The Media Insights module in the Portfolio Long-Term Model allows users to explore how media investments influence product performance across both short- and long-term dimensions. It extends the capabilities of the standard Portfolio Model by introducing time-decayed visualisations, effect-type filtering, and grouped ROI attribution.

The module enables in-depth analysis of: 

  • Short-Term vs Long-Term attribution
  • Direct, Cross, and Halo media effects
  • Total media-generated profit, ROI, CPA and more at product, channel, or publisher level.


TABLE OF CONTENTS


1. Media Performance Over Time

This interactive visual shows how media investment translates into outcome metrics over time, based on your selected product line and media effect (e.g., Direct/Cross on Total Sales). 

It is a dual-layer chart combining different chart types for intuitive interpretation.


1.1 Chart Types

  1. Area Chart:
     • Represents the selected performance KPI such as Media Generated Profit.
     • Each colour layer corresponds to a contributing investment product (e.g., light blue for Airpods, violet for iPhone, pink for iPad).
     • The height of each layer indicates the profit contribution from that product’s media activity.
     • The total stack height reflects the combined media-driven outcome across all relevant products.
  2. Bar Chart:
     • Located below the area chart, this shows actual media investment by week.
     • Stacked bars allow product-wise comparison of spend volume.
     • Helps align periods of spend with media performance trends.
  3. Line Chart:
     • Used to plot KPIs such as Media ROI or Cost Per Action (CPA).
     • Each line reflects a product’s efficiency over time.
     • Useful for identifying saturation or high-performance periods.


1.2 Time Axis

  • The X-axis spans the selected time window (weekly, monthly, or quarterly), based on the Time Granularity setting.
  • Allows users to visualise the duration and decay of long-term effects, or quickly identify short-term spikes.


1.3 Key Functionalities

  • Hover:

Hovering over any point generates a popup with detailed values (e.g., sales volume, investment amount, split by product).


  • KPI Dropdowns:

Two dropdowns located above the graph allow users to select any two metrics to compare:
  • Media Generated Profit
  • Media Investment
  • ROI
  • Cost Per Action (CPA)
 Analyse tactical outcomes alongside efficiency metrics in a single view.


  • Time Granularity Selector:

Choose between weekly, monthly, or quarterly granularity depending on the level of detail needed.
  • Use weekly for campaign-level analysis.
  • Use monthly or quarterly for long-term equity or budget phasing trends.


  • Zoom & Pan Controls:

Located at the bottom of the chart:
  • Magnifying icons allow you to zoom in or out.
  • Left/right arrows help pan across the selected period.
  • Ideal for focusing on seasonal campaigns or specific ROI peaks.


1.4 Observed vs Consolidated Toggle

Located at the top left under the Effect filter:

  • Observed View:
     Displays the actual unfolding of media effect over time.
     Shows how the profit continues beyond the investment week due to brand memory and delayed response.


  • Consolidated View:
     Rolls all future effects back to the original week of investment.
     Useful for ROI attribution and investment period-level comparison.

Tip: Use Observed for phasing and decay understanding. Use Consolidated for campaign performance benchmarking.


1.5 Example Interpretation 

Based on the above Image:


Q1 2024 Peak: iPad Investment Driving Airpods Performance (Observed View)

  • On 10 March 2024, the area chart shows a distinct rise in media-generated profit for Airpods, totalling £814.9K.
  • The stacked area layers indicate contributions from all three effect types:
     • £29.8K from Short-Term Direct
     • £52.6K from Short-Term Indirect
     • £732.7K from Long-Term Indirect

This distribution reveals that over 90% of the profit impact came from delayed brand effects.

  • According to the tooltip breakdown, the only media investment during this period was from iPad, contributing £1,407.2.
     • iPhone had £0 spend, but appears due to historical attribution in earlier periods.
  • The bar chart confirms this spend pattern - with tall, magenta-coloured bars indicating iPad-driven investment.

This scenario showcases how iPad media is indirectly benefitting Airpods sales, especially through long-term brand equity. Even without Airpods or iPhone spending directly in this week, the legacy of prior campaigns continues to deliver value.


1.6 Viewing the Long-Term Effect Period

When users select the "Long-Term Effect Period" preset from the Time Period dropdown, the Media Performance chart is adjusted to focus exclusively on the window during which long-term media impact unfolds - typically covering 90% of the long-term indirect effect.


This period reflects delayed brand impact attributed to earlier media investments, helping users understand how brand memory drives performance over time.


Visual Characteristics

  • The area chart will primarily show long-term indirect profit, with declining short-term effects.
  • The bar chart (investment view) will often show little to no spend during this window, since the actual media investments occurred in earlier months or quarters.
  • Profit continues to appear due to carryover effects from past campaigns.


