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Relay Network Launches CX Builder

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Relay Network Launches CX Builder
Relay Network Launches CX Builder

Service-Based Enterprises Can Now Individualize Customer Interactions with Minimal Investment or IT Resources

Relay Network, the mobile engagement automation company for leading enterprise service providers, announced the release of its CX Builder portal, enabling businesses to design, configure, and automate personalized customer experiences within the Relay platform. The enhanced platform will help enterprise businesses scale their customer support efforts and meet rising consumer expectations for efficient and effective service through mobile communications.

With Relay CX Builder, customer experience, marketing, product and digital strategy teams can accelerate mobile engagement without writing a line of code. CX Builder is a nimble and intuitive tool that empowers teams to quickly create and test journeys, make real-time updates, and optimize results based on individual customer needs.

Also Read: Lack of Data Integration and Exec Buy-In Is Risking CX ROI

For consumers, CX Builder delivers actionable mobile messages that link to personalized web pages. Unlike existing solutions, Relay does not require customers to download an app and it provides a complete history of their past interactions on a personalized, secure message feed.

Relay Network Launches CX Builder
Matt Gillin

“Relay believes in an effortless customer experience — proactively, automatically, and at scale. CX Builder takes that vision and makes it a reality for all businesses, across every facet of their CRM. We’re helping large enterprises stay ahead in fiercely competitive industries and deliver new and improved customer experiences that achieve key KPIs without ripping and replacing or one-off fixes,” said Matt Gillin, co-founder and CEO of Relay Network.

Also Read: Bluewolf’s The State of Salesforce Report Reveals 77 Percent of Companies Using AI Expect to Increase Investment Over Next 12 Months

Relay Network Launches CX Builder
Lisa Guillaume

Relay’s Chief Product Officer, Lisa Guillaume, added, “Most businesses have invested millions in customer engagement and servicing technologies, but still struggle to solve for the singular customer, singular experience. More often than not, these are the use cases that create high levels of customer frustration and inbound calls. The addition of Relay to a business’ customer engagement capabilities means they can easily solve ‘in-the-moment’ needs for all customers –our clients have seen a positive impact on customer satisfaction and retention as a result.”

CX Builder is part of Relay’s complete mobile engagement solution, which includes:

  • Relay Customer Onboarding: Establish a valid, ongoing mobile connection with customers, including managing TCPA-compliant consent and mobile number collection
  • Relay Customer Messaging: Augment customer communication capabilities with SMS notifications and a persistent, secure mobile message feed that delivers content as individualized experiences
  • Relay CX Builder: Access a user interface to manage customer information, build and launch dynamic journeys, and monitor success
  • Relay Integration Suite: Customer API suite to easily integrate into existing CRM platforms for triggering and synching data
  • Relay Pro Services: Professional Services team to support every stage of the program, from design to measurement

Businesses can use CX Builder as a standalone tool or leverage their APIs to integrate their existing CRM, marketing automation, or customer support platforms. CX Builder offers a simple and intuitive interface that allows users of any level of technical experience to create new journeys in just minutes, instead of waiting weeks for updates or being constrained by gaps in legacy systems.

Recommended Read: Three Trends Driving the Shift From Customer Support to Customer Success  

Nimble Launches Mobile 3.0 CRM, A Powerful Contact Relationship And Pipeline Manager for Office 365, G-Suite

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nimble

Build Relationships, Manage Deals and Grow Your Business The Nimble Way to Connect, Engage, Nurture and Close Customers While Mobile

Contact relationship management leader Nimble released Nimble CRM Mobile 3.0, a social sales and marketing CRM and pipeline manager for mobile teams and professionals.  Nimble’s mobile CRM unifies contacts from mobile, cloud-based and desktop records into a unified relationship manager; delivers sales intelligence and detailed dossiers about people attending upcoming meetings; and enables users to follow up and follow-through more efficiently using Nimble’s visual pipeline manager. Now available on iOS, Nimble Mobile 3.0 for Office 365 and G-Suite users will be available on Android this spring.

Also Read: Nimble Launches New Add-In for Microsoft Outlook on Android for Social Business Insights

Jon Ferrara
Jon Ferrara

Nimble CEO Jon Ferrara, previously founder of GoldMine, the company that pioneered Contact Management and CRM, believes that B2B sales is and always have been based on relationships; namely, people buy from people they know, like and trust. Jon designed Nimble’s Mobile 3.0 CRM to help today’s increasingly mobile professionals to nurture relationships more easily and at scale, and simplify follow-up and follow-through while on-the-go using smaller, more mobile devices.

“Many  professionals  lose  deals  because  they  either  fail  to  understand  prospective  buyers’ needs or neglect to deliver a timely, relevant response,” explained Jon Ferrara.  “We designed Nimble Mobile to enable people to cultivate relationships and close deals more effectively by unifying critical contact records and conversation histories into a single, easy-to-access system of record that helps you make authentic connections and organize follow-up and follow-through at every stage of the deal pipeline.”

Latest Katabat Customer Experience Management Releases Target Customer Centricity

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Latest Katabat Customer Experience Management Releases Target Customer Centricity

Katabat announced its Katabat 8.1 release, delivering customer-focused improvements to its industry-leading customer experience management solutions. Katabat serves consumer lenders on three continents with cutting-edge solutions that enhance efficiency, regulatory compliance, and customer satisfaction.

Katabat 8.1 streamlines use for strategists and associates as well as improving mobile customer marketing communications. The enhancements address user requests and speak to Katabat’s commitment to partnering with clients in a continuous cycle of innovation.

The customer experience is at the core of enhancements implemented by Katabat. In Katabat 8.1, consumer lending clients will see improved responsive email design and a better mobile experience for their customers. The update also introduces the data file upload functionality, available through the Strategist Portal. Clients now have increased file upload flexibility to execute marketing campaigns while leveraging Katabat’s unified omnichannel messaging capabilities.

Also Read: Barilliance Launches Retention Marketing: New 360 Customer Profiles & Hyper Segmentation

Larger changes were delivered in Katabat 8.0, the latest major release in September 2017.

Latest Katabat Customer Experience Management Releases Target Customer Centricity
Elysandra Ziegler

The Customer Workflow feature has proved especially popular. “Katabat products are unique in how they allow our clients to focus their strategies on the customer, who might have multiple accounts with their bank. Consumer lending companies want an integrated picture at the customer level, so they can leverage data to strategize across multiple customer accounts,” explained Elysandra Ziegler, Katabat VP of Product. Customer Workflows address this need with automated processes and event triggering, delivering a better customer experience while also driving efficiency and consistency in messaging.

Another major addition in Katabat 8.0 was the new central Data Warehouse and Reporting Studio, a configurable and customizable reporting tool with an intuitive GUI. “Full 360-degree control over your data is central to our mission,” Ziegler said. “Now it’s even easier to analyze performance data and drive insights.” Clients can easily configure and generate custom reports, and view key metrics and reporting summaries for rapid monitoring and analysis.

Also Read: ClickFox and Barclays Renew their Strategic Partnership on Customer Journey Analytics

Katabat users expect solution flexibility and configurability. With 8.0, strategists can now automate batch data exports based on preset criteria leveraging Decision Tree Manager and Workflow Manager. Katabat 8.0 also introduced new ways to interact without preloaded customer data dependencies. Clients can configure a case or application flow and use captured data to create an account or customer record on Katabat. Powered by Workflow Manager, the release also introduced configurable workflow submenus on the customer-facing portal. Clients can create and publish surveys and forms to capture customer data under these menus and submenus.

