CDP Institute

Dun & Bradstreet has agreed to buy Bisnode, a leading European data compiler. The companies have long been partners. D&B gains access to 33 million records from more than 550 sources, not mention 110,000 customers.

Many proposed replacements for third party cookies rely on Web site visitors logging in during their visits. This means marketers will have to pay more attention to companies like Okta, whose strength is the sort of identity management traditionally associated with logging in employees and other computer system users. Okta had several announcements today, including a Salesforce partnership for Work.com, new SDK for biometric-based, passwordless authentication, and no-code option to build identity management workflows. The rise of no-code also reflects the rejection of expertise.

Even Einstein isn’t safe in these troubled times. Salesforce has decided to rename its Einstein Analytics as Tableau CRM. To be fair, the rebranding is about positioning Tableau as Salesforce’s premier analytical product, not rejecting science. The Einstein name will still be used for some of Tableau’s analytical products.

More than half (54%) of senior marketing leaders are disappointed in the results of their analytics investment, according to this Gartner survey.

Three-quarters of CDP users are satisfied with their system and nearly half (45%) credit it with significant improvement in online sales, according to this survey by Advertiser Perceptions for Treasure Data. Experience counts: users who had their CDP two or more years showed much higher satisfaction than newbies. Lots more detail on CDP data sources, applications, privacy, and such.

Blockchain sometimes feels like a solution in search of a problem, but it does make sense as a tool to prevent illegitimate use of digital coupons. Industry cooperative The Coupon Bureau has set out a roadmap to deploy its Universal Positive Offer File, a central database of single-use offers that can be validated in real time. It will replace a bar code-based system.

Replacing glass doors on store coolers with a screen that blocks the view of what’s inside may sound more like creating a problem than solving one, but Cooler Screens argues it lets shoppers do useful things like read product information or search for particular items. The answer isn’t clear (get it?) but investors have just bet $80 million the company is right, bringing total funding past $100 million.