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- [00:02]
A
Hello and welcome to the CPG Guys Podcast. Set at the intersection of commerce and tech. Your hosts, Sree Rajagopalan and Peter V. S Bhan explore how brands and retailers engage consumers in a digitally driven world. And now, here are the CPG Guys.
- [00:21]
B
Oh, and welcome to the CPG Guys Podcast. I'm your impish co host, pvsb. When I'm not podcasting, I serve as head of industry and client engagement at Flywheel, the commerce acceleration division of Omnicom. My co host, he is the man known as Sree. His daughter's fans refer to him as Paparaj. He's Chief revenue Officer of Think Blue Consulting and the former CCO of General Mills. Today's episode Sree is not in the room with me. Our co host is our dear friend Jack Shannon, CEO of Recess. We recorded today's episode at Las Vegas, Nevada for the 2026 Consumer Electronics show, or CES event. More about that in a second. I'll say to our audience, if you're not following us on your preferred platform, Apple, Spotify or whatever, please do. Because if you do follow us, then as new episodes are published, they automatically feed into your podcast stream. That way you don't have to go looking for it.
- [01:28]
C
Boom.
- [01:28]
B
We just appear whenever a new episode is released. So please do that. And while you're there, please just scroll down, give us a star rating. That helps make our podcast more findable by industry contemporaries of you who like to be educated and entertained. We're trying to create a culture where podcasting is a mechanism for that to happen. And the only way that happens is if podcasting becomes something ingrained in who you are. Don't just listen to us.
- [01:56]
C
There are lots of other podcasts.
- [01:57]
B
We publish them all the time. Our sister podcasts, she Commerce and FMCG guys, great place to start. You know, I love podcasts. Like the Middlemen, I also love unpacking the digital shelf. There are just so many. We publish them on our on our LinkedIn page all the time. So please get in the habit of doing that. But if you could just follow us, give us a star rating, we will greatly appreciate it. All right, so back to our episode for today. We met with Liz Roche, the VP of Media and Measurement at Albertsons Media Collective. If you may remember, it was CES of 2025 that we first met Liz.
- [02:39]
C
It was her second day on the job.
- [02:41]
B
I was always amazed that they put her out in front of us, threw her to the wolves, so to speak. But she did such an admirable job. We revisited with her again this year in ces. She's got a year of experience under her belt and we're really excited to talk to her about all the changes that are taking place at Albertsons Media Collective in the last year. So we hope you enjoy this conversation. It was fun. Jack and I had a great time speaking with her. I will also make mention of the fact that our AV assistance in the photographic evidence of this event was being recorded by our dear friend Jackie Danowski. She's a colleague of mine at Flywheel. She is also co host of the she Commerce podcast along with Christina Marinucci. So it was a big family affair and we had a wonderful time. So I do. I do hope you enjoy the episode and we'll talk to you on the back end of it. So thank you. Let's get to listen. Liz Roach, Albertson's Media Collective.
- [03:52]
C
Liz Roach, welcome back to the CPT Guys podcast.
- [03:55]
D
Thanks so much for having me. I'm excited to be back.
- [03:57]
C
So this is your second visit, by the way. Five times you get the varsity, Jack.
- [04:01]
D
I can't wait.
- [04:02]
C
I know, I know. But you joined us on episode. What was it? It was probably you were on day one of your employment at Albertson.
- [04:12]
D
I was on day two of my employment with Albertsons.
- [04:14]
C
Okay. And since then it's been a year, so we can't wait to get your impressions of everything that has happened. I'm going to tell our audience that in the digital liner notes of this podcast episode, they will find links to your LinkedIn page or Media Collective's LinkedIn page and their corporate site where people who are listening to the podcast can multitask and listen to it. By the way, we want to comment you on your exceptional choice of beverage containers. Focusing on the she Commerce podcast, hosted by our dear friend Christina Marinucci and Jackie Danowski. We are shameless, if not anything, when it comes to plugs, but thank you for that.
