CPG Giants Pivot to Retail Media as Traditional Advertising Fragments

February 11, 2026

By: Wiss Team

Wiss Team

“CPG brands are shifting spend into retail media because traditional channels can’t deliver the consistency or measurability they once did. But the real story isn’t the budget migration—it’s the accountability gap. Every CFO I speak with is asking the same thing: ‘Are we buying growth, or just buying credit for sales that would’ve happened anyway?’ With retail media networks fragmenting and new U.S.–India trade dynamics reshaping cost structures again, brands need retailer-specific strategies, unified attribution models, and a financial framework that can prove incrementality. The companies that bring discipline to this space will separate themselves fast.”

– Paul Lembo, Partner, CPG, Wiss

Procter & Gamble and Diageo are redirecting substantial advertising budgets toward retail media networks, signaling a fundamental shift in how consumer packaged goods companies approach brand building and sales conversion. The move comes as global retail media spending is projected to surge from $184 billion in 2025 to $312 billion by 2030, according to Forrester’s Global Retail Media Forecast.

The Fragmentation Problem

P&G identified a fragmented new media reality, as CEO Shailesh Jejurikar described it, during the company’s latest earnings call. The proliferation of emerging platforms and technologies has complicated efforts to maintain consistent brand narratives across online video, social media, e-commerce sites, and physical retail environments.

Retail media promises to close the gap between product discovery and purchase within unified ecosystems. For CPG companies, this integration represents an opportunity to leverage consumer understanding and brand-building capabilities from initial brand awareness through purchase transaction to in-home consumption. The strategy involves aligning these capabilities with each retailer’s category approach and business model to create value across all retail formats.

Diageo has similarly elevated retail media from a tactical performance channel to a core marketing mix component, reflecting the medium’s growing dominance in advertiser strategies. The shift makes particular sense given mounting pressure on marketing organizations to deliver immediate return on investment rather than longer-term brand equity building.

The Budget Migration

Agency executives report widespread client budget increases for retail media in 2026, with spending growth outpacing other channels. For agencies focused on consumer products, retail media represents the fastest-growing segment, described by some as experiencing explosive growth.

The spending increases vary by advertiser sophistication. Established brands already experienced with retail media channels are adding incremental budget increases, while challenger brands are expanding retail and commerce media allocations by up to 20% year over year. Notably, agencies report that no client is decreasing retail media investment compared to prior-year levels.

Budget migration is primarily from television, audio, and traditional shopper-oriented media like direct mail to platforms such as Amazon, Walmart, Albertsons, and Kroger. The reallocation reflects both opportunity and necessity—retail media offers measurable performance while traditional channels face declining effectiveness and audience fragmentation.

Industry observers attribute some momentum to lingering consumer uncertainty following trade policy volatility in 2025. Retail media is perceived as a safe harbor by marketers navigating uncertain economic conditions, with both consumers and advertisers gravitating toward trusted channels during ambiguous periods.

The Incrementality Question

Despite substantial spending growth and adoption by major advertisers, fundamental questions about retail media’s incrementality remain unresolved. The core issue: does retail media generate new sales, or does it primarily capture credit for purchases that would have occurred regardless of advertising exposure?

Beyond Amazon and Walmart, retail media remains largely an unstructured territory. Inconsistent measurement standards and varying capabilities across retailers create challenges for advertisers attempting to evaluate performance or optimize spending across networks.

The Home Depot’s introduction of ROMO (return on marketing objectives) last year exemplifies efforts to address measurement limitations. The metric attempts to help advertisers measure impact beyond immediate sales transactions, acknowledging that retail media’s value extends to brand awareness and consideration effects that traditional performance metrics miss.

Despite industry-leading CPG companies setting spending direction, retail media networks are generally still viewed as lower-funnel channels or investments in maintaining retailer relationships rather than full-funnel brand-building platforms. This perception limits how advertisers integrate retail media into broader marketing strategies and may constrain long-term spending growth if networks can’t demonstrate upper-funnel effectiveness.

Some agency executives remain skeptical about following large advertisers’ strategies without independent validation. They emphasize relying on proprietary data and client-specific results rather than assuming that what works for multinational CPG companies will translate to different brand categories or business models.

Strategic Implications for CPG Marketers

The shift toward retail media creates several strategic imperatives for CPG companies. First, brands must develop retailer-specific strategies that align with each platform’s unique category approach, audience composition, and capabilities. One-size-fits-all retail media strategies risk underperformance as networks increasingly differentiate their offerings.

Second, CPG marketers face pressure to demonstrate that retail media spending generates incremental sales rather than simply capturing share from other channels. This requires sophisticated attribution modeling and control group testing that many organizations haven’t yet implemented.

Third, integrating retail media into broader marketing strategies requires organizational changes. Historically, retail media sat within trade marketing or e-commerce teams. As spending scales and strategic importance grow, CPG companies are elevating retail media to enterprise marketing functions with dedicated leadership and cross-functional coordination.

The budget migration from television and traditional media also creates risks. While retail media offers superior measurability and conversion tracking, it may not build brand equity as effectively as mass-reach channels. CPG companies must balance short-term sales performance with long-term brand health, a tension that retail media’s performance orientation can exacerbate.

The 2026 Outlook

Retail media’s projected growth to $312 billion by 2030 assumes continued platform development, improved measurement capabilities, and sustained advertiser confidence in the channel’s effectiveness. Several factors could accelerate or constrain that trajectory.

Consolidation among retail media networks could improve standardization and make cross-platform management more efficient for advertisers. Conversely, continued fragmentation might limit spending as CPG companies reach capacity for managing multiple distinct platforms.

Measurement standardization represents the industry’s most significant challenge. Without consistent metrics across networks, advertisers struggle to optimize budgets or demonstrate incrementality convincingly. Industry initiatives seeking to establish common standards face resistance from networks that protect proprietary advantages.

Consumer adoption of retail media—particularly off-Amazon platforms—will ultimately determine the sustainability of spending. If shoppers don’t engage with retail media advertising or if ad load degrades user experience, conversion rates will decline and advertiser enthusiasm will wane.

For now, momentum remains strong. Major CPG companies are committing substantial resources, agencies are expanding capabilities, and retail platforms are continuing to invest in network development. Whether retail media proves transformational or simply becomes another performance channel competing for budget will depend on resolving questions of incrementality and delivering measurable brand-building effectiveness beyond immediate sales conversion.

CPG Industry Advisory & Marketing ROI Analysis

Major shifts in advertising strategy require rigorous financial analysis, ROI modeling, and cross-channel attribution capabilities. Wiss’s Consumer Products and Marketing Advisory Services help CPG companies evaluate channel effectiveness, model marketing ROI, optimize spending allocation, and implement measurement frameworks that demonstrate marketing’s incremental impact.

Whether you’re evaluating retail media investments, rebalancing channel mix, or implementing attribution modeling, our team provides strategic financial advisory grounded in industry-specific expertise.

Contact Wiss CPG Advisory Services to discuss marketing investment strategy and performance measurement.

Source: Marketing Dive – “P&G bets big on retail integration as CPGs question incrementality” by Kimeko McCoy, February 2, 2026

Editorial Note: This article provides general information about CPG marketing trends and advertising channel dynamics. It does not constitute marketing or investment advice. Companies evaluating advertising strategies should consult qualified marketing and financial advisors regarding specific investments and channel allocation decisions. Wiss & Company LLP provides accounting, tax, and advisory services to consumer products companies and businesses evaluating marketing effectiveness and ROI.