The Power of Mekko Charts

MARIMEKKO
This chart was made famous by strategy consultants. A Marimekko can be used to break down a market by combining data from multiple charts into a single, more powerful chart.

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BAR MEKKO
The sister chart to the Marimekko, the Bar Mekko is the chart type you should be using instead of a bar chart in your next presentation. It allows you to answer the question about impact that often arises when presenting a bar chart.

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MARIMEKKO CHART

A variable width 100% stacked bar chart

BAR MEKKO CHART

A variable width bar chart

The Marimekko chart is frequently the most powerful chart in a presentation because it paints a picture of the overall market and it helps to drive discussions about growth opportunities or acquisitions. A Marimekko chart, also known as a market map, segments an industry or company by customer, segment or product, and it makes it easy for your audience to understand the relationship between each segment or bar to the total. Look for the big segments or wide bars!

Each bar in a Marimekko chart can have different segments, which makes it useful for identifying market opportunties. Add a data row to a Marimekko chart to show the values that determine bar width or to add text or data that will help you explain the chart insights.

The Bar Mekko chart is more versatile than a Marimekko chart and it's an excellent alternative to using multiple bar charts. A Bar Mekko chart allows you to show the relative importance of each bar by adding a variable for bar width. The bar width variable is typically a measure of size, like revenue or profitability.

Bar Mekko charts are often used to show measures like growth, margin or market share by product, segment or region. For example, a Bar Mekko chart is ideal for showing market growth by segment where growth rate is the bar height and segment revenue is the bar width. This chart would be useful for discussing the growth rate differences for large and small segments.

Help your audience understand the Bar Mekko chart by adding a data row to show the values that determine bar width.