- [04:50]
B
So what I want to do is.
- [04:51]
C
Just get right into it. Yeah. Because we've got some great questions. And I should also mention, joining me as my dear friend, since SRI couldn't be here today, my dear friend Jack Shannon, CEO of Recess. He's here. Jack, welcome.
- [05:05]
D
Glad to be here.
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E
Glad to be filling.
- [05:07]
C
He's going to be filling in for Paparaj himself.
- [05:11]
D
Big shoes to fill, by the way.
- [05:13]
C
That's because, you know, his foot size is 15, so they literally are very big shoes to fill. But the problem also is the ego because, you know, he started referring to himself in the third person as Paparaj. Got it. We'll just leave it at that. Right, Liz?
- [05:26]
D
Yes.
- [05:27]
C
You've just crossed the one year mark leading Albertson's media collective. Looking back, what really has surprised you the most about the role and what are you most proud of accomplishing in year one?
- [05:36]
D
Yeah, first and foremost, this was a new role to Albertsons Media Collective. So before media and measurement lived under separate leadership, but when I came on board, we actually brought those two teams together and I think my most proud part of being part of the collective is how much impact we've been able to create because of bringing these teams together. Our performance specifically on offsite has improved dramatically. We've been able to roll out new measurement products, new ad products. We were able to get our in store pilot off the ground and obviously some big news announcements here at ces. So together, bringing these two squads together, we've just been able to make a lot of progress and hit the ground running and that's been really great.
- [06:17]
C
That's great. I, I know when you came in day two, it's, it's hard to give a comprehensive assessment. You did a great job. But it's nice to know that in the year and we've seen it in the announcements you've made, the partnerships that have been created in your commitment to transparent measurement and ensuring that brands understand the impact that their investment has, has been truly best in class. So thank you for that than.
- [06:40]
D
But means a lot to us, Jack.
- [06:42]
E
So in store retail media has become one of the most talked about topics in the industry, especially this week for, for you all as well. Why was it so important for Albertsons Media Collective to lean in there and what problem were you trying to solve first?
- [06:54]
D
Yeah, absolutely. In store for Albertsons specifically, this is an incredible opportunity for our brand partners to make a lasting impression on Albertson shoppers. When you consider our scale, we're operating over 2,200 stores and 13 of the top 15 DMAs in the U.S. we have over 48 million loyalty users in the Albertsons arena. So when you consider that our shoppers are in sometimes up to two and a half times per week, there's a lot of frequency and a lot of opportunities to make an impact on that shopping journey. For us, though, we've been really selective about how we're doing it. We want to make sure that all of our content is additive. This should be inspirational content. This shouldn't take away from the shopping trip. It should make it more fun, it should make it more inspired and that's been a big part of that journey. But for us, we, we just think there's such a strategic advantage. The bottom line is our shoppers love coming into our stores. We want to make our stores that much better and give our brand partners a bite at that apple as well.
- [07:49]
C
Yeah. What I, what I love you hearing, talking about was just the absolute scale and the frequency of visits as brand marketers are in choosing where they invest their dollars.
- [08:00]
D
Yeah.
- [08:01]
C
The amount of effort it takes to execute a campaign at, at one retailer versus another is relatively commensurate. And so when they decide where they're going to, where they're going to put their effort, the two things that come up more than any other in the conversations I have with them is scale and transparency. And I think based upon what you've been doing around the transparency measurement check and what you've told us with the scale of your audience size and the frequency boom, you've hit the two things that say brand advertisers. Albertsons Media Collective is where you want to be spending your time.
- [08:35]
D
Yeah, absolutely. Look, going to a store is a full funnel experience. When you're in the store, you are discovering new brands. I mean, who hasn't picked up something that's not on their list? And if you haven't, please send me a DM and tell me how you do that, because the store is just such an intriguing place for shoppers and for brand marketers. To your point, to be able to be part of that experience is a really, really great opportunity.
