u/PatternEmbarrassed89

How are you actually using MMM outputs to justify brand investment when the model keeps pointing you toward performance?

Working on a paid media strategy where I’m trying to balance Reach and Frequency for long-term brand building against short-term ROI. The MMM keeps optimising toward what converts, which means brand-heavy investment looks terrible on paper.

Curious how others are handling this in practice. Are you presenting MMM outputs alongside something separate, like brand tracking data or a Binet/Field split, to make the case for upper funnel spend? Or are you finding ways to frame the MMM results so the brand investment doesn’t just look like wasted budget to whoever is approving spend?

Not asking whether MMM is the right tool for this job. I know it has limits with adstock and long-term equity. I’m asking how you’re actually navigating the conversation with stakeholders when the model is telling one story and your instincts are telling another.

Does musical taste develop naturally over time, or does it require active seeking?

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. My own entry point into electronic music was Calvin Harris, Avicii, the usual big room stuff. Over time I found myself drawn deeper - underground house, dub techno, more intricate and considered sounds.

Now I’m taking my partner to events with more underground selectors and he loves it in the moment, but then I’ll get a message later with a really generic big room trance or commercial house track, as if that’s where his mind naturally gravitates when he’s processing what he heard.

Which made me wonder - is there a necessary starting point? Do you have to begin with the obvious, mainstream version of something before you can appreciate what lies underneath it? Or is it possible to jump straight to the deep end?

And is taste development driven by boredom - you consume enough of something that it stops satisfying you and you need something more or is it something more organic than that?

Does the music itself lead you somewhere if you follow it seriously enough?

Curious whether others recognise this pattern in themselves, and whether you think it can be accelerated in someone else or whether it just has to happen on its own timeline.