CDP Institute

This Aberdeen report provides more mental comfort food.  They found that companies who do a better job of unifying their customer data have better business results.   Other pleasingly familiar news: 78% are not satisfied with their ability to use their customer data, poor integration is the biggest obstacle to data utilization, and half the respondents use ten or more communication channels.

It’s also not news that the gaming industry has done well during the pandemic or that Roblox is one of the biggest winners.  But the message here is that Roblox is about community building, not just games.  Oh, and they just raised a $520 million Series H, bringing total funding to $855 million ahead of a planned public offering.

This isn’t a place for political news but we can’t pretend yesterday was normal.  So let’s talk about the social media sites that drive so much violence.  We’ll start with a report that Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter put a brief restriction the President’s riot-stoking messages.  It’s like keeping your teenager home from soccer practice for one day because she murdered Granny.

Taking a somewhat longer view, a recent study found that humans, not bots, have been the most important source of Covid-related misinformation.  One individual was by far the biggest problem.  Guess who?

You didn’t expect yesterday’s events to delay Facebook’s continued assault on privacy, did you?  They just changed the WhatsApp privacy policy to require users to share data with Facebook or lose their accounts.

The non-profit sector is less attractive to outside investors but vendors still jostle for position. Fundraising marketing company Moore just bought Amergent, adding the direct marketing and donor management company to its existing stable of 37 businesses. This follows Personify’s purchase of MemberClicks late last month.  Personify and MemberClicks both help associations and other non-profits manage their businesses.

Marketing industry publisher Adweek is expanding with the acquisition of newsletter and event producer Social Media Week.  Adweek itself was purchased last June by Shamrock Capital and bought Target Marketing and Publishing Executive magazines in September. So we know what’s on Shamrock’s mind, too.

Digital customer service platform Khoros just bought Topbox, which collects and analyzes interaction data from calls, chat, social media, surveys, and other sources.  The deal was accompanied by a new investment in Khoros by private equity firm Vista Equity Partners, which bought control of customer success vendor Gainsight last December.  You can see what they’re thinking.

Stop sulking that no one bought you a Baby Yoda over the holiday.  The truly hot gift was a podcast company.  Amazon bought itself one last week, spending an estimated $300 million for podcast publisher Wondery.  It will help Amazon bulk up its audio streaming business, bringing shivers of non-delight to existing competitors.

Twitter also has a new podcast-related bauble.  They just bought Breaker, which lets podcast listeners comment on episodes, share favorites, and do other things which make the usual Twitter experience such a civilized delight.  The Breaker app will soon be discontinued as Breaker staff takes charge of Twitter’s audio-based social networking product, which inexplicably is not named Screech.

Podcasting companies haven’t cornered all the acquisition fun.  TechTarget is buying Enterprise Strategy Group, which provides technology companies with research and other content, including the occasional podcast.  You may recall that TechTarget bought BrightTalk last month for $150 million.

Welcome to 2021, Dear Reader.  We have some leftover acquisitions in the bin but they seem a pretty lame start for a new year.  So let’s instead look at some big picture surveys, starting with Deloitte’s annual Tech Trends report.   At 166 pages, you won’t digest in one sitting.  If time is tight, jump to page 141 to list the key tech for personalized experiences.