Latest Katabat Customer Experience Management Releases Target Customer Centricity
Ray Peloso

Katabat 8.0 laid the groundwork for many exciting new features in 2018. “Developing the solutions and tools our customers want is really rewarding,” Ziegler noted. There are many more milestones to pass in the drive to transform customer experience management for the twenty-first century. Ground-breaking AI and advanced data analytics are on the agenda. “This is an exciting time for both finance and technology, where the intersection of customer experience, regulation, and compliance presents unique challenges and opportunities. It is our commitment to continue to reinforce and deliver unparalleled capabilities in these critical areas, enabling our clients to lead the market,” said Ray Peloso, Katabat CEO.

Recommended Read: Sprinklr Brings Enhanced Social Authority to Customer Experience Management with New Extensions

AppNexus Sees Steep Rise in Video Business, with 230% Growth of RTB Video Spend

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AppNexus Sees Steep Rise in Video Business, with 230% Growth of RTB Video Spend

Leading Advertising Technology Company Reports Increase in Video Activity Across the Platform, Adding Innovative Formats, Data Offerings, and Premium Inventory

AppNexus, the world’s leading independent advertising technology company, announced the results of rapid growth of its video business. Since the launch of its video marketplace in late 2015, AppNexus has seen buyers, sellers, and impressions significantly increase across its platform, with a 230 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of real-time bidding (RTB) video spend. As AppNexus moves into the OTT space, growth has been similarly swift, with a 360 percent quarter over quarter growth rate in 2017 for Connected TV spend on its platform.

In just over 24 months, AppNexus has built and brought to market a Video DSP, Video SSP, and Video Ad Server, establishing the foundation for a vibrant video marketplace. Over the course of 2017, AppNexus expanded its video offerings to include innovative capabilities such as multimedia superauctions, video viewability prediction and optimization, Connected TV with advanced audience targeting, and Prebid Video.

Also Read: AppNexus Launches the AppNexus Programmable Platform, the Industry’s First Programmable DSP

Eric Hoffert
Eric Hoffert

“AppNexus has quickly established a strong position in the video market. We’ve signed several of the largest media companies in the world, deployed Top 100 websites in the US, and moved into critical new formats such as Connected TV and OTT. Our brand-safe marketplace offers publishers and advertisers control, scale, transparency, and independence, which the walled gardens cannot, and our growth shows we have come to be seen as a key choice for video advertising,” said Eric Hoffert, SVP, Video Technology.

 

Also Read: Mindshare Develops ‘ANNA’ to Move Clients from ‘Programmatic’ to ‘Progammable’ Media – Launching with AppNexus and Jivox

Other key growth metrics for AppNexus’ video business include:

  • Video Scale: 57 billion ad requests per month via the AppNexus Video SSP, with more than 450 billion ad requests per month via the AppNexus video marketplace.
  • Direct Video Publisher Relationships: The number of sellers using the AppNexus Video SSP has increased from 15 to more than 150 since launch. The video viewability across these direct video sellers is 70%, above industry averages.
  • Video Demand: AppNexus achieved a 200% average quarterly growth rate for video bidder spend in 2017 on the platform, with 272 daily active video buyers and 1,250 brands buying video impressions daily in the marketplace.
  • Video Header Bidding: More than 30 publishers are using Prebid Video for video header bidding, with more than 1 billion video header bidding ad requests monthly. Video publisher revenue from video header bidding increased by 100% from Q3 to Q4 2017.
  • Programmatic Audio: AppNexus achieved a 251% two-year CAGR in programmatic audio spend, complementing its video marketplace with significant activity from audio buyers and sellers.
  • Continued Momentum: RTB video spend grew 230% in January 2018 compared to January 2017, demonstrating continued strength in the most recent 30-day period.

Also Read: AppNexus Delivers Prebid Video Client Success, Seeing eCPMs up to 100% Higher Than Tags

The AppNexus Video Marketplace serves both buyers and sellers. Buyers use the AppNexus Programmable Platform, a new class of DSP with a machine learning engine and a video-specific line item. Sellers use the AppNexus Video SSP and Video Ad Server for monetization across multiple video screens, including desktop and mobile web, mobile app, and Connected TV. Short- and long-form video monetization for publishers is available via pre-roll (VAST) and commercial breaks (VMAP) in ad-supported TV and film content.

Recommended Read: Key Publisher Strategies for Operating in the Programmatic Video Landscape

Lessons for Content Marketers from a Successful Cupid

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Lessons for Content Marketers from a Successful Cupid Steve Sachs OneSpot

For Many Content Marketers, Delivering Personalized and Relevant Experiences Across the Entire Customer Journey to Purchase Is Not Easy as It Looks

Valentine’s Day is here… and we have a Cupid from OneSpot sharing his insights on the state of personalization in Content Marketing. To ensure that you stay committed to your Martech commitments this Valentine’s Day (and in the ones to come),  Cupid talks about the lessons that every marketer should know, to achieve that ‘sweet, romantic’ state of ‘Hyper-Personalization’ in omnichannel customer experiences across any digital marketing channel.

Who’s playing Cupid for the Content Marketers today?

Steve Sachs
Steve Sachs, Chief Executive Officer, OneSpot

Steve Sachs, CEO of leading Content Marketing and Personalization platform, OneSpot, told us why Content Marketers need to focus on less fuss and more substance in 2018.

Recommended Read: Interview with Steve Sachs, Chief Executive Officer, OneSpot

The Current State of Personalization where Real Content Matters

Consumers expect personalized and relevant experiences across their entire journey to purchase. For many marketers, this is easier said than done. The majority of so-called personalization engines rely on human intervention to set up the segments and the content sequences that should appeal to consumers, based on the marketers’ understanding of the consumer journey.

Since they’re set up based on the marketer’s view of the consumer journey and not the consumer’s view of the journey, it’s not really personalization at all. It’s just a version of segment marketing.

Speaking of Valentine’s Day – marketers can best leverage events and holiday-themed content to drive engagement with consumers.

By effectively targeting content to upcoming holidays, marketers can capture the interest of consumers who are attuned to the season. Here are some tips we like to share with our customers:

Develop How-Tos

Consumers place value on content that both “informs” (40%) and “educates” (28%) them. For Valentine’s day, a baking company can develop heart shaped cookie recipes, or a beauty company can share DIY date night looks.

Themed Stories and Recommendations

Create content that is hyper-relevant to the holiday, but still aligns with the brand’s content strategy. An apparel company may pull together a post such as “Top 5 Pieces to Have in Your Closet for Every Kind of Date Night” or “How to Spice Up Your Galentine’s day Outfit.”

Content Values Inspired by Valentine’s Day: Setting up Your Segmentation for a Long-Term Relationship

While segmentation helps marketers to increase the relevancy of emails and website experience, and improve general engagement, the downside is that this level of personalization is limited in order to ensure your content appeals to the entire segment of people.

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, think of what makes for a healthy, long-term relationship. It’s nurtured, in part, through consistent one-on-one time, attentiveness to individual personal interests and passions. Yet when it comes to content marketing, many marketers are stuck at the attraction stage — not focusing on what individuals want, but segments of people – sort-of like group dating.

Recommended Read: Top Insights on the CMO’s Best Allies, Content Marketing, and the Art of Story-Telling for Brands

Risk 101: Why Are Many Marketers Still Using Segmentation as Their Strategy, If There Are Downsides?

Organizations have segmented direct mail, email and website experiences for years, targeting content, offers and messaging to smaller audience segments based on demographic or behavioral characteristics. When marketers are able to target users based on behavior triggers, response rates grow significantly.

But, there’s a limit to the time marketers have to set up these segments and then optimize on a frequent basis. It’s hard to get to 100 segments and manage 100 difference sequences, and most marketers max out at eight segments.

