What Kroger Precision Marketing Is Unveiling for CPG Brands — Key Details
- New Analytics Features via 84.51° Stratum
- KPM’s data‑platform 84.51° Stratum (self‑service analytics) is being enhanced with automated, AI-powered insights. (Supermarket News)
- Agent Monday: For qualifying Stratum users, an AI-generated weekly summary of brand performance is delivered every Monday. It highlights trends in shopper behavior, saving marketers time on manual analysis. (Supermarket News)
- Consolidated Dashboards (coming early 2026): A unified, more flexible reporting interface with selectors, visualizations, and custom segmentations so teams can answer business questions faster. (Kroger Precision Marketing)
- Self‑Service Data Orders / Data Direct: Also coming in early 2026 — allows brands to pull exactly the retail data they need, tailor it for their dashboards or data lakes, and pay based on usage. (Supermarket News)
- Expanded Managed‑Service Capabilities (Offsite Programmatic)
- KPM is launching a managed‑service offering so that CPG brands without in-house programmatic teams can run campaigns. (Kroger Precision Marketing)
- This includes:
- Programmatic Audio: Ads delivered on platforms like Pandora and iHeartMedia, using KPM’s purchase-based audience data. (Kroger Precision Marketing)
- Programmatic CTV: Non-skippable video ads (e.g., Roku, Paramount, Samsung) targeting households based on Kroger loyalty/purchase data. (Kroger Precision Marketing)
- Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) for display: Real-time creative adjustment based on variables (weather, location, time of day, audience), helping ads feel more contextually relevant. (Kroger Precision Marketing)
- The managed‑service offering comes with robust retail-media measurement: not just digital metrics but incremental ROAS, household penetration, sales uplift, and unit sales. (Kroger Precision Marketing)
- Immersive In-Store Digital Advertising Solution
- KPM announced a new in-store media technology developed in partnership with Barrows Connected Stores. (Kroger Precision Marketing)
- Digital screens built into sleek store fixtures will display animated, high-impact content shown to shoppers at the point of purchase. (Kroger Precision Marketing)
- These in-store touchpoints are designed to feel “native” to the store environment, blending retail design with ad-tech. (Kroger Precision Marketing)
- Importantly, KPM links this exposure to sales measurement — enabling brands to connect in-store ad exposure with real business outcomes. (Kroger Precision Marketing)
- Strategic Reorganization: Full‑Funnel Brand Growth Engine
- Kroger Precision Marketing has restructured under 84.51°: combining media, insights, and loyalty marketing into a single, integrated division. (Kroger Precision Marketing)
- This unification means CPG brands can now benefit from “one-team” planning — from product innovation to campaign activation — with less friction between data, media, and insight teams. (Kroger Precision Marketing)
- KPM emphasizes “data-led solutions” and “science-driven audience recommendations” via its technology infrastructure to help brands make more confident decisions. (Kroger Precision Marketing)
Why These New Tools Matter for CPG Brands — Analysis & Implications
- Better Insight, Faster: The Agent Monday AI report and consolidated dashboards make it much easier for brand teams to stay on top of performance without spending too much time manually digging into data. This helps especially when shopper trends shift quickly.
- Addressable & Emotional Reach: The managed‑service audio and CTV solutions give CPG brands a way to reach audiences in high-emotion, high-attention environments (like streaming), but tied to real purchase behavior via Kroger’s data.
- Contextual Relevance: DCO allows creatives to dynamically change based not just on audience, but on real-world context (weather, location…), making ads more personal and timely.
- In-Store Media Activation: By embedding digital screens into the physical store (point-of-purchase), brands can engage shoppers with storytelling or calls-to-action exactly when buying decisions are being made. And with measurement tied to in-store sales, they can directly assess ROI.
- Unified Growth Strategy: With media, data, and loyalty under one roof, KPM can offer CPGs more holistic marketing support. Rather than separate siloed initiatives (insights, media, loyalty), brands can run integrated strategies across innovation, acquisition, and retention.
- Lower Barrier for Mid-Sized Brands: The managed‑service model helps mid-sized CPGs who may not have large programmatic teams to launch sophisticated programmatic campaigns with KPM’s support — making modern media capabilities more accessible.
