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New ContentSquare Integration With Adobe Analytics Cloud Unlocks Enhanced Revenue Attribution

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New ContentSquare Integration With Adobe Analytics Cloud Unlocks Enhanced Revenue Attribution
New ContentSquare Integration With Adobe Analytics Cloud Unlocks Enhanced Revenue Attribution

AI-Based Solution Enables Everyone on the Digital Team to Measure Content Efficiency at an Elemental Level in Order to Improve Experience and Increase Revenue

ContentSquare, a digital experience insights platform, announced an integration with Adobe Analytics Cloud, enabling customers to attribute revenue to their investments in user experience (UX) and in-page content. This new integration will allow Adobe customers to pinpoint the value of every content element on a web page, mobile and app screen – something that would have required significant tagging effort in the past – and visualize clear metrics for the impact each element is having on engagement, conversion, and revenue.

ContentSquare Raises $42 Million Series B Led by U.S. VC Canaan and Highland Europe
Jonathan Cherki

“Attribution of revenue to each UX investment is the Holy Grail for every chief digital officer and chief creative officer to guide investments in content and design. With this new integration, everyone on the digital team will be able to do exactly that for every customer segment in Adobe Analytics Cloud.This is just the beginning, and we are already developing and testing different models. Our vision is to add many more rules-based attribution models while also enabling marketers to use artificially intelligent attribution models for higher uplift,” said Jonathan Cherki, CEO, ContentSquare.

Also Read: ContentSquare Raises $42 Million Series B Led by US VC Canaan and Highland Europe

Requiring no additional tagging, ContentSquare and Adobe are integrated at the segment level, enabling users to identify and understand new content engagement insights that can be used to optimize the engagement experience for each Adobe Analytics segment. In addition, Adobe users can now see which elements are causing positive or negative engagements, and receive insights on how to improve UX, ultimately permitting for a more tailored and optimized digital experience for customers on the site.

For example, Adobe customers can compare the behavior of new vs. high-value existing customers as previously defined in their Adobe solutions. They can then get alerts and recommendations on in-page elements that cause hesitation and underperform. They can also understand differences in intent for each segment (e.g., ‘just browsing’ vs. ‘rushed behavior to complete a purchase’ in order to tailor the right experience for each one). These insights are available out of a box, do not require tag customization, and can be applied to retrospective data even when the website changes.

Also Read: Introducing Auto-Zone, a Technology that Eradicates Website Tagging

Invoca Becomes Premier Level Partner in Adobe Exchange Partner Program
Cody Crnkovich

“We are in the experienced wave of business now, so measurement and optimization of experiences are of the utmost value to our customers. ContentSquare’s ability to discover unique content insights enables customers to extend the current value they get from their Adobe Analytics Cloud investment,” said Cody Crnkovich, Head  Platform Partners & Strategy, Adobe.

ContentSquare is a digital experience insights platform that helps businesses understand how and why users are interacting with apps, mobile web, and websites. It computes billions of touch and mouse movements, and transforms this knowledge into profitable actions that increase engagement, reduce operational costs and maximize conversion rates. Using behavioral data, artificial intelligence, and big data to provide automatic recommendations to marketers, ContentSquare empowers every member of the digital team to easily measure the impact of their actions and make fast and productive data-driven decisions to optimize the customer journey. ContentSquare counts among its clients Walmart, L’Oréal, Tiffany & Co, Clarks, and Unilever. It’s currently a Business level partner in the Adobe Exchange partner program.

Recommended Read: How AI is Driving a New Era of TV Advertising

Fynd Secures Funding Round Led by Google

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Fynd

Fynd’s Unique Proprietary Inventory Integrations Enable Customers to Discover Fashion in Real-Time

Omni-channel platform Fynd on Thursday announced closing its Series C round of funding led by investor Google, followed by an active participation from Kae Capital, IIFL, Singularity Ventures, GrowX, Tracxn Labs, Venture Catalyst, Patni family office and Hong Kong-based Axis Capital among other angel investors in the round.

Earlier in April 2017, Fynd raised funds led by IIFL with participation from New York-based FJ Labs and Silicon Valley-based Rocketship among other participating existing investors.

With 8,000+ outlets on board, Fynd’s unique proprietary inventory integrations enable customers to discover fashion in real-time and know the exact specifications of the products available.

Also Read: 6 Effective Ways To Drive ROI On Your Landing Pages

“Fynd is growing steadily and has managed to seal some exciting partnerships in the past few months. Our vision is to revolutionize the online and offline shopping experience across all channels and customer touch-points. We expect that the capital raised will help us further bolster our growth trajectory. Fynd’s unique store-driven commerce approach, without inventory or warehouses, gives it a unique position in the marketplace,” said Harsh Shah, co-founder, Fynd.

“Fynd has built an impressive, tech-first platform that has tremendous potential to scale within and beyond fashion and India,” said Seema Rao, Head of Corporate Development – India, Google.

Also Read: The Wrong Way to Buy MarTech

“The Fynd team has consistently demonstrated their ability to listen to the market and build scalable products. They have shown impressive growth and are looking to capture a big opportunity in the O2O (offline to online) segment. We are super excited to have Google join the Fynd family and look forward to working closely to grow the company,” said Vidushi Kamani, Venture Partner, Kae Capital.

Fynd’s latest round of funding will enable the platform to further enhance the way it engages with consumers and retailers in a better way. The O2O platform directly sources products across various categories including clothing, footwear, jewelry, and accessories, from the most prominent brands in the country (via their in-store inventory) and brings them online. Besides this, Fynd’s in-store product ‘Fynd Store’ helps the brand stores save their in-store sales which otherwise are lost due to unavailability of the product.

Recommended Read: How AI is Driving a New Era of TV Advertising

Getting New Customers: “Punchh Acquire” Launches in Beta to Restaurant Marketing Platform

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Getting New Customers: "Punchh Acquire" Launches in Beta to Restaurant Marketing Platform
Getting New Customers: "Punchh Acquire" Launches in Beta to Restaurant Marketing Platform

Del Taco to Be the First Partner to Use Punchh Acquire for a Complete Customer Lifecycle Marketing

Punchh announced a brand new product for their industry-leading Restaurant Marketing Cloud platform, called “Punchh Acquire,” designed to address one of the most critical and difficult marketing needs of any restaurant: new customer acquisition. With the launch of the Punchh Acquire Beta, Punchh becomes the only unified marketing platform for both customer acquisition and customer lifetime value growth.

Punchh Acquire empowers restaurants to bring in new customers through leading consumer networks like Apple Pay, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and more. Once new customers visit for the first time, Punchh lets you get to know every customer across hundreds of locations at scale and assign them with digital identities and profiles, allowing restaurants to measure campaign efficacy and make adjustments in real-time to help move that customer up the value chain towards brand loyalty.

Also Read: Forget Mobile First, It’s Now Social First

Shyam Rao

“Our business is all about building relationships with customers because relationships grow revenue, but you simply can’t build a relationship with customers who remain digitally invisible – both those who are visiting for the first time and the ones who have already visited but have not established a relationship with your restaurant. Once a customer makes a purchase in your restaurant, Punchh is already the single most powerful platform available for retaining and growing the lifetime value of that customer. With the launch of Punchh Acquire, our platform is now the only solution available to restaurants that allow them to turn these ‘invisible customers’ into first-time patrons and begin building personal, lasting and profitable relationships,” said Shyam Rao, CEO, Punchh.