- [08:59]
C
So I think my big, my next question is really around the in store experience because one of the things that makes Albertson stand out is you have these stores that are an integral part of the lives of your shoppers. You first announced your in store efforts at Cannes Lions last year, and now at ces, you're sharing pilot results. What did those pilots validate and what did they challenge in your original assumptions?
- [09:24]
D
Yeah, the, the pilots validated the efficacy of the format. This is a newish channel. I, I would say it's not new, but measuring it the way that we're measuring it is certainly new. So being able to validate the efficacy of the channels first and foremost. Right. We need to make sure that this is creating larger baskets and driving incremental units first and foremost. Because if it's not, it's not worth scaling in terms of challenging the assumption. I think what, what's been very interesting is just how deep our brand marketers want to go into that shopper journey to customize and to help us curate the journey. So how do we bring day parting into the equation? How do we localize this? What's interesting about being in the store is, yes, tremendous amount of scale we already talked about, but we are store of the community. Right. We're right there. So being able to localize and being able to customize this content is critical to drive that efficacy. We're seeing kind of both these things play out nationally strong in Ukraine.
- [10:18]
C
And what were the primary case studies that you're referencing?
- [10:21]
D
Referencing? Our Mondelez case study was very good. So that case study came in and I'd say one of the, one of the biggest learnings there was that this is a great format to launch new SKUs. That was a new, newer SKU new product. And being able to get that out into the world in such a way made a lot of sense.
- [10:40]
C
And that's fundamentally different than how brand advertisers have historically looked at retail media. They've thought of it as mid lower funnel. They're already in, in the decision and consideration mode. And what you're saying is, no, no, we can help with the discovery of the upper funnel, which is critically important given the decline in the reach of traditional awareness mechanisms like linear television and printed media.
- [11:03]
D
Yeah, absolutely. But also for our partners, for our brand partners, innovation is, I mean, it's the top of, top of mind for them. Bringing new product, bringing new flavors.
- [11:12]
C
The lifeblood of growth.
- [11:13]
D
It is absolutely the lifeblood blood of growth. And that's what our shoppers love. Our shoppers love trying. They're definitely incentivized to trial within Albertsons. So this format just makes a lot of sense.
- [11:23]
C
Brilliant.
- [11:25]
E
You mentioned Mondelez and I think I saw the Sargento case study as well. What made those partners a strong fit for in store activation and what outcomes should brands be paying attention to from those cases?
- [11:36]
D
I think so that case study, the Mondelez Sargento case study, really highlights the lean in to new format. I think partners who want to lean in and who are interested in kind of pairing almost their launches or their innovation with these big splashy in store screen placements are definitely seeing the results. What I like about the in store format is it also gives us the ability to be very, very specific in terms of how we're measuring and where we're advertising we can match. We're obviously matching up the distribution of the product and the in the media play of the product. But also with our new announcement, we can get sales lift down to the store level. So being able to dig into those results, being able to bring that launch to life. And also being able to almost cross merchandise a product by way of having screens throughout the store makes a of sense.
- [12:28]
C
So from perspective as of a retailer, when we think about deploying in store media, it's fundamentally different than I'm going to change the experience on the owned and operated app or the website. That is something that can happen with, you know, if there's some design in the background, but the implementation is kind of instantaneous. You do that. What does it actually take? You know, show us the sausage making. Right. What does it actually take to scale in store retail media without compromising the shopper experience or store operations? Because it doesn't just happen. There's a lot that goes into making that sausage.
- [13:04]
D
Absolutely. So it does, it does take a lot from an operational standpoint. And I would say for me, in my first year, it was a real crash course in store operations being part of this project. But our stores are so leaned in because they see the value that it brings to shoppers, they see the content. So that's been very successful. But I think there's one key element and that's that this media format really, really forces the issue of merch and media working together hand in glove. This media doesn't exist outside of merch strategy. It doesn't exist outside of, you know, in stock and the like. So for us, we, we have broken down those silos within Albertsons. We are tightly linked with, with our partners in merch. And that's what's made this ever more successful because we're creating that cohesive in store experience rather than one that's confusing to shoppers or annoying to shoppers. But it takes that orchestration.
