Operative Launches “Premium at Scale” Initiative To Accelerate Path For Media Companies To Manage Multi-Channel Media

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July 10, 2018

Harte Hanks Appoints Veteran Jack Griffin as New Independent Director to its Board

Former CEO of Time Inc. and Group President of Meredith Publishing Group, Jack Griffin Joins Harte Hanks Board of Directors

Harte Hanks recently announced that it has appointed John H. “Jack” Griffin, Jr. to its Board of Directors, effective July 5, 2018, to fill the seat held by William F. Farley, whose resignation was previously announced and became effective upon Jack’s appointment.

Jack is currently a Managing Director at Oaklins DeSilva+Phillips, a media advisory firm. His previous media and operational experience includes CEO of Tribune Publishing, CEO of Empirical Media, Senior Advisor at Alix Partners, CEO at Time, Inc., and Group President of Meredith Publishing Group.

“We welcome Jack to our Board. His extensive experience in media, digital transformation, operations, and financial transactions will be a great benefit to Harte Hanks’ Board and business,” commented Al Tobia, Chairman of the Board. “Jack’s appointment marks another milestone in the company’s governance and Board review and refreshment process, with the Board adding new directors with significant domain expertise. I would personally like to thank Bill Farley for his dedication and years of service on behalf of Harte Hanks. We wish Bill well in his future endeavors.

Also Read: Browser Maker Opera Files For A $115 Million US IPO, Bitmain offers $50 Million

“Jack and our three other new directors who joined the board June 15, 2018 (Bant Breen, Maureen O’Connell and Martin Reidy), bring significant experience from a wide array of marketing service businesses. They will provide valuable strategic and operational guidance helping us capitalize on the opportunities in the dynamic data-driven marketing ecosystem,” stated Karen Puckett, CEO of Harte Hanks.

“Harte Hanks has a strong brand, an impressive client roster, and is well-positioned in the dynamic marketing services market,” commented Jack, adding, “I am honored to join the Board during a time of opportunity driven by personalized data-driven marketing requiring deep data capability, marketing technology, and strategic and creative expertise.”

Nemont Uncovers New Revenue Opportunities with Calix Marketing Cloud Behavioral Analytics

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July 10, 2018

Nemont Uncovers New Revenue Opportunities with Calix Marketing Cloud Behavioral Analytics

Montana-based Telecommunications Cooperative Nemont Dramatically Improves Broadband Service Tier Upgrades and Managed Wi-Fi Campaign Results

Calix Inc. announced Nemont Telephone Cooperative has been using Calix Marketing Cloud to focus and streamline its marketing campaign segmentation to generate new service revenues. A leading local exchange carrier (LEC), Nemont delivers broadband to over 14,000 square miles across the Northeastern part of Montana and into North Dakota, serving varied residential and business subscribers from many small rural communities to growing oil boom cities like Williston, ND. As Calix Marketing Cloud highlights the subscriber behaviors that are primed for specific service packages, Nemont is seeing impressive take rates of up to 59 percent on new campaigns, while driving 50 percent increases in subscriber sign-ups on existing offers.

“When serving a rural and vast service area like we do at Nemont, it is important to be as efficient as possible while ensuring our subscribers receive broadband services that are on par with those available in urban areas,” said Scott Paul, director of wireline operations at Nemont. “With Calix Marketing Cloud, we have made significant progress on both of those goals as we can now target the right subscribers at the right time, and in the right way, to raise the quality of their experience.

Also Read: Browser Maker Opera Files For A $115 Million US IPO, Bitmain offers $50 Million

Nemont’s phenomenal upsell campaign results speak for themselves:

The Broadband “Speed Bump” Campaign – Over the course of a four-week period, Nemont leveraged Calix Marketing Cloud behavioral analytics to create the ideal subscriber profiles to target, driving a whopping 59 percent take rate for increased Internet speeds. These subscriber profiles had high usage of gaming and/or streaming applications but were on lower service tiers. With the speed increase, subscribers instantly received better application performance, while Nemont realized a return on investment (ROI) of 262 percent with a single campaign.
Whole Home Wi-Fi Service Campaign – Nemont introduced its managed Wi-Fi service, named “Advanced WiFi.” With the help of Calix Marketing Cloud, the take rate nearly doubled from earlier Advanced WiFi campaigns and dramatically improved their subscribers’ broadband experience.

“Nemont has a long history of leading the broadband pack, as it was the first to enable a gigabit community in Montana in 2015, and that tradition continues today,” said Skip Hirvela, vice president of sales at Calix. “By utilizing Calix Marketing Cloud, Nemont is once again showing its commitment to its subscribers and ensuring they are receiving the services that are optimized for each household’s broadband needs. As Nemont expands its Advanced WiFi offering and introduces new services in the future, we are looking forward to seeing Calix Marketing Cloud analytics continue to make an impact on the success of their business.”

Susan Thomas Honored as Entrepreneur of the Year Winner in 2018 Women World Awards

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July 10, 2018

Susan Thomas Honored as Entrepreneur of the Year Winner in 2018 Women World Awards

Women World Awards Win Focuses on Susan Thomas’ Commitment to Company Leadership, Community-Building, and Team Development

10Fold CEO Susan Thomas has been announced as one of the winners of the prestigious Women World Awards in the Entrepreneur of the Year category. The coveted annual Women World Awards program encompasses the world’s best in leadership, innovation, organizational performance, new products and services, and milestones from every major industry in the world. The win comes just a few weeks after 10Fold was honored with the Grand Stevie Award for Most Honored PR Agency of the Year, and Business Intelligence’s Best Place to Work Award.

More than 80 judges from a broad spectrum of industry voices from around the world participated and their average scores determined the 2018 award winners. Winners will be honored in San Francisco on Monday, July 30 during the annual SVUS Red Carpet Awards Ceremony Dinner attended by the finalists, winners, judges and industry peers.

