At a Glance
• Retail media investment decisions increasingly depend on more than access to retailer audiences. Brands are asking for clearer measurement, easier activation, transparent rules, and a partnership that connects media activity with wider brand and category priorities.
• Industry research from IAB Europe, ANA, IAB/MRC, and Advantage Group consistently identifies standardisation, attribution, transparency, buying complexity, and collaboration as material issues for the market. [2] [3] [4] [5]
• A brand-ready retail media network should be managed as an operating model: shared objectives, governed data, usable products, credible evidence, accountable service, and a repeatable learning agenda.
Retail Media Has Reached the Partnership Test
RETHINK Retail's "Beyond the Transaction" session frames the next stage of retail media around three practical themes: building real partnerships, proving that media works, and creating more productive brand investment conversations. [1] The wording matters. It shifts the question from how much inventory a network can sell to how confidently a brand can plan, activate, evaluate, and learn with that network.
This is not a rejection of performance media. Retail media remains valuable because it can connect audience, commerce context, and sales outcomes. The limitation appears when the commercial relationship is reduced to placements, retailer-by-retailer reporting, and campaign-level optimisation without a shared view of the brand objective or the evidence needed to support the next decision.
The practical leadership question is therefore broader: can the network make the advertiser's job easier while protecting the retailer's customer experience, data responsibilities, and commercial model?
The Brand-Readiness Test Can a brand understand the audience, activate without avoidable friction, compare performance on consistent definitions, test incrementality when needed, see the material limitations, and convert the learning into a better next plan? |
What the Evidence Says Brands Value
IAB Europe's 2025 Attitudes to Retail Media study received more than 180 responses across 31 markets. Buyers prioritised transparency (82%), performance (76%), and measurement options (75%) when evaluating retail media partners; ROAS was the most requested metric, while fragmentation and lack of standardisation remained major barriers. [3] These findings are European and survey-based, but they provide a clear hierarchy of buyer concerns.
ANA's 2024 client-side marketer research reached a similar conclusion from a U.S. advertiser perspective. Respondents ranked lack of standardisation across networks as the leading challenge, followed by attribution to sales and the timeliness of data and analytics. [4] IAB/MRC research with 200 retail media buyers and 30 senior interviews also documented buying-process complexity, demand for standards and transparency, and dissatisfaction with partner communication. [5]
The common pattern is not that brands want one universal metric or one identical network. They want decisions to be interpretable. A number has limited value when the sales basis, attribution window, audience logic, fee treatment, optimisation change, or data limitation is unclear.
Brands Want a Shared Growth Agenda Before a Media Menu
A useful retail media brief begins with the business question. Is the priority to defend category share, recruit new customers, launch an innovation, improve household penetration, increase consideration, support a seasonal event, or understand how a media exposure changes behaviour? The answer determines the audience, format, measurement method, and time horizon.
When objectives are not aligned, teams can optimise different outcomes while believing they are working on the same programme. Shopper marketing may focus on conversion, brand marketing on reach and equity, sales on retailer commitments, ecommerce on digital sales, and finance on incremental return. A partnership model makes these differences explicit and translates them into one objective hierarchy.
IAB's 2025 Outlook notes that buyer goals span the purchase funnel, even as customer acquisition remains a major priority. [11] Retail media networks therefore need a portfolio story that explains what each product is designed to do, which evidence it can support, and where it should not be over-interpreted.
Measurement Must Move From Report Delivery to Decision Design
The IAB/MRC Retail Media Measurement Guidelines and IAB Europe's 2026 Commerce Media Measurement Standards reflect the industry's move toward consistent definitions, transparent reporting, and clearer sales and incrementality methods. [5] [8] A brand-ready network should not wait until the campaign ends to explain its measurement model.
Before launch, the parties should agree the KPI dictionary, gross or net sales basis, attribution window, included channels, new-to-brand definition, return and cancellation treatment, reporting cadence, data-lag expectations, and the decision the result will inform. This makes the post-campaign conversation less about reconciling definitions and more about interpreting evidence.
