#6 - Retail Media Unpacked

Speaker A: Hello and welcome to CNA Unpacked, a podcast in which we open up and sort through insights that are driving market trends across the cpg, manufacturing, retail, food, service and media industries. I'm Glenn Petrak with Circana's newsroom. In this series, our thought leaders, including Circana experts and industry partners, regularly delve into opportunities and disruptions that affect businesses both in the short term and long term future. Today we're impacting tracking a subject that's on the minds of many businesses as they seek to stay ahead of the pack. How to achieve measurement, household growth and accountability in a competitive, fragmented marketplace. And we know that it is. So we have a roundtable of sorts today as we're joined by two of our industry partners. We're pleased to welcome Kara Pratt of Circana, Dee Dee McCoy of Champs, and David Parisi of Abada. Little bit. Welcome everybody.

Speaker B: Hey Lynn.

Speaker A: Great to be here. Yeah, thank you for having us. So we're going to give a little bit of background on our guests to help frame up the discussion, so get some context. So Kara is of retail and media at Circana and drives the strategy for media using Circana's comprehensive data science and technology to improve advertising effectiveness. She joined the company in 2025 from 8,451, the retail data science, insights and media company and wholly owned subsidiary of Kroger where she served as SVP of Media insights and Loyalty and helped launch Kroger Precision Marketing. Earlier in her career, Kara served as retail Client Solutions Executive at Circana's predecessor, Iri. Didi McCoy is director of Omnichannel marketing for Chomps. She joined the company in 2020 as one of the first 2020 employees and has played an integral role in building and scaling the brand's omnichannel marketing capabilities as the business rapidly grew. In a role, she leads strategy across retail media, shopper marketing and the digital shelf across retail partners nationwide. David Parisi is Senior Vice President of Client Partnerships at ibotta where he leads the company's sales organization and oversees the expansion of the Ibotta Performance Network. He manages the strategic direction for all of ibotta's verticals including food Bev, elk beauty and personal care and home and general merch. Responsible for sharpening ibotta's go to market strategies and deepening client relationships through a high performing leadership team. So welcome again. We have a powerhouse panel here today, so I'm happy to have you.

Speaker B: It's great to be here, Lynn, and love being uh, joined here with Deedee and David thanks, uh, for joining us, Dee Dee and David.

Speaker C: Yeah, thanks so much for having us.

Speaker D: Happy to be here. Thank you.

Speaker A: Kara, we have the first question for you. You heard the title. It's a fragmented ecosystem, it's competitive, we need measurements. So, um, this is the ecosystem in which we're operating. So if you ongoing macroeconomic headwinds and constantly shifting consumer behaviors, it's a stubbornly challenging operating environment. So in your opinion, what's the biggest barrier, um, in this environment? Technology, data access or the willingness to change? What do you think?

Speaker B: What an opening. Isn't it a fun time to be building brands right now? Uh, listen, I truly do believe it. It is a very exciting time in the industry. Uh, and you can look at the complexity of navigating consumer expectations and these what likely feels like relentless macroeconomic headwinds, uh, and really the change on new pathways to create and convert demand. You could look at it as a challenge or you could look at it as one big opportunity. And not surprisingly, um, I certainly lean on the latter side of that. The word opportunity really sticks out because it is a lot easier today really, uh, to help build brands responsibly. There's more data, there's richer signals, there's better technology, there's more connected experiences and for brands to break through and build, which is incredibly exciting. It is hard and I certainly don't want to minimize that. But the ingredients, the tools, the capabilities are right there in front of us. Uh, to your specific question on the biggest barrier and your tie out on tech, data access, willingness to change, I'm actually quite pleased with many companies recognition of the need to change I mentioned, I do believe there's more data out there and there's better tech than there ever has been before. Uh, so all of those actually feel okay to me. While it's typical for some orgs though to have inertia. So I think while I'm pleased with the recognition of the need to change, how the CPG and gen merch industries are leaning into experimentation, uh, and new spaces like agentic commerce as an example is incredible. How they're leaning into these wider agentic pathways to transform working rhythms and business plans and business processes and business execution, very, very strong. So I don't think that those are the right barriers that most are getting stuck with. I think the real barrier is connecting into a strong organizational operating environment to really unleash these capabilities, experiences, assets, uh, in the most performant, productive ways. I think it's really important. The talent needs organizational alignment and the accessibility of Tools, tech and aligned incentive structures. This safe space to learn and fail and scale and realize these material gains. Many merchant media and measurement teams are still operating against different KPIs, different timelines, different definitions of success. And many companies that are moving fastest are creating these connected workflows where they can move from insights to planning to activation, merchant measurement all tied up in one. So thinking about measurement mapping and operational bridge into teams, but being the source of fuel to create a better future, uh, is important and that really gets around the kind of organizational readiness, uh, and the kind of cohesion that can create that. So I'm excited about this conversation because as I think about business outcomes, the broader industry conversation around measurement and the measurement culture becomes really critical. And that is where technology alone isn't going to create that accountability. Um, but orgs that align around how success is defined and measured and acted on consistently creates the special unlock for companies to thrive. So a bit of a pivot Lynn, because I do think we're in a position where tech, data and those elements are good now. How do we empower and unleash organizations to thrive? So that's at least where my head is. I'd love to hear from Deedee and David too as we spotlight this conversation on um, what gets in the way and where they see their teams winning. Uh, in this space.