Also Read: Impartner Honored with Two Golds and a Silver in Annual IT World and CEO World Awards

Susan is a B2B tech marketing executive best known for her ability to deliver creative thought leadership strategies to support high-growth companies. Founder of 10Fold, Susan built the agency to become among the top 10 percent of all public relations agencies in the US, and one of the largest independently-owned agencies to exclusively support B2B technology companies. Susan has won nearly a dozen awards for her leadership and 10Fold has won more than three dozen awards for creativity and service excellence. 10Fold (past and present) clients include large global brands such as Comcast, Xerox, Vodafone, Itron and Brocade, as well as promising privately held startups that have achieved record-setting exits such as Nimble Storage, AppDynamics, and ProofPoint. Susan is on the advisory board for Heritage Commerce Bank and was the prior Vice Chairman for YMCA East Bay Board of Directors.

“It is an honor to be recognized as Entrepreneur of the Year by the Women World Awards,” said Susan. “This award would not be possible without the dedication of our entire team, and I am very proud to share this honor fully with them.”

DISH delivers Hands-Free TV with the Google Assistant

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July 10, 2018

DISH delivers Hands-Free TV with the Google Assistant

DISH First Major Pay-TV Provider to Offer Compatibility with the Google Assistant – Available on Hopper, Hopper Duo, Joey and Wally Set-Top Boxes

DISH debuted its new integration with the Google Assistant for a Hands-Free TV entertainment experience. DISH customers with a Hopper, Hopper Duo, Joey or Wally can control their TV using just their voice when paired with an Assistant device, like Google Home, Android phones or iPhones. DISH is the first pay-TV provider to offer direct compatibility with the Assistant.

Niraj Desai

“Since we first introduced voice control technology, we’ve seen our customers really embrace the hands-free TV experience,” said Niraj Desai, DISH vice president of product management. “Our collaboration with Google is an exciting opportunity for us to continue meeting demand for voice and changing the way we interact with television.”

Michele Turner

“We want to make it easy and fun for people to turn their living room into a smart entertainment center with the Assistant,” said Michele Turner, Sr. Director, Google Smart Home Ecosystem. “By working closely with DISH, we’ll ensure that customers can easily control their TVs through the Assistant, instead of searching for or having to share the remote.”

Also Read: Advangelists Launches “LIFE” – True Measurements for the Life of an Ad

Ask the Google Assistant for Hands-Free TV on DISH

Customers can ask the Assistant to set recordings, adjust volume and launch apps like Game Finder, Netflix and Pandora. Customers can also use the Assistant to navigate, play, pause, fast-forward, rewind and search content based on channel, title, actor or genre. When using search functionality, the results displayed include DISH’s live, recorded and on-demand titles, as well as Netflix’s selection of TV shows and movies.

Below are examples of spoken commands you can ask the Assistant:

• “Turn on my Hopper”

• “Mute my Hopper”

• “Change the channel to ESPN”

• “Tune to channel 140”

• “Go to Food Network”

• “Show me Big Bang Theory”

• “Show me home improvement shows”

• “Record Game of Thrones on Hopper”

• “Show me Tom Hanks movies”

• “Play This is Us”

• “Play Top Gun on DISH”

• “Launch Netflix on Hopper”

• “Open Game Finder on Hopper”

• “Skip forward on Joey”

• “Rewind 30 seconds”

• “Pause” and “Resume”

Spanish-language support will be coming soon.

Setting up the Google Assistant on DISH

DISH customers with a broadband-connected Hopper DVR (all generations), Hopper Duo, Joey (all models) or Wally can use the Google Assistant to control their TV when paired with the Assistant on devices like Google Home, Android phones or iPhones. To set this up, users must download the Google Assistant app on a mobile device.

MailTime Messenger Reaches Over 7 Million Downloads, US Customers Love Messaging Over Emails

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July 10, 2018

Also Read: Email Marketers Are Confident Machine Learning Can Personalize Content To Individual Interests, New Study By The Relevancy Group And OneSpot

MailTime Messenger Reaches Over 7 Million Downloads, US Customers Love Messaging Over Emails

With over 7 Million Downloads, MailTime Messenger Continues to Blur the Line Between Messaging and Emailing

MailTime announced that two major US carriers will preload the application onto several top Android phone lines in the US This will bring the MailTime app up to 1 million US users.

Named one of the Apple App Store’s Best of 2015, MailTime has hit over 7 million downloads since debuting in 2014. Compatible with any major email service, MailTime is now available for free on both App Store and Google Play.

MailTime is a mobile app that blurs the lines between instant messaging (IM) and emailing. Unlike conventional IM platforms that require people to download the same app, MailTime relies on email protocol. Thus, MailTime users can communicate with any email address – the recipient doesn’t need to have the app. MailTime’s content parsing engine simply cuts out annoying metadata and display emails in bubbles that resemble IM.

Data show that as of April in 2018, the number of active monthly users from the top 3 mobile messengers Whatsapp, Facebook Messenger and Wechat adds up to a whopping 3800 million. The smooth experience of IM has won users’ attention over traditional SMS and phone calls.

Also Read: Email Marketing Company Emma Delivers Solution-Driven Integration with Venga

The native SMS app is also messaging, and a carrier-based service, but it’s gradually losing its users on mobile. With the rise of mega-giant messaging apps like Wechat, Facebook Messenger or LINE, more users are leaving SMS.

If there is something as universal as SMS, it’s the email protocol. It connects everyone on any network. That’s why MailTime email messenger is the perfect choice for carriers to win the battle in the messaging space.

“We believe that with MailTime’s modern messaging experience, carriers can win back users’ attention with innovation. Our exclusive email experience delivers users’ email instantly with a simple messaging UI that everyone is accustomed to today,” said Michael Zhou, COO of MailTime, who used to be the Business Director at Huawei’s Consumer Sector.