Also Read: Small Businesses Can Grow and Innovate Faster Thanks To Salesforce Essentials

The new Punchh Acquire product empowers restaurants to market to new customers from the moment they walk through the door through a sophisticated mix of multi-channel marketing tools that integrate with any third-party ESP, SMS, WiFi including:

  • eClub – enroll members and target them with tailored offers and coupons
  • SMS – opt-in new customers and target them with tailored offers and coupons via SMS
  • WiFi – turn anonymous customers into known customers when they access WiFi, and target them with tailored offers and coupons
  • Apple Pay – target and acquire Apple Pay users into in-store rewards programs
  • Bounce Back Offers – target anonymous guests with tailored offers on receipts when they make purchases, to entice them to visit again and turn them into known customers

Also Read: Decibel Launches New Digital Experience Intelligence Scoring Capability

Punchh’s network of restaurant customers includes more than 100 restaurant chains across the globe, representing more than $10B in annual spend by 20 million consumers. Four leading restaurant brands have already deployed the new Punchh Acquire product during its Beta test period, including Del Taco and others.

Punchh is also working with key partners to deliver all of the different marketing channel components used in Punchh Acquire, including Twilio for SMS, Sendgrid for email, and leading in-restaurant WiFi providers.

Recommended Read: Digital Experience Data Reveals Customer Experience Isn’t Just for the Holidays

Dunkin’ Donuts Hires Veteran Marketer Keith Lusby as Vice President, Media

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Dunkin' Donuts Hires Veteran Marketer Keith Lusby as Vice President, Media
Dunkin' Donuts Hires Veteran Marketer Keith Lusby as Vice President, Media

Keith Lusby Has Won Numerous Prestigious Marketing Awards, Including Several Effies and a Silver Cannes Lion Award

Dunkin’ Donuts announced Keith Lusby, as the company’s new Vice President, Media. Lusby will lead Dunkin’ Donuts U.S. media planning, buying and placement strategies, from traditional media programming to innovative digital and emerging media partnerships. He will report directly to Tony Weisman, Chief Marketing Officer, Dunkin’ Donuts U.S.

Keith Lusby

With 25 years of marketing experience, Lusby has led successful, integrated campaigns for several global consumer brands. He comes to Dunkin’ Brands from MullenLowe Mediahub, named Adweek’s 2017 U.S. Media Agency of the Year, where he led a 140-person media team supporting campaigns for brands including Chipotle, JetBlue, Ulta Beauty, and Staples. Previously, Lusby held leadership positions with Carat and with Young & Rubicam, designing media strategies and plans for brands including Reebok, Pfizer, AT&T and Procter & Gamble.

Also Read: Fincons Group to Showcase Cutting Edge Launches at NAB 2018

Tony Weisman

“Keith is an accomplished marketer with extensive experience leading successful consumer-centric media plans for iconic brands. Under his direction, we look forward to developing exciting ways to promote the Dunkin’ Donuts brand across a broad spectrum of channels, from television to new opportunities in digital and emerging media,” said Weisman.

Also Read: TechBytes with Shouvick Mukherjee, Chief Technology Officer, Amobee

Lusby is the recipient of numerous prestigious marketing awards, including several Effies and a Silver Cannes Lion Award. He was named an Adweek Media All-Star in 2013.

Founded in 1950, Dunkin’ Donuts is America’s favorite all-day, everyday stop for coffee and baked goods. Dunkin’ Donuts is a market leader in the hot regular/decaf/flavored coffee, iced coffee, donut, bagel and muffin categories. Dunkin’ Donuts has earned a No. 1 ranking for customer loyalty in the coffee category by Brand Keys for 12 years running. The company has more than 12,500 restaurants in 46 countries worldwide.

Recommended Read: Ad Blockers: Take a Page from Video Game Advertisers 

Tremor Video DSP Expands Marketing Team

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Both Chadwick and La Rosa Will Be Located at Tremor Video DSP’s New York Headquarters 

Tremor Video DSP, the leading programmatic video platform, announced the appointment of Justin Chadwick as Senior Director of Marketing and Jessica La Rosa as Senior Director of Product Marketing and Sales Strategy.

“We are growing our marketing team to meet the rising demand for brands that want to directly connect with viewers in the living room. Justin and Jessica’s extensive marketing backgrounds and their ability to produce results will be a key asset to Tremor Video DSP as we continue to advance the storytelling opportunities brands have to win audience’s attention,” said Abbey Thomas, CMO, Tremor Video DSP.

Also Read: Tremor Video DSP Expands Leadership Team to Drive Growth

Justin Chadwick Tremor Video DSP
Justin Chadwick

Chadwick will be responsible for all corporate and brand marketing. Previously, he was Senior Director, Marketing, and Communications at Crossix Solutions, where he created the first-ever integrated cross-channel marketing and communications strategy for the data analytics company. Chadwick has also held positions at Electronic Arts — where he led EA Sports’ global CRM marketing strategy for some of the most popular video and digital gaming brands, such as Madden NFL, NCAA Football, and FIFA — Digitas, SIRIUS Satellite Radio and the Direct Marketing Association.

“Tremor Video DSP is on the cutting edge of the rapidly evolving digital video landscape. Its platform offers marketers an unparalleled ability to connect data, technology, and creativity in exciting ways through progressive video solutions, and I look forward to working with the entire team to continue driving results for our clients,” said Justin Chadwick.

Also Read: Taptica Acquires Tremor Video’s Demand-Side Platform for $50 Million

La Rosa returns to Tremor Video DSP after serving as Director, Product Marketing and Sales Enablement at Innovid, where she led the go-to-market strategy for all its video ad serving platform products. Before that, she spent six years at Tremor Video in the role of Director of Product Marketing.

Jessica La Rosa Tremor Video DSP
Jessica La Rosa

“Never before have marketers been able to have a one-on-one conversation with their audiences like this. I’m thrilled to take products to market that turn the rise of OTT and second screen viewing into major marketing opportunities for brands. Tremor Video DSP’s innovative approach of leveraging their in-house creative agency to design creative for a screen, for an audience and serve, in whichever order brands choose, allows us to directly connect with brands’ media strategy and has the power to make those advertising moments more memorable for marketers,” said Jessica La Rosa.

Recommended Read: The State Of Play With OTT Sports Streaming

Digilant Bolsters Digital Advertising Veteran Team with New US CEO Raquel Rosenthal

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Digilant Bolsters Digital Advertising Veteran Team with New US CEO Raquel Rosenthal
Digilant Bolsters Digital Advertising Veteran Team with New US CEO Raquel Rosenthal

Expands Executive Team Focused on Bringing Omni-Channel Programmatic Solutions to Brands and Agencies

Digilant, a global provider of programmatic ad buying solutions and services, announced it has hired Raquel Rosenthal as Chief Executive Officer of US Operations. Rosenthal will lead client and agency strategy, as well as expand the company’s capabilities and service offerings.

