Specsavers and Ekimetrics team up for fresh MMO approach

Specsavers has appointed data science consultancy Ekimetrics to help transform its Marketing Mix Optimisation (MMO).

The three-year collaboration is an ‘always on’ approach to deliver the detail behind the drivers of media performance for shorter-term trading activity and brand building longer term. Ekimetrics will be helping the high street optician to embed frequent learnings into both strategy and day-to-day planning, including media laydown and spend.

Ekimetrics will be working with Specsaver across online and offline channels, including CRM, TV and the brand’s growing digital activity. The programme will include the build of a data automation infrastructure to provide Specsavers with a single source of truth to base all marketing decisions on.

Iain Stanfield, Senior Insight Manager, Specsavers said: “The ability to refresh models more frequently and responsively will help us to establish a stronger marketing effectiveness culture.

“Marketing contributes significantly to the Specsavers brand position and sales growth. We strongly believe that a data driven approach will help us go beyond our current trajectory of organic growth by anticipating changes in market conditions and consumer behaviour.”

Planning marketing spend and forecasting ROI

The partnership will also give Specsavers teams access to a digital optimisation platform to plan and forecast marketing spend and return on investment. Analytical insights will be embedded into all areas of Specsavers’ marketing decision-making process to provide the basis for a framework that predicts growth optimising spend.

“Specsavers’ marketing campaigns are iconic.” stated Matt Andrew, UK MD, Ekimetrics. The turmoil of recent years has seen huge changes in buying behaviours, which is why forward-looking brands like Specsavers are rightly investing in building up their in-house MMO skills.

“MMO is a journey, not a destination, and requires constant evolution to drive lasting change. The team at Specsavers has the long-term vision to realise this and understands how maturing their data analysis can help shift the needle.”