Ibotta has launched LiveLift, a new promotion optimization tool designed to help consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands accurately measure and enhance the return on investment (ROI) of their marketing efforts, particularly for in-store purchases. Beverage disruptor Liquid Death was an early adopter, achieving a significant 19% sales lift and a 23% increase in daily units moved during a pilot test.
For years, CPG marketers have grappled with the challenge of precisely measuring the effectiveness of promotions, especially for in-store sales, which still account for roughly 80% of the market despite the rise of e-commerce. LiveLift aims to bridge this gap, offering a real-time solution for campaign measurement and optimization.
How LiveLift Delivers Incremental Sales
The tool operates by analyzing billions of transactions from over 80 major retailers, including Walmart, Instacart, and Doordash, all of whom utilize Ibotta's platform. LiveLift compares statistically matched groups of consumers – those exposed to campaigns versus those who weren't – to establish baseline sales and accurately determine the incremental sales lift generated by promotions.
Liquid Death's Chief Media Officer, Benoit Vatere, described LiveLift as a "no-brainer" after witnessing its impact. "To be able to optimize toward incrementality and to put promo dollars against incremental sales, and really guide what kind of incremental goals you want to hit, we couldn’t do that [before]," Vatere explained. Beyond Liquid Death, CPG giants like Kimberly-Clark and Hain Celestial also participated in the pilot program.
Reinventing National Promotion Strategy
Ibotta plans a broader rollout of LiveLift, incorporating enhanced measurement frequency and greater optimization capabilities. Bryan Leach, CEO and founder of Ibotta, highlighted the tool's significance: "Marketers have come to expect precise measurement in their digital marketing efforts, but historically did not have access to the same level of capabilities for digital promotions. LiveLift enables brands to reinvent their national promotion strategy, allowing them to drive incremental volume at scale with control and efficiency."
For Liquid Death, a brand known for its top-of-funnel marketing without extensive traditional media buys, LiveLift provides a crucial mechanism to guide consumers through the sales funnel using temporary price reduction promotions, thereby boosting incremental revenue. Vatere emphasized the difficulty of managing promotions without precise targeting: "When you cannot really control where your promotions are going and who it’s going in front of, it can be very challenging. If you start getting promos in the hand of someone that was planning to buy anyway… it becomes very expensive."
Strategic Partnerships and Full-Funnel Approach
The introduction of LiveLift follows Ibotta's recent strategic partnership with Circana, a technology and analytics firm. This collaboration leverages Circana’s Household Lift measurement and AI-powered analytics, which have consistently shown Ibotta campaigns driving incremental sales that surpass category benchmarks. Liquid Death views LiveLift-powered Ibotta campaigns as a vital component of its lower-funnel strategy, especially for a brand operating with a smaller budget compared to beverage industry behemoths.
Vatere also offered advice for smaller brands: "The biggest issue with smaller brands is thinking because they have less dollars, they should just be in the lower funnel. You need to have both. The mix has to always be the same, [but] the dollar amounts will vary." This underscores the importance of a balanced marketing approach, where tools like LiveLift can optimize lower-funnel efforts while complementing broader brand-building initiatives.