Heatherm Huang

Before launching MailTime, co-founder Heatherm Huang created Talkbox, the first voice messenger app, which reached 13 million users. This functionality was eventually adopted by major tech companies and is now a feature in most messaging services. Because Talkbox was a closed network, it clashed with other networks and helped fracture the voice messenger world into several incompatible ecosystems. Huang built MailTime on top of an open protocol so it could become as universal as SMS, with maximum market potential. Last year, someone wrote a novel based on this story, and it’s now a TV Series called “Entrepreneurial Age”.

“Throughout the years, we have been working really hard to make messaging the way people email in the future. I am glad that the MailTime experience will be delivered to more users on Android,” said Huang. According to the team, the app will soon announce its new partnerships with a few top phone manufacturers this summer as well.

French Children’s Retailer ÏDKIDS COMMUNITY Chooses Oracle Retail Cloud to Make More Profitable Inventory Investments

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July 10, 2018

French Children’s Retailer ÏDKIDS COMMUNITY Chooses Oracle Retail Cloud to Make More Profitable Inventory Investments

Intuitive Planning Cloud Service Enables Retailer to Better Understand Consumer Behavior and Preferences across Brands and Store Locations

Oracle announced that ÏDKIDS COMMUNITY has selected Oracle Retail Planning and Optimization Cloud Services to gain better understanding of their customers and their behaviors. ÏDKIDS COMMUNITY specializes in children garments and toys and operates retail brands including Okaidi, Jacadi, Obaibi and Oxybul through a network of over 1300 stores in 53 countries. Through the implementation with Oracle Retail Merchandise Financial Planning Cloud Services and Oracle Retail Assortment Planning Cloud Services, ÏDKIDS COMMUNITY will improve the buying and planning of their inventory with a better understanding of their customer behavior and expedite return on technology investment by accelerating digital transformation through cloud infrastructure. Cognira, a Gold level member of Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN), will guide the retailer through the implementation process and cloud migration.

Rodolphe Even

“Consumer behavior is shifting and we know that having tools with accurate perspective on how customers engage with our brands will ensure we’re making the right merchandising decisions. We launched a search for the right retail solution that could offer deep insights from sales and stock analysis to increase profitability and minimize unnecessary discounts across our portfolio,” said Rodolphe Even, Chief Information Officer, ÏDKIDS COMMUNITY. “After a competitive sales cycle and a detailed proof of concept, we chose Oracle Retail Planning and Optimization Cloud Services for their rich functionality and ability to scale with our business.”

Also Read: Oracle Recognized as a Leader in Email Marketing by Independent Analyst Firm

“Our business teams were limited by the tools available to properly plan inventory assortments. With a modular, configured approach, the finance and planning teams can streamline into a single holistic planning process for greater efficiency and accuracy that enables more strategic merchandising investments and eliminates residual stock,” Delphine Brabant, Head of Buying/Product IT department, ÏDKIDS COMMUNITY. “Our buying and product management teams found the Oracle Retail solutions to be intuitive and easy to use.”

Chris James

“We are delighted to partner with ÏDKIDS COMMUNITY on this initiative to grow their Omnichannel, multi-format business,” said Chris James, Vice President, Oracle Retail. “With Oracle Retail Cloud services at the core of ÏDKIDS COMMUNITY digital transformation project, IT teams can look forward to an investment that will continue to deliver best-of-industry practices as brands continue to grow.”

“Cognira has helped a wide variety of retailers achieve measurable benefits from retail planning, supply chain and analytic software investments and we look forward to bringing this expertise to ÏDKIDS COMMUNITY implementation,” said Hatem Sellami, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Cognira.

IT Executives Balancing Tech Budgets Between Business Necessities and Innovation

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July 10, 2018

IT Executives Balancing Tech Budgets Between Business Necessities and Innovation

2018 CIO Tech Poll: Economic Outlook Research Provides Insight into the Business Factors Impacting Tech Spending and Growth

IDG’s CIO — the executive-level tech media brand providing insight into business technology leadership—released the 2018 CIO Tech Poll: Economic Outlook research highlighting tech spending patterns. This year’s survey of 240 heads of IT confirms that organizations are receptive to adopting new technologies and are continuing to expand their IT budgets. The average total annual tech budget is $121 million, and when asked how their tech budget is expected to change in the next 12 months, 57% of respondents anticipate a budget increase.

This year the research provided more specific insights into the solutions that organizations are allocating their IT budgets towards. On average, 66% of IT budgets are dedicated to solutions that maintain the current business. These include tools that run the business such as administrative initiatives, operational activities and inventory replacement. Nearly a third (31%) of tech budgets are focused on growth and innovation – think machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT). Some organizations are more focused on what’s next as 16% of respondents say at least half of their IT budget is allocated towards growth and innovation.

Throughout a fiscal year, it is common for priorities to shift and budgets to be redirected. The majority of respondents said that their past budget shifts occurred due to IT initiatives/projects starting and stopping (47%), system upgrades/maintenance (43%) and a change in the number of IT initiatives starting in given year (40%). Future budget changes are expected to be driven by new mandates from executive management, and pressure from the line of business to make changes to IT operations or strategy.

Also Read: Survey Shows North American and APAC Companies Unprepared for New Data Protection Law GDPR

Technology Budget Ownership

As organizations become more invested in innovative technologies, the research explores who is primarily responsible for driving investment in six specific technologies: AI, cloud, data & analytics, IoT, machine learning and mobility. Within this mix of emerging and established tools IT holds primary responsibility in all these areas, especially when it comes to cloud computing (76%). While the IT department leads tech investment, they collaborate with colleagues in various departments on new technologies. With departments throughout the organization needing tech enhancements, operations (50%), marketing (47%) and engineering (38%) are all expected to experience an increase in their budgets dedicated to technology within the next 12 months.

“Technology solutions continue to evolve as digital transformation creates an opportunity for new and revamped products,” said Adam Dennison, SVP/publisher, CIO. “Organizations see the value tech enhancements bring to their business and tech executives are not slow to reevaluate their plans and align their best practices with these next best tools. IT executives are consistently increasing their tech budgets to research key technologies and expand their solutions at the best interest of their organization’s success.”

