CDP Institute

Kochava is the latest adtech vendor to offer an alternative to tracking via third party cookies and device IDs. IdentityLocker will let companies match customer identities so long as consumers give their consent. There are extensive safeguards to ensure consumer intentions are honored but you have to wonder how many will consent for their data to be shared in the first place.

And speaking of privacy, Google Cloud plans a set of Confidential Computing services which will protect all kinds of data, not just customer identities. They just announced the beta version of the first product, Confidential VMs, which will use special hardware to encrypt data while it’s being processed. Traditionally, data had to be decrypted during processing, which gave bad guys a chance to steal it.

Predictive analytics are now built into everything including dog collars. But I guess it’s still newsworthy that Google Analytics will now predict which Web site visitors are likely to purchase and which are likely to not revisit. The predictions can create custom audiences that are then targeted in Google Ads. It’s all free so near as I can tell.

Podcasts continue to grow as a business. Latest proof is that SiriusXM has just purchased podcast platform Stitcher, which creates, inserts ads, and distributes podcasts, from E.W. Scripps in a deal valued up to $325 million. SiriusXM bought podcast platform Simplcast month last and audio ad company AdsWizz in 2018.

Video platform TikTok has been in the news recently for everything from trolling politicians to spying on users. But that’s all a distraction from what really matters, which is selling ads. They just launched a self-service ad buying platform and $100 million in ad credits to help small businesses do just that.

Maybe you’re skeptical about digital transformation. This Harvard Business Review Analytical Services study found it’s working well in Asia-Pacific: 40% of respondents said it’s helping them bring new applications to market more quickly, compared with 23% across other regions. The study says stronger corporate cultures in APAC are the big difference.

Let’s try to find some good news today, if only for the challenge. We can start with this FitForCommerce report on leading retailers, which found they were steadily adding digital services even before the pandemic. Since 2016, the number offering online purchase for in-store pickup doubled from 33% to 66% while Web display of in-store inventory rose from 39% to 67%. An impressive 69% offer next day delivery and 20% offer same day delivery. Remember when those were crazy talk?

This study from direct mail company PFL finds that multi-channel marketing is further along than you may have realized. Half the respondents reported they use four or more channels in a typical multichannel campaign; three-quarters use at least three. Lots of interesting detail on which channels work best for which audiences.

It’s been said that the world is divided into two types of people, those who divide the world into two types of people and those who do not. Similarly, CDPs are often between those that focus on assembling customer profiles and those that also activate customer profiles. BlueConic has reinforced its position in the activate camp by adding features to migrate customers between lifecycle stages and define marketing messages appropriate to each stage. It’s a more-flexible alternative to standard campaign flows.

Jamie, the Senior Intern in our Department of the Obvious, was exceptionally excited by this report that auditors found Facebook decisions have caused “serious setbacks for civil rights”. At first we thought it was the news itself, but Jamie then explained it confirmed his belief that presenting the obvious is a valid career path. He can’t wait to tell his parents.

Facebook gets no sympathy because they make their own rules. But other publishers are also struggling against a tide of deceptive ads, political and otherwise. This GeoEdge survey found that 69% of publishers see a moderate or large number of deceptive ads each week and that 20% have lost viewers as a result of publishing them. Avoiding bad ads has its own risks: 49% said they inadvertently block non-deceptive ads often or very often.

CDP and messaging platform Blueshift reports on data from 14.9 billion messages sent through the system. They found that trigger-based email outperforms batch email by 497%, triggered push notifications outperform batch push by 1490%, and trigger campaigns using both channels are 283% more effective than single channel campaigns. No mention of campaign volumes, which are likely much smaller for triggered messages.