CDP Institute

IBM has its own improvements to announce, notably options to deploy several Watson AI services in private cloud environments. That matters because many companies still don’t trust public cloud with their data. Coincidentally, Lexalytics also just made all of its AI-based text analysis tools available for on-premises and private cloud deployment. Lexalytics reports that its on-premises business has grown twice as fast as its public cloud offering.

Enough fancy technology. Small businesses need simpler solutions. Constant Contact is addressing that world with a new Marketing Advisor program that will include actual human contact (well, 30 minutes on the phone each month) to help small business marketers figure out what to do and then do it.

Mark Twain didn’t originate the phrase “lies, damn lies, and statistics”, which in fact was a play on an older phrase “simple liars, damned liars, and experts”. Ouch. In any event, let’s look today at two directly contradictory surveys. First, RSA Security found that just 17% of consumers view personalized advertising as ethical. Indeed, only 48% see any ethical ways for companies to use their data.

On the other hand, BRP Consulting found that 68% of shoppers prefer a store that offers personalized rewards, promotions, and discounts. In fact, 64% are comfortable with being identified via their mobile phone when they enter a store as long as they get a personalized experience in return. Feel free to quote RSA or BRP as the need arises. Extra points if you quote both in the same document.

Speaking of confusion, I’m fascinated by this Sprout Social report that most consumers want brands to take the lead in healing social divisions. Desperation, wishful thinking, or mere confusion…take your choice. Business leaders, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you.

If I remember correctly, the television sets in Orwell’s 1984 were surveillance devices. Coincidentally or not, today’s connected TV enables advertisers to know exactly who’s watching what. LiveRamp has further improved things by connecting TV viewers with their email, mobile, postal, and other identities. “Consumers can experience meaningful and relevant brand-connection moments across screens” says LiveRamp, blithely assuming that’s a benefit.

That last item used up my sarcasm quota for the week, so I’ll simply report that advertisers are much less worried about brand safety than they used to be: in a survey last fall, 60% said it was a serious problem, down from 90% the year before.

If you prefer a much bigger and merrier picture, download this 143 page deck from the Interactive Advertising Bureau, cheering the growth of direct-to-consumer brands. Much to ponder – my favorites were the mash-up of omnichannel shopping and co-working, “delivered discovery” (a fancy name for sampling), and Amazon’s patented drone-hive fulfilment center.

German anti-trust regulators have attacked the heart of Facebook’s ad business by ordering it to let consumers use the service without agreeing to data tracking outside of their Facebook account. The ruling cites Facebook’s dominant market position as reason to make it meet more stringent consent standards than competitors.

Facebook may face special scrutiny but privacy regulation has affected businesses throughout the European Union. A report by global law firm DLA Piper found that more than 59,000 personal data breaches have been reported to regulators since GDPR took effect in May 2018. The Netherlands shows by far the highest breach rate but the report notes that differences reflect factors such as variations reporting rules and what it tactfully calls “culture”. The report doesn’t compare notification volume against pre-GDPR periods but other studies show a sharp increase.

GDPR makes it mandatory to report data breaches, while should lead companies to work harder to avoid them.

Oracle has improved its mobile marketing abilities by integrating with Swrve, a mobile-oriented customer engagement platform. Swrve gathers real-time data from multiple sources and sends behavior-triggered messages on mobile apps. The integration will enable build Swrve messages into Oracle Eloqua customer journeys.