David Rodés

“The addition of Raquel to the Digilant executive team is an important step for our company and a signal of our ongoing commitment to recruit the best and brightest professionals to the organization. Her wealth of experience will help us to continue to deliver world-class digital media services and solutions to our clients, and she will also play vital roles in providing mentorship to staff, and growing product and data portfolio,” said David Rodés, CEO, ispDigital, the parent company of Digilant.

Also Read: Digilant Releases New Holiday Media Planning Guide

An accomplished digital marketing industry executive, Rosenthal rejoins Digilant following a two-year stint at DataXu, a leading software provider for marketing professionals, where she served as Enterprise Sales Director. Between 2011 and 2016, Rosenthal held a variety of business development roles at Digilant, culminating in the Senior Vice President of Sales position.

Previously, she held senior jobs at AudienceScience, Belo Interactive Media, VNU Business Media, and DoubleClick. Rosenthal is a graduate of Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY, where she earned a Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.) in Communications and Media Studies.

Also Read: Digilant Acquires Anagram to Add Value to the Growing Programmatic Ad Marketplace

Raquel Rosenthal

“I’m thrilled to be back at Digilant, and couldn’t be more enthusiastic about the opportunities that the company is poised to capitalize upon. The company’s current client roster and programmatic solutions are among the best in the business, and it’s a rock-solid foundation from which to build the next phase of development of the company,” said Rosenthal.

Digilant offers programmatic buying solutions and services designed for independent agencies and brands that are increasing their programmatic spending. Using data science to unlock ‘new’ automated buying strategies, Digilant enables brands to uncover proprietary and complex audience data that gives them the actionable intelligence they need to compete across every important media channel.

Recommended Read: How AI is Driving a New Era of TV Advertising

SendGrid Enhances API Sending Experience, Providing Customers with Email Activity & Engagement Data

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SendGrid Enhances API Sending Experience, Providing Customers with Email Activity & Engagement Data
SendGrid Enhances API Sending Experience, Providing Customers with Email Activity & Engagement Data

SendGrid’s Powerful Data Insights Help Customers Improve Email Deliverability & Optimize Campaigns for Business Growth

SendGrid, a leading digital communication platform that drives engagement and growth, today announced enhancements to its API sending experience, providing customers with a comprehensive and longer, historical view of their email delivery and engagement data. SendGrid’s new email activity feed and history enable customers to easily pinpoint a specific email message and troubleshoot email delivery issues quickly. Data insights derived from advanced search and multiple filter capabilities, along with historical event data of up to 30 days, empower customers to optimize their campaigns and drive more email engagement.

Also Read: SendGrid Announces the Grand Opening of New Office in Irvine, California

The email delivery ecosystem is complex and requires email senders to troubleshoot email delivery challenges at one time or another. According to a 2017 Return Path report, only 80% of wanted email reached its intended recipient. Obstacles to successful email delivery can be triggered by a wide range of causes including incorrect message configuration or a misunderstanding of the recipient mailbox provider’s algorithm. Customers require a real-time and detailed view of email activity events in order to assess why their email may not have been received, so they can troubleshoot the problem quickly and reach the inbox.

SendGrid’s new enhanced email activity feed expedites the email delivery troubleshooting process. With the advanced search and filtering in SendGrid’s email activity feed, customers can find specific email messages with ease, understand the entire journey of that message and view the events in that journey sequentially — from processed to delivered, through to opened and clicked. With the ability to purchase a historical view of 30 days of email activity and engagement data, customers can glean powerful insights into the efficacy of their campaigns and refine them to fuel greater success and higher engagement.

Also Read: SendGrid Announces Closing of Initial Public Offering

Steve Sloan

“Email is a critical driver of business growth and according to a 2015 DMA report, demonstrated the highest return on investment among all forms of digital communication, generating $38 in revenue for every $1 invested. Our customers require advanced features to help them navigate the email ecosystem and improve email delivery, which is directly tied to the performance of their campaigns. Our new features provide customers with the freedom to access email activity event data when and how they need it, so they can achieve their business goals,” said Steve Sloan, Chief Product Officer, SendGrid.

Kevin Curry

“Email is vital to our business. These improvements allow us to see which notifications went to which people in the same view with open and click activity, which gives us the ability to audit and determine if necessary communications are happening in real-time. It has had a direct impact on our insight and decision making. SendGrid has been great for our business,” said Kevin Curry, Managing Partner, Chief Technology Officer, Comparity.

Recommended Read: SendGrid Launches New Innovative Email Marketing Editing Experience

William Mills Agency Partners with TrendKite for Advanced Program Analytics

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William Mills Agency Partners with TrendKite for Advanced Program Analytics
William Mills Agency Partners with TrendKite for Advanced Program Analytics

William Mills Agency Provides the TrendKite Platform as a Premium Service Offering

William Mills Agency, the largest independent public relations and marketing firm specializing in the financial industry, announced that it has entered into a formal relationship with TrendKite to provide comprehensive reporting capability to clients. The Austin, Texas-based company offers public relations reporting services through detailed analytics coupled with visually appealing, interactive and mobile-friendly graphics. The agency provides the TrendKite platform as a premium service offering and has several clients already using it.

Erik Huddleston

“TrendKite is proud to partner with William Mills Agency, a leader with a well-established reputation in financial technology, public relations, and marketing services,” said Erik Huddleston, CEO, TrendKite. “Leveraging our Intelligent Communications Platform, William Mills can now harness artificial intelligence to understand and influence every part of the earned media ecosystem, enabling their clients to make data-driven PR decisions. They will also have the benefit of reporting in an engaging, digital format, which can be shared and easily understood across the marketing mix.”

Also Read: iN2L Returns to Amendola Communications and Expands Public Relations and Content Program

Scott Mills

“Understanding the effectiveness of PR programs is really important,” said Scott Mills, President, William Mills Agency. “Without TrendKite, gathering the information for this type of reporting is extremely difficult and certainly not a cost-effective use of time. As a service business, we find these reporting capabilities help us quantify the impact of a public relations campaign in a sleek, compelling format that includes graphs and interactive charts.”

Also Read: Digital Marketers Will Devote More Resources to Online Reputation Management in 2018

Founded in 2012 in Austin, Texas, TrendKite provides comprehensive PR software to agencies and corporate brands to help measure and analyze the impact of their PR efforts across multiple channels with minimal effort. With TrendKite, customers can focus on quality, high-value media coverage rather than just quantity. TrendKite recently won a 2015 IMPACT award for “Solution of the Year.” The Internet Marketing Association’s IMPACT15 event honors marketing industry innovators and leaders.

Founded in 1977, the Atlanta-based company has established its reputation in the industry through successful execution of media relations, marketing services and crisis communications campaigns for hundreds of companies ranging in size from entrepreneurial start-ups to large, publicly traded corporations throughout North America, Europe and India.

Recommended Read: PR Industry in South-East Asia Facing Demographic Transformation – Burton-Taylor Report

IRI and AnalyticsIQ Join Forces to Enhance Social Media Targeting and Reach Influential Users

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IRI and AnalyticsIQ Join Forces to Enhance Social Media Targeting and Reach Influential Users
IRI and AnalyticsIQ Join Forces to Enhance Social Media Targeting and Reach Influential Users

New Digital Audience Tool Enables Marketers to Reach High-Value Social Media Users

IRI, the global leader in innovative insights and audience and measurement solutions and services for consumer, retail and media companies, and AnalyticsIQ, a leading consumer marketing data innovator, announced a partnership that empowers CPG digital marketers to more effectively target the most active and influential users of major social media platforms.

