Additionally, Lower Levels of Cybersecurity Investment Limit Identification of and Response to Cyberattacks Forest-products companies plan to increase their investments in digital technologies over the next three years, in part to protect their market share and competitive advantage, according to a new report from Accenture. “In this asset-intensive industry, the application of digital technologies to collect data is not a new phenomenon” Based on a survey of 200 executives at forest-products companies in 10…

Series A Investment will Help Drive Further Development of Blu’s Market-leading Media Technology Software and Services Blu Digital Group, Inc. (BDG), a digital media services and software company, announced today that it has closed its multi-million-dollar Series A round of funding with the investment led by C. Richard "Dick" Kramlich, Co-Founder of New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Green Bay Ventures. "It is very gratifying to see our growth as a company, and the scope of our opportunity, recognized by a Silicon Valley…

Key Takeaways 93% of retailers making website top priority during Pandemic. 86% reported increase their ecommerce website budget during Pandemic   81% report personalization as key focus right now compared to 55% pre Pandemic.  71% of retailers report brand authenticity is a key driver in online success.  iAdvize, a leading conversational platform solutions provider serving more than 2,000 brands in 100+ countries, today announced the results of a study that surveyed more than 100 US retail…

NICE inContact, a NICE business, announced the findings of a global research study detailing the growing role of digital-first omnichannel experiences in fostering customer loyalty and advocacy. The 2020 NICE inContact Customer Experience (CX) Transformation Benchmark, Business Wave surveyed over 1,000 global contact center decision-makers and found a trend among businesses moving towards self-service vs. agent-assisted channels — now 43 percent of businesses prefer to offer self-service channels, a 15 percentage point…

Genpact, a global professional services firm focused on delivering digital transformation, announced the expansion of its experience business, Rightpoint, with the acquisition of Something Digital. The addition of Something Digital's deep commerce expertise to Rightpoint's customer experience leadership will further enable the company's ability to drive experience-led transformation at scale for clients across industries. Today's announcement furthers Genpact's strategy to fuse experience and process innovation to help…

Thanx, a leading provider of digital guest engagement and retention tools for restaurants, retailers, and malls, announced today that RHI Group, a retail marketing technology firm, has made a strategic investment in the company. RHI Group is financed by M33 Growth and Ribbit Capital. "The RHI team and this group of investors could not be a more perfect fit for the Thanx vision; we’re thrilled to have them as partners," said Zach Goldstein, Founder and CEO of Thanx. "Brick-and-mortar commerce in the US alone is a…

Rockbridge Growth Equity, a Detroit-based private equity firm, announced an investment in Quartile Digital, a provider of AI-driven autonomous advertising optimization and spend management software for use by leading brands and sellers across various digital commerce platforms. The investment will be used to recapitalize the business and support the development of direct sales and marketing efforts, product enhancements, and further international expansion. Quartile enables brands and sellers to improve their return on…

In-house and hybrid trading models now used by 84% of respondents Programmatic trading channels for WFA Members account for more than two fifths (41%) of global digital media investment, up from 16% in 2016. Regional splits show the current figure has hit 50% in the US, 31% in Europe and 20% in APAC. The WFA’s Programmatic, Data & Technology Global Survey 2020 highlights the uneven pace of adoption of programmatic around the globe and the mix of models being used, even in the same company. However, the global trend –…

Rising importance of chatbots and increasing use of virtual and online channels to result in 15.7% growth of the MAS market, finds Frost & Sullivan Frost & Sullivan's Post-pandemic Growth Opportunity Analysis of the Marketing Automation Solutions Market forecasts how the marketing automation solutions (MAS)market is expected to perform from 2020 to 2025 under two likely scenarios. The aspirational forecast is under the assumption that the COVID-19 virus will be contained by August 2020 and the global markets will…

The investment plan will provide cloud services from local datacenters to contribute to the development of the country, a robust education and skilling program to support employability for hundreds of thousands of youth, projects applying AI to benefit the society, and an Advisory Board with important CEOs as some of the first initiatives over the next five years Microsoft announces continued progress on its plan “Innovate for Mexico», to contribute to the development of the country. The main pillar of the plan is focused…