Speaker A: It's a lot of exciting uh, dynamics within an environment that is constantly changing. We always hear the only constant change. That's certainly true in the 2020s. So David, um, Kara mentioned the culture and environment. So how does the culture of measurement need to change in your opinion? Given both the challenges and these many opportunities and exciting ones that brands and retailers are facing right now. What do you think?

Speaker C: Yeah, well first Kara, it's great to hear that there's a recognition that that change needs to take place. So uh, it's good, good to hear that from your vantage point Anyway, I would say with the acceleration of retail media and it's now I guess permanence on every plan, the culture of measurement really has to move from broad based reporting to one of more accountability sort of barring from what, what Kara's saying there. Uh, for a long time in our industry measurement was really about storytelling after the fact. If you think about it, you'd run a campaign, maybe get sent a report that has reach, frequency, maybe a gaudy roas number that was self reported by a partner and you'd call it a success. What's changed now is the pressure is, is twofold. It's on Brands and it's on retailers. At the same time, I think the pressure on brands is, is obvious. They're under real scrutiny to prove uh, that every dollar they spend is tied to uh, a business outcome. And retailers are, you know, they have sizable ads businesses now. They're needing to prove the results of the incremental sales that, that they're driving and that they're claiming. Um, so you have two parties just operating pretty independently that, that I think have a different idea of what working looks like that creates fragmentation. Um, and I would say from our side, the ask to brands is know how your marketing impact is being measured. Uh, which the Chomps team does an incredible job of. Understand the differences between different vendor and partner approaches. Make sure everyone in your org understands it also. And I think the ask from brands back to partners is partners like ibotta is to provide education and information rather than then treat what you're sharing like it's uh, a black box of info. On our side we don't shy away from those conversations. We actually actively seek out analytics and insights teams and lean into the third party validation with partners our clients already trust. Which is why we're here today with Circana. And so encouraged by the results in the CHOMP study that we ran, uh, in short, we were able to pair ibotta's exposure data with Circana's loyalty card universe. And we're not just guessing that an ad worked, we're verifying that. Verifying that a specific household saw an offer and then physically or digitally bought the product at a specific retailer. So the best way in my opinion to uh, uh, solve for that fragmentation I'm describing is to accept an incremental sales metric as the common currency going forward. It's not just did sales go up, it's really did this specific activity drive sales that wouldn't have happened otherwise? I think that's the question that helps you decide where you put your next dollar. And you know, brands and retailers who build their organizations around that question, uh, are going to be really, really well positioned especially as AI starts making marketing resource allocation and optimization decisions on our behalf.

Speaker A: That's so true. And we see these success stories and that's a perfect pivot to you DeeDee. So even in a tough marketplace, Chomps has really shown remarkable momentum and not just because the meat snacks category remains strong, which it has. So how have you rethought your omnichannel strategy to drive this impressive brand growth?

