How CPG brands can connect every touchpoint to real outcomes
How do you measure the many marketing touchpoints that influence a consumer’s purchase journey? Orchestra’s Head of Paid Media, Bianca Garcia, recently discussed marketing attribution and modern measurement frameworks with Jasmine Sheena of Marketing Brew on Attribution Reimagined: Building the Right Models for the Right Outcomes.
Bianca’s experience leading end-to-end campaigns—from media buying and planning to optimization and reporting—makes her well-versed in ensuring that the paid media ecosystem works seamlessly. In this conversation, Bianca shares tactical advice on integrated measurement, bridging online and in-store consumer behavior, the importance of unified data, and the growing role of first-party signals.
Connect the dots in consumer packaged goods (CPG) attribution
When it comes to CPG attribution, Bianca explains that sales rarely come from a single source. Instead, they’re driven by a blend of earned, owned, and paid channels. Within paid media alone, marketers must account for a wide range of touchpoints—from social and search to Out-of-Home (OOH) and audio.
To navigate these intersecting sources of attribution, Bianca recommends the following approach:
- Build a full-funnel measurement framework
Evaluate performance across the entire journey: awareness, consideration, and conversion—to understand how each channel contributes. - Adopt an omnichannel, digital-first media mix
A diversified digital strategy helps unify data, making it easier to connect the dots between platforms and behaviors. - Leverage upper-funnel tactics like OOH and audio
Digital Out-of-Home (OOH) provides rich metrics, including the ability to retarget people who pass by screens and assess lift within those same geographies.
Streaming audio and podcasts also offer retargeting opportunities via companion banners, enabling advertisers to re-engage listeners across devices—from mobile to desktop. - Layer in foot-traffic attribution for brick-and-mortar sales
By using geolocation data to link digital exposures to in-store visits, marketers gain a clearer view of how online and offline touchpoints work together to drive real-world sales.
Bridge digital engagement with physical retail outcomes
Bianca also notes that it’s now easier than ever to link digital impressions to physical behavior. Because most apps rely on geolocation (weather, maps, and social platforms, among others) privacy-compliant, anonymized signals can be matched to in-store visits.
For example, if a brand runs a paid social campaign for a CPG product and a user sees that ad on Instagram, then visits a retailer in the following days, an attribution partner can analyze those movement patterns and compare them to a control group. This makes it possible to close the loop between digital exposure and real-world conversion. Marketers no longer have to rely solely on delayed or directional data; they can now quantify how digital media drives engagement and revenue.
Digital campaigns have also become more unified, enabling real-time optimization. At the same time, CPG measurement has evolved through point-of-sale (POS) integrations. Major retailers like Walmart, Walgreens, and Target now allow advertisers to connect their POS data back to media through secure clean rooms, offering visibility not only into store visits but also into purchases.
Brands are also tapping into first-party data through their own apps and loyalty programs. When customers clip a coupon, scan a barcode, or log a purchase, these actions tie digital activity directly to in-store behavior. These signals are especially valuable because users have provided consent, giving brands a clearer view of how upper-funnel tactics contribute to sales.
Measure beyond traditional metrics
When it comes to measurement, Bianca stresses that performance is about more than impressions. Innovative marketers are measuring impact, not just activity. While vanity metrics such as likes and views still have their place, today’s teams are asking deeper questions: Did the content drive brand lift? Did it influence search volume or store traffic?
Marketers can now measure brand recall, consideration, and incremental sales lift—and tie each to ad exposure. On social, metrics such as save rates and video-completion rates provide stronger engagement signals than impressions alone.
Ultimately, the goal of attribution is to understand which interactions meaningfully contribute to business outcomes. Access to that kind of clarity requires unified data, AI-powered insight, and a team that knows how to turn signals into strategy.
* * *
If you’re ready to unlock data-driven insights and more impactful campaigns, reach out to us! In the meantime, be sure to listen to the full episode and learn about leveraging large language models for attribution, the importance of AEO, and more.