Consider optimization into the mix, and the workload multiplies. In this environment, real-time personalization down to the individual level is impossible.

Your Valentine’s Day Chauffeur: Trust AI/ML for Branded Content

AI has provided significant advances in automating brand-driven content marketing. AI is enabling the multi-faceted content to be personalized on an individual basis across channels, driving repeat engagement and generating robust data-supported analytics that clearly shows how loyal brand relationships with consumers lead to increases in revenue.

As the content marketing leaders rise to the forefront of brands, the ability to clearly show how AI-driven platforms support revenue goals is crucial to their need to have documented responsibility for contributing to the bottom line.

Recommended Read: Interview with Chris Lynde, CEO, SaleScout Data Solutions

Content Cupid OneSpot Brings Brands Closer to Consumers Through AI

OneSpot’s machine learning-powered content individualization platform builds deeper content-driven relationships by automating delivery of content based on an individual’s desires, interests, behaviors, and engagement, with specific pieces of content across the digital channels. This, in turn, drives more visitors to a brand’s content. They consume more content per visit, and the number of times they engage increases.

With OneSpot, no rules or tagging are needed to serve highly relevant, personalized content across digital channels.

What Does True-Personalization Entail?

True personalization should —

  • Personalize content to a segment of one
  • Be refreshed in real time based on individual profiles
  • Be constantly updated based on user behaviors and preferences

This is what we here at OneSpot are dubbing “individualization.” Marketing technology now enables marketing organizations to understand consumers as individuals, including their unique preferences and behaviors. Based on these individualized insights, marketers can provide meaningful content experiences for users.

What Are the Benefits of Individualization?  

When it comes to ROI, delivering individualized content experiences lead to significantly higher engagement and in turn, increased the likelihood to take more action and view the brand more favorably.

In addition to ROI-driving metrics, machine-learning powered individualization also significantly reduces production time by eliminating manual management of segmentation efforts. This allows marketers to reinvest resources in content strategy and development to fuel personalization.

Valentine’s Day Commitments to the Content Marketing Community

What’s the Biggest Compliment That the Content Can Get from a Consumer?

Engagement!

The more content consumers click on, spend time with and share with friends, the more relevant content marketers can create in the future for them. Engagement means that marketers are doing something right with their content strategy.

Recommended Read: How is The Location Data Landscape Shaping Up in 2018?

Thank you, Steve, for playing Cupid for the content marketing community.

CloudCherry’s Predictive Analytics Enhancements Give Companies the Customer Experience Edge

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CloudCherry's Predictive Analytics Enhancements Give Companies the Customer Experience Edge
CloudCherry's Predictive Analytics Enhancements Give Companies the Customer Experience Edge

Improvements Increase Speed and Accuracy of Customer Feedback Analysis at Scale

CloudCherry, a leading Customer Experience Management company, announced significant enhancements to its CX platform’s predictive analytics engine, reducing the time required to analyze customer feedback at scale, reveal insights and predict trends.

CloudCherry's Predictive Analytics Enhancements Give Companies the Customer Experience Edge
Arvi Krishnaswamy

“Brands around the globe are under ever-increasing pressure to understand and get ahead of customer needs, tackle churn, and drive profitability. With the help of machine learning and deep learning, we’ve been able to achieve up to 98% accuracy in our classification of customer sentiment. This represents a significant milestone — giving companies the power to listen to their customers at scale, across a multitude of channels, mine their words for meaningful insights, and identify trends faster and more accurately than ever before,” says Arvi Krishnaswamy, VP Products at CloudCherry.

Also Read: Dreamforce TechBytes with Vinod Muthukrishnan, CEO, Cloudcherry

CloudCherry’s advanced analytics engine uses machine learning and deep learning to crunch billions of unstructured customer feedback across a multitude of channels, in real-time, revealing key trends, a deep understanding of customer sentiment and the underlying themes and drivers of customer experience. The new enhancements provide the ability to create a multi-level classification hierarchy for key driver analysis – a quick snapshot of higher level themes, and the ability to drill down into areas to look at detailed themes.

Also Read: CloudCherry Recognized as Top Tech Startup on Startup50 2017 List

CloudCherry’s cutting-edge insights not only reveal how customer conversations are shaping brand experiences but empower employees with a prioritized list of the actions they need to take in order to deliver outcomes.

To cater to their growing global customer base, CloudCherry has expanded its international coverage with data analysis, supporting over 50 languages.

Thanks to CloudCherry’s disruptive Customer Experience Management platform, Voice of Customer has never been easier or faster to understand. Used by leading global enterprises today to delight their customers, the platform helps CX leaders map and capture omnichannel feedback across the customer’s journey, empowers every single person within the organization with data-driven insights and real-time actionability, and integrates with leading systems of records to make CX a key driver of growth and profitability.

Recommended Read: CloudCherry in Gartner’s 2017 Market Guide for Voice-of-the-Customer Solutions

3 Reasons Why Marketers Should Welcome GDPR (Other Than Because It’s Required!)

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3 Reasons Why Marketers Should Welcome GDPR (Other Than Because It’s Required!)
3 Reasons Why Marketers Should Welcome GDPR (Other Than Because It’s Required!)

TAPADSince the European Parliament and Council agreed upon the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in December 2016, GDPR has been on the forefront of many marketers’ minds. A year later, many companies are actively working with privacy and legal experts, implementing processes to become compliant. For some, this process is daunting and significantly affects the way they have been handling data. For others, it aligns with their current practices and is a mere formality for maintaining operations in Europe.

However, regardless of where you stand in the process, there are several reasons why GDPR should be a welcome regulation for the industry by both marketers and consumers alike. To name a few:

Renews Trust with Consumers

Even if you are the most privacy-conscious company, it’s likely that the average consumer isn’t aware of the day-to-day efforts you make to protect their data and ensure your business is run in a transparent and compliant manner. Privacy policies hosted online are readily available, but is the consumer regularly reading them? In most instances, the answer is most likely not. GDPR gives companies the opportunity to remind consumers of their commitment to privacy and highlight any specific processes or safeguards that are unique to their business.

Europe is one of the most tightly-regulated markets with regard to data collection and processing. Meeting GDPR standards set a high bar and clear commitment to privacy, which only helps to strengthen consumer confidence.

GDPR also has strong implications for not just data privacy, but data security, so adapting to these new standards gives consumers extra assurance in knowing their data isn’t just private, but increasingly secure.

Read Also: Are You GDPR Ready?

Improves Data Processing and Collection

For companies that need to restructure the way they process and collect data to become compliant, this is also an opportunity to reevaluate their entire protocol and find areas for improvement. Just like renewing a lease gives you the chance to review and revise terms and conditions, perhaps resulting in a better deal, GDPR can serve as a reminder to see how your company could improve data operations.

Preparing for GDPR could also improve the accuracy levels of data stored in a company’s database. This is because the new regulations will require data controllers to rectify any errors as they are told about by customers, which could lead to greater accuracy overall.

Also Read:  Marketing Op’s Guide to GDPR Compliance

Inspires Growth in New Markets

For companies looking to expand outside of EMEA, being GDPR compliant can set the tone for future growth. We found this to be the case when expanding to APAC, where the ad-tech is still a newer industry than in regions like North America.

While GDPR doesn’t directly impact APAC, knowing that a company has already been vetted thoroughly for the compliance and legal standards imposed by GDPR inspires confidence with potential clients. Knowing your current market is of course valuable, but seeing trends in others may point you to where the industry is headed, and best prepare you to already be setup – ahead of competitors – for new regulations.

