When Loyalty Isn’t Enough

When Loyalty Isn’t Enough

by | Jun 19, 2025 | Marketing, Geolocation

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When Loyalty Isn’t Enough

The Case for Geo + Context

peq brian pozeskyBy Brian Pozesky

“We don’t need portfolio optimization or measurement standardization — or whatever you call it. 80% of our sales are tracked with loyalty data.”

“Get with the times, man.”

It’s a valid argument — loyalty programs have become critical infrastructure for retail media. They enable identity resolution at scale, power high-frequency personalization across digital and direct channels, and provide granular attribution tied to verified transactions. For creative performance and short-cycle ROI analysis, they are indispensable.

However, loyalty data is not without limitations. Its strength lies in precision, not coverage. Consumer graphs built from loyalty programs vary significantly across retailers and cannot be uniformly extended across the increasingly fragmented media ecosystem. They lack the interoperability and cross-channel consistency required to evaluate diverse media tactics — from linear TV to emerging programmatic platforms — in a comparable, apples-to-apples fashion. Even the largest holding companies continue to wrestle with stitching together these siloed datasets into coherent, actionable insights.

That’s where geo-based measurement offers complementary value.

Store trade area methodologies provide a standardized, spatial framework for assessing causal media impact at scale.

By anchoring measurement to physical retail outcomes — which still account for over 80% of CPG sales — geo-lift enables portfolio-level evaluation that is agnostic to ID resolution, cookie fidelity, or channel-specific tagging.

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In essence, it restores a common unit of analysis: the store

Of course, the utility of geo-lift depends entirely on the fidelity of the underlying trade areas. Naïve radius-based models fail to reflect actual consumer behavior. The most advanced approaches incorporate anonymized GPS signal data, visit frequency, dwell time, and competitive context to delineate trade areas that reflect real-world shopping patterns — not just theoretical reach.

Used in tandem, loyalty and geo provide a uniquely holistic view: loyalty delivers precision and shopper-level insight; geo provides standardization and comparability across the media mix. Together, they enable a more complete understanding of what’s working, where, and why — and allow marketers to balance personalization with portfolio optimization across an increasingly complex retail media landscape.

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The Cookiepocalypse Is Here

The Cookiepocalypse Is Here

by | Jun 9, 2025 | Marketing, Cookies, Incrementality

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The Cookiepocalypse Is Here

Are Your Measurement Tools Ready?

peq rikki marlerBy Rikki Marler

In case you missed it (or were hoping it would just go away): the cookiepocalypse is no longer coming—it’s already here.

With Google phasing out third-party cookies in Chrome, and Apple’s privacy-first stance now the industry norm, marketers are being forced to face a hard truth: the measurement infrastructure many brands rely on is crumbling. Attribution models built on fragile cookie trails and pixel data are rapidly becoming obsolete.

And yet, far too many marketing teams are still using pre-apocalypse tools to try and make post-cookie decisions.

The Cracks Are Already Showing

Let’s be honest: even before the cookiepocalypse, our measurement frameworks were… shaky at best. Clicks ≠ conversions. Last-click attribution ≠ actual influence.

And retargeting? Well, that’s getting more expensive and less effective by the day. The real issue now isn’t just that cookies are disappearing—it’s that marketers are clinging to flawed metrics and broken attribution. We’ve entered a new era, but we’re still using old maps.

What’s Broken: A Quick Rundown

  • Cross-device behavior is impossible to track reliably
  • Walled gardens (Meta, Amazon, TikTok) keep your data in silos
  • Third-party data is vanishing, while user-level IDs are under attack
  • Attribution models can’t explain what would’ve happened without the ad

In short: marketers are flying blind while still thinking they have 20/20 vision.

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What You Need Instead: Incrementality, ML, and Standardized Measurement

This is where Pēq steps in. We don’t just help you survive the cookiepocalypse—we help you build a smarter measurement system that doesn’t depend on cookies, pixels, or patched-together dashboards.

Here’s what that looks like:

🧠 Incrementality-first measurement – Understand which marketing efforts truly drive new value, not just clicks.
📊 Geo-testing and synthetic control groups – No user-level data needed.
⚙️ ML-based attribution models – See lift and ROI without holdouts or tracking IDs.
🧩 Unified, standardized metrics – So your team finally stops arguing about what ROAS means.