Example Interpretation (Based on Image – 01 Jun 2025)

  • In this view, the Airpods' media-generated profit totals £1,148.9, almost entirely attributed to long-term indirect effect (£1,149.1).
  • There is no new investment in this period (Media Investment = 0.000), but prior campaigns continue to contribute through brand equity.
  • Both short-term direct and indirect effects are negligible (0.001 and 0.000 respectively), as expected for a long-term effect window.

This setup is ideal for evaluating brand-building performance beyond the original campaign timeframe - particularly for high-equity products or categories with sustained media recall.


2. Media Performance Summary

This section provides a KPI-based snapshot of media performance across all products and media effect types, filtered according to your selections in the global header.


The summary cards help you quickly understand which products delivered the most value, and how different media-driven effects contributed to total profit, ROI, and cost efficiency.


2.1 Components of the Summary Cards

There are four main cards presented side-by-side for the selected period:

  • Media Investment
     • Total media spend for the selected product(s) and effect type
     • Contribution share by product (shown as percentage and GBP amount)
     • Colour bars represent product-wise contribution (e.g. Airpods, iPhone, iPad)
     • Percentage change vs previous period is shown in green (growth) or red (decline)
  • Media Generated Profit
     • Total profit attributed to media efforts, based on selected impact type
     • Includes effect-level contribution breakdown:
      – Short-Term Direct
      – Short-Term Indirect
      – Long-Term Indirect
     • Hovering over a section highlights value per product and channel
  • Media ROI
     • Calculated as Profit ÷ Investment, displayed to two decimal places
     • Shows effect-specific ROI values for each product
     • Products with zero investment will show 0 ROI
  • Cost Per Action (CPA)
     • Total media cost divided by number of desired actions (e.g. conversions, clicks)
     • Lower values indicate more efficient campaigns
     • Displayed with breakdown by effect type


2.2 How to Interact with the Summary


Sorting and Filtering

  • Click the filter icon (top-right of each summary card column) to:
     • Sort the rows in ascending or descending order
     • Quickly identify top- and bottom-performing products based on ROI, Profit, CPA, or Investment


Navigating the Hierarchy

  • Click on any product segment (e.g., iPhone via iPad) in the summary to expand the hierarchy:
     • Product → Media Type → Channel → Publisher
     • This lets you see which specific media types and publishers are contributing to the outcome

Example: Click Airpods to expand into Paid Search, then see ROI for Google vs Bing


Widget Controls

  • Located in the top-right of the widget, these allow you to:
     • Toggle between Data grouping (showing by impact or by investment product or no group)
     • Enable or disable specific publishers or media channels to simplify the view or isolate a particular tactic
     • Refine analysis by excluding non-performing segments or focusing only on priority channels


2.3 Effect Type Breakdown (When Grouped by Impact)

If you have selected “Group by Impact” under Data Grouping, the summary cards show:

  • Individual rows for each product, grouped by receiving impact
  • Each row further broken down into:
     • Short-Term Direct
     • Short-Term Indirect
     • Long-Term Indirect

If “Combined” is selected in the Impact Toggle, a total row aggregates all effects for simplified interpretation.


2.4 Example Interpretation 

Based on the above Image:

Strong Cross-Product Impact from iPhone and iPad

  • Total Media Investment:
     • £1.8M, primarily driven by:
      – iPhone: £1.2M (64%)
      – iPad: £661.7K (36%)
     • Investment has decreased by 43.8% compared to the previous period.


  • Total Media-Generated Profit:
     • £175.6K, reflecting a +290.2% increase
     • Breakdown:
      – Short-Term Direct: £29.6K (16.8%)
      – Short-Term Indirect: £16.7K (9.5%)
      – Long-Term Indirect: £129.3K (73.6%)

The large share of long-term indirect profit highlights strong brand equity effects from past iPhone and iPad media efforts.


  • Media ROI:
     • Overall ROI: 0.10
      – Short-Term Direct ROI: 0.02
      – Short-Term Indirect ROI: 0.01
      – Long-Term Indirect ROI: 0.07

This shows that despite lower investment, the return was highly efficient, especially from long-term contributions.


  • Cost Per Action (CPA):
     • Overall CPA: 10.5, down by 85.6%
     • Breakdown:
      – Short-Term Direct: 62.1
      – Short-Term Indirect: 109.7
      – Long-Term Indirect: 14.2

Long-term indirect effects have the lowest CPA, demonstrating efficiency in brand-led performance.


  • Cross-Effect Breakdown Tooltip (Feb ’22 – Nov):
     • Short-Term Indirect Profit of £16.7K was driven by:
      – iPad: £9.35K (5.33%)
      – iPhone: £7.39K (4.21%)

This tooltip confirms that both iPad and iPhone media campaigns are successfully contributing to Airpods’ sales, even beyond their own categories - a clear indicator of effective cross-product synergy.