Demonstrating a firm commitment to privacy in a region with stringent privacy laws, such as Europe, means companies in new markets won’t have to guess about your stance on privacy.

At first glance, it may be easy to just see GDPR as a regulatory measure, but GDPR can be much more than that. It could be the start to renewing consumer trust and could even set the building blocks for global expansion.

At Tapad, our commitment to privacy began well before GDPR, but we welcome any opportunity to further prove our dedication to customers. Ultimately, when done right, upholding customer transparency and privacy can – and should be – a point of pride for your company.

Also Read: Brand Transparency for GDPR

Media iQ Appoints Simon Tray as Global Chief Financial Officer

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Media iQ appoints Simon Tray as Global Chief Financial Officer
Media iQ appoints Simon Tray as Global Chief Financial Officer

Tray leaves MediaCom Worldwide after 19 years, highlighting continued growth at Media iQ

Media iQ, the leading global analytics and technology company, has announced the appointment of Simon Tray as Global Chief Financial Officer. He joins having previously held the same role at MediaCom Worldwide, where he had been part of the leadership team for the past 19 years. 

In his new role, Simon will be responsible for the company’s financial performance and reporting of business, as well as taking responsibility for future operational business planning and commercial risk management. This is the latest in several recent senior hires at Media iQ, as it continues to demonstrate its commitment to worldwide growth and ability to attract the best talent in the media and advertising industry.

Also Read: Media iQ Announces Global Gold Partnership of Advertising Week New York

Simon comes to Media iQ with a hugely impressive background in the industry, having managed finance departments in several agencies both in the UK and globally. Most recently, he was Global Chief Financial Officer at MediaCom, helping grow the network to have 120 offices in over 90 countries.

During his 19 years as part of the senior leadership team at MediaCom, Simon was UK Group Finance Director. Following WPP’s acquisition of MediaCom in 2005, Simon was asked to become the first CFO for GroupM UK, the world’s largest advertising media company. This further highlights the quality of talent that Media iQ has attracted.

Also Read: Media iQ Continues Robust Expansion in Canada

Media iQ appoints Simon Tray as Global Chief Financial Officer
Gurman Hundal

Gurman Hundal, CEO, Media iQ said, “We are thrilled to be welcoming Simon to Media iQ. He has a vast amount of experience that is unmatched across the industry and we look forward to the unique insights he will be able to offer to drive our financial performance. Simon adds to the already impressive roster of senior global talent that we have recently hired which we will continue to grow.”

Also Read: New Free Business Intelligence Offering From Global Database Will Disrupt the Marketing Database Industry

Media iQ appoints Simon Tray as Global Chief Financial Officer
Simon Tray

Simon Tray, Global Chief Financial Officer, Media iQ added, “I’m incredibly excited to be joining Media iQ at a time when it is leading the way within the industry. It was very clear to me, once arriving at Media iQ, that a good company culture is an important driver in enabling the business to succeed, and this made me even more eager to join. I can see that the company is only going to continue to grow so I look forward to bringing my own expertise to this newly created role and enhancing the business further.”

BT, Tesco and agencies including Vizeum and MediaCom are among the names within Media iQ’s expanding roster of clients and Media iQ was ranked No.4 in the Sunday Times Track 200 fastest growing International UK Companies, earlier in the year.

Recommended Read: New Analysis Shows Most Customer Journey Expansion is in Loyalty and Growth Applications

PowerLinks Raises $6.1 Million Series A to Automate Relevant Native Advertising

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powerlinks

Powerlinks Is A Software Platform Which Automates The Buying And Selling Of Personally Relevant And User-Friendly “Native” Advertising

PowerLinks announced that it has secured a £4.58 million ($6.1 million) Series A investment. The round is led by Foresight Group, with participation from leading angel investors and PowerLinks management.

PowerLinks is emerging as a leader in a new generation of advertising platforms, connecting advertisers and publishers in a data rich marketplace, which processes over 6 billion auctions each day.

Ads are bought and sold in real-time, based on precisely defined customer interest profiles, which are augmented by PowerLinks unique “Personal Relevance” data. Unlike traditional digital ads, PowerLinks ads are visually styled in real-time to align with the surrounding webpage or mobile app, thereby delivering a non-intrusive, “native” user experience. This approach provides advertisers with a seamless route to scale with personalized messaging, driving better engagement levels and a significantly lower cost of customer acquisition. Increasingly, the platform’s success is driving demand from search and social advertising into the independent content web.

The investment follows a year of success and expansion, which saw PowerLinks marketplace surpass 4,000 advertising campaigns from 140 connected advertisers, driving revenue growth of 112% year-on-year. PowerLinks also strengthened its relationship with advertising partner Microsoft, Graduating Cohort 7 of the Microsoft Accelerator program for Series A start-ups.

Also Read:  The Three Types of Ad Fraud Marketers Should Know About – and How to Tackle Them

The capital injection will accelerate PowerLinks’ expansion in the US, with planned additions across the sales, client services and technology teams. The company will also partner with global customers to roll out support in dozens of new markets, having recently expanded in Amsterdam and Berlin.

PowerLinks has integrated 56 analytics, audience data, and media vendors, and will continue to integrate partners which bolster the transparency and automation available to customers. In particular, PowerLinks is adding leading AI and Cognitive Services to its context-focused “Personal Relevance Platform”, which provides granular targeting and brand safety, whilst complying with the incoming European GDPR data laws.

As part of the investment, PowerLinks is pleased to boost its management team with the appointment of Alex Rahaman as Chairman and Mickey Christodoulides as Finance Director.

Rahaman is an experienced ad tech entrepreneur who most recently grew StrikeAd, the VC backed mobile programmatic platform he founded, until its sale to Sizmek Inc. He has led several scale-ups in the adtech space including Unanimis, an independent ad network exited to France Telecom, from which he spun out OpenX, one of the largest global programmatic platforms. Rahaman brings growth, exit and international sector experience and contacts to the team, and has previously held CEO, COO and CFO roles. Rahaman is also CEO of NEXD, a creative technology business with offices in London and across Europe.

Christodoulides has 17 years’ experience of building best practice finance departments, eight of which have been within Ad-tech and media companies. He was the Group Financial Controller for Unruly Media, in which he was heavily involved in the company’s £114m sale to News Corp, the publishing giant owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch. Additionally, Christodoulides has previously implemented new finance and ERP systems as well as having experience across both US and UK financial reporting.

Also Read:  The State of Ads.txt: Not a Big Clean-up Yet

YouTube’s Top Kids’ Influencers Announce Participation in SuperAwesome’s SafeFam Program

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YouTube’s Top Kids’ Influencers Announce Participation in SuperAwesome’s SafeFam Program
YouTube’s Top Kids’ Influencers Announce Participation in SuperAwesome’s SafeFam Program

At Kidscreen Summit 2018, over thirty YouTubers and five agencies announced participation in SuperAwesome’s SafeFam initiative. SafeFam’s content certification is designed for young YouTubers and their parents to better understand and navigate the digital safety and privacy requirements of the under-13 audience on YouTube.

Creators who have already signed up include DenisDaily and the rest of The Pals, SuperHeroKids, Gabe and Garrett, Grace’s World, Annie Rose, Hope Marie, The Daya Daily, The Fizz Family, The Crafty Girls, Millie and Chloe, Daniela Golubeva, BananaJamana and many more.

Also Read: Influencers Who Work Harder Deserve Deeper Rewards

SuperAwesome is the leading ‘kidtech’ company, whose technology, services and certification standards are widely used by the global kids’ digital media market.

The SafeFam program creates a set of standards and best practices for YouTubers who are engaged in creating content viewed by a younger audience. This program has been designed to empower content creators, and in many cases, their parents as well, to better understand the digital safety and privacy requirements of the U-13 audience.

