; incrementality tests deliver causal insight but are time-consuming and costly. The fractured measurement ecosystem erodes trust, stalls investment decisions and raises the cost of inaction.

Read at The Drum