Risks, Challenges & Considerations
- Adoption Risk: Some CPG marketers may be slow to adopt new media formats like programmatic audio or CTV, especially if their teams lack experience.
- Data Privacy / Compliance: Using first-party purchase data to target households is powerful, but comes with compliance, privacy, and ethical concerns — brands will need to ensure responsible use.
- Measurement Complexity: While in-store measurement is promised, attributing sales lift precisely to in-store ad exposure (vs other factors) is always complex.
- Investment Cost: Leveraging these new formats (CTV, DCO) may require more budget, creative resources, and strategic alignment. Brands will need to decide whether the incremental ROI justifies the investment.
- Scaling: While managed service helps, scaling to many brands or across many categories (especially with custom creatives) could strain KPM’s service capacity.
Overall Assessment
- Strategic Move: Kroger Precision Marketing is strongly doubling down on its positioning as not just a retail media network, but a full-funnel brand growth engine for CPG marketers.
- Competitive Edge: These new capabilities differentiate KPM by combining Kroger’s first-party purchase data with advanced media — giving brands both reach and measurement.
- Attractive to Mid‑Tier Brands: The managed‑service model is especially smart — it lowers the barrier for medium-sized CPG companies to run programmatic campaigns with data-based targeting.
- Execution Will Be Key: Success will depend on how well KPM onboard clients to use these tools, how effectively they measure impact, and whether they scale without compromising service quality.
- Good question. Here’s a detailed case-study-style breakdown of Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM)’s newly unveiled tools for CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods) brands — plus some commentary on what this means, why it’s important, and the risks/opportunities.
Case Study: Kroger Precision Marketing’s New Tools for CPG Brands
What Has Been Announced / What’s New
- Faster Retail Insights via Enhanced Analytics
- Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM), powered by 84.51°, is rolling out a new suite of advanced analytics capabilities for CPG brands. (krogerprecisionmarketing.com)
- These tools are deeply rooted in first-party retail data (from 84.51° Stratum), combining customer behavior with Kroger’s own sales performance data. (krogerprecisionmarketing.com)
- Agent Monday: A notable feature — it’s an AI-powered weekly summary of brand performance, delivered each Monday. It highlights key consumer behavior trends and shifts, enabling quicker, actionable insights. (Supermarket News)
- Consolidated Dashboards: Coming in early 2026, KPM plans to launch unified dashboards in Stratum. These will allow brands to query performance using flexible selectors, custom segmentations, and same-day custom attributes. (krogerprecisionmarketing.com)
- Self-Service Data Orders: Also expected in early 2026 via KPM’s “Data Direct” tool. Brands will be able to extract tailored data sets (e.g., specific attributes, segments) and pipe them into their own systems (dashboards, data lakes), paying only for what they use. (krogerprecisionmarketing.com)
- KPM is currently running a beta program, letting qualified customers test these new features early and give feedback. (krogerprecisionmarketing.com)
- Expanded Managed-Service Capabilities
- In September 2025, KPM announced new managed-service (i.e., run-by-KPM) offerings for offsite programmatic advertising. (krogerprecisionmarketing.com)
- The managed services now include:
- Programmatic Audio: Ads on platforms like Pandora and iHeartMedia, non-skippable, and paired with companion banners. (The Shelby Report)
- Programmatic CTV (Connected TV): Ads on premium, ad-supported platforms like Roku, Paramount, Samsung, etc., targeted using Kroger’s purchase-based audience segments. (krogerprecisionmarketing.com)
- Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) for Display: Display creatives change dynamically based on real-time variables (weather, location, time of day, audience segment) so that messages are more contextually relevant. (Chain Drug Review)
- Importantly, these managed services include integrated retail-media measurement: standard media KPIs plus Kroger-specific retail metrics like incremental ROAS (iROAS), household penetration, uplift, sales in dollars and units. (The Shelby Report)
- The managed service route is particularly helpful for mid-sized CPG companies that may not have in-house CTV or programmatic experts. KPM’s team “takes on the complexity.” (The Wise Marketer)
- Content Studio for CPG Storytelling
- KPM has launched Fresh Content Studios, in partnership with Roku Brand Studio, to create commerce-first video content tailored to CPG brands. (krogerprecisionmarketing.com)
- Format types include: cooking demos, product reveals, meal plans, beauty tips, seasonal inspiration, etc., all informed by real Kroger shopper data. (krogerprecisionmarketing.com)
- This content will be distributed across Roku’s streaming TV platform and Kroger’s retail media network (online and in-store). (krogerprecisionmarketing.com)
- The concept: connect storytelling with performance — use retail data to inform content, then measure how that content drives shopping behavior / conversion. (krogerprecisionmarketing.com)
- Organizational & Strategic Shift
- KPM (powered by 84.51°) has reorganized: the retail media, insights, and loyalty teams are now unified under a single commercial group. (krogerprecisionmarketing.com)
- The idea is to provide full-funnel brand growth: from data + insight → planning → activation → measurement. (krogerprecisionmarketing.com)
- This unified model is designed to reduce friction, make media activation more seamless, and align insights and loyalty with media spend. (krogerprecisionmarketing.com)
Key Implications & Commentary
Here are some thoughts on why these moves are significant, what risks exist, and what this means for CPG brands and retail media broadly.
