Robbie Thain
Founder, CEO
AI-generated illustrative image. Not an official campaign image.
As retail media networks face scrutiny over their brand-building potential, new in-store measurement standards are forcing CPG marketers to adapt operations.
On September 21, 2026, Digiday published an analysis questioning whether retail media networks can function as genuine brand-building channels rather than just digital conversion tools. This followed a recent IAB Europe proposal outlining a new five-zone framework for measuring in-store media. The rapid succession of these updates signals a critical shift in how physical and digital retail environments are evaluated. Marketing leaders are now facing intense pressure to prove that their investments generate lasting brand growth.
The core operational shift centers on how retail media inventory is structured and judged. Retail media networks are actively pushing for broader budget categories. Walmart Connect has been repositioned as a broader growth platform spanning brand advertising, connected television, and social. This move represents a clear effort to compete for budgets traditionally associated with Amazon, YouTube, and broader programmatic platforms.
However, much of the available inventory still consists of small online units built for immediate conversion. These units are typically sold through auctions optimized for immediate sales. When this inventory is evaluated through standard attribution models, upper-funnel activity can appear much less effective than lower-funnel tactics. Furthermore, access to the underlying shopper data is not guaranteed for every advertiser.
Digiday reported that some retailer data may be available only after advertisers reach particular spending thresholds. In other cases, brands must enter joint business-planning agreements with retailers to unlock deeper insights. Mediaocean data cited by Marshall Advertising found that 62% of CPG marketers expected to increase retail media spending in the second half of 2025. This historical increase shows a sustained commitment to these platforms despite their ongoing structural friction.
This friction is forcing the industry to formalize how physical retail environments are measured. IAB Europe proposed a model for estimating opportunity to see using factors like footfall and store count. Their proposed framework also incorporates campaign duration, placement count, aisle penetration, and share of voice. They noted that retail media measurement now needs to account for multiple in-store zones.
The framework must distinguish between an ad play, an impression, an opportunity to see, and a likelihood to see. This push to mature retail media measurement directly validates the operational standard we maintain for physical marketing. A retail environment is both a media platform and a live activation venue. When brands treat in-store experiences merely as media impressions, they lose the persuasive power of human connection.
The real value of physical marketing lies in its ability to drive product trial and capture verifiable shopper data. We deliver carefully executed, face-to-face marketing experiences designed to capture attention and generate measurable sales pipeline. Across our history, we have delivered more than 1,000 campaigns in all 50 states for more than 200 brands. That range has given us experience across different products, retail settings, events, and market conditions.
Experiential marketing bridges the gap between digital awareness and physical purchase behavior. When shoppers encounter a brand online, their consideration process remains largely theoretical until they physically interact with the product. A well-designed live event forces a moment of direct engagement that digital media simply cannot simulate. This is why forward-thinking brand directors are shifting their focus toward holistic campaigns that blend media exposure with tangible reality.
We know firsthand that generating long-term demand requires linking physical shopper engagement to digital metrics. Algorithms and digital display units struggle to replicate the trust built through a well-executed retail demonstration. A trained brand ambassador answering a shopper's question creates a level of product education that a sponsored search result simply cannot match. However, CPG marketers must acknowledge that retail media platforms remain heavily judged by short-term outcomes.
This focus on immediate metrics can obscure the broader impact of live experiences. Brands need a cohesive strategy that integrates physical sampling with the retailer's digital ecosystem. By coordinating with retailer measurement teams early, marketing leaders can ensure their physical footprints translate into documented Return on Investment. This integration is non-negotiable for anyone looking to scale a serious retail program.
These emerging measurement standards are fundamentally changing how field marketing gets executed. When IAB Europe mandates clear distinctions between an opportunity to see and a confirmed ad play, physical operations must become highly exact. You can no longer assume that a sampling booth at the front of a store automatically reaches every recorded shopper. Field teams must strategically position their event footprints based on verified aisle penetration and specific in-store zones.