Also Read: Instagram’s IGTV Competes With YouTube, Finds Takers in Influencers, Vloggers, As Well As Publishers

New Tools & Global Trends Influence Investments

Given its recent hype and exploration of use cases, this year’s CIO Tech Poll: Economic Outlook had a focus on blockchain. The results found that 40% of heads of IT view blockchain as an opportunity, which aligns with the 64% of heads of IT that report having plans to use blockchain technology. When looking by geographic region, North American respondents are further along on their blockchain initiatives as 46% are actively researching the tool compared to 32% of non-North American respondents.

DevOps is another technology that is on the radar for many organizations. Eighty-percent of respondents report that their organization either has DevOps in place, is planning to adopt, or is currently evaluating it. However, the majority (54%) say they already use DevOps in some part of the business today.

This interest in new solutions could easily be put on the back burner if economic events shift priorities. When asked how future events and trends are expected to impact their organization’s tech investment plans, heads of IT continue to see the threat of major information security breaches as a concern (83%), followed by the newly established GDPR regulations (62%). This slightly differs by region, as 46% of North American respondents expect GDPR compliance to have no impact on their investment plans versus only 30% of non-North American respondents. More than half (54%) of organizations say that global trade policies will also impact their tech investments. There is a strong regional difference here as well, as 47% of North American respondents say these policies will impact their IT investments compared to 61% of non-North American respondents.

IMImobile Expands Digital Customer Engagement Strategy in North America

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July 10, 2018

IMImobile Expands Digital Customer Engagement Strategy in North America

IMImobile Completes Acquisition of Impact Mobile

IMImobile PLC., a global cloud communications software and solutions provider, is pleased to announce it has completed the acquisition of Impact Mobile Inc., Canada’s leading provider of end-to-end mobile engagement solutions from Dealnet Capital Corporation.

Impact Mobile provides mobile customer engagement solutions to clients including operators, retailers, government agencies and major household brands across Canada and the United States.

As mobile customer engagement across enterprise marketing and customer service becomes increasingly conversational through digital communication channels, the use of interactive messaging has become central to the way businesses communicate with their customers.

The acquisition was supported by Silicon Valley Bank and serves to strengthen IMImobile’s North American presence and management team. The Impact Mobile team will remain with the business to oversee the integration and delivery of future growth initiatives. Impact Mobile’s JumpTXT platform will be integrated into IMImobile’s CX Automation Cloud infrastructure.

Also Read: Browser Maker Opera Files For A $115 Million US IPO, Bitmain offers $50 Million

Jay Patel, Chief Executive Officer of IMImobile commented, “We are delighted to announce the acquisition of Impact Mobile. Its customer and product portfolio is highly complementary to IMImobile’s existing products and solutions, providing the Group with immediate and significant cross-sell and up-sell opportunities to extend the distribution of our communications technology and solutions into an established customer base. We look forward to working with the Impact Mobile team to expand our footprint across North America.”

John Leon, General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of Impact Mobile added, “With the market for mobile customer engagement and enterprise customer messaging set for significant growth, we’re delighted to be joining the IMImobile team, enabling us to accelerate growth in North America, as well as benefit from the extended product portfolio and global reach of the Group.”

Rosh Wijayarathna, Managing Director of Silicon Valley Bank said, “We are pleased to support IMImobile with this latest acquisition. We love working with some of the most innovative companies in the world and IMImobile is an impressive business with a track record of financial, operational and strategic progress, which can capitalize on a buoyant market set for significant growth in the coming years.”

Kentico Positioned as Challenger in Ovum’s WEM Decision Matrix 2018-2019

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July 10, 2018

Kentico Positioned as Challenger in Ovum’s WEM Decision Matrix 2018-2019

Europe-based Study of Web Experience Management Looked at Company’s Premise- and Cloud-Based Offerings

Kentico Software, a growing CMS vendor with offices in Europe, Asia Pacific, and North America, recently announced that it has improved its standing in the latest Ovum Web Experience Management (WEM) Decision Matrix to “Challenger”. The UK-based analyst firm based its rating on reviewing Kentico’s two major product lines — Kentico EMS and Kentico Cloud.

The company continues to aggressively develop Kentico EMS…

“Kentico has done well in analyst reports in the United States, and we’re delighted to see that we’re now gaining visibility among the analyst community on the European continent,” said Bart Omlo, vice president of Kentico’s EMEA and LATAM sales regions.

“This Ovum report is a reflection of a lot of hard work being done at Kentico. We’re continuing to aggressively develop our Microsoft.Net based Enterprise Marketing Solution or EMS. Version 12 is scheduled for release at the end of the calendar year, and we expect the influx of new customers to continue, particularly among midsize businesses who are looking for an agile, easy-to-use, and competitively priced solution,” he added.

Also Read: Qualtrics Named Winner of 2018 CRM Service Awards for Second Year in a Row

…But has its eye on the cloud for the future

Omlo continued, “At the same time, we continue to build out our next-generation product. Kentico Cloud takes an entirely different approach to CMS by giving companies the tools to store content in cloud-based content hubs and format and deliver that information to an omnichannel world, from laptops, tablets, and smartphones to digital billboards, smart appliances, and video screens in cars, airplanes, hotel lobbies, elevators, gasoline pumps, and grocery stores. This cloud-based approach to CMS that we are pioneering gives companies the ability to control their messaging and get closer to customers than ever before.”

Pegasystems Appoints Christine Parker as Vice President and Industry Market Leader for Financial Services

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July 10, 2018

Pegasystems Inc., the software company empowering customer engagement at the world’s leading enterprises, announced it has appointed Christine Parker as vice president and industry market leader of Pega’s financial services business. With more than 20 years in the financial services industry, Ms. Parker will be instrumental in leading Pega’s go-to-market strategy in one of its largest vertical markets.

