When group digital strategy manager, Blake Rand, rejoined Domino’s in APAC in 2023 he had a remit to ensure that business growth was bolstered by “best-in-class measurement and optimization capabilities when it comes to media investment.”
For a fast-growing business with multiple markets, this meant moving quickly to turn the classic measurement playbook on its head.
The challenge of lengthy feedback loops
Rand knew Domino’s was already focused on the right metrics to drive growth. “Domino’s has always been very focused on sales, contribution to sales and ROI as key marketing metrics,” said Rand. Although he knew those metrics could be gathered via a patchwork of digital attribution methods, the signal provided by those reports was weak compared to marketing mix modeling.
“We had completed marketing mix projects using the legacy consulting model in the past in some of our major markets. And while those projects delivered a lot of value, they were cumbersome,” Rand shared. “The feedback loop was long. So, we’d do a project like that at best once a year, but more realistically every two years.
“Each time around, you’re having to involve a lot of teams who provision the data and work with the consulting firms on the modeling and set them up for that data collection from scratch … that was generally a six-month process. And by that time, the results are already out of date,” Rand explained. “Then you’re left waiting until the next time around to answer questions that the model might provoke from an econometrics perspective.”
Increased frequency, better optimizations
For a business evolving as quickly as Domino’s, Rand realized best-in-class media optimization could only be driven by more frequent measurement of key metrics. So, he decided to look for a marketing mix solution that would turn project-based measurement into an “always-on” set of signals that the team could use to drive investment decisions regularly.
“We wanted to deliver the best possible information to our decision-makers, whether that’s a CMO reviewing investment across a portfolio or a media buying specialist level trying to optimize formats within one channel,” Rand shared.
It wasn’t long before Rand landed on Mutinex GrowthOS as the right solution for Domino’s. When the team went to market, Rand explained, “We saw Mutinex disrupting that legacy model by using a SaaS-based approach to solve a lot of the problems we’d experienced in the past and unlock the always-on approach to the marketing mix that we’d developed the executive buy-in on.”
For example, the Domino’s team uses DataOS (the companion platform to GrowthOS) to upload and manage data into the system. According to Rand, “It’s easing that tension point around the data wrangling and ingestion that’s made these projects hard in the past.”
Always-on analysis benefits
The Domino’s team is now live on Mutinex GrowthOS across multiple markets in APAC, with more to come as a fast follow. Having already hit a monthly insights-refresh cadence in Australia, the team is uncovering new optimizations quickly. “When we’re talking about investment decisions and we’re talking about media effectiveness, the insights we’re getting on a monthly basis are now central to those conversations,” said Rand.
One way the team is using the system is to test evolving assumptions about channel mix.
“I think it’s helped us to recalibrate our understanding of media effectiveness and validate some things, debunk other things and identify opportunities for optimization. One key one is letterboxing [also known as mailbox flyers in the U.S.],” shared Rand. “It’s so easy to brand that format as antiquated when there are more exciting ad products in market, but we’re still seeing high commercial impact from that investment.”
Rand is already excited about the future possibilities of always-on analysis. “We want to not just be retrospective,” Rand explained. We want to be forward-looking and use the capabilities that GrowthOS has to do that. And we’re already starting that in Australia.”
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Claire Bertolus is a long-time marketer with a breadth of experience across B2C and B2B brands. As head of marketing at Mutinex, Claire uncovers stories about customer success in econometrics and marketing mix modeling.
