Intro

Presented by

The MarTech Matrix — a Blurbs production helping marketers find clarity in the chaos of MarTech. No fluff. Just the truth.

Summary

Marketers have been “data-driven” for years—but mostly by proxies. In this conversation, Attain President & COO Ben Kartzman joins host Sean Simon to show how connecting ad exposure to permissioned, first-party purchase data changes everything: measure real sales, optimize mid-flight, and build smarter audiences with competitive switching insights. If you’ve ever asked, “Did our ads actually sell anything?”—this one’s for you.

Why this matters (fast)

• Reality check: Clicks don’t equal customers. Sales do.

• New signal: Real-time purchase data sourced from consumers (not retailers) closes the loop.

• Actionable now: Move from post-hoc reporting to in-campaign optimization.

Highlights

• Outcomes > Proxies — Ben explains how the industry defaulted to what was easy to measure (CTR, impressions) and how Attain puts sales outcomes at the center.

• Permissioned scale — Attain’s dataset is built from 10M+ opted-in consumers via a value-exchange in consumer apps (points → cash/gift cards).

• CTV that sells — Example: Amazon Prime Live Sports campaigns where Attain ties ad exposure to incremental purchases (e.g., Taco Bell).

• Mid-flight wins — Pilot Flying J and Sally Beauty optimized against real buyers during the campaign, unlocking millions in incremental revenue.

• Insights that build audiences — Identify likely buyers, basket size, Prime membership, pet ownership, region, and where shoppers switch from/to—then target precisely.

• What’s next — The path from real-time attribution to predictive and ultimately agentic media.

  
  

Three Big Takeaways

1. Stop grading on proxies. Measure what your media actually sold.

2. Optimize while it runs. With real-time purchase data, you don’t have to wait for the post-mortem.

3. Know the switchers. Competitive switching intel is fuel for smarter conquesting and retention.

Favorite Quotes

• “Clicks don’t pay the bills. Sales do.”

• “When teams see the live purchase lift, the conversation shifts from measurement to optimization.”

• “Our data originates from consumers, so we avoid retailer blind spots like Amazon or Walmart.”

Who should watch

• Performance and growth marketers tired of dashboard vanity

• Omnichannel & offline-heavy brands wrestling with retail media attribution

• Media buyers who want real-time signal to act on, not just report