Ms. Parker’s experience includes working with top banking and wealth management firms to implement business and technology strategies that deliver customer-centric enterprise transformations. She joins Pega from Ernst & Young’s financial services advisory practice, where she led the design and deployment of global, enterprise-wide digital strategies for clients to optimize customer engagement and operational efficiencies.

Previously, Ms. Parker was the head of customer success and service for BNP Paribas’ Hellobank! direct bank division, and a global re-engineering executive within Citi’s commercial banking division. Prior roles include digital transformation and customer strategy leadership roles at top strategy and consulting firms such as Gartner and KPMG.

Also Read: Pegasystems Recognized As A ‘Top 100 Great Place To Work 2018’

Ms. Parker graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and Information Systems Management from LeMoyne University. She has a Master’s of Science degree in Strategy and Information Management from Syracuse University.

Quotes & Commentary:

Steve Rudolph

“With constant digital disruption upending the financial services industry, our clients must continue to evolve to meet both their business goals and the needs of their customers,” said Steve Rudolph, vice president, industry markets, Pegasystems. “Christine’s extensive experience will help our clients continue their digital transformation efforts to ultimately provide better customer experiences as we continue to grow our business.”

Christine Parker

“Pega’s clients – some of the top financial institutions in the world – are empowered to provide seamless, differentiating experiences and optimal service while instilling and maintaining customers’ trust in their organizations,” said Christine Parker, vice president and industry market leader, Pegasystems. “I look forward to helping our clients continue to achieve success by taking on imperative transformation initiatives to outpace their competition, and contributing to Pega’s success in this industry.”

Patrick Mackaronis, Brabble Founder, Announces New eCommerce Product *Star Tags

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July 9, 2018

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Patrick Mackaronis, Brabble Founder, Announces New eCommerce Product *Star Tags

Brabble, a New York-based technology company, is pleased to announce that it is now able to enhance online sales and track customer data for companies through its new patented technology called Star Tags.

“Star Tags is Brabble’s most valuable feature and is something that the online marketplace has been demanding,” says Brabble founder Patrick Mackaronis. “A Star Tag is a programmable link that can be embedded into any content posted online. These links can be placed inside social media networks, websites or eCommerce marketplaces where online shoppers or social users can browse products and make purchases.”

Patrick Mackaronis

The Star Tag is able to stay native to a post and can be shared infinitely throughout the entire social web or directly within a company’s eCommerce website and platform, Patrick Mackaronis goes on to explain. Brabble’s strategy is to utilize marketing and sales campaigns to maximize sales by driving traffic to online products.

Also Read: Vestorly Adds Financial Services Veteran Larry Roth to Advisory Board

Brabble has also recently partnered with leading technology company mLogica, which is based in Orange, California. mLogica is a technology and product consulting company that manages development, IT, infrastructure and security services and that works with name brands like Amazon, Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, and Live Nation, to name a few. Brabble and mLogica have created plans to build out the Star Tag technology together for direct partnerships and eCommerce revenue programs with organizations in the online industry.

“Brabble has created intellectual property around the Star Tag technology which has been in the works for many years,” Mackaronis adds. “With the partnership and support of mLogica working with Brabble, the potential for Star Tags has grown tremendously.”

Instagram’s IGTV Competes With YouTube, Finds Takers in Influencers, Vloggers, As Well As Publishers

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Shalaka Nalawade

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July 9, 2018

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Instagram's IGTV Competes With Youtube, Finds Takers in Influencers, Vloggers, As Well As Publishers

IGTV Allows Users To Generate Up To 60-Minute Long Videos, Allowing Content Providers To Up Their Video Content

Popstar and actor Jaden Smith just released his five-track-long new album titled ‘Electric’ on IGTV! And we are now beginning to get a hang of this new platform by Instagram.

Last month, Instagram announced that it has reached 1 billion users. The company also announced “a new app for watching long-form, vertical video,” i.e. Instagram TV (IGTV). IGTV is available as an added feature in the app, as well as a stand-alone app.

“IGTV is different in a few ways. First, it’s built for how you actually use your phone, so videos are full screen and vertical. Also, unlike on Instagram, videos aren’t limited to one minute. Instead, each video can be up to an hour long,” informed Kevin Systrom, Co-Founder & CEO, Instagram, on the company’s website.

Systrom added that IGTV is easy-to-use for anyone with an Instagram account, “We’ve made it simple, too. Just like turning on the TV, IGTV starts playing as soon as you open the app. You don’t have to search to start watching content from people you already follow on Instagram and others you might like based on your interests. You can swipe up to discover more — switch between “For You,” “Following,” “Popular” and “Continue Watching.” You can also like, comment and send videos to friends in Direct.”

Also Read: You Can Now Share GoPro Moments Directly to Your Instagram Stories

Will it replace YouTube?

With influencers already using the platform for monetary benefits, through Carousel Content and Instagram Stories, IGTV only adds one more avenue for social influencer-generated content; a very different one than Google’s YouTube.

In her review of IGTV, Josie Rhodes Cook writes, “You could make your IGTV channel resemble traditional television by creating an hour-long series and uploading videos once a week. Or half-hour-long sitcoms — pick your poison, really. The possibilities are endless.”

Bryan Lanning, who runs his YouTube channel Daily Bumps, was quoted by New York Times, saying that he viewed IGTV as a new market to explore, one where it would it be easier to gain a following of younger people. “We’re going to see what kind of brands are hopping on board, what the monetization policies are,” he said. “The cool thing, all of that has to be established for the first time just like it was with YouTube.”

Also Read: 8 Proven Strategies to Make Video Marketing Successful for Your Small Business

News, views and much more

A week after it was launched, publishers were already posting a mix of live-stream content, repurposed vertical videos as well as original features.

Vogue posted new versions of its “Beauty Secrets” series with actor Lili Reinhart, alongside a video of Kylie Jenner trying out her own makeup products. One of BBC’s video follows a woman’s struggle with polycystic ovary syndrome, which had more than 60,000 views and 60 comments within a week, in retrospect, BBC Stories’ in-feed Instagram videos get 1,000 views on an average.

