Ibotta’s Chris Riedy: Promotions can Drive the Same Impact as Media
CANNES, France — Promotions and media have lived in separate budget lines at consumer packaged goods companies for generations. But that separation may be costing brands measurable sales impact.
“A dollar spent on promotions can be as impactful as a dollar spent on media,” Chris Riedy, CRO of Ibotta, told Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan at Cannes Lions. “If I were a CMO, I would want the opportunity to drive the most impact with proven measurement.”
That argument now has third-party validation behind it. A six-month Circana study across 48 Ibotta campaigns found 7X sales lift compared to standard media campaigns and 8X improvement in new household penetration, Riedy says. Those numbers, Riedy adds, are generating real attention from brand marketers this week.
The Circana numbers
Where a regular campaign typically delivers around 2.5% sales lift, Ibotta’s campaigns in the study delivered north of 16%, according to Riedy.
“If you’re looking for a partner, you want somebody who’s thinking about incremental sales, but you also want somebody that’s willing to share that data with an independent third party to validate,” Riedy said. “Circana is the gold standard of sales measurement for CPGs.”
The choice of Circana was deliberate; to Riedy, applying the same measurement rigor to promotions that has long been standard for media, puts the two on equal footing for the first time.
Ads plus offers
Ibotta’s model combines closed-loop measurement across hundreds of retail partners — including Walmart, Instacart, DoorDash, and Family Dollar — with the ability to tie a specific impression to an actual transaction.
That infrastructure enables what Riedy calls an “ads plus offers” approach, layering promotional incentives on top of media to pull consumers through from awareness to conversion.
“How do we make sure the consumer is aware of this package, aware of this brand, and then aware of the offer that might pull them through to conversion?” Riedy said.
Change management is the real barrier
Despite the data, trade and media teams at legacy CPG companies remain structurally separated. It’s a reality Riedy acknowledged won’t change overnight.
“These are companies that are hundreds of years old. It’s hard to change and drive new infrastructure,” Riedy said. “Ultimately it’s about thinking about the consumer and their shopping journey as a north star, rather than asking is this trade or is this media?”
Stitch measurement at the start, not the end
The biggest opportunity for CPG marketers isn’t a measurement mistake — it’s a sequencing problem. Most brands arrive at the end of a campaign with multiple incompatible measurement reports from trade, media, and analytics teams.
“Rather than stitching at the end, try to do that in the beginning. State upfront what your objective is — to move a unit, to drive brand love, to increase awareness — and then measure that all the way through,” Riedy said. “Each of the touch points play a part and the more that the brand can establish that upfront, that opportunity will allow the CPGs to drive a much more effective dollar of marketing.”
You’re watching The Beet.TV Leadership Sessions at Cannes Lions 2026, presented by Ibotta. For more videos from this series, please visit this page. You can find all of our coverage from Cannes Lions 2026 here.
CANNES, France — Promotions and media have lived in separate budget lines at consumer packaged goods companies for generations. But that separation may be costing brands measurable sales impact.
“A dollar spent on promotions can be as impactful as a dollar spent on media,” Chris Riedy, CRO of Ibotta, told Beet.TV contributor David Kaplan at Cannes Lions. “If I were a CMO, I would want the opportunity to drive the most impact with proven measurement.”
That argument now has third-party validation behind it. A six-month Circana study across 48 Ibotta campaigns found 7X sales lift compared to standard media campaigns and 8X improvement in new household penetration, Riedy says. Those numbers, Riedy adds, are generating real attention from brand marketers this week.
The Circana numbers
Where a regular campaign typically delivers around 2.5% sales lift, Ibotta’s campaigns in the study delivered north of 16%, according to Riedy.
“If you’re looking for a partner, you want somebody who’s thinking about incremental sales, but you also want somebody that’s willing to share that data with an independent third party to validate,” Riedy said. “Circana is the gold standard of sales measurement for CPGs.”
The choice of Circana was deliberate; to Riedy, applying the same measurement rigor to promotions that has long been standard for media, puts the two on equal footing for the first time.
Ads plus offers
Ibotta’s model combines closed-loop measurement across hundreds of retail partners — including Walmart, Instacart, DoorDash, and Family Dollar — with the ability to tie a specific impression to an actual transaction.
That infrastructure enables what Riedy calls an “ads plus offers” approach, layering promotional incentives on top of media to pull consumers through from awareness to conversion.
“How do we make sure the consumer is aware of this package, aware of this brand, and then aware of the offer that might pull them through to conversion?” Riedy said.
Change management is the real barrier
Despite the data, trade and media teams at legacy CPG companies remain structurally separated. It’s a reality Riedy acknowledged won’t change overnight.
“These are companies that are hundreds of years old. It’s hard to change and drive new infrastructure,” Riedy said. “Ultimately it’s about thinking about the consumer and their shopping journey as a north star, rather than asking is this trade or is this media?”
Stitch measurement at the start, not the end
The biggest opportunity for CPG marketers isn’t a measurement mistake — it’s a sequencing problem. Most brands arrive at the end of a campaign with multiple incompatible measurement reports from trade, media, and analytics teams.
“Rather than stitching at the end, try to do that in the beginning. State upfront what your objective is — to move a unit, to drive brand love, to increase awareness — and then measure that all the way through,” Riedy said. “Each of the touch points play a part and the more that the brand can establish that upfront, that opportunity will allow the CPGs to drive a much more effective dollar of marketing.”
You’re watching The Beet.TV Leadership Sessions at Cannes Lions 2026, presented by Ibotta. For more videos from this series, please visit this page. You can find all of our coverage from Cannes Lions 2026 here.
