Setup Blog

“Data-driven” marketing is about proactively leveraging insights to make strategic decisions. But what defines a truly data-driven media approach?

Creating a marketing budget isn’t just a financial exercise; it’s a strategic act. It’s your roadmap for growth, your guardrail against wasted effort, and, when done well, your strongest case for internal alignment and external results.

But while most marketers know how much they wish they could spend, far fewer know how much they should. So, where do you begin?

Marketers today juggle numerous platforms, overwhelming data, and competing internal demands, creating a complex media landscape that clouds performance clarity. What drives this complexity, and how can brands effectively navigate it?

Today’s marketers face immense pressure to justify media spend and measure tangible impact. But fragmented data, inadequate tracking, and unclear KPIs often cloud visibility. How can brands build smarter strategies that truly connect media spend to real business outcomes?

At Setup, we don’t just listen, we track patterns, analyze them, and come up with solutions to assist marketers with their challenges. Every year, our Marketing Relationship Survey gathers insights from brand and agency marketers to identify the core challenges, shifts, and opportunities in the client–agency relationship. These aren’t hypotheticals; they’re real-time questions marketing leaders are actively asking. And your answers help drive the industry's evolution.

Every few years, we revisit the Health and Wellness space to track major shifts. Since the pandemic, the industry has made significant strides to meet evolving consumer demands and expectations. 

We spoke with Mark Yosick, Senior Marketing Director, Surgical at MIMEDX, about his experience in the space, the challenges he’s faced, and the trends he sees shaping the future.

In the last five years, the health and wellness industry has experienced a significant transformation, from personalized nutrition, to the rise of telehealth, to a growing emphasis on marketing transparency. The consumer is becoming more integral in everyday decisions across all industries. 

What has changed and what is continuing to take priority in today’s health and wellness sector?

Setup CEO + Founder, Joe Koufman, sat down with Navin Sharma, Chief Marketing Officer at Church’s Texas Chicken, to talk about the importance of hard work, resilience, and why simply getting started is often the most imperative step to success. 

When it comes to purchasing, today’s consumers want more than just a product–they want something to believe in. The rise of purpose-driven brands, founder visibility, AI-powered personalization (with boundaries), and culturally rooted storytelling are reshaping how beverage companies connect with their audiences.

BLK & Bold, a coffee brand built on community, culture, and impact, is a leader in this movement. In this exclusive interview with Co-Founder Rod Johnson, Johnson shares how they’re redefining what it means to market in the beverage space.

At Setup, we work with some of the finest marketing agencies across the nation–each with a unique set of capabilities. Our most recent virtual event gave our partners a platform to share an exclusive behind-the-scenes look into their process, strategy, and campaign results for an array of industries in under two hours. Ten case studies in 90 minutes and a little friendly competition.