Sam Forsdick, in his article, noted that early adopters of Instagram TV include BBC News, ITV News Vice, The Economist and so on. “All are seeking to capture a portion of the social media sites billion users, the majority of which are in the 18-29 age demographic,” Forsdick wrote.

The same report quotes Ciara Riordan, Deputy Social News Editor, BBC News, saying, “We’re looking to give our followers a longer, more immersive version of stories we know have appeal on Instagram already. Stories that cover human interest, diversity, people helping each other out, first-person story-telling, big news stories and exclusive BBC News interviews and features.”

IGTV might just turn out to be the millennial answer for traditional TV. Let’s wait and watch.

Recommended Read: Is Your Facebook Engagement Working For You?

Publishers Clearing House Names Andy Goldberg as Chairman and CEO

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July 9, 2018

Publishers Clearing House Announces Appointment of Andy Goldberg to New Role as Chairman and CEO

Goldberg Will Continue to Serve as President and CEO

Publishers Clearing House (PCH), a leading interactive media company and a top destination for online free-to-play, chance-to-win entertainment, announced the appointment of Andy Goldberg as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Goldberg, who has been with the company for 35 years, will take over duties from longtime Chairman and former CEO Robin Smith, who will remain an active member of the board. Goldberg will continue to serve as President and CEO in addition to his new role as Chairman.

“I’ve never been more excited about the ongoing evolution of PCH,” Goldberg said. “We have successfully grown our business into a leading multi-platform media and entertainment destination for millions of consumers. The deep level of engagement and trust we maintain with our users and the excitement of the Publishers Clearing House brand have become a winning combination for marketers and advertisers. I look forward to furthering that evolution in my new role as Chairman and CEO.”

Also Read: Interview with Jeffry van Ede, Co-Founder and CEO, Simplaex

Robin Smith has served as Chairman of the Board for the past 15 years following an extremely successful 21 year run as CEO of PCH. “We are most grateful for all of her dedication, valuable insights and enormous contributions to PCH’s success,” Goldberg added.

Currently, PCH reaches more than 70% of all US households and is one of the only premium digital publishers to combine first-party user data with purchase data to help marketers and brands connect directly with their precise audiences.

To put PCH’s current scale in perspective, people visit PCH’s digital properties more than 4 million times a day, viewing nearly 2 billion pages each month. They spend more than 8 minutes a day on PCH’s digital properties, higher than The Washington Post, Meredith (both 2.7 mins) and Google Sites (5.9 mins), according to comScore. PCH sites have more monthly unique visitors than Vice, Houzz, Barnes & Noble, and GSN, all per comScore.

PCH is the leading destination for millions of people who are passionate about chances to win entertainment. By combining snackable content with fresh and innovative promotions, PCH offers its users an engaging and highly differentiated entertainment experience which is omnichannel across the desktop, mobile web, and mobile applications.

Troparé and Lattice Engines Announce Strategic Partnership to Execute AI-driven Sales Plays via Mobile Devices

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July 9, 2018

Troparé and Lattice Engines Announce Strategic Partnership to Execute AI-driven Sales Plays via Mobile Devices

Customers Will Be Able to Create AI-Driven Sales Plays in the Lattice Atlas Platform

Troparé Inc., a thriving developer of self-service B2B marketing and sales acceleration solutions and Lattice Engines, the leading provider of AI-based revenue acceleration solutions, announced a strategic partnership to help customers execute on account-based marketing and sales programs at scale via mobile devices. As a result of this partnership, customers will be able to create AI-driven sales plays in the Lattice Atlas platform, which can then be executed by sales reps on any smartphone or tablet – independent of Salesforce or other CRMs.

Jean-Paul Gomes de Laroche

“Troparé has been very successful developing custom data-related native mobile applications for enterprise customers over the years,” said Jean-Paul Gomes de Laroche, Corporate Vice President at Lattice. “This partnership will enable any customer, no matter their CRM of choice (if any), to access AI-driven insights and execute sales plays whenever and wherever they want.”

Also Read: Nuance Continues to Lead in Delivering Matured AI-Powered Enterprise Intelligent Assistants

Troparé’s application development platform serves over 4.5+ million users worldwide and is capable of producing custom native applications across any mobile operating system in a matter of days. “Time-to-value in onboarding a new customer – including the creation, design, and testing of their custom application, takes approximately one week,” says Troparé CEO and founder, Greg Carpenter.

“Our proven mobile platform, in combination with Lattice Engines, creates an ideal channel to easily access and consume their unique predictive insights, accelerating the entire sales cycle without being bound to a specific CRM or alternative stationary distribution channels.” All sales dispositions marked in the application can automatically get pushed to any linked Customer Relationship Management program (CRM) or directly into Troparé Studio,” Troparé CEO Greg Carpenter said.

RingCentral Selects Icertis to Enhance Contract Management Processes

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July 9, 2018

RingCentral Selects Icertis to Enhance Contract Management Processes

Unified Communications Leader Calls on Icertis to Speed Time to Revenue

Icertis, the leading provider of enterprise contract management in the cloud, announced that RingCentral, a leading provider of global enterprise cloud communications and collaboration solutions, selected the Icertis Contract Management (ICM) platform to digitally transform its contract management processes. Through the ICM platform, RingCentral will enable their sales and procurement teams to scale more effectively in the fast-growing unified communications space. The ICM platform streamlines contracting processes and increases contract velocity, decreases operating costs, facilitates compliance with contract requirements globally, and speeds time to revenue.

Ron Carcamo

“Our goal at RingCentral is to empower today’s mobile and distributed workforces with cloud communications solutions that connect employees, boost workforce productivity, and strengthen customer relationships,” said Ron Carcamo, VP of Procurement and Supply Chain Operations at RingCentral. “The Icertis platform will give our teams an easy-to-use, enterprise-wide solution that allows us to accelerate contract velocity and improve compliance while optimizing the value of our commercial relationships.”

