A large CPG organization had invested in a Customer Data Platform, but the expected ROI wasn’t showing up. The platform was difficult to activate, first-party data was limited, and the business needed a clearer path for connecting with consumers in a traditionally offline category.
Drumline conducted a MarTech audit to evaluate the organization’s CDP investment, data strategy, activation opportunities, and broader marketing technology roadmap. The work helped leadership clarify what the CDP could realistically support, where the strategy needed to evolve, and how to redirect investment toward tools and capabilities with stronger business value.
A large CPG company came to Drumline with a familiar but frustrating challenge: it had invested in a Customer Data Platform, but the business wasn’t seeing the value or ROI it expected. The technology was in place, but deployment was difficult, use cases were unclear, and first-party data was limited.
The bigger challenge was strategic. As a traditionally nondigital category, the organization needed a stronger data and analytics foundation to better understand consumers, connect offline shopper behavior to digital engagement, and make smarter decisions about its MarTech investments.
Through stakeholder interviews and discovery, Drumline identified that the CDP deployment issue was not only a technology problem. It was a strategy problem wearing a technology hat. The organization lacked the people, processes, data foundation, and aligned use cases needed to make the platform valuable.
The CDP’s capabilities were also misaligned with the organization’s objectives. By reframing the problem from “How do we make this platform work?” to “What data and technology strategy will create measurable business value?” Drumline helped the team focus on a more realistic path forward.
Drumline began by understanding the organization’s broader marketing and business goals, including measurement, product consumption, in-store sales, and consumer engagement. This shifted the engagement from a narrow CDP evaluation to a broader MarTech audit focused on data readiness, platform fit, and business value.
The discovery process included stakeholder interviews across departments and executive leadership, reviews of business and marketing plans, and an end-to-end evaluation of marketing technology, data assets, and integrations. Drumline then organized findings into four focus areas: strategy, governance, insights, and activation.
With a clearer current-state assessment in place, Drumline helped define a desired future state and align stakeholders around a shared North Star. The team then built a multiyear roadmap designed to create fast value from existing tools while setting a stronger foundation for long-term data and analytics growth.
Drumline’s recommendations became the foundation for a broader organizational transformation focused on improving data literacy, marketing technology decisions, and analytics strategy. Instead of continuing to invest in a CDP that did not fit the organization’s current needs, leadership redirected resources toward tools and capabilities better aligned to its goals.
The recommendation to divest the CDP saved more than $100K, which was redirected into web analytics and other solutions better suited to the organization’s use cases. Drumline also continued supporting the client’s work to better understand digital audiences, including shoppers, brand advocates, food service partners, and other high-value user groups through behavioral attributes.
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