Suzy, a leading on-demand consumer insights platform, announced the closing of $12 million in Series C funding. Bertelsmann Digital Media Investments (BDMI) led the round, with participation from Foundry Group and Triangle Peak Partners. Existing investors also include Tribeca Venture Partners and Kevin Durant’s 35 Ventures. “We are thrilled to be partnering with BDMI for this critical round of funding,” said Matt Britton, Chief Executive Officer of Suzy. “The global reach of Bertelsmann, including their publishing, music,…

The investment will accelerate the development of Punchh's customer AI technologies while optimizing its solutions for new retail verticals Punchh, the leader in customer marketing solutions for physical retailers, announced it has raised $40 million in a Series C funding round led by Adams Street Partners and Sapphire Ventures, with AllianceBernstein also participating in the round. The new funding will be used to further augment Punchh's AI capabilities as it expands into new verticals such as convenience stores and other…

Digital age driving women’s sport to the forefront as 84% of output uses social platforms Women’s sport has grown in prominence thanks to the rise of digital platforms and is now set to skyrocket. In fact, 94% of industry professionals are primed to increase investment in the creation, production and distribution of content, according to research from Imagen, the leading SaaS video management platform business. The survey of more than 300 senior sports industry executives found that this development is predominately…

Digital Asset Monetary Network, Inc. or “DigitalAMN, a Public Accelerator-Incubator (“PAI”), announced, that DigitalAMN has completed an initial investment into Project JAM, Inc. (Justice For All Musicians (“Project JAM” or “JAM”)), the blockchain component, social media platform – focused on bringing fairness and transparency to the music industry. DigitalAMN initially announced the onboarding of Project JAM as a client-company in August. On the heels of DigitalAMN’s signing of Project JAM, Spotify announced the…

IAB, the national trade association for the digital media and marketing industries, named veteran digital industry sales and strategy leader Sheryl Goldstein to the role of Senior Vice President, Marketing and Member Investment. She will be responsible for the trade group’s marketing and sales teams, beginning. Over a 20-year career, Goldstein has filled senior sales, marketing, and strategy roles at some of the digital sector’s most prominent companies, including Yahoo, AOL, and About.com. In 2016 through 2018, she built…

Initiative Reinforces the Business' Commitment to Helping Clients Navigate a Complex Tax Landscape with Innovative and Flexible Solutions That Deliver Insights and Value Deloitte shared more details of its global 'Tax in 2020' initiative, a three-year digital transformation plan launched in 2018. The plan is anchored by its unprecedented investment in building a seamless global tax experience for its clients. Tax in 2020 is focused on reimagining how clients navigate the increasing change and complexity in the tax…

Marketers Add New Capabilities To Meet Growing Digital Customer Engagement, Resulting in Higher Average Order Value for Many Companies, MeritB2B Reports MeritB2B, the leading provider of B2B data and performance marketing solutions, today announced the results of a survey of B2B marketers that shows a dramatic increase in digital marketing over the course of 2020 and a focus on digital growth in 2021. With business buyers mostly online for the past year, B2B marketers reported added investment into digital channels for both…

Newly Simplified and Modernized Packaging Unifies Cloud, Agile Development, and Traditional Technology Spending and Planning Apptio, Inc., the leading provider of technology business management (TBM) solutions, announced today that its launching a redesigned portfolio of products.  The customer-driven changes, will provide users with dedicated solutions to their highest priority initiatives while continuing to deliver trusted technology investment decisions to drive better business outcomes. These simplified and modernized…

Mijem Inc., the Canada-based social media and technology company, today announces that it has closed an investment from noted technology entrepreneur Calvin Ayre, founder of venture capital firm Ayre Group Ventures and blockchain conglomerate CoinGeek. Mijem will use the investment to support the company's ambitious growth agenda, which includes implementing a unique Bitcoin SV-based cashback loyalty system using the Bitcoin SV blockchain. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Marketing Technology News: MarTech Interview…

Social Media sits at the center of people's daily lives and businesses are increasingly reliant on social data to inform strategic decision making across an organization. In fact, according to new research commissioned by Sprout Social —an industry-leading provider of cloud-based social media management software—and conducted online by The Harris Poll, 85% of business executives report that moving forward social data will be a primary source of business intelligence for their company, and nearly half (46%) expect their…