Combining IRI’s predictive audiences and shopper data and AnalyticsIQ’s social media intelligence, the partnership offers advertisers the tools they need to ensure that the creative they are running on social platforms reaches the highest value users both from an engagement and purchase propensity perspective. By targeting the most influential and highest propensity social media users, marketers are able to leverage the organic reach of shared experiences with large, relevant follower groups.

Also Read: Ford, Toyota, and Chevrolet Earned The Top Three Spots in the L2 Digital IQ Index; Auto 2018 Report

Anna Brantley

“It’s clear that the worlds of CPG shopping and social media are converging, and there has never been a more opportune time for marketers to tap into the power of these platforms and influencers,” said Anna Brantley, chief revenue officer for AnalyticsIQ. “We are thrilled to collaborate with IRI and provide advertisers with actionable audiences that allow them to target individuals likely to see and appreciate their message.”

Also Read: Hottest Trends in Social Media Marketing Technology For 2018  

Nishat Mehta

“Instagram and other platforms are the go-to place for many shoppers, who connect with influencers on a personal level,” said Nishat Mehta, president of IRI’s Media Center of Excellence. “Consumers are looking for advice from those they trust. The advent of social media creates a circle of connections that can influence the consumer far better than other forms of advertising. We are excited to partner with AnalyticsIQ and help marketers broaden their reach by talking to consumers that are open to trying products and sharing their authentic experience with others.”

More than 95 new audience segments from IRI and AnalyticsIQ are available now through Acxiom company, LiveRamp’s Data Innovators program. Marketers can download more audience information and access these unique and in-demand audiences via the LiveRamp Data Store.

Recommended Read: TV May Affect the Brain But Influencer Marketing Affects the Heart

Gartner Recognizes Virtusa in its 2017 Magic Quadrant for CRM and Customer Experience Implementation Services

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Gartner Recognizes Virtusa in its 2017 Magic Quadrant for CRM and Customer Experience Implementation Services
Gartner Recognizes Virtusa in its 2017 Magic Quadrant for CRM and Customer Experience Implementation Services

Virtusa Takes a Consulting-Led Approach in Helping Clients Use CRM/CX Solutions to Create Marketplace Differentiation

Virtusa Corporation, a global provider of digital engineering and IT outsourcing services that accelerate business outcomes for its clients, announced that Gartner Inc. has positioned Virtusa in the Niche Player quadrant of the 2017 Magic Quadrant for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Customer Experience (CX) Implementation Services. The report, published on January 8, 2018, evaluated Virtusa along with 21 other companies in CRM and Customer Experience Implementation Services.

Also Read: Gartner’s 2016-2017 CMO spend survey

According to Gartner, “The CX and CRM implementation service market continues to grow in line with the growth in spending on CRM and customer-facing technology. By 2020, the CRM application software market will overtake the data management market, thus becoming the largest of all software markets.” Gartner adds, “Those providers that traditionally targeted and served IT leaders have had to evolve toward selling directly to and supporting the sales, marketing and customer service leaders. Service providers have changed radically in the last decade as they have added digital design skills to the mix, and they will continue to make many acquisitions over the next decade in this area.”

Also Read: Put Knowledge at the Heart of Your CX; Or, Consumers Shall Move to Rivals 

Virtusa’s Digital Group leverages proven platforms and solutions, strong industry experience, jump-start kits and partnerships with some of the leading technology vendors to help enterprises implement CRM and Customer Experience solutions to deliver differentiated experiences to their customers, expand their addressable market and transform their businesses. The company takes a consulting-led approach in helping clients use CRM/CX solutions to create marketplace differentiation. Virtusa’s Enterprise Digital Maturity Framework, a diagnostic and maturity model playbook, encompasses Business Innovation, Operational Excellence and Customer Experience. It evaluates “readiness” and identifies the “roadmap” for an enterprise’s digital transformation. This Framework has helped many global enterprises in their digital transformation journey.

Also Read: AI-Powered Personalization Drives Great Customer Experience

Frank Palermo

“We’re helping our clients and partners deliver the differentiated customer experiences that are critical for success in today’s marketplace,” said Frank Palermo, EVP and global head of digital solutions, Virtusa. “Our engagements are consulting-led and leverage our strengths in digital solutions, our accelerators to tackle industry-specific challenges within varied industries, and our data to enable transformational experiences and improve decisioning based on a predictive and proactive analysis. We’re proud to be recognized by Gartner for our approach and framework for accelerating the customer journey.”

Recommended Read: Salesforce to Host Second-Annual Salesforce Equality Awards in San Francisco

AdTheorent Earns Frost & Sullivan Award for its Data-Driven Digital Advertising Solutions

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AdTheorent Earns Frost & Sullivan's Growth Excellence Leadership Award for its Data-Driven Digital Advertising Solutions
AdTheorent Earns Frost & Sullivan's Growth Excellence Leadership Award for its Data-Driven Digital Advertising Solutions

AdTheorent’s Solutions Leverage Machine Learning Technology and Cross-Channel Management Capabilities to Provide Real-Time Ad Optimization with Improved Return on Investment for Customers

Based on its recent analysis of the digital advertising industry, Frost & Sullivan recognizes AdTheorent with the 2018 North American Growth Excellence Leadership Award for its suite of products that offer customers effective predictive advertising, robust cross-channel campaign management capabilities, and pragmatic advertising capabilities while addressing consumer privacy and data security needs.

Vikrant Gandhi

“AdTheorent is the leading provider of data-driven predictive solutions for digital advertising. The company’s Machine Learning-Powered Predictive Advertising Platform, combined with its cross-environment mapping solution and predictive creative capabilities, outperform other alternatives in the market and help brands connect with their optimal audiences at scale,” said Vikrant Gandhi, Industry Director at Frost & Sullivan.

Also Read: Frost & Sullivan Recognizes Voyager Labs for Its Innovative AI-based Social Behavior Analytics Solution

AdTheorent leverages its Machine Learning Technology Platform and the Cross-Environment Map measurement capabilities to deliver data-driven, scalable, and transparent cross-channel advertising campaigns. The Machine Learning Technology Platform learns faster and across more data than any other solution in the market, and identifies optimal audiences across various digital channels. AdTheorent’s Cross-Environment Map matches user IDs across all environments and matches them to a single user, allowing advertisers to attribute activity across all environments, all delivered in a de-identified manner which adheres to best practices for user privacy and personal anonymity. Through these solutions, AdTheorent offers managed, results-driven digital advertising that consistently delivers higher value than stand-alone programmatic solutions.

AdTheorent’s digital advertising solutions help customers achieve improved returns on their investments in digital advertising by incorporating innovative features, such as relationship targeting, an advanced predictive creative mechanism, and 360-degree custom video content, into its products. The company follows a performance-based pricing structure, working closely with customers to customize pricing around their unique requirements, which allows products to be both cost-effective and scalable. Examples include a Cost Per Incremental Visit (CPIV) pricing model, as well as other performance-based pricing such as a charge per vehicle registration, service signup, or pharmaceutical prescription sale. AdTheorent further improves the product ownership experience by gathering extensive feedback and reporting to improve product performance. In addition, the company pursues partnerships with leading industry solution providers to expand and improve its targeting and measurement data capabilities.

