CDP Institute

MNTN helps direct response advertisers sell on streaming TV networks.  They’re on a roll, having just bought Ryan Reynolds’ ad agency Maximum Effort and video creation platform QuickFrame.   That all costs money, so their latest acquisition is a pile of 119 million U.S. dollars.  The round triples their total funding from a prior total of $64.8 million.

There’s not much novelty left in artificial intelligence or no-code tech, and even the combination is a bit of a yawn. Still CausaLens gets a second look because their $45 million Series A will go to AI using “cause and effect” logic instead of basic correlations and pattern recognition. In case you do want more AI information, here’s a Persado study that finds 54% of companies are already using it to create personalized experiences and all but 7% plan to join them.

Remote access – excuse me, “digital workspace” – tech vendor Citrix was just bought by Vista Equity Partners and friends for $16.5 billion.  That’s only sort of interesting, but Vista announced they plan to combine Citrix with data analytics vendor TIBCO, a bauble they’ve owned since 2014.  And data analytics is something we care about, right?

Did someone mention data analytics?  Oh, it was me.  Now that I mention it, here’s a study from Sisense that reports 96% of digital product managers think their customers want them to embed personalized, AI-driven insights into their products, and most think the customers would pay to get it.  Is that an itch you’ve been eager to scratch, Dear Reader?

This Wpromote report has lots of interesting information about marketing budgets, including the surprising news that retail media is already starting to lose importance.  But I’m only writing about it because they mentioned “brandstanding” (brands taking a stand on public issues), which is a new buzzword to me.  I am easily amused.

Digital events are here to stay, Dear Reader. B2B event producer Emerald found in-person events will increase in 2022 but not reach the 2019 level.   Livestreams, online access to sessions, and even live chats with vendors top the most-wanted features list; podcasts and resource libraries are at the bottom.  In other words, people want more interaction without leaving their desk, couch, beach chair, or whatever.

On the other hand, this IDG study finds that tech buyers actually use content sites and white papers more than any other information source, while conferences and virtual events rank tenth out of ten. Scariest figure was there are 27 people on the average enterprise buying team. Recalls the old joke: Q: How many people work here?  A: About half.

More on B2B events: results have always been hard to measure, and the move to virtual events makes it even harder.  The good folks at audience measurement non-profit BPA Worldwide are trying to help with a new set of standards for reporting on event results.   Can’t hurt.

Is there anything more fascinating than other companies’ customer data strategies, Dear Reader?  I thought not.  Here’s a Treasure Data study on that very topic.  Random factoids: data silos are a more common problem (34%) than data quality (24%); data and IT departments are responsible for customer data strategy at 49% of companies, while marketing is responsible at 11%.; 63% of companies plan to expand use of customer data.

Simon Data’s 2022 State of Customer Data offers more to chew on.  They report their clients are using almost twice as many data points now as one year ago and that campaigns using more data are more successful.  They do caution that using too much data is a problem if you’re being creepy.

Software AG found that 78% of organizations have released more incomplete software projects since the pandemic began.  Respondents said that’s a good thing because it lets them deliver new systems more quickly.  Need I mention that the respondents were people who build systems, not people who use them?

It’s a slow news day, Dear Reader, so if you’re looking to fill some time, here’s a 300 page compendium of information about the digital universe.   Everything from ad market share to online food delivery to internet connection speeds by country.  Or you can play Wordle.