Also Read: Forget Click-Through Rates, Focus on Emotional Engagement 

SafeFam comprises three elements:

  • Training on what it means to be brand-safe, kid-safe and the repercussions of not adhering to these principles.
  • Content is reviewed for brand safety and appropriateness, as well as kid safety, employment laws and parental control.
  • Access to SafeFam Support to help with any additional questions and updates for additional guidelines and best practices as they emerge.

If the content creators are under 16, SafeFam also educates their parents on best practices, such as filming time guidelines (maximum session time, no night-time recording etc). SafeFam is as much about protecting the influencers themselves as it is about setting a standard for the content they produce for their young audiences.

Also Read: If A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words, Then Visual, Interactive Content Is Priceless

Mother of well-known YouTuber Hope Marie and SuperHeroKids said, “Being the parent of influencers is stressful – there’s hardly any guidance on what they should be doing, or what might be seen badly by others. The guidance from SafeFam makes me confident that they are going to be safe producing content for YouTube, and not going to end up as the subject of a crazy scandal. It gives me peace of mind.”

Parents of YouTuber, The Daya Daily stated, “A program like SafeFam helps us make the internet safer for kids. We love that SafeFam is aimed at keeping kids safe and we love that brands that work with SuperAwesome value that too, it’s important for us to know that our kids are exposed to safe content on the internet and SafeFam is guiding us to produce this type of content.”

Jamie Jo, of popular art-focused channel BananaJamana commented, “I’ve always strived to make my channel kid-friendly because I want to ensure my content is responsible and can be viewed by all ages. I’m very happy that SafeFam recognizes my channel as a safe place parents and brands can trust. I will always put the safety of my younger audience first.”

Also Read: HYPR Launches Designated Market Areas (DMA) Tool For Influencer Audiences

Mitch Smiley, Marketing Director for Wildworks (developer of the huge kids hit, Animal Jam ) stated: “At WildWorks, we’re lucky to work with many influencers who use Animal Jam for their content. With the recent news, we think it’s vital that content creators have guidelines on how to make kid-appropriate videos on YouTube. That’s why we’ve encouraged the influencers we work with to join SafeFam. SafeFam reassures us that the creators we work with understand the requirements of the kids digital ecosystem and that they continue making great kid-appropriate content.”

Lillian LeBron, Partner at Beacon Media, the largest kids media-buying agency in the US commented: “SafeFam is a fantastic initiative and one that is really needed across the YouTube ecosystem. As a platform which wasn’t originally built for kids, it’s critical that we establish clear content and safety guidelines for kids YouTube content. SafeFam adds integrity, brand safety and much-needed guidelines for YouTubers”

Britt Bagnall, founder of YouTube talent agency Cherry Pick Talent stated, “There are so many role models on YouTube whose young audience idolize them! We wanted to offer a program like SafeFam to teach these influencers how to consciously create safe content for their audience and be one of the good guys so parents know when their kids are spending time on their channel, they will not be subject to anything inappropriate or unsafe.”

Also Read: How NOT to Handle a Collaboration Request When it Comes to Influencer Marketing

YouTube’s Top Kids’ Influencers Announce Participation in SuperAwesome’s SafeFam Program
Dylan Collins

“At SuperAwesome, we are wholly committed to building kidtech that supports the growth of the digital media ecosystem for children. YouTube is a large player in that ecosystem so it is important that we create tools for the influencers of all ages, young influencers’ parents and brands who wish to engage with children on that platform. While YouTube has created the Intelligence Desk to spot inappropriate content earlier, there remains a lack of content guidance for YouTubers creating wholesome, kid-friendly content. SafeFam has two very clear goals: a) establishing clear content policies for kids content creators on YouTube and b) increasing brand safety so that these YouTubers have more revenue opportunities,” said Dylan Collins, CEO SuperAwesome .

Recommended Read: The Data & Measurement Behind Successful Influencer Marketing

CloudEngage Announces AI-Powered Live Chat Solution ‘Chord’

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CloudEngage Announces AI-Powered Live Chat Solution 'Chord'
CloudEngage Announces AI-Powered Live Chat Solution 'Chord'

Chord by CloudEngage Is the First Live Chat Solution to Combine Artificial Intelligence with Real-Time Personalization That Intuitively Learns Customer Preferences, Generating Personalized Web Experiences

CloudEngage, a leading intuitive suite of omnichannel personalization tools on the market, has announced the launch of Chord. Chord by CloudEngage is an agent-driven live chat system capable of personalizing user experiences in real-time. Chord learns web visitor affinities through conversation and uses that data to create one-to-one experiences across a brand’s digital channels.

Mobilechat Banner via CloudEngage
Mobile Chat Banner via CloudEngage

Currently, CloudEngage offers an advanced personalization ecosystem that empowers brands to give their customers a unique and tailored experience that is proven to increase conversions.

Paul Wagner, CEO of CloudEngag
Paul Wagner, CEO, CloudEngage

At the time of this announcement, Paul Wagner, CEO of CloudEngage, said, “Existing chat systems are one-dimensional. Chord serves as both a cutting-edge chat platform and personalization engine. As agents interact with website visitors, Chord is working behind the scenes to leverage conversational learning, providing individualized experiences that drive conversion. This product was the perfect addition to our existing personalization suite. It’s a major differentiator.”

There is no other live chat solution that combines intelligent segmentation, conversational learning, and robust content delivery. Rather than having to log in to an external chat client, agents interact with visitors on their own website. Conversations persist, adding information to the user profile over time, and creating actionable insights. Also unique is that agents can drag-and-drop content from their website directly into the conversation feed. Product recommendations, interactive images, media links, promotions, and more can be easily shared.

Recommended Read: Crimson Hexagon Posts Record Annual Revenues in 2017 and Expands to “Consumer Insights”

Wagner added, “Chord is also a compelling customer retention tool. Repeat clients can be linked to specific agents, online or in-store. “This means that a customer who enjoyed a terrific experience with a representative at a brick-and-mortar location can remain in touch virtually through the website. That agent can continue to engage the customer, building brand loyalty.”

Using CloudEngage, customers can dynamically change the content on the website for every visitor using hyper-precise geofencing, customization based on incoming referral links, identifyied­­ user affinities through machine learning, language and local weather, browser push notifications and custom models. CloudEngage also powers real-time relevance and context at every touchpoint.

Read More: How is The Location Data Landscape Shaping Up in 2018?

DiscoverOrg Expands Market Leadership, More Than Doubles its Database, and Exceeds Growth Goals in 2017

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In its 10th Year, Leading Marketing and Sales Intelligence Provider Accelerates Already Aggressive Growth Trajectory

DiscoverOrg announced its 2017 results, surpassing all growth projections during its 10th anniversary year. The industry-leading B2B sales and marketing data provider exceeded its 2017 growth plan for revenue, data, employees, and profitability – and integrated the DiscoverOrg and RainKing businesses faster than anticipated.

2017 highlights include:

  • Annual recurring revenue of over $130 Million
  • 124% growth of the DiscoverOrg dataset and 127% growth of the RainKing dataset over the last 12 months
  • 50% growth in total employees: the company now has more than 500 employees based across 3 US offices in Vancouver, Bethesda, and Philadelphia
  • 24% growth in total customers; currently, more than 4,000 unique organizations leverage the DiscoverOrg and RainKing platforms across the globe

These results underscore the reality that, more than ever, sales and marketing professionals are investing in high-quality data and insights that enable them to quickly zero in on their target buyers with the right message at the right time.