3. Media Performance Data Table

The Media Performance Data Table offers a clear, familiar, and highly detailed cross-tabulated view of media investment and performance across investment products, media dimensions, and effect types now extended to include short-term and long-term effects.


It is especially useful for users who want to compare how each product’s media contributes to outcomes across the full portfolio including direct, cross, and halo impact, broken down by media channel and publisher.


3.1 Matrix Format: Product-by-Product Impact View

The table follows a matrix layout, where:

  • Rows represent media drivers (grouped by investment product and media hierarchy)
  • Columns represent performance KPIs for each receiving product, allowing effect-level comparison

This setup enables users to analyse:

  • How iPhone media impacts iPhone, iPad, and Airpods
  • How iPad campaigns influence other products’ sales
  • How each product receives value through direct, cross, or halo media

Each investment product has its own section, helping you understand both media origin and effect destination.


3.2 Row Expansion: Product and Media Hierarchy

Each row begins at a high-level grouping and can be expanded to show media breakdowns:

  • Top Level: Investment Product (e.g., Airpods, iPhone, iPad)
  • Next Level: Media Group (e.g., Paid Social, Paid Search, Paid Television)
  • Channel: Specific platforms (e.g., YouTube, Instagram, Google)
  • Publisher (where available): Individual media partners

This hierarchy allows you to:

  • Drill into performance by publisher within each channel
  • Track which platforms or campaigns are driving short-term or long-term results
  • Compare how the same media driver affects different products


3.3 Column Details: Impact KPIs by Receiving Product

Each receiving product (e.g. Airpods, iPhone, iPad) appears as a top-level column group, and within each group are multiple KPI columns representing performance metrics. Each KPI column is further broken down into rows showing the split between short-term and long-term effects.


Structure Breakdown:

  • Product (e.g. Airpods)
     • Appears as the primary column header

                          ⬇

  • KPI Columns under each Product
     • Media Generated Profit
     • Media ROI
     • Cost Per Action (CPA)

                          ⬇

  • Effect Type Rows under each KPI
     • Short-Term Direct
     • Short-Term Indirect
     • Long-Term Indirect


The structure makes it easy to identify which driver is contributing what type of effect, across different receiving products.


3.4 Functionalities & Navigation

  • Hierarchy Toggle:
     Expand/collapse rows to move from grouped to detailed views (e.g. Product → Channel → Publisher)
  • Customise View:
     • Reorder hierarchy (e.g. Media Group → Publisher → Channel)
     • Filter zero-value rows
     • Show/hide specific media dimensions
     • Switch between Group by Investment and Group by Impact to change row logic
  • Horizontal Scrolling:
     Scroll to view all receiving product columns side-by-side — particularly helpful when analysing performance across multiple effect types or comparing cross-product ROI.
  • Download Options:
     Click the download icon to export:
      • Displayed values only
      • Full dataset with granular or grouped detail



3.5 Example Interpretation 

Based on the above Image:

Airpods - Key Driver of Media Investment and Return

  • Total Media Investment for the selected period is £14.83M, out of which Airpods alone accounts for £13.1M (approx. 88%).
     • Top contributing media groups under Airpods:
      – Paid Search: £6.39M
      – Affiliate: £3.48M
      – Paid Digital Display: £1.11M
  • Airpods' Media Generated Profit totals £359.6K, with effect type split as:
      – Short-Term Direct: £164.6K
      – Short-Term Indirect: £30.2K
      – Long-Term Indirect: £164.9K
     > This nearly even distribution between short-term and long-term effects shows Airpods campaigns are balanced across both immediate response and brand equity-building.


Channel-Level Insight: Airpods - Paid Search

  • Investment: £6.39M
  • Combined Media Profit: £103.2K, of which:
     • Short-Term Direct = £57.1K
     • Short-Term Indirect = £7.6K
     • Long-Term Indirect = £38.5K

Paid Search under Airpods is a high-volume, moderate-efficiency driver, showing meaningful contributions across all time horizons.


Emerging Contributor: iPhone - Paid Digital Display

  • Investment: £360.8K
  • Combined Profit: £15.5K, with:
     • ST Direct = £2.41K
     • ST Indirect = £1.81K
     • LT Indirect = £11.3K

Majority of the profit is driven by long-term indirect impact, suggesting iPhone display campaigns support brand lift over time rather than immediate conversions.


Low-Investment, Long-Tail Effect: Paid Television

  • Zero investment recorded across all products, yet
  • Long-Term Indirect Profit still appears:
     • iPad: £893.6
     • iPhone: £1.23K
     • Airpods: £893.6

This indicates delayed or residual impact from earlier media waves, possibly prior to the selected date range - a hallmark of brand equity carryover.