For a CMO, the advertising budget is not simply a spending item.

It represents accountability for revenue and growth—and at the same time, one of the most challenging decision areas that must be justified and aligned internally.

The Tool CMOs Should Focus on Now

At this moment, one of the most practical and defensible decision-making tools available to CMOs is AI-based Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM).
MMM provides an explainable and rational decision framework in an inherently uncertain environment.

By integrating and analyzing the marketing data already accumulated within the organization, MMM delivers forward-looking foresight rather than backward-looking explanations.
This fundamentally differentiates MMM from attribution models, which are designed to explain individual campaign performance. MMM takes a macro-level view of total marketing investment, enabling true portfolio-level optimization.

MMM is designed to answer three critical CMO questions:

• How much should we spend?
  (Optimal total advertising budget)
• Where should we spend it?
  (Cross-channel contribution and substitution effects)
• When should we spend it?
  (Timing and investment pattern optimization)

What Is Required for MMM to Work Effectively

For MMM to deliver meaningful and actionable outcomes, three elements are essential:

1. A reliable data foundation
   – Consistent and structured data covering media spend, sales, and relevant external variables
2. An AI-driven analytical system
   – A framework capable of simulations and scenario planning, not just static reporting
3. Experienced experts who translate analysis into action
   – Professionals who can convert numbers into insights and executable action plans

What CMOs need is not a promise of perfect prediction, but a solution that enables explainable decisions and internal alignment.
At this point in time, as a data-driven decision system, MMM stands out as one of the most realistic and credible options available to CMOs.