Lift

Lift is the incremental sales generated by a promotional event, expressed as a multiple of baseline. A 3x lift means the event drove three times the units the brand would have sold at base price with no promotional support.

Categories carry typical lift ranges. Ice cream and beverage routinely see 5-8x lift on a sharp TPR with feature/display. Dry grocery staples see 1.5-2.5x lift on the same level of support. Premium and emerging categories often see lower absolute lift but higher trial conversion that pays back over time.

The dollar-weighted question is incremental ROI: did the event generate enough incremental gross profit to cover the trade investment? A 5x lift sounds great until you factor in the depth of the discount, the free-fill obligation, the slotting tied to the event, and the cannibalization of subsequent weeks' sales.

A pattern to watch: a brand whose lift is creeping down over the years even though the trade spend is climbing is usually overspending on customers who would buy anyway. Cleaning up the trade calendar is one of the highest-leverage moves a new RGM hire can make in the first 90 days.

Roles where this matters: Trade Marketing, Brand Marketing, Revenue Growth Management, Sales.