NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–A.P. Keaton, a full-service marketing and experiential agency, is expanding its collaboration with PINATA, an AI-powered platform designed for brand execution. This partnership aims to enhance A.P. Keaton’s ability to manage and verify retail merchandising programs for global brands, including Campari Group, at a national scale. The move comes as beverage alcohol brands face mounting pressure to demonstrate return on investment for trade spending, making the tracking of in-store compliance and execution quality increasingly critical.
As traditional metrics of success, such as authorizations and display visibility, fall short of driving sales, A.P. Keaton emphasizes the necessity of data-driven approaches to merchandising. The agency’s “Perfect Store” initiatives, which define ideal shelf execution and verify it at individual locations, illustrate the importance of consistency in execution that can influence sales velocity. The partnership with PINATA is indicative of a broader shift within the alcohol and consumer packaged goods (CPG) industries toward data-centric operational strategies.
Through PINATA, A.P. Keaton seeks to streamline field reporting, automate merchandising workflows, and provide verified documentation of in-store executions to brand and distributor stakeholders. This transition aims to replace outdated manual tracking processes that have historically consumed time and resources across the industry. The platform enables A.P. Keaton to organize and track retail and experiential activations across its national programs, facilitating shelf audits, display documentation, and compliance checks tied to both national and regional campaigns.
The expansion of this partnership comes as A.P. Keaton’s operational footprint grows, with PINATA’s AI-driven workflows and real-time reporting ensuring campaigns are executed consistently across various markets. Moreover, the platform allows A.P. Keaton and its brand partners to analyze the effectiveness of large-scale retail display installations while converting field activities into structured, photo-verified records that bolster brand accountability and drive AI-powered program measurement.
“Execution is everything,” stated Ryan Goldstein, Founder and CEO of A.P. Keaton. “When you’re running thousands of retail executions across markets, you need more than people in the field… you need structure, visibility, and proof. PINATA allows us to track what’s actually happening in-store and give brand partners real accountability around execution.”
The platform supports A.P. Keaton in tracking display installations, competitive conditions, product positioning improvements, and field team activities across national programs. Its AI-powered reporting capabilities translate field execution into measurable, documented outcomes that brand and distributor teams can leverage for timely decision-making.
Across its customer base, PINATA now serves over 100,000 users in various organizations, processing more than three million verified execution touchpoints each month throughout all 50 states. Each report, photo, and interaction enriches an AI-ready data layer that facilitates pattern recognition, automated insights, and intelligent recommendations across diverse programs and markets. The platform significantly reduces manual tracking and report verification time by over 95%, effectively reallocating resources from administrative tasks to more impactful work while enhancing data accuracy and consistency.
“A.P. Keaton represents the modern evolution of trade and experiential marketing,” remarked Ian Ferguson, CEO of PINATA. “They are operating at the intersection of fabrication, field marketing, retail execution, and experiential… and they do it at serious scale. PINATA’s AI and automation ensure that every activation, display install, and Perfect Store visit is captured, verified, and visible across the entire ecosystem.”
By integrating A.P. Keaton’s creative and operational expertise with PINATA’s advanced execution platform, global brands can achieve not only a prominent retail presence but also the operational infrastructure and intelligence necessary to maintain it across diverse markets. This collaboration showcases the potential of AI technologies in transforming how brands execute and measure their retail strategies.
As industries increasingly turn to AI-driven solutions, the partnership between A.P. Keaton and PINATA exemplifies a strategic response to the evolving landscape of retail merchandising and brand execution, setting a new standard for operational efficiency and accountability.
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