ROAS can remain useful for campaign management, but it does not automatically establish causal impact. IAB's advanced-measurement guidance describes randomised controlled trials, match-market tests, counterfactual models, media mix modelling, and other approaches. [6] The 2025 IAB/IAB Europe incrementality guidelines emphasise credible counterfactuals, control of bias, and separation of signal from noise. [7] The method should match the decision, the available data, and the practical cost of testing.
Transparency Is an Operating Capability
Transparency is often discussed as a reporting preference. In practice, it is an operating capability. It includes clear fees, inventory and delivery rules, data inputs, audience construction, attribution logic, optimisation changes, brand-safety controls, reporting limitations, and escalation paths.
A transparent network can still have proprietary technology and differentiated methods. The requirement is not to expose every algorithm. It is to give the advertiser enough information to understand what was purchased, how delivery was governed, how outcomes were calculated, what changed during the campaign, and which conclusions are supported by the evidence.
Collaboration Can Be Measured and Managed
Advantage Group cites Sevendots analysis combining financial performance and supplier-collaboration scores across 21 major global retailers. The most collaborative retailers grew revenue by 4.6% on average while the rest declined by 1.2%, and retail media showed the largest capability gap between the groups. [2] The result is an association in a limited sample, not proof that collaboration alone caused growth. It nevertheless supports a practical point: the quality of the retailer-supplier relationship belongs in the operating model, not only in relationship language.
Collaboration becomes operational when it has a cadence and evidence: a joint brief, named owners, response standards, a learning agenda, an issue log, quarterly reviews, action closure, and an agreed capability roadmap. The network should be able to show not only campaign results but also how advertiser feedback changed the product, workflow, or measurement model.
Intent Amplify Brand-Ready Retail Media Operating Model™
Eight operating layers that connect brand priorities to accountable retail media execution
01 | Shared Growth Agenda |
02 | Audience & Data Value |
03 | Portfolio & Experience |
04 | Planning & Activation |
05 | Measurement Architecture |
06 | Incrementality & Causal Evidence |
07 | Transparency & Governance |
08 | Partnership & Learning |
Figure 1. Intent Amplify Brand-Ready Retail Media Operating Model™ - Eight-Layer Architecture
A Brand-Ready Operating Model
The Intent Amplify Brand-Ready Retail Media Operating Model™ connects eight layers from strategic alignment through partnership and learning. The model does not assume that every network should look the same. It provides a common set of questions that makes different networks easier to evaluate and improve.
The first four layers make the proposition usable: shared objectives, clear data value, a portfolio with defined roles, and reliable activation. The next three make the evidence trustworthy: measurement architecture, incrementality methods, and transparency. The final layer ensures that the relationship improves over time rather than restarting with every campaign.
Executive Metrics for the Partnership Model
• Percentage of campaigns with an agreed objective hierarchy, named decision owner, and documented measurement plan before activation.
• Percentage of audience products with current definitions, privacy controls, match or coverage documentation, and known overlap considerations.
• Brief-to-launch time, creative revision cycles, service-level performance, and time to resolve material delivery or reporting issues.
• Percentage of campaigns using standard KPI, sales, attribution, and new-to-brand definitions; number of approved exceptions.
• Percentage of material budget decisions supported by an appropriate incrementality or causal method, with limitations recorded.
• Advertiser confidence, service, transparency, and partnership scores; actions closed from feedback and quarterly reviews.
• Learning reuse: tests, audience findings, creative guidance, and operating changes applied to the next campaign or annual plan.