Also Read: Frost & Sullivan Recognizes Zoom as Company of the Year in Video and Web Conferencing

“Frost & Sullivan independent analysis indicates that annual revenue growth of AdTheorent has consistently exceeded 75%, and the company consistently beats target customer acquisition goals by 75% as well. These results are a clear demonstration of AdTheorent’s successful growth strategy,” added Vikrant.

Each year, Frost & Sullivan bestows this award upon the company that demonstrates excellence in growth and customer value. It recognizes the superiority of the product/service as well as the overall customer, purchase, ownership, and service experience offered, which has resulted in the recipient company seeing above-market growth and greater share of wallet. The award lauds the growth, diversification, and sustainability strategies of the company.

Frost & Sullivan Best Practices awards recognize companies in a variety of regional and global markets for demonstrating outstanding achievement and superior performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service, and strategic product development. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis, and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

Recommended Read: Webinar: Will your Media Company Thrive in the Over-the-Top Revolution?

Ayuda Announces Revenue Intelligence for OOH

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Ayuda Announces Revenue Intelligence for OOH
Ayuda Announces Revenue Intelligence for OOH

Ayuda Introduces New Platform to Optimize How DOOH Suppliers Manage Revenue, Beginning with Waterfalled Playback of Content from Direct and Programmatic Sales

Ayuda Media Systems, an out-of-home ad tech company announced at the 2018 Digital Signage Expo that it will be demonstrating the first of many revenue-optimization- centric features that constitute the next evolution of Ayuda’s complete business operations platform for D/OOH media owners. Leveraging Ayuda’s advanced optimization algorithms, the Revenue Intelligence (Ri) platform will analyze the day-to-day operational, sales, and finance data that is already managed in the Ayuda Platform to increase overall yield to the media owner.

The first Ayuda Ri offering is available immediately to digital (DOOH) media networks as a fully programmatic-ready CMS and player that can play content from multiple sources, with intelligence about the order interplay between both direct sales and programmatic sales efforts. Ri prioritizes programmatically delivered content without the need to reserve a spot in the loop. The DOOH network’s existing direct sales effort has full unrestricted access to the entire loop capacity, as Ayuda Ri waterfalls between content from direct sales and content from programmatic sales when available.

Also Read: SXSW: Mobile Video, YouTube, Facebook – 3 Data-Driven Takeaways

Daniel Fleischer

“Ayuda’s platform provides a state-of-the-art, open ecosystem programmatic-ready player that intelligently optimizes yield by ensuring that content from any number of programmatic sources can be played without having to dedicate a reserved spot in the loop. Ayuda Ri employs a waterfall mechanism that plays content from direct sales, followed by content from external programmatic sources such as Hivestack or any commercially available VAST or HTML source. The DOOH network’s business rules are defined in the Ayuda Platform, which then governs how best to inject the programmatically sourced content,” explained Daniel Fleischer, Vice President Business Development & Marketing, Ayuda.

The waterfall content playback is only the first step in the overarching Yield Optimization challenge that Ayuda Ri addresses. The Ayuda Platform, used by many of the world’s largest OOH media owners already to manage all aspects of their ad operations, already holds much of the sales, occupancy and general business data against which optimization calculations can be performed. Ri unlocks the power of the day-to-day operational data and transforms it into valuable insights which hold the potential to increase occupancy and rates, thus increasing yield.

Also Read: The State Of Play With OTT Sports Streaming

“We now turn attention to unlocking the power of the business data that is already managed by the Ayuda Platform. Expect to see Ayuda begin tackling elements that only a complete solution such as Ayuda’s an attempt, under the Ri banner. These include, for example, dynamic rate cards, campaign planning optimization, occupancy and rate optimization, and lessor prioritization. Optimizing against all the elements simultaneously is, of course, the holy grail of an ultimate yield management platform for OOH. That’s Revenue Intelligence,” concluded Fleischer.

Recommended Read: The Wrong Way to Buy MarTech

Accenture to Acquire MXM, a Content-Powered Digital Marketing Agency

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Accenture to Acquire MXM, a Content-Powered Digital Marketing Agency
Accenture to Acquire MXM, a Content-Powered Digital Marketing Agency

Addition of Award-Winning Team Will Enhance Accenture Interactive’s B2C Marketing Capabilities in North America

Accenture has entered into an agreement to acquire New York-based digital agency, Meredith Xcelerated Marketing (MXM), a content-focused leader in integrated marketing, cross-channel strategy development and creative execution. The acquisition will bolster the capabilities of Accenture Interactive in creative services, data-led marketing execution, content strategy and digital marketing.

Accenture to Acquire MXM, a Content-Powered Digital Marketing Agency

MXM has superior data and analytics skills, combined with the award-winning content creation and strong customer engagement capabilities in direct-to-consumer marketing, particularly in the automotive, consumer brands and financial services industries. Its client roster boasts some highly recognized brands including, Barilla, Bob Evans Restaurants, Kraft Heinz, Lowe’s, Volkswagen and WebMD. MXM has broad experience bringing together high-performing content, customer data, marketing strategy and creative development to drive business impact for its clients.

Also Read: Accenture Agrees to Acquire Mackevision

Owned by Meredith Corporation – one of the leading media companies in the United States – MXM employs more than 450 people across the U.S. and Canada. Most notably, MXM has a strong team of creative professionals, technologists, and performance marketing professionals delivering digital excellence to clients. The acquisition will expand Accenture Interactive’s studio locations in key U.S. markets including, Dallas, Des Moines, Detroit, Los Angeles, New York and Washington D.C.

The award-winning digital marketing agency has been working with leading brands for almost 50 years and possesses a strong combination of insightful strategy, creative and technical prowess. Over the last five years, MXM has won 27 Content Council Awards and a Gold Effie Award for its work with the FDA. Additionally, it was awarded Content Marketing Agency of the Year by the Content Marketing Institute and has been recognized by Forrester and Gartner for its digital and content capabilities.

Also Read: MXM appoints Roald van Wyk as Their First Chief Creative Officer

Jeannine Falcone

“This is an exceptional opportunity for Accenture Interactive to add market-leading talent and capabilities,” said Jeannine Falcone, marketing offering lead, North America, Accenture Interactive. “Combined with other acquisitions, MXM adds creative, digital marketing, content strategy and marketing execution heft to our North America business. There is a clear strategic alignment around insight-led digital marketing and content strategy, where we each have had proven success in executing integrated programs for our clients.”

“The acquisition of MXM reflects our commitment to build on our existing capabilities in marketing services by bolstering our data and content offerings,” said Brian Whipple, head of Accenture Interactive. “The blend of MXM with our current capabilities and robust marketing intelligence platforms will set us apart as a leader to design, build and run the best customer experiences on the planet.”