Speaker D: Yeah, so just to level set, ah, Chomps is a family owned meat Snack brand now in more than 50,000 locations and over 26 million households. Uh, we've grown by staying focused on a category so focused on high quality meat snacks with real ingredients and thoughtfully sourced protein. One thing we learned early is that our core consumer actually leans female despite being in a historically male dominated category. And, and that has really shaped how we think about growth. For us, the biggest shift has been moving away from thinking about Omnichannel as a set of separate tactics and treating it more like a connected growth system. So to Kara's um, point earlier, having this connected ecosystem is really important to us. We're much more intentional now about how retail media promotions, digital shelf and measurement work together because that's what helps drive both household growth and stronger engagement with existing consumers. And it's not just about showing up across channels. It's about making sure those efforts are connected and tied to those real business outcomes. So our work recently with IBOTTA and Circana that David was referring to really helped validate that approach. Uh, showing that households exposed to the campaign spent an average of 15% more on jobs than the matched unexposed households.

Speaker A: Oh, that's an impressive number. And David, you worked with them on this campaign that led to that strong incremental lift and really meaningful penetration growth. So how repeatable is this for other brands?

Speaker C: Yeah, like Didi said, the CHOMS results are really, really strong. We saw double digit sales lift. We saw a significant outperformance, uh, of the Circana snack category benchmarks on household penetration as well. To answer your question, what makes us confident that this is repeatable? It's not just that the numbers were good. We didn't send our exposure data to Circana and close our eyes and cross our fingers. Uh, we have a model that works because it connects offer exposure directly to purchase behavior. At scale, we're reaching over 200 million American consumers with promotions that are delivered in native retailer environments at that moment when a consumer is making a purchase decision. So when you have that much scale and you're that close to the end purchase, you can structure campaigns really specifically and surgically to win new buyers, to drive incremental sales with existing buyers and not just reward activity that was going to happen regardless if you will, anyway.

Speaker B: Mhm.

Speaker C: Yeah. What the Circana validation adds is confidence in the signal that we're providing. This wasn't self reported. Like we said, Circana matched exposed households to their loyalty card panel. Um, y' all built rigorous testing control groups and the results come back with 99% statistical confidence. So we feel really, really good about what's being reported. And we were on stage, uh, at Possible recently with Stacy Hardnett, who's the Chomps SVP of marketing. And she put it really well, the IBOTTA Performance Network delivered impact well beyond a discount. And I think in our industry we've long thought of promotions as a, uh, cost center or just the means to deliver a discount. We'd like to reframe that and really prove out that promotions can drive profitable incremental sales. And the beauty of that is you don't have to take our word for it. We have the partnership in place with Circana, which we announced in the fall, that brings what we like to think as gold standard transparency to performance marketing. And we really want every CMO to have the level of confidence that Chomps has. CHOMPS knows that their promotional spend is delivering a measurable, profitable ROI that's independently validated.

Speaker A: Wow. When you take a look at that, it has these success stories across different categories, across different brands, different scale, size companies. So Carol, when you look at approaches and results like this, what does the signal about the, where the industry is headed kind of for all players.

