return on marketing investment (romi) is the contribution to profit attributable to marketing (net of marketing spending), divided by the marketing 'invested' or risked. romi is not like the other 'return-on-investment' (roi) metrics because marketing is not the same kind of investment. instead of money that is 'tied' up in plants and inventories (often considered capital expenditure or capex), marketing funds are typically 'risked'. marketing spending is typically expensed in the current period (operational expenditure or opex).