The Bottom Line

Cookies were never great. They were just the best we had at the time. Now, better tools exist—if you’re willing to adopt them.

The brands that lean into incrementality, experiment with ML, and embrace standardized, privacy-resilient measurement frameworks will gain an edge as competitors scramble to rebuild their data stacks.

📬 Ready to ditch the duct-tape dashboards and move into the post-cookie era? Let’s talk.

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Why Pēq Prioritizes Incrementality

Why Pēq Prioritizes Incrementality

by | Jun 2, 2025 | Marketing, Incrementality

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Why Pēq Prioritizes Incrementality

peq rikki marlerBy Rikki Marler

Making Sense of Retail Media Measurement

In today’s retail media landscape, understanding what actually moves the needle is more important than ever. At Pēq, we don’t just report numbers—we help brands separate real impact from the noise. That’s why we prioritize incrementality as the gold standard for measuring advertising effectiveness.

It’s not about just counting sales—it’s about knowing which sales wouldn’t have happened without your marketing efforts. Incrementality isn’t the only KPI we can measure – but we lean into it because it shows how advertising directly impacted sales performance. With shrinking budgets, the line between awareness and conversion is continually fading.

Retail media networks are offering ‘one-stop-shop’ capabilities, touting their ability to deliver upper funnel, mid-funnel and lower funnel marketing and media tactics.

With so many different media metrics that can be tracked–CTR, CPC, VCR, Engagement Rate, Open Rate, Conversion Rate, ROAS, New to Brand–here’s why we prioritize the holy grail of marketing: incremental ROAS, incremental sales, and incremental lift.

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Why We Love Incrementality

Incrementality helps brands avoid wasted ad spend and optimize their budgets effectively. Unlike traditional attribution models that assume ads cause conversions just because they happened before a sale, incrementality gives you a clearer picture:

No More Guessing – Find out which campaigns actually create new demand.
Smarter Budgeting – Shift spend to the efforts making the biggest impact.
Future-Proof Insights – Works across retail media, social, TV, and in-store—without relying on cookies or tracking identifiers.

Data-Driven Measurement for Smarter Decisions

Pēq uses advanced AI/Machine Learning testing methodologies, including geo-testing, synthetic control groups, and matched market analysis, to provide brands with precise, actionable insights. Our approach ensures brands aren’t just tracking results—they’re optimizing for real growth.

Want to optimize your retail media strategy and offsite advertising on an even playing field? Let’s talk

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Are RMN Budgets Really Increasing +20% every year?

Are RMN Budgets Really Increasing +20% every year?

by | May 29, 2025 | Marketing, Incrementality

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Are RMN Budgets Really Increasing +20% every year?

peq sumi mukoyamaBy Sumi Mukoyama

Every report I read says that spending with retail media networks is increasing year over year, yet my conversations with consumer packaged goods stakeholders (or ‘suppliers’ as the retail category managers often refer to them) don’t necessarily reflect what the numbers are saying.

If we look at the two biggest RMNs – Amazon Advertising and Walmart Connect – here are the numbers:

Based on these figures alone, you would think that every CPG is receiving at least 20% more advertising dollars to spend on RMNs but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

graph RMN budgets

So what’s really happening?

1. All budgets are getting funneled towards RMNs: CPG budgets that were traditionally defined as ‘trade,’ ‘shopper marketing’ and ‘branding’ are all being tapped by the RMNs who claim that they can reach the consumer throughout the entire funnel of the purchasing journey. That means that different people within a CPG organization are spending with RMNs – salespeople, shopper marketing teams, brand teams, digital commerce teams and more. 

2. Fragmented support system: Large CPGs who sell well-known products often work with multiple agencies and brokers who are tasked with managing a specific part of their budget. A retail media network can potentially work with multiple agencies/brokers who are all tasked with supporting the same CPG.

3. Retailers are re-orging: As the retail media networks take over responsibility for different monetization opportunities within the retailer’s organization, the revenue is now being counted towards the “RMN,” but this is merely a change in accounting. What used to hit a different P&L within the retailer organization is now being captured under the retail media network division.

What are the consequences?

1. CPGs need to make every dollar count: Marketing dollars need to work harder than ever before because they have multiple KPIs. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “The KPI is awareness but we really need sales.” Everyone knows that awareness is a much different beast than conversion, yet there’s an unreasonable expectation that all marketing activations will be successful when you look at a variety of metrics.