Integrating live experiences into a digital measurement framework fundamentally extends the planning timeline. Retail media networks require structured campaign windows to establish baseline retail velocity and control markets before an activation begins. Marketing teams cannot simply drop a sampling station into a high-traffic location and expect the resulting sales data to map neatly onto a digital dashboard. Every physical interaction must be planned with the exact same rigor as a targeted digital ad placement.
This requires meticulous advance planning and tighter coordination with store management. Staffing models will also need to adapt to these rigorous reporting requirements. Brand ambassadors must be trained to capture granular interaction data that aligns with retailer measurement windows. If a campaign relies on a structured in-store sampling strategy, the logistics of product storage and setup must operate flawlessly.
Field reporting tools must also undergo a significant upgrade to meet these new data standards. Basic attendance counts and estimated samples distributed are no longer sufficient metrics for a modern campaign scorecard. Brand ambassadors must log detailed qualitative feedback alongside precise engagement counts to help data analysts contextualize the resulting sales lift. This operational discipline ensures that marketing leaders can defend their physical budgets during intense quarterly review meetings.
Any delay in physical execution directly compromises the matched-market testing that retailers demand. Marketing teams must establish their tracking infrastructure and control markets long before the first product is ever poured. Furthermore, the financial commitment required to execute these integrated campaigns is escalating. Because some retailer data access is gated behind spending thresholds, brands must consolidate their fragmented field budgets.
Activating across fewer but better-resourced markets might become necessary to clear these data-sharing requirements. Field directors will need to build comprehensive scorecards that combine physical engagement metrics with store-level sales lift. Without this operational discipline, proving the incremental value of an experiential activation becomes nearly impossible. Permitting and logistical staging will also face new scrutiny under these tighter measurement rules.
If a brand wants to measure the sales velocity generated by an outdoor activation, the local permits must align perfectly with the designated campaign dates. Warehousing and shipping schedules must guarantee that promotional inventory arrives exactly when the reporting window opens. Any disconnect between the physical supply chain and the digital measurement period corrupts the data. This reality forces brands to treat their logistics providers as critical partners in media measurement.
Tracking inventory sell-through across multiple regional markets adds another layer of complexity. Brands must coordinate with local store managers to ensure product distribution matches the media activation dates. If an experiential team drives massive foot traffic to an empty shelf, the resulting sales data will falsely indicate that the campaign failed. Therefore, synchronizing your physical activations with unified retail growth plans is the only way to protect your marketing investment.
The alignment between digital media flights and live event schedules leaves zero room for logistical errors. Shipping delays that push a sampling event outside of a designated retailer measurement window will ruin months of careful planning. We run experiential and engagement programs coast to coast with local crews, smart logistics, and permit expertise that let us launch fast and maintain quality consistency in every region, from major metros to smaller markets.
The tension between short-term conversion and long-term brand building is a known friction point among industry leaders. Digiday quoted Mayo, who argued that the structure of most RMN inventory and attribution systems makes brand work look weaker than it may be because the systems are designed around conversion. Warc-related commentary reported by Retail Media Age echoed this sentiment. That report described retail media as effective at converting existing demand but less effective at generating long-term outcomes.
The same report identified creative limitations as a barrier to stronger brand-building performance. Testing these upper-funnel effects requires a substantial financial commitment and sophisticated measurement designs. One anonymous executive told Digiday that a brand might need to spend more than $500,000 just to test whether an RMN investment was increasing household penetration nationwide. These massive testing costs highlight the risk of relying solely on digital channels for brand growth.
Without a physical component to solidify the brand relationship, that investment might yield very little actionable data. As retail media platforms update their measurement frameworks to capture in-store activity, how will your marketing team adjust its physical activations to ensure they generate the verifiable data your retail partners now demand?
After marketing teams finalize their retail media budgets for the upcoming year, capturing verified consumer interactions outside the store becomes the immediate priority. When brands face inefficient post event follow up and CRM routing, Makai connects physical product trial directly to digital infrastructure. Using our Guerilla Marketing capability, we launch creative, street level ideas that surprise, delight, and generate authentic word of mouth. Request a proposal
30 Years Experiential & Retail Activation Partner for CPG & Beverage Brands | Multi-Market Demos, Roadshows & Costco/Club Programs That Actually Sell