Speaker B: Yeah, uh, listen, I opened up talking about how exciting it is to be in the industry right now and this is just a prime example amongst so many opportunities to build brands. There's some words and phrases that Deedee and David shared over the last couple minutes that resonate deeply with me. Uh, connected ecosystem, real business outcomes, confidence and signals, transparency, performance. These are all critical aspects that speak to the kind of modern marketing ecosystem and what sits right in front of us for how we can bring together capabilities, experiences, assets and build brands. Brand building is about relationships and that connection inherently. I mean, the, uh, quality of food researchers that are building the future of CHOMPS is incredible. Uh, and how does Deedee and Stacey and team, how do they bring that forward to showcase, elevate, expose and expand visibility, um, and awareness in the marketplace? So that's the fun part of marketing holistically, from a measurement standpoint. David talked about a common kind of currency and the tethering and the incrementality and the consistency and standards on measurement solutions. All this creates an environment where brands can have confidence on the dollars invested into the influence that's having on tonnage, like moving product. At the end of the day, I love Didi's comment on, um, not thinking about omnichannel in a fractured way. At the end of the day, think about how consumers are experiencing content and how content and commerce are Converging, uh, and the breadth of measurement signals that we have today. And Circana has an incredible asset base that we can bring forward for our brand and business partners, uh, to take advantage of with consistency on measurement. So whether it's household lift, market lift, inflight optimization, marketing mix, self server, consultative, the breadth of tools that are out there in the toolbox to help marketers win is something that is special. Uh, in the end, marketers need proof that the investment is driving business growth. It's pretty simple. And diving deeper beyond traditional media metrics or kind of the kind of attributed impact on dollars invested matters. So David, talking about incrementality that matter matters, are we driving more households in new households and are we driving a greater trip frequency? Are we driving new items in the basket, like really starting to decompose to understand the efficacy of how all of the investments that are feeding in different channels of the media ecosystem fuels business performance matters. That's why conversations like this matter. You know, brands and partners are seeing very strong results when they're approaching business planning in a connected way. Audience signals, uh, channel allocation and then the optimization of investment over time. Uh, but that does have to feed through. And Dita, you're spot on with what you're doing with chomps to make sure that you're thinking about that holistically. So uh, yeah, again I don't think there's been a better time, uh, in the marketplace to help build brands, uh, and think about how we're unleashing data in the right way. Especially as we recognize the movement from brick and mortar physical to E commerce and omni commerce to social commerce and agentic commerce. All these different pathways to help, um, brands ultimately win. As we move forward in the agentic commerce space, so much is going to be federated off of really strong data. Machines will make intuitive recommendations. So I imagine, you know, Didi and team are also squarely focused there. Uh, as you know, they're uh, learning and exploring, you know, how consumers are thinking about, you know, different brands and different activities more seasonally too. So this is a great example, uh, of where the world is, uh, uh, and is going and how we drive confidence on investments.

Speaker A: Well, if you think about where we were 10 years ago, it's so remarkable. If you had told us back then what we'd be doing now and what we're capable of finding out now, it's kind of remarkable. And Dave, even one word that you said, uh, resonated with me was surgical. So we can have this kind of surgical precision and Also have the relationships and also have the holistic nature of it too. We can kind of have it all. So this last question was for Deedee and David. So Dede, I'll start with you with a similar eye to the future. What's one mindset shift that marketers should take away from this conversation, in your opinion? That might be kind of hard, uh, to narrow down, but if he had to pick one, what would it be?

Speaker D: Yeah, for sure. And for us, we've always had this test and learn then scale mindset. Uh, so very similar to what uh, Kara was mentioning just now. The biggest mindset shift is, um, moving away from asking did this campaign perform? To asking did this help grow the brand? And those are not always the same thing. So it's easy right now to optimize to the fastest or simplest method metrics. But the more important question is whether the investment is actually driving real business growth. Um, which I know I mentioned earlier as well. That could mean incrementality bringing in new households to the brand or strengthening engagement over time. So that's really why independent measurement matters. Um, in the recent Circana backed ibotta study, the campaign outperformed Circana's snack category incremental sales benchmark by more than four and a half times. Which really reinforced, uh, to our team that we should be measuring success through the lens of business growth and not just campaign activity.

Speaker A: And David, what's your take? What's the mindset shift? Building on what both Kara and Dedi said.