- Why It’s Powerful for CPG Brands
- Data-Driven Storytelling: By infusing Kroger’s first-party purchase data into content production (Fresh Content Studios), KPM enables brands to create stories that are not just engaging but directly tied to shopping behavior.
- Closing the Loop: The integration of media metrics (audio, CTV, display) with retail measurement (sales, iROAS) helps brands understand not just reach or impressions, but actual business impact.
- Speed & Agility: The Agent Monday AI summary could save marketing teams significant time and help them respond faster to shifts in consumer behavior. This level of automation democratizes insight.
- Accessibility for Mid-Sized Brands: Not all CPG companies have in-house programmatic or CTV teams. The managed-service model lowers the barrier to entry.
- Strategic Simplification: The reorganization under one team (media + insight + loyalty) reduces silos, potentially making strategy and execution more efficient.
- Risks and Challenges
- Over-reliance on Kroger Data: While Kroger is a major retailer, its data represents its ecosystem. Brands must be cautious about drawing all strategic conclusions from one retailer’s data — especially if they sell through many channels.
- Creative Scale: Producing tailored video content (cooking demos, etc.) is resource-intensive. Brands will need to weigh the cost of content production vs expected ROI.
- Measurement Complexity: While KPM offers integrated measurement, attributing lift (especially incremental sales) in a retail media context remains complex. Brands may need to be skilled in interpreting nuanced metrics like iROAS, penetration, etc.
- Adoption Risk: Not all CPG marketers are ready to adopt self-service data tools or new analytics dashboards. Training, adoption, and change management will be critical.
- Regulatory / Privacy: Use of first-party consumer data (even anonymized) needs to be managed carefully. As data privacy concerns intensify, retailers and brands must ensure compliance and trust.
- Strategic & Market Trends
- Retail Media Maturation: KPM’s expansion highlights how retail media is evolving beyond simple on-site ads. It’s becoming a full-funnel growth engine.
- Streaming & CTV Integration: The push into CTV and programmatic audio reflects broader trends: CPG brands are increasingly investing in addressable, measurable streaming media.
- Content + Commerce: With Fresh Content Studios, Kroger is betting that “commerce-first content” is a high-leverage way to bridge brand storytelling and direct purchase. This is part of a growing trend in retail media.
- AI in Retail Analytics: The Agent Monday feature underscores how AI / automation is being used not just for media targeting but performance summarization and insights generation.
Commentary: Broader Impact
- On the Retail Media Landscape: Kroger is reinforcing its leadership: by layering data science, content, and managed services, KPM competes not just on placement but on insights and activation.
- For CPG Marketers: These tools could significantly improve ROI on media investments. Brands that effectively use these insights will likely gain competitive advantage in terms of agility, relevance, and effectiveness.
- Future Outlook: If Kroger executes well, we might see more retailer-driven content studios in the CPG world. Also, the trend of combining first-party retail data with offsite media will likely accelerate.
- Potential for Innovation: There’s scope for even more advanced capabilities: e.g., real-time personalization in creative, predictive modeling for shopper behavior, or generative content optimized for sales impact.
- Faster Retail Insights via Enhanced Analytics