Also Read: Accenture Acquires Altitude to Enable Companies Leverage IoT Opportunities

Georgine Anton

“We are thrilled to be joining the Accenture Interactive family,” said Georgine Anton, president, MXM. “The combination of Accenture Interactive and MXM will be powerful in the market, plus the depth of their offerings will deepen our capabilities, enabling us to better serve both existing and new clients. Accenture Interactive will provide MXM with a home where it can offer clients best-in-class, single-sourced, integrated solutions – this is a clear competitive advantage for Accenture Interactive and, now, MXM.”

The acquisition is expected to close within 60 days, subject to customary closing conditions. Financial terms of the transaction are not being disclosed.

Recommended Read: French Digital Commerce Agency Altima Joins Accenture Interactive

Fullscreen Hires Mary Murcko as New Sales Leader

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Fullscreen Hires Mary Murcko as New Sales Leader
Fullscreen Hires Mary Murcko as New Sales Leader

Mary Murcko, a Veteran of Digital Marketing & Advertising, Will Help Increase Sales

Fullscreen, a global leader in social-first entertainment and branded content, announced the appointment of Mary Murcko as SVP, Partnerships & Revenue. Mary brings extensive experience leading revenue growth, strategic planning, marketing, and product management for global media companies to this position. In her new role, Mary will be tasked with driving revenue and partnerships across Fullscreen’s full range of brand service offerings and IP including top digital talent, Live, Rooster Teeth and O&O properties and will report to Pete Stein, GM of Fullscreen.

Pete Stein

“Branded content and social-first marketing continue to drive ROI for brands as they increasingly become the focus of forward-thinking brand marketing strategies, and Mary’s strong background in digital media and marketing planning will be a huge asset to Fullscreen as we accelerate our mission to help brands create authentic relationships with consumers. Mary is a veteran in the digital space who has pioneered new ways of thinking within large media companies like Condé Nast and Gannett, and she will help lead our sales efforts across multi-faceted brand programs and relationships,” said Stein.

Also Read: The State Of Play With OTT Sports Streaming

Mary Murcko

Murcko was most recently Senior Vice President, Head of Brand Partnerships and Sales for What to Expect, a division of Ziff Davis, where she led revenue growth strategy, advertiser marketing, and sales operations for the digital brand. Prior to this, Mary was Chief Revenue Officer, Publisher, of SELF at Conde Nast. Mary was responsible for leading the strategic direction, execution and P&L oversight of SELF as a multi-channel fitness/wellness/beauty brand. Mary joined Self from the Gannett Company, where she was President of National Sales responsible for overall leadership of the national sales activities across all operating divisions of Gannett including Gannett Digital, USA Today, broadcast, and print. Prior to Gannett, she was executive vice president and group publisher at Rodale overseeing Men’s Health, Women’s Health, Prevention and Runner’s World. Earlier in her career, she served in sales roles at W and Elegant Bride and as general manager/group publisher for Hachette Filipacchi Post in Bangkok, Thailand.

“I am passionate about the role of content-driven marketing in connecting authentically with audiences across digital platforms and am particularly excited about Fullscreen’s approach to social-first marketing as a driver of brand intensity. Fullscreen is well positioned to lead the transformation of marketing from an interruptive model to an engagement-focused model, and I’m excited to bring my knowledge and expertise on the brand side to help accelerate the company’s current success and growth,” said Murcko.

Recommended Read: SXSW: Mobile Video, YouTube, Facebook – 3 Data-Driven Takeaways

Hottest Trends in Social Media Marketing Technology For 2018  

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MarTech-Primer

In 2017, we witnessed various trends in social media marketing like the introduction of live feed, integrated video, and story features, and the growth of mobile ads. Lately, the B2B sector has become more involved in catering to the ideas of social media marketing techniques, since they deliver efficiently and have a wide reach.

Also Read: Eight Ways AI Will Be Used In Marketing In 2018

Hot Trends for 2018

Mobile Chatbots

Chatbots have now being programmed to think, feel and act according to a customer’s requirements. Many food delivery apps such as GrubHub and Uber Eats use bots to take orders.

In 2018, a large number of Chatbots would be made available for business proposals and enterprises. A lot of careful thinking and implementation goes into making a Chatbot as approachable, sensible and fully functioning as possible. They can also be customized depending on the user’s requirements.

Chatbots run on algorithms that use ‘Deep Learning’ where data is channelled into queries and solutions are delivered. According to a report, 50% of mobile phone users are aggressive social media users. Chatbots divert traffic to the right screens, helping marketers filter audiences and enabling target segmentation.

Ephemeral Content

In the current scenario of visual stimulation, social media applications like Facebook and Instagram have developed their own mediums of transient content which is minimalistic and eye-catching. The content is then lost within a few hours, leading to the users developing FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out), acting quickly and helping the marketer achieve the desired result.

Social Listening Tools

Social Media Marketing has advanced with the advent of social listening. With the use of hashtags, trending topics, and search engines, companies can understand what makes their audience tick. This is done by researching specific brands, tags or product names which help companies create more engaging content.

Social listening tools include brand monitoring and marketing insights, help address indirect complaints and target location-specific keywords. Social listening tools are not only about monitoring insights; they also actively engage in conversations about products and services. Some examples include Spotify, HootsuiteBuzzsumo, SproutSocialBrandwatchConversocial, and Sprinklr.

Micro Influencers

Influencers don’t always need to be very famous or have a million followers to be considered dependable. The concept of micro-influencers comes from apps like Instagram and Facebook where brands choose people to advocate their products while showcasing their experiences. In 2018, influencers shall continue being a large part of social media marketing trends.

Marketers can calculate the ROI delivered by these influencers using certain software and digital metrics. The data is instrumental in working two ways; both for the micro influencer as well as the marketing enterprise.

AI and Image Recognition

The depth of knowledge and programming along with intensive analytics is what AI is all about. We often underestimate the power of a machine. The AI software along with an automated vision software can be combined to create Image Recognition. Baidu, HubSpot, IBM, and SalesForce are some examples of AI with Image Recognition. Image Recognition on Facebook is one such example. Other examples include Google Image Recognition, Amazon Rekognition, Clarifai, Ditto Labs, GumGum, LogoGrab amongst others.

Recommended Read: Tweet Your Way to Success: A Guide to Social Media Marketing & Strategic Thinking

DocuSign IPO: Stronghold of SaaS in the US Tech Market Continues

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DocuSign IPO

Businesses are moving towards cloud-native as-a-Service models and the IPOs of software unicorns in 2018 are a testimony to this fact. Recently, it was Dropbox that made the news, and was preceeded by Smartsheet, Pivotal, and Zuora which also listed on the NASDAQ. Spotify, the streaming platform also went public this year.

This week, it was the turn of an SF-based $3 billion tech company to file its IPO. DocuSign aims to go public, with a ticker reading ‘DOCU’ on the NASDAQ. In the filing, DocuSign has shown 50% growth from 2016 to 2017, and during the period, has succeeded in decreasing losses. It’s one of the oldest and most valuable tech startups in the US, established in 2003. The DocuSign software is an integral part of insurance and real estate sectors in the US.

Recommended Read: Mobfox Introduces Audience Analytics for Better In-App Monetization

According to its S-1 filing with the SEC, the company has named Adobe as its main competitor after it acquired EchoSign in 2011. DocuSign has also stated that it competes with “a select number of niche vendors that focus on specific industries or geographies.”

