The Problem with Marketing Attribution Today
If you’re in CPG, you’ve felt it.
Your customer isn’t just browsing in-store anymore, they’re toggling between Instagram, TikTok, Amazon, influencer reviews, and retail apps, often all in a matter of minutes. In fact, today's consumer journey includes an average of 56 touchpoints before making a purchase (Think with Google).
We live in an age of everywhere commerce. Yet the systems we use to measure this fluid, unpredictable, nonlinear, consumer journey are often designed for a world that no longer exists.
Attribution, especially beyond last-click, has become a guessing game.
66% of marketers use 16 or more martech platforms, while 70% struggle to stitch together audiences across these touchpoints. (Transunion)
Despite investment in CDPs, loyalty platforms, and martech stacks, brands are still asking the same deceptively simple question: What’s actually driving growth?
Attribution Without Context is Just Noise
We’ve worked with the world's largest CPG brands, and we see the same pattern again and again:
- Digital media spend is rising. ROI confidence is not.
- Data is abundant. Strategic insight is rare.
- Siloed touchpoints make it nearly impossible to track the full consumer journey, or connect the dots between exposure and conversion.
Most attribution models—whether first-touch, last-touch, or even multi-touch—assume a kind of neat, linear and rational consumer logic. But consumer behavior isn’t neat. It’s noisy, emotional, and often non-linear.
Behavioral economics teaches us that decisions are driven by more than exposure. They're shaped by context, timing, trust, bias, friction, and perception. A consumer may see your product five times across five channels—but it’s the sixth moment, in a specific environment, that triggers action. Attribution models built solely on clicks will miss this entirely.
Why Behavior > Clicks
Most attribution tools treat exposure as the trigger. But behavioral economics shows us that action depends on trust, timing, message relevance, and perceived friction.
So the question isn’t just “Did they see it?”—it’s “What shaped their intent?”
At Theory+Practice, we treat attribution as a strategic challenge, not just a technical one. That’s why Continuum AI focuses on uncovering the behavioral signals that matter.
We help CPG brands understand:
- Where consumers get stuck—and why
- Which touchpoints build trust, not just conversions
- How timing, channel, and message relevance shape intent
- Why different audiences behave differently across purchase paths
This is how attribution becomes insight. And insight becomes action.
From Data Overload to Decision Clarity
You don’t need more dashboards.
You need fewer, smarter signals.
Our approach, and our Continuum AI platform, is grounded in what we call Minimum Viable Data (MVD)—the smallest set of high-impact data needed to drive the biggest decisions.
By combining behavioral insights with predictive and optimization models, Continuum AI helps brands:
✅ Identify high-leverage touchpoints
✅ Prioritize budget based on real influence
✅ Move from attribution to action—faster
This isn’t just reporting. It’s decision intelligence.
By combining behavioral insights with predictive and optimization models, Continuum AI helps brands:
"MVD refers to those select data points, often subtle yet profoundly informative, which carry within them the crucial signals necessary for insightful analysis. This cycle of asking the right questions and curating the right data points is fundamental. When done correctly, it leads to a more streamlined and efficient decision- making process.
The key lies in understanding that more data is not always better. The real power comes from identifying those critical pieces of information that, when analyzed together, provide the most significant insights. This approach not only simplifies the data analysis process but also ensures that decisions are based on the most relevant and impactful information available. By focusing on MVD, businesses can cut through the noise, make more informed decisions, and ultimately drive better outcomes."
Rogayeh Tabrizi - CEO and Founder of Theory + Practice
By combining behavioral data with predictive and optimization models, we help brands move from attribution to action—faster.
How to Reimagine Your Attribution Strategy
Attribution isn’t just about credit—it’s about clarity.
And clarity is what fuels growth.
As retail media spend climbs toward $60B in 2025 (Nielsen), CPG brands can’t afford to fly blind. If you're spending millions on media but still can’t connect the dots between exposure and outcome—it’s time to evolve.
Start asking better questions. Demand smarter tools. Move beyond the click.
We’re here to help CPG brands turn fragmented journeys into focused, measurable insight—with Continuum AI as your strategic advantage. Learn more.
Continuum AI helps you unify the messy customer journey and drive attribution clarity. Finally see what’s really driving purchase decisions — from shelf to social.
Ready to Turn Your Data into Impact?
If your organization is facing complex decisions and underused data, let’s talk. We’ll help you turn theory into measurable business outcomes.
See Continuum AI in Action. Watch a Demo Today.