- [13:55]
C
Let me read that back to you and how and what resonates, it means that you're not doing something simply to monetize it and generate some revenue. This is more about enhancing the in store shopping experience. Because if you are taking away from it, you are doing a disservice to Albertson's core purpose, which is selling products to consumers to live their lives.
- [14:18]
D
Absolutely, absolutely. So if, if there is a disjointed ad and merchandising experience, it's just a bad shopper experience. And that's why we've been so particular about the way that we're rolling this out. We've been so collaborative with our partners to make sure that this experience makes a lot of sense and brings that inspiration, you know, brings that maybe idea of cross merchandising the cheese with the crackers or, you know, the soda with the salty snack.
- [14:42]
B
Brilliant.
- [14:43]
E
Going back to measurement, you've been very vocal about transparent measurement. Why is that such a critical foundation for retail media relationships, especially as in store and off site continue to grow?
- [14:53]
D
Transparency is the key to everything. And I think it really is twofold. First and foremost, we want to make sure that we're driving actual growth for our partners because that drives actual growth for Albertsons and it's great for our shoppers. The closer that we can get to the truth from the measurement perspective, the closer we can get to business outcomes, the closer we can get to actually saying, hey, these are tactics that are working to grow the category, they're growing the business, they're growing your brand, and they're growing Albertsons. That, that's kind of the table stakes. I think the other piece is that a lot of this stuff is new. I mean, consider what we're working with with in store. These are, this is new technology, this is a new type of measurement. Right? It's, it's just a little bit different. When we have that base layer of transparency and trust with our partners, we can say, hey, come on this journey with us, we'll show you our methodology. Let's dig deep, try to poke holes in it. We want to make sure that this is again, something that you can resonate with and that makes a lot of sense to your data science teams and to your executives. So I think there's really that willingness to experiment with us and go on the innovation journey when we have that foundation of trust and transparency.
- [15:58]
C
I have to imagine that that requires brand advertisers that are again, more familiar with the traditional performance marketing measurement of lower funnel, on site brand product search ads and what have you, that it requires a bit of a reframing of what their expectations are. How has it been from your perspective, that journey, that partnership with brands, helping them to understand, you know, you're not going to get as clear and immediate a measurement when you're doing things that are much, much more up the funnel in terms of awareness than what your, your experience historically has been with our owned and operated retail media.
- [16:38]
D
You know, it's an interesting question, Peter, because even with these upper funnel tactics, our partners still want to see low funnel efficiency. It doesn't just go away, which is why we're really focused on experimentation and figuring out where there is crossover, where channels can be synergistic and drive some level of arbitrage. Right. If I'm activating this really upper funnel tactic and I'm also bringing my in store Together. How am I driving that low funnel journey? How am I driving Lyft? So I think designing experiments has been key to helping this come together. But we still aren't getting, we're not getting away from these low funnel metrics, even though we're moving up the funnel. It's all about looking at things holistically to drive that efficiency.
- [17:21]
C
So Albertson's media collective has been doing some really creative things. The one that comes to mind first and foremost for me is the big splash you made around Bogoblitz with Enterprise Media Match and then the Albie Awards with guaranteed return on advertising spend. Can you describe to our audience exactly what those were and what was the thinking behind rewarding performance in these unique ways?
- [17:41]
D
Yeah, so those, those are both great opportunities for us to thank the partners that have really leaned in with us and used our platform to the best of its ability. Being able to let them know, hey, you are power users of this platform. You are absolutely using this in the ways that it should be used. And you're driving growth for category, you're driving growth for brand and you're driving growth for Albertsons. It's just really important to us to make sure that we're rewarding that performance because we're working so hard on our side to create better performance every day. We're working hard on our side to just be accountable to our partners. Thought it was a really good opportunity to, to also give them a nod for, for being on this journey with us.