Also Read: Octiv Standardizes Contract Management and Document Generation for Fortune 100 Company

Samir Bodas

RingCentral selected Icertis because of its intuitive interface, proven deployment track record, and ability to manage any contract anywhere in the world. The ICM platform will connect to RingCentral’s other enterprise systems, including Salesforce, NetSuite and order management, providing a single source of truth for all enterprise contracts.

“We are excited that RingCentral selected us to digitally transform their global contracting footprint,” said Samir Bodas, CEO and Co-founder of Icertis. “As leading companies like RingCentral look to accelerate their business velocity through digitization, it is critical they start with a solid foundation of digital contracting, the foundation of all commerce. We look forward to partnering with RingCentral on this important transformational journey.”

Recommended Read: Jay Noce Explores the Phenomenon of Content Chaos

Why I’m Glad I Went to Vidcon and Not Cannes

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Rob Gregory

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July 9, 2018

Why I'm Glad I went to Vidcon and Not Cannes

When those social posts from friends you like and respect in the ad world start rolling in from the Cannes Lions Festival, it’s hard not to get at least a mild case of FOMO. Everyone somehow looks impossibly insightful and fabulous at the same time. And those backdrops! But I went to Vidcon (now, like WHOSAY, a Viacom Company) instead this year, and I’m glad I did.

Here are 7 reasons why:

(1). Diversity. Where else can you see a twelve year old creator, sounding like a Harvard MBA, asking detailed questions about his monetization strategy (now that he has 100 subscribers for his DIY channel), followed in the audience Q&A line by Granny Pottymouth, the octogenarian YouTube storyteller who asks, sweetly, how she can make some more money on her merch sales. Vidcon is WAY more diverse than I expected. Creators of all ages, backgrounds, and orientations. While an ironically non-diverse crowd in Cannes debated the diversity conundrum in the industry (sincerely, to be sure), Vidcon was a wild and wonderful melting pot of storytellers from all over the world.

(2). Emotion. You really feel the YouTube vibe. While Cannes is professionally satisfying and great for networking, at Vidcon I experienced a range of emotions all day long. Awe at the creativity of the community, inspiration at their passion and authenticity, empathy for their struggles with changing algorithms and monetization challenges, joy at the shrieking kids when Nickelodeon’s Jojo Sliwa took the stage just inches from her biggest fans.

Also Read: The Shift to Cloud Computing: A New Era for Rights Management in Media and Entertainment Businesses

(3). Change. This Vidcon was different. More grown up, by all accounts. All the major social networks (IGTV anyone?) were there. The industry has reached a professional cruising altitude, and you could feel it everywhere. Kids who grew up as fans are now adults with income and they want content for them. Creators are grasping the difference between raw views, and real influence, and what that means. There was a lot of talk about how to be great, not just big.

(4). The Sponsors! While there are a lot (over eighty, thanks to aggressive representation by UTA), activations were creative and varied and tons of fun. Standouts: Mars, who built a whole interactive town and threw a Twix prom. Serta, where you could nap with hundreds of your closest friends. The Nerf shoot-out room, a total blast. Also lots of fun: NBC’s World of Dance; MTV Crib; Invisalign; LEGO, Hasbro; Snapchat.

Also Read: Six Tips for Winning With a Multi-Cloud Approach

(5). The Co-creation Trend. True, sustainable creative partnerships between makers and brands was talked about everywhere. What Vidcon co-founder Hank Green calls the “fascinating space between one-off paid posts and long-term endorsements,” as brands and creators learn to collaborate successfully over time.

(6). Talent. The insane talent. You just have to see it to believe it (and you can, it’s YouTube!), but here’s my short list: Shitty Robots, Chicken Attack, Ask A Mortician, Kirsten Collins, Peter Hollens, Trey Melvin, Rob Scallon, Miles Jai, Bo Burnham.

(7). Hope. The sense of optimism and possibility in the creator community was palpable. The true spirit and energy of creation. There are talented people everywhere, they have stories to tell, and they will be heard.

Also Read: The Changing State of Mobile Video Advertising

Expanding Google Cloud Skills with Cloud With Me

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July 9, 2018

Also Read: Actifio Joins with The Instillery To Bring the Power of Multi-Cloud Data Management Down Under to Australia, New Zealand, Other Markets

Expanding Google Cloud Skills with Cloud With Me

Classes Available Within the Platform Equip Users with a Range of Technical Skills to Use Google Cloud More Effectively

In May 2018 Cloud With Me announced its official partnership with Google Cloud, one of the primary providers of cloud services in the world.

When it comes to cloud platforms, Google Cloud is certainly one of the most comprehensive out there. But, it isn’t just great as a cloud solution. There’s a lot more to benefit from the Google Cloud Platform, such as expanding your skillset.

Classes available within the platform equip users with a range of technical skills to use Google Cloud more effectively. Through Cloud With Me’s partnership with Google Cloud, users have the opportunity to stay updated on the latest trends and requirements.

Courses are designed to offer training ranging from the most basic to the most advanced. Training occurs via virtual, live, and on-demand options. Skills and expertise in the various aspects of Google Cloud are validated through certification.

Some of the courses offered as part of the Google Cloud Training program include:

Cloud Infrastructure

For IT professionals, this track will help users to learn how to implement, deploy, migrate, and even maintain applications in cloud systems.

Data and Machine Learning

Machine learning is the future and this track helps prepare users for that future. Designed with data professionals in mind, it focuses on aspects such as the designing, analyzing, optimizing, and building of big data solutions.

Also Read: Cloud-Based Converged Conferencing Services Continue to Take Market Share From Standalone Applications: Global UCC Industry Outlook 2018

Application Development

Interested in learning how to develop software programs in the cloud? This is the perfect track, especially for those in the field of software engineering or application programming.

Gilad Somjen

“At Cloud With Me we want to remove existing barriers to make cloud hosting more accessible to everyone,” said Gilad Somjen, Co-founder and CEO of Cloud With Me.