“After the acquisition of RainKing in August 2017, we made a commitment to our combined customer base that they would be able to access more high-quality data as we brought the businesses together,” said Henry Schuck, DiscoverOrg CEO. “In the five months since the acquisition, we more than doubled the datasets our customers access. This phenomenal increase means that our customers are more effective at finding, connecting, and selling to their target buyers.”

Also Read:  TechBytes with Katie Bullard, Chief Growth Officer, DiscoverOrg

DiscoverOrg’s growth in 2017 is a result of much more than the RainKing acquisition.  Over the past 12 months, the company aggressively focused on:

  • Rapid advancements to the company’s proprietary technology, tools, and integrations that feed the data gathering and cleansing engine – accelerating the organization’s ability to both grow the dataset faster than ever and maintain the highest data accuracy in the market;
  • The launch of new datasets for fast growing target markets including SMB, HR, and Legal and Compliance – resulting in a larger addressable target market for DiscoverOrg and a more diversified customer base; and
  • Delivering an unparalleled customer experience, including an expanded customer success team, brand new customer training and certification programs, and major innovations across both platforms that significantly improve ease of use

“We repeatedly hear from sales and marketing organizations that the overwhelming abundance of data available today— mostly low-quality and unverified—actually makes it harder for them to do their job effectively,” said Katie Bullard, DiscoverOrg Chief Growth Officer. “We have focused on delivering both the right data and the right tools to make sense of that data in a simple and practical package.  The result is that our customers get to market faster, build more pipeline, and close deals more often than their competitors.”

Also Read: TechTarget and DiscoverOrg Announce Partnership to Accelerate ABM Success

Direct Agents Introduces Standalone OTT Solution

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Direct Agents Introduces Standalone OTT Solution
Direct Agents Introduces Standalone OTT Solution

Directagents.TV Is the Agency’s Expanded Offering for OTT Growth Marketing

Direct Agents, a data-driven, digital advertising agency is excited to announce their latest solution focused on OTT network launch and audience growth: DirectAgents.TV

As a leader of OTT growth marketing, Direct Agents has launched a stand-alone solution for OTT subscriber & audience acquisition, churn management, tune-in, and content launches. In addition, Direct Agents helps with cross-device presence management and OTT-specific analytics, optimization and benchmarking.

Also Read: Accretive Media Launches New Programmatic Digital Out-of-Home Advertising Platform Bridging the Digital and Physical Worlds

Direct Agents has helped launch and grow AVOD, SVOD, and TVE services for some of the world’s largest entertainment brands through their full-funnel media management, customized technology ecosystem, and proprietary data-driven approach. Direct Agents has helped launch over a dozen OTT networks and 50+ original content releases.

Also Read: RedPoint Global Launches Data Management 8.0, A Platform For Optimizing Customer Engagement

Direct Agents Introduces Standalone OTT Solution
Josh Boaz

“The VOD streaming space is an area we’ve been paying close attention to the last few years, and the rate of change and disruption is staggering. Media consumption habits are changing rapidly; according to Nielsen, the amount of time consumers spend watching linear television is down 15.7% year-over-year and 43.6% since 2012. Many traditional agencies aren’t geared for the new OTT paradigm. With our experience in customer acquisition and agility in testing new digital channels, we are well positioned to make a meaningful impact for our clients,” said Josh Boaz, Managing Director and Co-founder of Direct Agents.

Also Read: Cambridge Analytica Announces Launch of New TV Targeting Product at Advertising Week in New York

Direct Agents is a full-service, independent digital marketing agency, with offices in NYC & LA that specializes in customer acquisition solutions.

Recommended Read: AppNexus Join Hands with Tru Optik to Power Audience Targeting, Measurement, and Attribution for AppNexus’ Connected TV Marketplace

video intelligence Launches Contextual Video Platform

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New Platform Will Enable Media Publishers To Instantly Deliver Relevant Content And Advertising

video intelligence (vi) has announced the UK launch of vi stories – a contextual video platform that connects media companies with content providers, helping them to deliver engaging and topical video to users based on the content they are interested in.

Publishers can use vi stories to embed a native video player on their platform that matches the look, style, and design of their app or website. A natural language machine learning algorithm, powered by IBM Watson, finds and serves editorial video based on its analysis of the page content. Content is sourced from a vast and continually updating video library, containing clips from outlets like ITN, Reuters, and Euronews.

Also Read:  Context Is King: The Rise of Contextual Advertising in 2018

The product aims to create highly engaging experiences for users and increase the time they spend on the site, creating greater monetisation opportunities on publisher platforms. vi stories inserts contextual advertising within the player, allowing advertisers to target engaged viewers with audience-appropriate branded content in a native media environment.

Kai Henniges, CEO of video intelligence, comments: “Context is everything. For too long we’ve been distracted by inefficient methods of targeting customers online. It became annoying and users have had enough of it. By matching videos contextually we can be sure a user is interested in the content and the advertising.”

As of February 2018, vi stories is now available for publishers based in the UK, following successful adoption of the platform by over 15,000 publishers across Europe, including the MailOnline in France and the Styria Media Group in Austria who are using the technology across its top outlets, such as Die Presse.

Also Read:  How Natural Language Processing Is Shaping The Future of Communication

The launch comes as advertisers and publishers prepare for the implementation of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in May 2018. As these companies consider how the new rules will impact their audience targeting strategies, contextual placement looks to emerge as a leading way to connect users with the right messages at the right time in the right place – in a way that is in accordance with the new legislation and not based on a viewer’s cookies.

Instapage Announces Support for AMP Landing Pages

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Marketers and advertisers can create AMP landing pages directly from the Instapage platform

Instapage, the post-click optimization platform for advertisers, is bringing the Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) framework to landing pages. With AMP capabilities on Instapage, marketers and advertisers will be able to create AMP landing pages directly from the Instapage platform.

AMP is a Google-backed open-source project that allows for faster page load speeds on mobile devices, enabling marketers and advertisers to provide a better experience for mobile browsing. Instapage is the only landing page solution working with the AMP team to make AMP landing pages a reality for advertisers and marketers. The Instapage team will be presenting at AMP Conf 2018 on February 14 in Amsterdam.

“As customers spend increased amounts of time on mobile, creating a positive post-click experience on mobile is critical,” said Tyson Quick, Founder and CEO of Instapage. “Supporting the AMP framework will help marketers systematically integrate mobile into their post-click experiences and allow advertisers to finally adapt to the mobile-first world.”

Also Read:  Interview with Tyson Quick, Founder & CEO – Instapage

By 2019, mobile will account for 62.5% of all internet expenditure. But while mobile spend has outpaced desktop, load page times remain a hurdle for landing pages. Conversions fall by 20% for each additional second that it takes for a site to load, and 40% of consumers will leave a page that takes longer than three seconds to load. (The State of Mobile Conversions Report)

“We’ve seen first-hand how mobile page load times can affect campaign performance,” said Alli Hobbs, Marketing Operations Coordinator at Purple Carrot. “Instapage understands the importance of providing compelling mobile user experiences, and we’re excited to see how they’ll continue this mobile-first approach.”

In January,  Instapage launched Instablocks, a brand new way to build post-click landing pages. Advertisers can now create “building blocks” for their landing pages — custom sections that they can reuse to quickly create pages, and in turn, scale their advertising into a high-velocity operation.

CleverTouch ‘Momentum’ Launched to Reduce Email Build Time

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CleverTouch 'Momentum' Launched to Reduce Email Build Time
CleverTouch 'Momentum' Launched to Reduce Email Build Time

Created by CleverTouch’s DevLab, Momentum Allows Field Marketers to Build Their Own Emails with No Knowledge of HTML

CleverTouch, a leading Marketing Automation consultancy and service provider, announced the launch of Momentum, a marketing technology service enabling field marketers to easily create beautiful HTML emails in Marketo and Eloqua without the need for central marketing teams. It will be available from 14 February.

