The CPG Guys
Partners in Driving Brand Growth with Kroger Precision Marketing's Barbara Connors & Brian Dowey
Why It Matters
Retail media is becoming a primary growth engine for CPG brands, and Kroger’s unified approach offers a blueprint for how brands can collaborate more effectively with retailers. Understanding and aligning with retailer KPIs like trips and basket size is crucial for brands seeking sustainable, scalable growth in a crowded market.
Key Takeaways
- •KPM unified insights, media, loyalty into single division.
- •Aligning brand strategy with Kroger merchandiser goals drives trips, baskets.
- •Retailer‑brand collaboration requires data‑driven, shopper‑centric storytelling.
- •Brands must frame proposals around Kroger’s KPI, not internal metrics.
- •Integrated data ecosystem enables cross‑functional CPG teams without silos.
Pulse Analysis
In the opening segment, Barbara Connors explains how Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM) merged its insights, media, and loyalty businesses into one unified division. This consolidation tackles the rapid pace of technology and shifting consumer behavior by tearing down internal silos, allowing brands to move seamlessly from data‑driven insight to activation. The move signals a broader industry trend where retailers are becoming growth partners rather than simple distribution channels, positioning KPM as a central hub for brand‑level strategy and execution.
The conversation then shifts to practical alignment between CPG brands and Kroger’s merchandising teams. Brian Dowey stresses that true partnership starts with understanding the merchandiser’s core objectives—boosting trips, increasing basket size, and driving profitable top‑line growth. Brands that frame proposals around these KPIs, rather than their own internal metrics, can craft shopper‑centric stories that resonate across the aisle. Data‑rich insights about category trends, unmet consumer needs, and loyalty behaviors become the language that bridges strategy and measurable sales outcomes.
Finally, the duo highlights KPM’s integrated data ecosystem, which gives multiple CPG stakeholders—from category managers to media planners—a single source of truth. By offering both macro trend analysis and granular, real‑time insights, the platform lets teams collaborate without creating new silos. This flexibility supports everything from innovation scouting and end‑cap placements to coordinated digital‑in‑store storytelling, ensuring that brand growth initiatives are both scalable and retailer‑aligned. The result is a more agile, data‑driven approach that accelerates brand performance in a competitive retail landscape.
Episode Description
The CPG Guys are joined in this episode by Barbara Connors VP of Strategy & Activation and Brian Downey, Senior Director at Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM), the retail media business of Kroger designed to make brand advertising more effective by closing the loop between media exposure and store sales. Powered by 84.51˚ data science, and Kroger’s popular loyalty card program, KPM connects consumers to brands through engaging moments that inspire purchasing online or in-store.
Follow Barbara on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barbara-connors-10312810
Follow Brian on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-dowey-079b018
Follow KPM on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/krogerprecisionmarketing
Follow KPM online at: http://www.krogerprecisionmarketing.com
They answer these questions:
Please introduce yourselves and your roles at KPM
What does genuine alignment between a CPG brand and a retailer actually look like in practice — versus the version of alignment that’s mostly just a slide in a JBP deck?
How does that reframe the way you think a brand team should walk into a retailer conversation, and what do most brands still get wrong?
How do you help brands build a singular strategic framework that still gives each team the flexibility it needs — without creating chaos?
Where do you see the biggest mindset shifts still required — on the brand side and on the retailer side — to make that evolution real?
What are the most sophisticated users doing with it that the average user isn’t — and what does ‘near real-time’ insight access actually change about how brands plan?
What are the two or three decisions that have to be locked in early for a joint brand-retailer strategy to actually deliver?
How can brands use retailer insights to anticipate where preferences are going—not just report where they’ve been?
In practical terms, what does true integration across data, insights, activation, and measurement look like — and where do you see brand teams still getting stuck?
CPG Guys Website: http://CPGguys.com
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SheCOMMERCE Website: https://shecommercepodcast.com/
Rhea Raj’s Website: http://rhearaj.com
Lara Raj in Katseye: https://www.katseye.world/
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