Intent Amplify Brand-Ready Retail Media Scorecard™
Table. Intent Amplify Brand-Ready Retail Media Scorecard™
Domain | Executive Assessment Question | Ready-State Evidence |
Strategic Alignment | Are brand, category, customer, and retailer outcomes agreed before media is selected? | Joint brief, objective hierarchy, success definitions, and named decision owners. |
Audience & Data Clarity | Can the advertiser understand who is reachable, how audiences are built, how data is governed, and where overlap may exist? | Segment definitions, coverage and match documentation, recency, consent/privacy controls, and permitted uses. |
Full-Funnel Fit | Does each product have a defined role across awareness, consideration, conversion, loyalty, and category growth? | Portfolio map, funnel role, audience context, shopper experience, and format guardrails. |
Activation Usability | Can teams plan, buy, launch, optimise, and troubleshoot without avoidable friction? | Standard brief, rate and availability rules, creative specifications, lead times, workflow, and service levels. |
Creative Flexibility | Can the network support brand-quality creative while protecting the shopper experience? | Approved formats, adaptable specifications, review process, brand-safety controls, and in-store/on-site experience checks. |
Measurement Consistency | Are KPI definitions, sales bases, attribution windows, reporting calendars, and methods explicit and comparable? | Measurement dictionary, gross/net sales definitions, attribution rules, reporting schedule, and reconciliation controls. |
Incrementality Readiness | Can the network distinguish observed outcomes from credible incremental impact where the decision requires it? | Test design, counterfactual, bias controls, sample and power assumptions, limitations, and decision thresholds. |
Transparency | Can the advertiser see delivery, fees, data inputs, methodology, limitations, optimisation changes, and material exceptions? | Transparent reporting, method notes, fee disclosure, change log, issue register, and auditable decision record. |
Partnership & Service | Does the network operate as an accountable partner rather than a sequence of transactions? | Named team, response standards, joint planning cadence, escalation paths, and advertiser feedback. |
Learning & Governance | Does each campaign improve the operating model and inform future allocation decisions? | Learning agenda, test register, action owners, QBR/JBP record, capability roadmap, and closed-loop follow-through. |
Access the Beyond the Transaction Session Explore the RETHINK Retail session on what brands expect from retail media networks and how stronger partnership, measurement, and investment conversations can move the relationship beyond inventory alone. |
Continue the Retail Media Partnership Journey
Move from executive education to operating assessment through one consistent content and decision path.
Stage | Asset or Offer | Purpose |
TOFU | Retail Media Brand-Readiness Checklist | Identify the first gaps across partnership, activation, measurement, transparency, and governance. |
MOFU | Download the Brand-Ready Retail Media Playbook | Apply the eight-layer operating model, maturity path, implementation roadmap, and scorecard. |
Decision | Access the Retail Media Partnership 2026 Research Report | Review methodology, buyer evidence, operating implications, maturity progression, and executive findings. |
Commercial | Request a Retail Media Brand-Readiness Assessment | Evaluate advertiser experience, data value, activation, measurement, incrementality, transparency, and service. |
Activation | Schedule an Executive Partnership Workshop | Align commercial, marketing, data, measurement, and operations leaders on priorities, owners, evidence, and next actions. |
About Intent Amplify
Intent Amplify combines market intelligence, buyer-signal interpretation, content-led engagement, and precision GTM execution to help B2B organisations turn complex market themes into measurable pipeline programmes. [13]
Have questions or need strategic guidance? Contact Us.
Research and Citation Governance
Official publisher, trade-association, standards, and industry-research sources are used for campaign framing, buyer priorities, measurement, and partnership claims. Survey results retain their sample, geography, year, and sponsorship limits. Forecasts are identified as projections. Proprietary frameworks and recommendations are presented as Intent Amplify analysis, not as independent market findings. All URLs were checked as accessible public sources on the revision date.
References
[1] RETHINK Retail. Beyond the Transaction: What Brands Actually Want from Retail Media Networks - official webinar page and publisher announcement. https://rethink.industries/video/beyond-the-transaction-what-brands-actually-want-from-retail-media-networks-2/ Accessed July 28, 2026. Official campaign source framing the session around stronger brand partnerships, credible proof of media impact, and brand investment conversations. Promotional market-share claims are not used in this suite.
[2] Advantage Group International. Retail Media Network Performance Measurement / Voice of Retail Media. https://www.advantagegroup.com/retailers/retail-media Accessed July 28, 2026. Official provider page citing Sevendots analysis across 21 major global retailers. It reports that the most collaborative retailers grew revenue by 4.6% on average while the rest declined by 1.2%, and that retail media was the largest measured capability gap. The relationship is treated as an association, not proof of causation.
