Does your brand measure up? 4 key insights from Google’s Measurement Awards

Enter the Agency Measurement Awards. Born from Google’s Measurement Labs – a community created to unite the sharpest minds in analytics and strengthen collaboration across the industry – the awards celebrate the changemakers decoding the chaos of modern marketing.

In their inaugural year, the Awards drew more than 80 submissions—an impressive number that far surpasses most industry measurement programs. And the calibre of entries was exceptional, showcasing just how vibrant and advanced the measurement community has become.

The Drum was on the ground, where four big themes emerged, offering essential insights for marketers.

1. Experimentation and incrementality is the new benchmark for effectiveness

No surprise to those in the know, Experiments & Incrementality was the most-entered category in the awards, underlining the industry’s unmistakable shift towards objective proof and truth. Agencies are doubling down on impact, weaving tools together and tackling tougher, more nuanced client questions, turning experimentation into the new benchmark for effectiveness.

Judges noted that, across all entries, campaigns that blended multiple measurement methods delivered the biggest impact – but only when built on a rock-solid data foundation.

Category winner Incubeta’s rigorous test-and-learn strategy proved YouTube’s real-world impact for a global airline brand. Using causal impact modelling and brand lift studies, the agency isolated YouTube’s true contribution across the funnel.

The lesson for marketers: don’t just track: test. Embrace a culture of experimentation to prove the true impact of your campaigns and to understand what genuinely drives growth.

2. Attribution has shifted to causality

Causality is the new currency, with agencies leaning into incrementality testing, geo experiments, and calibration models to uncover what really drives growth. The emphasis in marketing has moved beyond simple attribution to a demand for tangible evidence and robust accountability.

dentsu’s ‘MMM & Integrated Insights’ category-winning work is a great example of this. The agency’s econometric deep dive for a global automotive leader replaced old-school attribution with causality-driven insight. By layering Bayesian inference and lag effects into 13 integrated models, the agency linked brand investment directly to performance outcomes. The work proved that real effectiveness comes from understanding why, not just where, results happen.

The lesson for marketers: move beyond simply knowing where your conversions come from. Focus on understanding the causal impact of your marketing efforts to truly optimize your spend and drive sustainable growth.

3. Cross-method focus on proving AI-format’s ability to drive business outcomes

Successful agencies are leveraging AI to achieve greater scalability, powering reach, predictive modelling, sentiment detection and creative optimization – and it’s having a real-world impact on performance,

Take, for example, WPP’s Colgate work, which took home gold in the Audience Reach & Brand Measurement category. By fusing AI-powered multi-format YouTube campaigns with first-party data, the agency hugely expanded reach – proving that AI, when harnessed for scale, can help marketers reclaim time, precision and performance in an increasingly fragmented media landscape.

The lesson for marketers: explore how AI can enhance your reach, predict outcomes, and optimize creative to achieve better performance and efficiency.

4. Agencies are building clients’ data maturity

Agencies are taking clients on a learning journey – building their data fluency, confidence and capability. The result is better partnerships, stronger results, and a more sustainable culture of measurement maturity throughout the industry.

This came across time and again in award-winning work. For instance, the way in which Jellyfish (Google Analytics & Data Infrastructure winner) helped John Lewis evolve its data ecosystem. By rebuilding the retailer’s profit-bidding framework with server-side tagging and enhanced conversions, the agency increased profits and restored confidence in automation. For marketers, it’s a reminder that growth doesn’t just come from new tools: it comes from the discipline of getting your data house in order.

Meanwhile, Growth Analytics category winner dentsu created a new growth mindset and level of data trust in its major app client with transparent financial modeling, and relentless, collaborative testing.

The lesson for marketers: invest in building your teams’ data literacy and confidence. Strong data foundations and a culture of shared insights are crucial for effective measurement and sustained growth.

Looking ahead – key takeaways, lessons for 2026

So what’s next in measurement best practice? Google will be doubling down on innovation in 2026: launching a new Conversion Lift methodology for faster, cheaper incrementality testing; improved data ingestion capabilities within their MMM, Meridian; and expanding Brand Lift and Search Lift capabilities; and refreshing its Data Manager suite to restore clarity and confidence.

And how can marketers evolve their measurement capabilities for the winning edge?

1. Build creative excellence through optimization, not just volume. As models and experiments grow increasingly important for answering client questions related to causality, testing and refining assets across formats and platforms becomes essential. Fewer, sharper, and more contextually resonant creatives often outperform a scattergun approach.

2. Establish an internal culture of measurement excellence. That means building trust between teams, embedding learning, and championing transparency. Create an environment where data literacy and experimentation are rewarded, and where insights are shared openly between clients, agencies and partners.

3. Get the foundations right. Long-term effectiveness relies on sound data, clear frameworks, and connected measurement. Resist the urge to chase innovation until your base systems – data validation, incrementality, and models from attribution – are rock solid.

For more helpful advice and insights, check out The Responsible Marketing Hub with Google.