Speaker C: Yeah, no, no shock. You're going to hear something very similar for me than you just heard from Dede, because I think we're very closely aligned as partners. But the mindset shift I'd really leave people and lead marketers with is that you have to demand proof. Our partners say it best. IBOTTA is a strategic growth lever for their business. For a brand that already has national distribution, the challenge isn't always about awareness or availability. It's about incremental velocity. Uh, and today you no longer have to take anyone else's word for it. It's 2026. The data exists, the methodology exists, third party validation. Thankful to Circana, it exists. You should be able to run programs that uh, you can measure with confidence. Uh, which is, which is what Didi is alluding to. What that means practically is raising the bar on your partners. Ask them how the results are being measured, confirm you can tie pre purchase engagement to post purchase incremental lift. Uh, ask what the methodology is and whether an independent third party has Validated it. A lot of these questions go unasked. And I think the partner that the partners that can answer those questions and you know, even more so welcome them are the ones that are worth worth investing in. Uh, the chomps results didn't just tell us the campaign worked. They told us exactly how it worked. And I think that's the kind of proof that makes the next decision smarter than the last one. This is what Carol is alluding to. With the future of AI and agentic commerce making decisions uh, on our behalf. Campaigns shouldn't ever today run in isolation. They should be building blocks for the future. So what I'd leave everyone with is you can drive incremental and profitable sales lift while communicating value to the consumer. Uh, and it's a strategy we implore others to work to replicate.

Speaker A: And I think one thing we can we as much as we love like a dull back half of the this decade with some baby lighter headwinds, there's no guarantee that'll happen. So we have to just kind of keep operating in this kind of inventive and collaborative way for sure. And I'm going to circle it back with a fun question. You know, summer's some summer's underway and I'm going to ask each of you, is there something in what's in your cart for summer that might um, might be an unplanned purchase? What do you. What if or has there recently been an unplanned purchase in your cart? Is this season kind of rolls around. Wants to be the first one to say maybe I got ice cream because I saw it, I saw it on my phone on the way into the store.

Speaker C: Thanks Lynn. I'll go first. So, uh, unplanned was in the. Was in a mass, uh, store with my son the other day and bought a large sprinkler for our backyard. Cause it was very hot.

Speaker A: There you go.

Speaker C: Uh, but I'll stay on theme. Um, for us, I was at a conference recently and had the opportunity to sample Chomp's uh, new chicken, uh, flavor profile. And now uh, that was totally unplanned uh for me to start buying them very regularly. So the sampling worked if you will.

Speaker A: We love to hear that. What about you Dede?

Speaker D: Yeah, I love that David. And the chicken sticks are quickly becoming my favorite as well. Um, for me, very surprising impulse purchase is mushroom coffee. I absolutely despise mushrooms but have been reading about the benefits of it and so thought I'd give it a try. And I'm about a weekend and I'm really enjoying it. And I don't taste the mushrooms, so I think I'll stick with too earthy.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, I like it.

Speaker D: So switch between matcha and mushroom coffee.

Speaker A: Well, that's a health and wellness. That's a health and wellness angle. That'll do you well. Cara, what about you?

Speaker B: Well, I am gonna have to try, uh, this mushroom coffee. I'm with you. Mushrooms are not my favorite, but I'm gonna give it a whirl. Um, wow. Well, uh, I've got, when we start with, I've got a 15 year old and a 12 year old, uh, and my 15 year old's, uh, heavy into baseball. So I can tell you as we turn the corner into summer, uh, I've got a lot of bubble tech baseball grip that's hanging out and being purchased and swinging into my house. Uh, so we've got that going on. And then my daughter, um, while also very athletic, is also always on the cusp of different trends. And I'm not sure, uh, Lynn, Deedee, David, if you realize that bedazzling has made a massive comeback. And so there's a lot of rhinestones that are in this house at the moment. M. Everything's getting bedazzled. Baseballs are getting bedazzled, Beauty products are getting bedazzled. Uh, so, um, that's happening too. Um, but both of those things are a bit random. But here, um, we are.

Speaker A: These things absolutely work. So thank you all for your time, for your expertise. What an exciting time and what a dynamic conversation we've had. So thank you so much for joining us.

Speaker B: Thanks for hosting Lynn and Dede, David. We, uh, appreciate the relationship that we have together and, uh, congrats on building brands.

Speaker C: Thanks y' all so much for having us.

Speaker D: Thank you. Great being here.

Speaker A: And join us next time throughout the year as we welcome executives and thought leaders who provide a 360 degree view of today's ever evolving marketplace and along the way underscore the power of collaboration which we've seen today and our shared journeys. So if you have any feedback or ideas for future podcasts, we really want to hear from you, so feel free to email us@newsroomarkana.com thanks for listening and we're going to keep unpacking what's next. Thanks everybody.