A Sneak Peek into DocuSign

Founded by Eric Ranft, Court Lorenzini, and Tom Gonser, DocuSign ended 2016 with revenues of $250.5 million and reported losses of $122.6 million. In 2017, revenues touched $381.5 million and the net loss dropped to $115.4 million. DocuSign’s technology integrates with applications provided by SAP, Salesforce, Oracle, and Google.

Above 91% of DocuSign’s revenue is subscription-based while the remaining comes from professional services. 85% of its revenue comes from the US. According to the company, it has “hundreds of millions of users” apart from 350,000 customers. Sigma Partners, Ignition Partners, and Frazier Technology ventures are the investors in DocuSign. It has operational data centers in the US and Europe.

A Past Full of Bumpy Rides

DocuSign had shown interest in going public in 2013, but that plan never materialized. It then faced tumultuous times with many blaming it for being indecisive and sluggish. The large unit of 12 directors (mostly VCs) and a 120-member global advisory board were cited as the reason for that. This also meant a lot of contradictions and slowed down decision making, which had an impact in 2015 when DocuSign had set its eyes on going public but was thwarted yet again.

This time CEO Keith Krach wanted out, and thus, there was nobody to lead the IPO. Krach, a veteran now, took Ariba public in 1999 as its CEO which was later acquired by SAP for $4.3 billion in 2012.

Read MoreTechBytes with Shouvick Mukherjee, Chief Technology Officer, Amobee

This is when one of the longest CEO hunts in tech history began in 2015. Troubled times continued for DocuSign when reports emerged that the likes of Microsoft (with a speculative $4 billion offer), IBM, Oracle, and Visa wanted to acquire the company. There was more to come. At the beginning of 2016, the DocuSign board decided on Rick Osterloh as the new CEO, only to be all at sea when Osterloh backed out and chose to be with Google, his former employee.

The CEO hunt finally ended in January 2017, when 54-year old Daniel Springer joined, got a board seat, and Krach, now 60, retained the position of chairman. Springer himself took Responsys public in 2011 as the CEO and the firm was then acquired by Oracle for $1.5 billion in 2013. The bumpy ride has smoothened since, and under Springer, DocuSign strengthened its machine learning capabilities in December 2017 with the acquisition of Appuri, a Paul Allen-backed startup.

Read More: Interview with Eric Porres, CMO, SundaySky

The eSignature World Ahead

As team collaborations move to the cloud and remote workplaces are touted to be the future, the eSignature software space is due to evolve further with advancements in AI. Now that it’s gone public and with players like PactSafe also growing rapidly in the same space, DocuSign needs to steer clear of any more potential quicksand type situations, irrespective of its massive board.

Read More: Is GDPR Really Changing Ad Tech?

Kloudless Raises $6 Million Series A Funding to Connect the Enterprise

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Kloudless Raises $6 Million to Connect the Enterprise
Kloudless Raises $6 Million to Connect the Enterprise

Kloudless’ Unified APIs Enable Developers to Code Once and Connect Their Applications to Several Software Services

Kloudless, the enterprise integrations solution for developer and product teams, announced a $6 million Series A funding led by Aspect Ventures, with participation by Bow Capital, Alibaba Taiwan Entrepreneurs Fund, Heavybit and Ajay Shah, joining earlier investors Tim Draper and David Sacks. The company has now raised $8 million in total capital.

Kloudless’ unified APIs enable developers to code once to connect their applications to several software services instead of integrating with each API individually. Kloudless API products cover a broad range of application categories like Cloud Storage, CRM, Calendar, and ITSM. In the past year, Kloudless has seen over 200 percent revenue growth. To date, their API platform has over 15,000 registered developers that are making more than 15 million API calls a day.

Also Read: The Wrong Way to Buy MarTech

Businesses can no longer rely on just a small handful of software services. Data and workflows continue to scatter across new applications and new devices, giving rise to new integration challenges and requirements. Businesses need software applications that work well with their existing software investments. However, for software providers, building software that is interoperable with others is a costly burden: instead of focusing on the core business value of their products, their developers waste time building and maintaining integrations.

Using Kloudless’ unified APIs, software providers can connect their applications to other business software with ease and efficiency. With products that emphasize both breadths of supported software services and depth of access to functionality and data, Kloudless is uniquely prepared to tackle the complexity of API integration issues experienced by enterprise software companies.

Software companies across markets such as security, education technology, finance, and government are increasingly relying on Kloudless products to integrate with enterprise applications.

Also Read: How AI is Driving a New Era of TV Advertising

Eliot Sun

“Our mission at Kloudless is to tie together the business software stack. While we’re starting with a solution for software vendors, this is just a small piece of an enormous opportunity to help all businesses make the most of the data and functionalities from their software investments,” said Eliot Sun, CEO, Co-Founder, Kloudless.

Kloudless is launching a security and audit solution to enable organization-wide activity tracking and granular collaboration controls on end-user data. Kloudless is also releasing a unified query language to interact with any object data.

In the coming months, Kloudless will use the investment to grow its connector ecosystem and API platform, as well as launch new tools to enable automation and custom integration capabilities. Kloudless has also opened a second office in Taipei, Taiwan, to expand the company’s international presence.

Vivek Ranadivé

“Integration is not a new problem; it’s historically been a multi-billion dollar market. As companies increasingly turn to software to gain advantages in competitive markets, the scale at which businesses experience this pain point exponentially increases. Kloudless’ differentiated product offerings are uniquely positioned to provide value now – and in the long run – as new integration challenges play out in the market,” said Vivek Ranadive, founder, TIBCO Software, Bow Capital.

“Kloudless has the potential to disrupt one of the largest technology markets in the world. We were excited to learn that Kloudless opened a Taipei office with an eye on international expansion, especially in the APAC region. Kloudless is also a great match with some of Alibaba Group’s own initiatives like within Alibaba Cloud, so we’re looking forward to working with them to accelerate their growth,” said Andrew Lee, Senior Executive Director, Alibaba Taiwan Entrepreneurs Fund.

Also Read: 6 Effective Ways To Drive ROI On Your Landing Pages

Tom Drummond

“Every application today faces a disconnected stack of cloud services and APIs. Kloudless saves developers from having to build and maintain point-to-point integrations that are expensive and prone to breaking. Their Universal API means that enterprises can instantly add dozens of cloud services to their applications without worrying about integration and maintenance ever again. We’re thrilled to work with them,” said Tom Drummond, Managing Director, Heavybit.

Mark Kraynak

“In the past year, Kloudless has seen accelerating traction across all key developer metrics as developers have increasingly realized the efficiencies of a ‘build once, integrate many’ approach to meeting customer demand for integrations. We’re excited to support Kloudless and their efforts to capture what figures to be a multi-billion dollar opportunity in connecting businesses to the cloud,” said Mark Kraynak, Aspect Ventures.

Recommended Read: AI Evolves … and Organizations that Manage Digital Content Benefit

The State Of Play With OTT Sports Streaming

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StateOfPlayWithOTTSportsStreaming
Swrve
Swrve

The starting whistle has blown, the spectators are watching eagerly, and a major metaphorical match has just kicked off in the world of media. Battling it out are the biggest ‘Over The Top’ (OTT) media streaming services, and sat on the sidelines, plugged into the wall and gathering dust, is cable TV. The prize at stake? The attention and subscriptions of millions of viewers, all tuning in to watch live coverage of sports. With OTT sports streaming already racing ahead as an area of growth, it’s time to take a look at some of the potential successes and stumbling blocks in the way of the sector.

