The travel retail sector is at a fascinating crossroads. Passenger numbers across air and rail have rebounded to pre-COVID levels and are set to grow steadily in the years ahead - in stark contrast to declining footfall on the high street. Yet beneath this apparent recovery lies a challenge: spend per passenger remains 15% lower than before the pandemic, squeezed by rising costs and increasingly value-conscious travellers.
AI is transforming search, shifting it from ranking and retrieval towards reasoning and synthesis. This whitepaper charts this evolution, explains the mechanics of large language models (LLMs), and sets out the implications for marketers and brands. At the center of the new measurement landscape is the golden triangle of MROI: Marketing mix modeling (MMM) provides the strategic view, quantifying the impact of marketing on sales and offering optimizers and simulators to guide budget allocation.Incrementality testing validates whether campaigns truly drive additional outcomes, using test-versus-control experiments to establish causality. It also calibrates both MMM and attribution models.Attribution informs in-flight optimization by assigning credit across customer journeys. In 2025, advanced models use deep learning and attention mechanisms to capture channel interactions more effectively.These methodologies are most powerful when used together: MMM for long-term planning, incrementality for ground truth, and attribution for real-time agility. Companies also face the decision of in-housing vs. SaaS solutions. In-housing brings customization and control but requires talent and investment, while SaaS offers speed and expertise. The right choice depends on resources and data maturity. Real-world examples highlight best practices: Google’s Meridian introduces an open-source MMM toolkit to improve calibration, upper-funnel measurement, and bias correction.Accor uses incrementality testing to question assumptions and optimize budget allocation.Nike demonstrates the power of persistence and cultural change, embedding measurement into processes and democratizing insights.Artefact stresses the 95-5 rule, showing how brand equity measurement links long-term growth with short-term performance efficiency.Looking forward, five trends will shape measurement: improved data quality, new frameworks for retail media and connected TV, in-housed MMM with testing, privacy-first approaches, and attention-based metrics. The conclusion is clear: marketing measurement is now a strategic enabler. By integrating methodologies, embedding them in culture, and focusing on both performance and brand, CMOs can defend their budgets and unlock sustainable growth.
In 2025, marketing measurement has become a top priority for the C-suite. While generative AI is transforming campaign execution, measurement is what proves value and secures budgets. Yet maturity remains low: most CMOs still struggle to dynamically adjust spend based on performance. The challenge lies in balancing brand and performance marketing, coping with fragmented data, and aligning decisions across strategic and operational levels. At the center of the new measurement landscape is the golden triangle of MROI: Marketing mix modeling (MMM) provides the strategic view, quantifying the impact of marketing on sales and offering optimizers and simulators to guide budget allocation.Incrementality testing validates whether campaigns truly drive additional outcomes, using test-versus-control experiments to establish causality. It also calibrates both MMM and attribution models.Attribution informs in-flight optimization by assigning credit across customer journeys. In 2025, advanced models use deep learning and attention mechanisms to capture channel interactions more effectively.These methodologies are most powerful when used together: MMM for long-term planning, incrementality for ground truth, and attribution for real-time agility. Companies also face the decision of in-housing vs. SaaS solutions. In-housing brings customization and control but requires talent and investment, while SaaS offers speed and expertise. The right choice depends on resources and data maturity. Real-world examples highlight best practices: Google’s Meridian introduces an open-source MMM toolkit to improve calibration, upper-funnel measurement, and bias correction.Accor uses incrementality testing to question assumptions and optimize budget allocation.Nike demonstrates the power of persistence and cultural change, embedding measurement into processes and democratizing insights.Artefact stresses the 95-5 rule, showing how brand equity measurement links long-term growth with short-term performance efficiency.Looking forward, five trends will shape measurement: improved data quality, new frameworks for retail media and connected TV, in-housed MMM with testing, privacy-first approaches, and attention-based metrics. The conclusion is clear: marketing measurement is now a strategic enabler. By integrating methodologies, embedding them in culture, and focusing on both performance and brand, CMOs can defend their budgets and unlock sustainable growth.
Margin leakage often hides in complex pricing, promotions, and multi-channel strategies, where list prices rarely match the final pocket price. Promotions can cannibalize sales, and inconsistent channel discounts create arbitrage risks, silently eroding margins. Companies that define clear pricing architectures, analyze demand deeply, and govern execution with real-time monitoring turn pricing into a strategic lever. The result: higher profitability, smarter commercial decisions, and sustainable value capture.
AI Agents are revolutionizing commercial operations by automating tasks, enhancing customer relationships, and providing actionable insights. From boosting salesforce efficiency to optimizing pricing strategies, these intelligent systems help businesses achieve measurable growth and competitive advantage.
Artefact, in partnership with Societe Generale and Sorbonne University, presents a new AI approach to identify atypical customer profiles. Tested on real banking data, this open-source algorithm improves scoring accuracy while ensuring interpretability and practical applicability.
AI is reshaping consulting, but not in the way most companies imagine. In a practical exploration of professional services, we reveal how treating AI agents as full-time teammates rather than mere tools, focusing on scaling rather than headcount reduction, and fostering an internal “open-source” culture transforms project delivery, client relationships, and product discovery—and what this means for the future of human-AI collaboration in consulting.
Google’s new AI Overviews are changing how users find information online. In a practical case from the Dutch sustainability sector, we explore how this shift is affecting SEO and SEA for a client active in boilers, hybrid systems, and heat pumps—and what it means for the future of digital marketing in the sector.
Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) promise a truly unified view of your customers, opening doors to hyper-personalization and driving significant ROI. Yet, if you're like many organizations, you might find your CDP initiatives getting stuck right after the initial Proof of Concept (POC) stage. While these early pilots brilliantly demonstrate value, the journey to a fully scaled, integrated CDP often stalls, leaving immense potential locked away.