2. Budget responsibilities are less defined: The lines between trade, shopper marketing and brand budgets are blurring. Spending towards digital video is increasing YoY but is digital video an awareness driver or a conversion driver? Is the difference where the video placement is seen? Or is it whether or not you can click to a CPG’s store or retailer and buy after viewing the video?

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3. Difficult to know where to spend the next dollar: With so many different stakeholders, KPIs and activations, it’s very hard to understand which marketing vehicles are working. And by ‘working,’ I’m referring to marketing activities that lead to incremental sales because that’s really what CPGs need – grow baseline sales.

I work at a CPG brand, what do I do now?

1. Chart a course: Define the ultimate goal and work backwards from there. Most of the time, it’s increasing sales of products so the majority of CPGs need to set the right KPI which is incrementality. It could be incremental ROAS, incremental sales, incremental units, incremental bookings but the key thing here is you’re not just talking to the same people over and over again. Don’t overcomplicate RFPs by including vanity metrics like click through rates or ROAS or video completion rates. 

2. Demand incremental measurement: Retail media networks, solution providers and media companies will listen to their advertisers. If all of the CPGs demand better, real-time, standardized incremental measurement, the industry will begin to move towards this goal. Your marketing budgets are your leverage, so spend them with the vendors who are giving you the measurement you deserve.

3. Start small: Overhauling measurement for the entire advertising ecosystem will take time, so CPGs can take control now by working with independent, 3rd party measurement companies to measure incrementality on a campaign-by-campaign basis. CPGs are not leveraging the data they have access to which is a big mistake.

Every day, consumers are giving feedback to CPGs with their wallets. Listen to them.

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From Collaboration to Clarity

From Collaboration to Clarity

by | May 26, 2025 | Marketing, Partnership

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From Collaboration to Clarity

Why Strong Relationships Are the Backbone of Measurable Shopper Marketing

peq rikki marlerBy Rikki Marler

In the fast-paced world of shopper marketing, where activations are often short-lived and shopper behavior can shift overnight, it’s easy to focus on tactics and outcomes. But the most successful programs—those that deliver sustained, measurable impact—are rooted in something deeper: relationships.

Why Relationships Matter in Shopper Marketing

Shopper marketing sits at the intersection of brand, retailer, and consumer. Success depends not only on driving sales, but on navigating the layered dynamics between internal teams, retail partners, agencies, and data providers. That’s why building strong, strategic relationships isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a necessity.

When brands and partners collaborate from a place of trust and transparency, they unlock a shared language and deeper understanding of what success really looks like. This creates space to ask the right questions, align on KPIs, and build campaigns that are both creative and accountable.

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Building a Mutual Strategy, Together

At Pēq, we believe that measurement isn’t a final step—we’re a strategic partner to our clients from the start. The most effective campaigns we measure are built with clarity from the ground up.

That means working hand-in-hand with shopper marketers and their retailer or activation partners to define:

  • Objectives beyond ROAS: Are we trying to shift share within the category? Reach a lapsed buyer? Drive trial at a specific retailer?
  • What success should look like: Not every campaign should be measured the same way. By aligning upfront, we avoid misinterpreting results later.
  • The right data inputs: We collaborate early to ensure the campaign can be measured with the right sales data—whether from retailers directly or from existing partnerships.

By aligning before the first dollar is spent, we ensure that measurement is not just possible, but powerful.

Measurement That Reflects the Real Work

Shopper marketers are often asked to justify spend with limited tools and lagging insights. When measurement is disconnected from the activation strategy, it can feel like the numbers don’t reflect the reality on the ground.

But when we’ve been part of the planning, we’re able to go deeper—measuring incremental impact, not just correlation. We provide visibility into what’s working by tactic, creative, audience, and retailer, giving teams the ability to optimize in real time or course-correct for the future.

The result? Teams can finally show the full value of their work—and make smarter, faster decisions moving forward.

It Starts with a Conversation

Shopper marketing thrives when it’s built on shared goals and mutual respect. Whether you’re activating a seasonal display, testing a new provider, or planning a multi-retailer campaign, don’t leave measurement as an afterthought.

Bring your measurement partner in early. Build your strategy together. And watch how your campaigns—and your team’s impact—grow stronger, clearer, and more connected.

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