CDP Institute

Do not confuse Snow Software, which helps companies track IT costs, with Snowflake, a cloud database often used for CDP-ish solutions.   Do take note that Snow has just been sold to Flexera, which also helps companies optimize their return on tech investments.  It’s a helpful reminder that cost-conscious IT departments are more than happy  to “help” marketers who are doing a poor job of controlling tech spend.

Sure, cloud databases are popular, but the really cool IT kids have moved on data lakehouses, which combine data warehouse functionality with data lake flexibility.  Or so says this survey from Dremio, which sells guess-what.  Lakehouse advantages over cloud databases include lower cost, self-service access, and easier support for AI.

Consumers may find passwords annoying, but IT security people dislike them much more intensely.  This Delinea survey finds that biometrics are the preferred replacement among IT security teams (59%), followed by multi-factor authentication (46%), one-time passwords (37%) and PIN codes (30%).  It’s not clear that consumers have quite the same enthusiasm for biometrics, which often feel creepy.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Salesforce announced a set of new integrations, including sales of Salesforce products on the AWS Marketplace and easier data sharing between Salesforce Data Cloud and AWS data services.  Most of the changes are fairly technical but the general lesson is that even mighty Salesforce is ultimately a guest on turf controlled by AWS.

Oh, the irony.  Just as streaming TV services recognize that selling ads is more profitable than selling subscriptions, European regulations are forcing ad-sales giants like Meta to offer ad-free subscription services.  Snapchat is the latest to roll out a paid, no-ad option in certain markets.  Snapchat’s post is cryptic so here’s a MediaPost article  with some perspective.

This Canto study isn’t entirely about AI but the most interesting tidbit is that B2B companies are twice as likely as B2C companies to use AI for content creation (49% vs 27%) and to search existing content (40% vs. 18%).  Feel free to speculate why.  On the other hand, pretty much everyone agrees they need more content and AI can help.

Mindbox, a Russia-based customer experience platform that qualifies as a CDP, set up a separate U.S. operation shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine.  They’ve now formally relaunched and renamed the new company as Maestra.  The focus is on mid-size retail.

Content generation is the most common marketing use of AI, right?  Not so: this Movable Ink survey places content creation dead last at 26%, trailing customer behavior analysis (59%), personalization (56%) and campaign optimization (55%).  Managing customer data (40%).  is the most commonly-cited challenge with AI integration, followed by data privacy (38%), consistent omnichannel personalization (37%), brand reputation (29%) and lack of skills (23%).  Interesting.

Our friends in IT are also eagerly exploring AI integration, with 35% even ranking it ahead of perennial obsessions security (31%) and cost (29%) for the past twelve months.  The gap grows even larger for 2024 (AI integration 35%, IT cost 28% and security 28%).  Meanwhile, 88% are moving towards platforms and away from point tools, perhaps as a way to rein in costs (although just 23% think they’re overspending on SaaS applications).

Hungry for loyalty research?  Well, pull up a chair, my friend, and tuck into this deep-thinking study from SAP Emarsys.  They define five kinds of loyalty and report how they’ve changed over time.  Then they dig into loyalty drivers, attitudes, behaviors, and expectations across the US, UK, Australia, and Germany.  You’ll probably be happy to know that 24% of respondents are more loyal to brands that offer more personalized marketing if it’s tailored to their needs.

Streaming TV is may be a good place to sell mobile apps, but it can be hard for buyers to complete a transaction.  Roku has partnered with game building engine Unity to let users buy an app with their remote, without leaving whatever show they’re watching.  Marketers gain easy campaign set up, management, and measurement using Unity’s Luna marketing tool.

Few topics in digital media gain as much attention as, um, attention.  Whether it’s a potential ad buying currency or a tool for optimizing results, people love to talk about it.  Integral Ad Science (IAS) has taken a more systematic approach with this survey of media experts.  Key findings: over 80% of companies report improved results after implementing an attention strategy; the most important components of an attention measure are visibility, situation, and interaction; and social media is the most measurable channel.