Read More: How is The Location Data Landscape Shaping Up in 2018?

CleverTouch Momentum’s purpose is to rid marketers of an extensive email creation process, and ensure that marketing teams see a significant increase in adoption of Marketing Automation. 

At the time of this announcement, Adam Sharp, Co-founder at CleverTouch, said, “An increasing number of large enterprises are using Marketing Automation as an integral part of their digital and email strategy. Momentum is designed to make the email build process as easy, efficient, and effective as possible. By reducing email build time, Momentum’s technology allows marketers to focus on their core marketing strategy instead.”

Read More: Interview with Chris Lynde, CEO, SaleScout Data Solutions

CleverTouch Momentum Ensures Easy Email Creation 

Momentum’s mission is to make email creation easy for the entire marketing department but still provide quality and control for the central marketing teams who launch campaigns. Its groundbreaking technology enables rapid Marketing Automation adoption by reducing time spent on the cross-team liaison, email creation, and approval process by up to 8 times.

Momentum manages a streamlined development request process, where all email build requests are received through a single system and format. Marketers can build their own emails with minimal training and zero HTML knowledge, freeing Marketing Automation specialists to develop new campaigns and strategic initiatives.

Read Also: AdColony Announces Full Compatibility with IAS, Double Verify and MOAT

Email Editor Enabled to Add Better Customization with Higher Responsiveness

Momentum’s powerful email editor allows users to easily create fully responsive emails that are aligned with the brand’s messaging and color palette. Each template is context-aware, and the email editor is customizable to each organization and brand.

To prevent mistakes, assets are approved systematically by central Marketing Automation specialists. Approved emails are automatically published in the Marketing Automation platform, improving efficiencies. The amends process is also simplified significantly, as users can highlight amends directly on the email itself. Amends can also be made through collaboration, with a fully integrated commentary system. To accelerate the sign-off process between field marketers and central Marketing Automation specialists, instant notifications are sent when new messages are posted.

Currently, CleverTouch Marketing is one of Europe’s leading Marketing Automation consulting and service providers. CleverTouch help clients optimize their investment in marketing technology through change management, organizational re-thinking, marketing insight and technical capabilities.

Recommended Read: TechBytes with John Schnipkoweit, CTO, Choozle

CoreMedia Features in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms Report

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CoreMedia Features in Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms Report

CoreMedia Included in the First-Ever Release of Cutting-Edge Market Research Report

CoreMedia, a global provider of omnichannel content management, advanced asset management, and eCommerce integrations, has announced that it has been included by Gartner’s 2018 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Digital Experience Platforms research report.

Recommended Read: TechBytes with John Schnipkoweit, CTO, Choozle

Key Parameter to Decide the Magic Quadrant: The Ability to Execute Digital Experience

CoreMedia has been placed as a leader within its quadrant based on ability to execute. This acknowledgment is in addition to CoreMedia’s long-standing recognition as a Visionary in the 2017 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management.

Doug Heise, VP of Marketing at CoreMedia, said, “We couldn’t be more pleased that Gartner has chosen to include as a player in this growing and increasingly critical market segment.”

Doug added, “We believe that this evaluation validates our belief that in order for companies to be successful in the age of multi-channel commerce, they must be able to build iconic brand experiences that seamlessly blend exciting content and frictionless transactional capabilities.”

Read More: Interview with Chris Lynde, CEO, SaleScout Data Solutions

What is a Digital Experience Platform (DXP)?

Gartner defines a DXP as “an integrated set of technologies, based on a common platform, that provides a broad range of audiences with consistent, secure and personalized access to information and applications across many digital touchpoints”.

The Gartner 2018 report caps a stellar year in which CoreMedia has continued to expand its global footprint and establish itself as a leading content management provider in the luxury, fashion, and beauty space. B2C fashion brands like Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, and an iconic Italian footwear company have all recently updated their digital shopping experiences with CoreMedia, as did Boots, dm drugstores, and Tractor Supply Company who chose CoreMedia for their online stores and in-store kiosks. B2B brands like Graybar and Emerson have adapted the same technology to massively improve their eCommerce experience.

Read More: AdColony Announces Full Compatibility with IAS, Double Verify and MOAT

After being named a Visionary for eight consecutive years in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management Report, CoreMedia believes that this new report is an important step in the evolution of the company and a recognition of its increasingly central role in some of the world’s biggest and most cutting-edge eCommerce projects.

Recommended Read: How is The Location Data Landscape Shaping Up in 2018?

OTT Explosion Provides Safe Platform For Marketers

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OTT Explosion Provides Safe Platform For Marketers

Beachfront MediaThe topic of OTT Explosion was a dominant force at CES this year. Maybe not as the unequivocal future of video programming, but at least as an offering on par with cable and satellite offerings.

We know OTT’s been growing quickly in recent years (users doubled in 2017), so its prominence is no surprise. Pulling even with “traditional TV” is the surprising development, however, as the stage is now set for streaming to change the conversation around advertising as well. OTT now migrates from a side bucket of digital spend to its own increasing budget that could one-day challenge cable and satellite.

But in order to do that, OTT’s future stability must be established in 2018. Streaming has grown despite some questions for the larger industry. This year, OTT explosion is poised to provide answers to those larger queries. Below, I’ve included some of the biggest trends that will shape the conversation around streaming video (and its viability) going forward.

Also Read: If A Picture’s Worth a Thousand Words, Then Visual, Interactive Content Is Priceless

The Rise of Mid- and Long-Tail Video and OTT Explosion

Search has expanded as a key function of OTT services in recent years. And the latest versions of Roku, FireTV and Apple TV have continued to expand that trend.

Where it was once difficult to dig down and find the mid- and long-tail content providers, these channels are now rising to the surface with more ease — making them a more lucrative and interesting venture for advertisers. Not only are many of these providers making for large volumes of content to advertising with, but also more niche content that speaks to a hyper-specific audience. Audience targeting via streaming is already smart. But utilizing these niche programming options only amplifies that even more so, potentially making for better ad investments.

This market is only poised to grow more as search gets better. Players like Facebook and YouTube also have the power to be search-focused, and further this move toward more mid- and long-tail video — creating yet another option for both viewers and advertisers to take advantage of.

Also Read: Fast Forward Your Video Content Strategy in 2018

Brand Safety and OTT Explosion

The elephant in the room of every OTT conversation of 2017 was brand safety. Look around at the messaging for ad tech vendors and you’ll find brand safety claims all over. However, if it’s not an issue for any vendors’ solution, then why are we still talking about it?

Transparency for publishers and advertisers is one step, allowing all parties to know where ads appear. Prioritizing premium placement greatly cuts down on brand safety risks, as does an extensive vetting process to narrow the list further for preferred content providers. Ads.txt has made strides in recent years, and will continue to do, as will ads.cert. The more publishers and advertisers that educate themselves on these sorts of tools, the safer the overall brand environment can be for all parties involved.

Amazon Makes It a “Big Three”

Digital advertising’s duopoly is seeing a major challenger in Amazon — something that could shake up the current environment, and potentially push toward more quality (and more competitive pricing) across the board. Amazon’s focus on video advertising and its strong inventory of both original and syndicated programming put that up front ahead of Facebook’s tough-to-find Watch offerings.

YouTube TV has its own quality programming, though many advertisers are still attaching themselves to the homegrown content which has always buoyed the site.

