The Challenge

Nike is one of the most sophisticated advertisers in the world, with deep investment in Marketing Science and Data Analysis. For a brand of this scale, the goal was incremental revenue (iROAS). Leadership needed to be sure that every marketing dollar was truly additive, not just capturing sales that would have happened anyway.

The Insight

Nike’s homegrown Marketing Mix Model (MMM) served as the backbone of measurement, tracking incremental revenue across channels and down to the tactic level. But to realize its full value, the MMM required continuous calibration and validation to ensure accuracy in a fast-moving media environment. This called for a close partnership between marketing and data science.

The Strategy

I worked directly with Nike’s data science team to ensure the MMM could guide real-time optimization and cross-channel investment decisions. My role was to bridge marketing execution with measurement sophistication, translating model outputs into actionable strategies that drove incremental growth.

The Execution

• Model Validation: Collaborated with data science to test and recalibrate Nike’s MMM on an ongoing basis, ensuring it accurately reflected market dynamics. Ultimately protecting $52M in incremental revenue.

• Optimization: Leveraged MMM insights to reallocate spend toward tactics proven to drive true incremental revenue.

• Cross-Channel Alignment: Applied findings at both the channel level (search, shopping, video, display) and the tactic level, ensuring budgets were deployed with maximum impact.

The Results

By grounding optimization in incremental revenue measurement, Nike was able to:

• Confidently reallocate investment across channels based on validated impact

• Identify underperforming tactics and redirect spend toward higher-value opportunities

• Scale marketing efficiency while protecting brand growth at a global level

The Takeaway

At Nike, I demonstrated the value of bridging marketing and data science. By validating and operationalizing an advanced MMM, I helped ensure that one of the world’s most sophisticated advertisers could maximize incremental revenue, proving that precise measurement is the foundation of sustainable growth.