Also Read: Five Video Marketing Blogs You Should Read

The prize

Content is a major source of differentiation amongst streaming providers. It is, therefore, the key to ensuring that viewers are boosting your revenue rather than that of your competitors – and content doesn’t get much more compelling than sports coverage. If someone recommends a movie to you, you might make a note to watch it next weekend; if there’s a major game on for a sport you follow, you will watch that game as it happens, come hell or high water. Sports come with an established, highly committed fan base, and the element of urgency: the idea of being left even minutes behind the rest of your fellow fans is, for most us, unthinkable, and people are willing to pay to ensure that doesn’t happen.

Also Read: Why Local Search Is the Real Winner on Super Bowl Sunday

The players

That’s where OTT steps onto the field. Streaming services are drawing users away from cable providers: Hulu saw a 40% increase in subscriber numbers from 2016 to 2017. It’s easy to see why too: the convenience of multiple devices, the flexibility of watching on demand, the personalized recommendations on content… I could go on. With OTT rapidly expanding in both its capabilities and its popularity, it’s inevitable that providers would become involved with sports coverage as a reliably high demand product.

In many ways, sports translate particularly well to OTT. Fans tune in with a particular program in mind, most are used to paying in order to watch, and the social aspect of sports lends itself to online interactions like forums and additional content. Lovers of sports breathe a sigh of relief when they remember that, thanks to multi-device apps, they needn’t miss out on the sporting event of the year just because of a little thing like a daily commute. One study reports that 56% of sports fans would pay more for online streaming than for traditional TV channels – great news for OTT providers, as the competition between services brings issues of its own.

Also Read: How AI is Driving a New Era of TV Advertising

The tactics

There are, inevitably, a few clouds behind all these silver linings. Some of these challenges have been tackled for years by veteran cable TV providers, but others are new developments, emerging from changes in the way we watch and the way OTT providers operate.

Expectations are high – viewers want the same high quality they’ve come to expect from video on demand streaming, but with every kick, throw, hit or sprint shown live at the very second it occurs. Instead of scheduling and curating content, the challenge here is in live streaming it to perfection, all around the globe. Whilst some humour doesn’t translate well and some genres underperform in certain countries, sports events can be nearly universal in their appeal – just think of the Olympics, or the football World Cup. There’s subtitles and translation to think of, as well as localized advertising and payment systems. As well as delivering the content simultaneously, services also need to adhere to the broadcasting rights agreed for each location.

One of the payoffs, however, is the whole ecosystem of content that can be generated around the event, from social media to additional footage, interviews, merchandise and gambling. Whilst the match (or race, or game…) is the main draw, there is a significant raise in engagement before and after the event as fans gather to socialize (virtually, of course – it’s 2018) and interact with additional content – the convenient, globalized equivalent of gathering in the pub afterwards.

Also Read: Digital Experience Data Reveals Customer Experience Isn’t Just for the Holidays

And that’s even before you factor in the possibilities for a personalized viewing experience. Unlike traditional broadcast television, which can only access information on the general viewer demographic, streaming services collate data from individual users, enabling the service to interact with users in a way that adds value. In-app messages and tip overlays targeted according to user intent can help people get the most from the service, meaning more customers who are happy to stay and to pay. Rather than trawling through channels, users get the content they actually want to see, delivered in an accessible way, and can be targeted by suggestions that are specific to their preferences. In turn, for OTT providers it’s an opportunity to promote pay-per-view options or subscription-only features, as well as increasing engagement and time spent using the service. Everyone’s a winner.

And the winner is…?

All this adds up to a product that is seriously in demand. As broadcasters fight to keep the rights to sports events, and OTT services compete head on, the prices being paid for sports broadcast rights increase. The pressure is on to make sports streaming pay its way, and service providers will have to be smart about how they generate income, whether it’s with additional content, advertising revenue or subscription options. For those apps not tackling OTT sports streaming, this will be an interesting sector to keep watching as user expectations develop and media technology evolves – the last thing any of us would want to do is drop the ball.

Also Read: Stanley Cup vs. NBA Finals: Social Media Battle of Winter Sports Playoffs Goes to NBA

S4M Granted Continued MRC Accreditation for Post-Click Measurements

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S4M Granted Continued MRC Accreditation for Post-Click Measurements
S4M Granted Continued MRC Accreditation for Post-Click Measurements

With the Latest MRC Accreditation, S4M Remains the Only Mobile Actor Today Accredited by MRC for Post-Click Measurements

S4M (Success for Mobile), a leading mobile programmatic technology, announced about its renewed Media Rating Council (MRC) accreditation for HTML5 mobile web and in application display and rich media Served Impressions, Clicks, and post-click metrics including Installs, Opens, and Landings. Now, the company remains the only platform accredited by MRC for app installs and opens and continues to advocate for advertisers to choose accredited metrics as success indicators for all mobile campaigns.

Read More: S4M Co-founder Stanislas Coignard Takes Over As US CEO to Focus On US Expansion

“We are proud to continue our MRC accreditation, certified metrics is one of the foundations of our technology and key for us to remain the trusted partner for major brands and agencies,” says Christophe Collet, CEO of S4M. “We are still unique in the market with post-ad metrics for mobile campaigns and are committed to providing this transparency for the industry.”

To inform and provide advertisers with clear visibility into their mobile campaign measurements, S4M’s technology will now deliver cautionary statements to the advertisers when their campaigns are being tracked with non-compliant methods (non-HTML5 traffic).

Besides from distinguishing compliant and non-compliant traffic in the platform, S4M is taking a proactive position to inform clients when the chosen tracking method will likely include a high degree of general invalid traffic (GIVT). The goal is to be proactive and transparent with mobile campaigns so clients have a full understanding of their campaigns results and potential risks.

Also Read: 6 Effective Ways To Drive ROI On Your Landing Pages

“We congratulate S4M for its industry leadership in bringing greater transparency and quality to mobile measurement,” stated George W. Ivie, Executive Director and CEO of MRC.  He added, “This is especially evidenced by S4M’s MRC-accredited post-click metrics, which go beyond current industry minimum standards to shed additional light on consumer actions after the measured click occurs.”

S4M is dedicated to educating advertisers about different tracking methods from publishers and the benefits of javascript tracking versus pixel tracking. Furthermore, the company’s impression and landing page measurements go beyond the industry’s ‘begin-to-render’ standard and are counted when impressions and landing pages have rendered plus one second. To retain MRC accreditation, S4M undergoes an annual review through an intensive independent CPA auditing process.

Currently, S4M  is the first and only mobile advertising technology that connects brands to consumers by bridging the gap between digital advertising and the real-world. S4M created a mobile-first technology that is unique in the industry to be accredited by the MRC (Media Rating Council) on the entire mobile user journey. The platform empowers brands with full transparency and control in their mobile data supply chain from mobile programmatic buying to consumer conversion in apps, mobile sites, and physical points of sales.

Also Read: The Wrong Way to Buy MarTech

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