- [18:18]
C
Okay.
- [18:19]
E
As we look towards 2026, how do you see measurement evolving across the board, in store, on site, off site? And what should brands and retailers be prepping for now?
- [18:29]
D
Well, we are in 2026 already. So as we look, as we look into the very future of the very near future of 2026, I think we're going to see a lot more on the longitudinal front. I think that our brands are definitely wanting to understand more of the aggregate of what's happening versus channel by channel and campaign by campaign. For us, that's also a top priority. Right. Like how can we create, for example, shopper cohorts and understand how we're moving folks from occasional brand shoppers to very loyal brand shoppers. So I think you'll start to see more happening, but I also think you'll start to see more of these multi cell tests where we're testing channel plus channel and where is 1 plus 1 equal 3?
- [19:11]
C
When you let me, let me dig a little deeper on the, on those testing, sure. What, what do you find is the, the key to unlocking the interest in brand from a testing perspective, what are they looking for you to deliver? For them to say, okay, I do want to test this out. What's kind of the giveaway to the get in making this actually happen?
- [19:34]
D
You know, I think we run into a lot of almost serendipitous moments with the brands. Think about the new SKU launch being a big one. How do we do this a little bit better? When you launch a sku, you have this window in which you can really gain share by way of using that SKU or by way of marketing that sku. So we've been able to, just by being so tightly partnered with our brands, we've been able to kind of get ahead of that and make those suggestions and then of course drive those results and sometimes put our own skin in the game. Right. Whether that means bonus impressions or even enterprise impressions.
- [20:07]
C
What do you think? And one more follow up on that. What do you think are the characteristics of the brands that actually are leaning into doing what is it about in their DNA? Is it's the size, is it the category? What do you think is the spark that, that, that you see common among the ones that are leaning forward to do this kind of work with you? So the Mondelez, the Sargentos.
- [20:30]
D
Yeah, of course. I think it's a, I think there's a genuine curiosity that within these brands and honestly that's kind of the culture and the spirit of Albertsons Media Collective as well. Hey, we have an, we have a hypothesis or we have a list of hypotheses. Let's stack rank them and let's get to town on actually performing these tests. But with that there also is a willingness to see a test fail. And hey, a failed test teaches us just as much as a test that's successful.
- [20:58]
C
I look at it not as failure. It's just one more step in perfecting how you get success.
- [21:05]
D
But that takes a brave individual to lean into that. Right. And to say that, hey, there's a win, even though this might not have worked, that's great.
- [21:13]
C
So you're showcasing a lot of future state Demos here at CES 2026. I'm not going to ask you to reveal everything, but what should the industry be excited about when it comes to where in store and retail media are headed? At Albertsons Media Collective, I think there.
- [21:28]
D
Are a few things from the shopper experience perspective, more interactivity and more ability to tell content rich stories. I think that's really what's almost missing from, from the experience and that's what we're really wanting to lean into. That's what our brands also want us to lean into. They are storytellers at their core. They want to tell our story, their stories on our canvas and we're really excited about that. I think the other piece that, that is getting really interesting is as you know, we announced our, our match market in store lift, our sales lift measurement. But we're also working toward getting direct closed loop attribution on in store. So how do we take these two items and triangulate them to really show what's successful? Lyft is important because we need to shift shopper behavior. That's the name of the game. But attribution is also really important. We want to make sure that ads are being seen, they're validated, and also that the right shopper is seeing the right ad. So I think bringing these two things together for me is the big goal of 2020.
- [22:26]
C
No. And it's, it's, it's a laudable goal. It has some challenges to it, but it's a journey. I think anyone who looks at the state of retail media across the industry right now and thinks is it's a destination, it is not. It is a journey as we refine it. I will say this, that the work Albertsons has done, working with the IAB in particular in creating standardized approaches to measurement and other aspects of the investment against these dollars is very important in getting the industry to embrace and how to buy, how to, how to invest and how ultimately they measure the performance of that. So I again compliment Albertson's media collective on being at the forefront of that effort.
