Liquid Death and Ibotta Executives Challenge Conventional ROAS in Retail Media
During a live session at Brandweek 2026, Liquid Death digital commerce lead Benoit Vatere and Ibotta CEO Bryan Leach discussed shifting performance marketing metrics from standard return on ad spend to real-time incrementality. As Adweek reports, the executives emphasized using matched-audience testing and third-party verification to determine if digital promotions truly drive new sales volume.
Context from Industry Pulse
The dialogue between Liquid Death and Ibotta occurs as brands increasingly integrate marketing functions with finance and technology. Recent industry shifts, such as Bond acquiring Jam to enhance CRM and Salesforce expanding its AI customer support through Cresta, underscore a wider push for data-driven accountability. While AI-driven traffic is reportedly increasing revenue per visit by over 80 percent, the Brandweek discussion highlights that technology must be paired with rigorous testing methodologies. The emphasis on incrementality suggests that as retail media matures, the industry is moving past basic digital downloads toward a more nuanced understanding of consumer behavior and long-term household penetration.
"conventional ROAS can overstate promotional effectiveness, how to identify genuinely incremental sales, and why third-party verification matters."
The current landscape of performance marketing is undergoing a transition as brands seek more accountability for their promotional investments. According to Adweek, industry leaders are advocating for a move away from traditional return on ad spend metrics, which can often inflate the perceived success of a campaign. Instead, the focus is shifting toward incrementality, a measurement that identifies whether a sale was directly caused by a promotion or would have occurred regardless of the marketing effort.
Benoit Vatere of Liquid Death highlighted how real-time data allows brands to adjust their strategies dynamically. As Adweek notes, this approach enables companies to reallocate budgets based on immediate sales signals rather than waiting for quarterly reviews. By utilizing matched-audience testing, marketers can isolate the variables that lead to genuine growth in household penetration and identify specific retail channels that offer the best margins for every dollar spent.
Ibotta founder Bryan Leach joined the discussion to address the role of third-party verification in building trust within retail media. With Ibotta serving over 200 million consumers, Leach argued that rigorous measurement is necessary to protect brand margins. The conversation at Brandweek 2026 suggested that cost per incremental dollar is becoming a critical metric for CPG brands looking to reduce customer churn and optimize digital offer programs across platforms like Walmart and Instacart.
Ultimately, the shift toward performance-based principles in the CPG sector reflects a broader need for transparency. Adweek reporting indicates that independent verification and real-time measurement tools are no longer optional for brands aiming to scale. By prioritizing incremental sales over total sales figures, companies can better understand the true impact of their digital promotions and ensure that marketing spend is actually driving new business rather than subsidizing existing customer behavior.
The Industry Pulse Bottom Line
Marketing leaders are prioritizing incrementality over ROAS to ensure promotional spend drives genuine growth. By utilizing real-time data and third-party verification, CPG brands can protect margins and move beyond inflated performance metrics.