Amazon is still coming into its own there, but will quickly put the pressure on Facebook and YouTube to leave 2017’s large collection of brand safety snafus behind them. If Amazon proves to provide a more brand-safe, premium environment at par with TV, it could mean a significant shift in how video ad budgets are allocated going forward.

Also Read: Inside the One-Two Punch Video Posting Strategy

Crimson Hexagon Posts Record Annual Revenues in 2017 and Expands to “Consumer Insights”

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Crimson Hexagon Posts Record Annual Revenues in 2017 and Expands to “Consumer Insights”

General Motors Among Brands Choosing Crimson Hexagon as Company Broadens Beyond Social Media Analytics to AI-Powered Consumer Insights

Crimson Hexagon, the leading provider of AI-powered consumer insights, recently announced record financials, as it closed its books for 2017. Revenue was up globally as well as in each geographic theater. In the last six months of 2017 alone, the company more than tripled its number of customers with annual contract values (ACVs) of $100,000 or more. Crimson’s momentum is the result of a healthy global mix of both new and existing customers – including General Motors, Virgin Atlantic, and Samsung – and a market hunger for the most accurate consumer insights.

Crimson Hexagon begins 2018 by formally adopting an expanded view of its addressable market, moving beyond its historical focus on social media analytics to the broader vision of delivering the consumer insights that matter for global brands. Powered by both its patented artificial intelligence algorithms and its clients’ unique knowledge and expertise, Crimson Hexagon blends the world’s largest collection of social media images and text with corporate-held and public data to enable global brands to better understand their consumer.

“Combine social data with other data in the enterprise to enhance existing analytics processes — and add another dimension to new ones,” wrote Jenny Sussin, a Research Vice President at Gartner, in ‘Market Guide for Social Analytics Applications’.

Also Read: Uncovering Consumer Insights From Social Media Data

Several recently introduced platform enhancements have helped Crimson Hexagon bolster its capabilities, including:

  1. Image analytics: The most accurate and advanced image analysis available on the market today, with a data set based on more than 160 million photos processed per day and the ability to recognize not just logos, but also scenes, objects and actions
  2. Artificial intelligence: More than 1 million AI-powered recommendations run per day for automated consumer insights
  3. Content diversity: The addition of enhanced data source coverage including Instagram, Reddit and Tencent and links between social and offline data amplifies Crimson Hexagon’s content diversity, letting brands learn more about their customers, prospects and employees
  4. Platform user experience: A revamped user interface, with integrated dashboards and reporting for search-bar-simple insights, makes Crimson Hexagon the easiest-to-use consumer insights platform on the market.
Crimson Hexagon Posts Record Annual Revenues in 2017 and Expands to “Consumer Insights”
Stephanie Newby

“Only by truly understanding their consumer can global brands deliver transformational experiences and innovations that drive successful business outcomes. Social media is an important piece of the puzzle, but leading enterprises are trying to quickly and accurately complete this puzzle by blending social data with other data sets. Our AI-powered consumer insights platform is helping a record number of them,” said Stephanie Newby, CEO of Crimson Hexagon.

Recommended Read: Context Is King: The Rise of Contextual Advertising in 2018

TechBytes with John Schnipkoweit, CTO, Choozle

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John Schnipkoweit Choozle

John Schnipkoweit
CTO, Choozle

A smart blend between the native and programmatic advertising delivery can help in achieving the contemporary standards of multi-screen and mobile experiences. However, it’s not that easy to strike the balance between native and programmatic ad delivery. Choozle is a leading digital marketing technology platform that enables advertisers to achieve that balance. We spoke to Choozle’s CTO, John Schnipkoweit, to understand how should ad buyers choose between the native and programmatic technologies.

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Tell us about your role at Choozle and the technology you evangelize?

As Choozle’s first CTO, I’ve been able to work across the organization on scaling our product driven “operating system.” With a great foundation of product and people, it has been impressive to watch our process evolve over the past nine months, especially in the midst of rapid product innovation and growth in the development team. I’m a big believer in the principles of Calm Technology, LeanUX and Teal Organizations, which have all played a part in that evolution.

What were the biggest moments from 2017, in the tech ecosystem, that influenced your vision?

The evolution and momentum of Kubernetes (K8S) was a game changer for startups looking to scale DevOps. Kubernetes is an open-source platform for deployment, management, and orchestration of containerized applications. It was originally developed by Google, which leveraged more than 15 years of experience running applications in containers at massive scale. Kubernetes was then open-sourced and turned over to the community in 2014, and over the past two and a half years it has become one of the go-to solutions for distributed architecture. It has also been widely adopted by everyone from hobbyists and developers working on small projects to the biggest enterprise installations running billions of containers a week on thousands of coordinated virtual machines.

In 2017, we saw AWS, Oracle, Microsoft, VMWare and Pivotal all join the Cloud Native Computing Foundation – facilitating the opportunity for efficiencies and regulatory compliance, which previously would have been major system investments for companies going global.

What are your predictions for Digital Advertising and Mobile Targeting technologies?

As someone coming from outside the ecosystem, the middleware problem was evident on day one – one of the factors leading to the compression in the industry, with a focus on streamlining the supply chain and increasing transparency. Right now, the complexities of programmatic systems are getting in the way of agency traders and keeping them from doing what they do best—as well as distracting them from outcomes.

That’s going to change in 2018.

Streamlining will make it as straightforward to buy advertising on the open internet as it is to buy on Facebook—and bring more transparency and accountability to the process, which will mean better results for marketers. In today’s attention driven economy, dynamic audience development based on outcomes will be essential at any point in the marketing funnel. Brands that understand how to use their own data and third party data to do this well, will be embraced by consumers with deeper engagement and better outcomes.

How should ad buyers overcome the dilemma in choosing between Native and Programmatic technologies?

While some brands should consider a balance between both Native and Programmatic technologies, the latter functionality is advancing to provide similar results.

For instance, Choozle continues to explore integrations that provide our customers targeting options and placement that works more efficiently than how Native advertising is currently purchased. This includes advanced site placement targeting and environment and device optimizations.

How does a flexible ad buying platform integrate with an ABM/ CRM platform? What are the key features of a self-service integration between the two technologies?

Every CRM has different functionality that is used in unique ways by advertisers. As we’ve seen with the rise of Marketing Automation tools, flexibility and simplicity is key to helping accommodate those different workflows. While we’ve seen a lot of success in our CRM to audience asynchronous capability, I believe bi-directional syncing will be key as Marketing Automation tools mature for both B2B and B2C advertisers.

How do you see AI-enabled technologies making an impact on media tech collaboration platforms? How does Choozle prepare in this AI-powered ecosystem?

AI is great, but most companies talk more about their AI capability than they do about the problem they are solving. AI will never be able to replace the intuition and strategy that a marketer brings to a campaign, but it can be very powerful in identifying trends and statistical efficiencies to help marketers focus on the signal in the noise. In 2018, we’ll see AI as a way to amplify human ability, not a substitute for it.

Machines have plenty of advantages; they have the ability to consume, process, interpret and act upon large quantities of data faster than human minds are capable of. But we still need humans to create, adjust and feed data into the systems. Buyers can hand over more and more operational tasks to AI workhorses, allowing them to focus on measurement and refinement strategies—like using AI algorithms to dynamically score users to isolate high-likelihood converters—in real time.

Our relentless focus on a product-driven mindset – building products around solving problems, not around adding features – has positioned us very well, with some great solutions already being tested.

Thanks for chatting with us, John.
Stay tuned for more insights on marketing technologies. To participate in our Tech Bytes program, email us at news@martechseries-67ee47.ingress-bonde.easywp.com

Also Read:  Interview with Jeff Finch and Andrew Fischer, Co-Founders, Choozle

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