[3] IAB Europe. Attitudes to Retail Media Report 2025 - key trends, challenges, and opportunities. https://iabeurope.eu/iab-europe-releases-latest-attitudes-to-retail-media-report-revealing-key-trends-challenges-and-opportunities/ Accessed July 28, 2026. Industry survey with more than 180 respondents across 31 markets. Buyers prioritised transparency, performance, and measurement options; fragmentation and lack of standardisation remained major barriers. Survey scope and geography are retained.
[4] Association of National Advertisers (ANA). Retail Media Networks: Optimism Tempered with Caution. https://www.ana.net/content/show/id/pr-2024-07-rmn Accessed July 28, 2026. Official ANA release based on a survey of client-side marketers fielded in November 2023. It reports lack of standardisation, attribution to sales, and data timeliness as leading concerns.
[5] Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and Media Rating Council (MRC). Final Retail Media Measurement Guidelines and buyer research. https://www.iab.com/news/iab-and-mrc-releases-retail-media-measurement-guidelines/ Accessed July 28, 2026. Official release describing measurement guidelines and a buyer study of 200 RMN ad buyers plus 30 senior interviews. It documents buying complexity, demand for measurement standards, transparency, and stronger collaboration.
[6] Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). Retail Media Advanced Measurement and Data Collaboration. https://www.iab.com/guidelines/retail-media-advanced-measurement-and-data-collaboration/ Accessed July 28, 2026. Official guide covering incrementality, randomised controlled trials, match-market testing, counterfactual models, media mix modelling, shadow-mode testing, and privacy-compliant data collaboration.
[7] IAB and IAB Europe. Guidelines for Incremental Measurement in Commerce Media. https://www.iab.com/guidelines/guidelines-for-incremental-measurement-in-commerce-media/ Accessed July 28, 2026. Official 2025 guidance on matching causal methods to business goals, grounded in credible counterfactuals, bias control, and separation of signal from noise.
[8] IAB Europe. Commerce (Including Retail) Media Measurement Standards V2.1. https://iabeurope.eu/knowledge_hub/iab-europes-commerce-incl-retail-media-measurement-standards-v2/ Accessed July 28, 2026. Updated January 2026 standards with a refined measurement funnel, standard definitions for gross and net sales, a formal definition of incrementality, approved methodologies, and guidance on new-to-brand and new-to-category timeframes.
[9] IAB and IAB Europe. In-Store Retail Media: Definitions and Measurement Standards. https://www.iab.com/guidelines/in-store-retail-media/ Accessed July 28, 2026. Official final standards defining in-store retail media, measurement principles, ad formats, and store zones to support consistent reporting and comparability.
[10] ANA, 4As, and IAB. Cross-industry leadership priorities for AI, commerce/retail media, measurement, and talent. https://www.ana.net/content/show/id/pr-2026-07-leadership Accessed July 28, 2026. Official July 2026 announcement identifying shared definitions and standards across commerce and retail media as a collective industry priority.
[11] Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB). 2025 Outlook: A Snapshot into Ad Spend, Opportunities, and Strategies for Growth. https://www.iab.com/news/report-digital-advertising-growth-retail-media-ctv-social/ Accessed July 28, 2026. Official survey-based outlook reporting that buyer goals span the purchase funnel and projecting retail media spend growth above overall ad-spend growth for 2025. Forecasts are identified as projections, not realised results.
[12] Path to Purchase Institute / TransUnion. Retail Media Networks: Trends Report 2025. https://www.transunion.com/lp/2025-rmn-report Accessed July 28, 2026. Sponsored industry study in which CPG brand marketers evaluated RMNs across targeting, measurement, ROI, data sharing, sales growth, creative freedom, and traffic-driving capabilities. It is used directionally and identified as sponsored evidence.
[13] Intent Amplify. About Intent Amplify. https://intentamplify.com/about/ Accessed July 28, 2026. Official company description used for the About Intent Amplify section.