Asaf Zamir

Based in the tech hub of Dublin, Ireland, Cloud With Me recently announced an official partnership with Google Cloud, a premium cloud services provider. Cloud With Me is growing its team in the Irish capital as demand for cloud computing services grow.

“We take on only the best and brightest people,” says CTO Asaf Zamir. “Dublin is considered to be a high-tech centre with a lot of unique talent in our space, so we can recruit top-notch personnel.”

Crypto Night a Roaring Success, Crypto Heavyweights Consensys, Huobi & Ethereum Foundation Graces EveningTalenta

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July 9, 2018

Crypto Night a Roaring Success, Crypto Heavyweights Consensys, Huobi & Ethereum Foundation Graces EveningTalenta

Crypto Night Chose to Take the Educational Route by Offering an Informative Side Stage

Kicking July off with a bang, The Blockchain Hub hosted a full-housed crypto meet at 9 Temasek Boulevard – an address most are already familiar with as Asia’s blockchain sanctuary. Singapore’sleading blockchain advisories, Talenta and BlockConnectors, were the brains behind the eventful meet that was driven by parallel visions of creating an all-inclusive platform for blockchain education and stimulation.

From left: Leonard Tan (Developer Relations, Ethereum Foundation), Jeremy Seow (Managing Partner, Chainrock), Jack Chia (Business Development Director, Huobi), Maxwell Stein (Blockchain Business Architect, Consensys). (PRNewsfoto/Talenta)

For a cryptocurrency event, the evening was an unconventional one considering the impressively diverse range of topics covered. While most blockchain meets are hosted to drive exposure for mercantile projects, Crypto Night chose to take the educational route by offering an informative side stage that ran simultaneously in addition to the usual corporate pitches over by the main studio. Its organizers understood that the 200-strong crowd were unique individuals who came from a myriad of backgrounds and it is only through offering varied content that engagement can be maximized.

Also Read: Leading Marketing Agency Web Daytona Now Accepts Cryptocurrency

Eleanor Jones

“We understand that there is interest in ICOs and in blockchain projects. However, we also understand that there is a role to play to educate the business community about Blockchain and cryptocurrency. Last night we offered several sessions to demystify Blockchain for those that are new to it. Events like this one are necessary for ongoing health of blockchain.”

Eleanor Jones, CGO, TALENTA

While pitches housed at the main stage proved to be remarkable with promising ideas and innovations, content shared on the side stage packed just as much of a punch. Topics covered during the 4-hour run addressed diverse perspectives, ranging from a basic introduction into blockchain technology, to regulatory outlook of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), and privacy issues in view of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).

When it came to the most prominent takeaways of the night, many agreed on the same: prime connections can be built through a gathering of such scale. With a reasonable proportion of the crowd made up by influential industry figures and high-profile representatives, attendees had ample opportunity to meet business developers from the likes of Ethereum Foundation, Huobi, Consensys, Gibraltar Blockchain Exchange and many others through spontaneous mingling.

Also Read: zvelo’s URL Database and Categories Expanded to Include Terrorism, Fake News, Cryptocurrency, Crypto Mining, and More

“Crypto Night was a great collaboration between BlockConnectors and Talenta. The experienced and well-connected team put together an evening of all things crypto featuring well-known representatives from the industry. The event catered to a group of Project Owners, Investors and Blockchain Enthusiast, and delightfully saw a huge turnout from the respective groups. This is just the beginning of more Crypto Nights as the team strives to make it a sought-after event for the Crypto Community in Singapore and beyond.”

Sinlin, Event Marketing Director, BlockConnectors

Representatives from both Talenta and BlockConnectors agreed that this event was an effective platform for gathering people within the blockchain community; as well as fostering strong synergies through the networks built. Following the success of the event, key representatives have expressed interest in progressing Crypto Night into a monthly affair at The Blockchain Hub.

Stay tuned to find out more.

Pitch Lineup
Balanc3	Balanc3 (backed by Consensys) has built a cryptocurrency accounting platform. Balanc3 helps you monitor, track, and automate your digital asset finances. They have been working in stealth for over a year to build out a blockchain-based accounting platform. They have more than over 15 cryptocurrency companies using their services now.
SYMPHONY	SYMPHONY is the next-generation blockchain platform to empower a data-driven economy. Committed to data of the people, by the people, for the people, SYMPHONY has a vision to create an ecosystem that unlocks personal data for fairer value redistribution and smarter data intelligence. The origins of SYMPHONY come from both a belief in rewarding individual users, backed by deep experience in advanced data mining techniques and a solid technical design.
Spokkz	Spokkz is a constructively disruptive force and is a powerful complement to the traditional model for the entertainment production industry. SPOKKZ invites the ultimate consumer of programs to support artists of their choice for creative challenges.
Reefic Protocol	Reefic Protocol is an integrated exchange habitat that links consumers, hospitality businesses and loyalty program providers together. It is a decentralized platform where customers have the fluidity and security of exchanging reward points and vouchers across multiple loyalty programs and selected cryptocurrencies.
AllRites	AllRites is the first global B2B and B2C Media Ecosystem for content rights built on Blockchain technology. It scales trade among content producers and buyers, funding of creative ideas and direct streaming to consumers. AllRites is a fully functional Marketplace — making discovery, negotiation and closure of a rights package quicker, easier and safer. Operational since July 2017, the AllRites Marketplace has amassed over 17,000 hours of content; making it the largest online marketplace repository of Asian broadcast content.
LatiChain	LatiChain is creating the next generation decentralised financial platform, disrupting large financial institutions monopolising cross-border transactions. Through establishing a dynamic blockchain infrastructure that support the use of digital real assets and sidechain solution, LatiChain Protocol aims to eliminate high transaction fees and payment inefficiencies within our current traditional network system.

Recommended Read: The Growth Market Striving for Top Spot by 2020

CODiE 2018 Awards a New Crop of Integrated Business Solutions

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Jason Jue

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July 9, 2018