- [23:07]
D
Thank you so much.
- [23:08]
E
As we continue to look ahead for, for the brands and retailers that are listening who want to be ready for what's next in retail media, what's the one mindset, shift or capability they need to start building today?
- [23:18]
D
I think from a capability perspective, keep building your analytics teams because there are, there's more data than ever. Keep building your AI capability. There's more data than ever. So start understanding those patterns and those variables. That's the work that we're doing. But we also know that more, more information is great. So our brand partners continuing to invest in that space. But I think there is a little bit of a mind shift that needs to happen and that's that, hey, retail media isn't just this little funnel when you consider the reach of, of Albertsons in particular. I mean, we're, we're absolutely a player that brand marketers can leverage to get those big stories out there and get those big stories and unique formats.
- [23:57]
C
All right, I'll ask you one other question. You're out here at ces. It's your second trip here with Albertsons. Anything else that's happening here at CES that's got your attention, that's of, of keen interest or things you're gonna, you're hoping to do while you're here, people you're gonna see what's. What do you, what do you like getting out of ces?
- [24:13]
D
I guess I think it's nice for everyone. I think the mindset at CES is one of being really open and I, I think that we've all come off a little bit of a holiday break. We can all be a little bit inspired in this space. So for me it's been about our partners coming in and having really interesting ideas, meeting with our, even our off site media partners having really interesting conversations and really interesting ideas. Everyone's just in that mode. I don't know. There's something in the air that brings out the innovation in this space and that's just been really nice.
- [24:43]
C
It absolutely has been. Liz Roach Alberson's media Collective, thank you for returning three more episodes. You get your varsity jacket.
- [24:52]
D
Can't wait.
- [24:52]
A
I know.
- [24:53]
C
Counting the days. Counting the days. Let's not have to make it five years for you to do that. I think more frequently than once a year. We'll get you back and maybe later this year as you got some new things to share with us. Okay.
- [25:04]
D
I'd love it. Thank you so much for having me.
- [25:05]
C
All right, thank you. That's it. All right.
- [25:13]
B
Great conversation with Liz. So good to reconnect with her. Albertsons Media Collective has been a wonderful partner of ours, making their leadership available to speak with us. I really want to thank Elizabeth Perryman and Elena Harrington on the calm side for making that possible all the time. We hope you enjoyed today's episode. I'll remind everyone. Please follow us on your favorite podcast platform, Apple Spotify. And I want to thank the 40,000 plus followers on LinkedIn who trust us to educate and entertain them. We're really grateful that you do so. We love meeting with everybody at all the industry conferences. We've already completed CES and nrf. Next week we're going to be in San Diego, California to meet with people at the Food Marketing Institute Midwinter Executive Conference. Already scheduling lots and lots of meetings with people that we know, particularly previous podcast guests. So look for more content coming out of that event in any event. Thanks for listening to this episode. We look forward to speaking with you on the next episode of the CPG Guys podcast. Goodbye.
- [26:46]
C
Foreign.
- [26:50]
A
The content in this podcast episode is provided for general informational purposes only. By listening to our episode, you understand that no information contained in this episode should be construed as advice from CPGuys LLC or the individual author, hosts or guests, nor is it intended to be a substitute for research on any subject matter. Reference to any specific product or entity does not constitute an endorsement or recommendation by CPG Guys llc. The views expressed by guests are their own, and their appearance on the program does not imply an endorsement of them or any entity they represent. The views expressed by CPT Guys, LLC.
- [27:28]
C
Do not represent the views of their.
- [27:29]
A
Employers or the entity they represent. CPT Guys LLC expressly disclaims any and all liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential or other damages arising out of any individual's use of, reference to, or inability to use this podcast or the information we present in this podcast.