CDP Institute

We also have word that email marketing platform WhatCounts is combining with personalization platform Windsor Circle. It’s not exactly a merger since both were already owned by Output Services Group. The new organization will also include a full-service digital agency.

Finally, cross-channel personalization, campaign management, and CDP vendor Manthan has expanded its real-time journey management, testing, and notification features. It can also match device IDs to offline consumer identities. ‘Nuff said.

Short of randomly asking “But will it scale?” you can always sound smart in a meeting by saying the real challenge is people, not technology. Here’s proof: a survey of Fortune 1000 executives from tech advisors NewVantage Partners, which found that 95% of respondents cited cultural factors as blocking big data adoption, compared with just 5% citing technology. You can almost hear the teeth grind as fewer claimed measurable results than in last year’s survey.

If you want a much deeper dive into analytics adoption, InfoSys has released a much larger and wonderfully detailed study of big company executives around the world. They cited data integration as the biggest challenge and customer experience enhancement as the most common application. My kind of people.

Here’s yet another study on the topic, from research agency Corinium Digital. Respondents were lower down in their organizations and perhaps had a more hands-on view. Fifty percent said they’re looking to build or buy a unified platform to assemble analytical data. A frightening 69% said data quality problems make them less than fully confident in their current analytical results. Weird graphics in this one.

Happy 2019, Dear Reader. The CDP Institute elves worked hard over the holidays to greet you with our latest CDP Industry Update. They found the industry grew 60% in 2018 and ended with an estimated $740 million revenue. Lots of details about where the growth came from and what happens next.

Forbes CMO Practice also has a new report, funded by CDP ARM Treasure Data. The focus is marketing accountability but they did find that 61% of high-performing marketers have a single customer view. That’s seems high but remember that was just high-performing marketers. Alas, they didn’t provide an average.

Don’t feel left out, B2B marketers. Here’s a Forrester report for you, sponsored by Salesforce B2B Commerce (formerly CloudCraze). It sheds some light on the perennial suite-vs-best-of-breed debate: 13% of respondents use a single vendor stack for all their B2B selling needs, 40% use one primary vendor and supplement as needed, 37% assemble best-of-breed tools, and 9% use a home-grown solution. Good to know.

Since this is our last newsletter of the year, let’s lead with what we consider by far the major marketing story of 2018: the shattering of Facebook’s reputation as its true practices and impact became known. CNET published a nice summary of Facebook’s troubles  but that the company could face a billion dollar GDPR fine for data breaches has been less reported – and shows just how much the world has changed.

But lets’ not end on a negative note. This think piece from IBM Watson marketing lists several 2019 marketing trends, including a central role for marketing data. The report is marred by regrettable word mash-ups: you can safely bet that no one will adopt “martecheter” to describe tech-savvy marketers or “consulgences” for consulting-oriented ad agencies.

For a still broader view, Accenture Interactive’s Fjord innovation consultancy predicts all sorts of reversals as people turn away from digital overload and seek tech-enabled authenticity. Many deep things to ponder as you ring in the New Year. Best wishes from the CDP Institute.

Did you know there’s Marketing Accountability Standards Board? Me neither. Judging from the density of this paper Forbes CMO paper done in conjunction with them, they’re more accountants than marketers. I mean, 46 footnotes? They did include some digestible bits, including that companies with better marketing accountability achieve 5% better returns on marketing investments and over 7% higher growth. Lots more here to read the kids during that long ride to Grandma’s.