As a CPG, how do you build a better link between your media investment and incremental in-store sales? That was the challenge Mars set out to solve.
Working with us, they unlocked real-time sales incrementality measurement by combining fragmented media and retailer data into one AI-ready ecosystem.
The result? Insights that empowered marketing and commercial teams to test, collaborate, and drive smarter business decisions.
Our challenge
Making the true value of media investment visible and understood across an organization is a widespread challenge. One of the most powerful ways to do this is by measuring incrementality: the lift that marketing delivers above baseline sales, in both the short and long term. But proving incrementality is notoriously complex, especially across a diverse and complex retail environment.
Mars already had a sophisticated measurement strategy combining Marketing Mix Modelling with short-term in-flight experimentation. Yet, with most sales occurring offline, isolating media’s impact on real-time in-store sales remained a major hurdle.
“Our ambition? Unlock the power of internal data to bring real-time incrementality measurement in-house.”
Liz Salway
Senior Director, Marketing Consulting, Empathy Lab
Our approach
After evaluating numerous industry solutions, Mars chose to harness its own internal data to track media effectiveness. But that data was fragmented across media platforms and retail partners. We stepped in to help bring it all together.
Leveraging Google Cloud Cortex Framework’s pre-built connectors and standardized models, we supported Mars in unifying media and sales data, from platforms like YouTube to key retailer customers, into one cloud-based BigQuery repository. This consolidated, AI-ready data foundation became the engine for experimentation and actionable insights.
Our solution
We designed a geo-targeted testing approach, segmenting audiences and creating matched control/test groups across DMAs (Designated Market Areas). This allowed the marketing team to observe real-time campaign impact on in-store sales and adjust strategies on the fly. Through one test alone, the team identified an audience segment delivering five times the impact of others, enabling a data-driven shift toward the highest-performing strategy.
Over time, continued testing could validate this approach, unlocking a refined audience targeting model that consistently drives higher incremental sales, delivering measurable business outcomes that were previously out of reach.
“Empathy Lab has been key in driving our marketing measurement approach to the next phase. They helped us unlock media’s incremental sales lift analysis while still in-flight by connecting our data to the cloud and enabling real-time geo-targeted testing. It’s a step-change for our media teams.”
Lía Inoa Pimentel
Sr. Global Manager, Brand Experience & Media Measurement, Mars
Impact
With better data and smarter testing, Mars can now:
By making measurement smarter, faster, and more collaborative, Mars is shifting the conversation around marketing’s impact. Instead of debating brand metrics, teams now bring hard evidence to the table. It’s evidence that holds up in the boardroom and drives better decisions at speed.
Our work
