CDP Institute

Here’s a head scratcher: tech advisory firm Forrester has purchased two tech companies of its own. Customer response collector FeedbackNow makes those “smiley boxes” you see in airports. AI vendor Glimpzit does analytics. The products will be part of a “real-time CX cloud” to help companies monitor and improve experience.

We don’t usually let Jamie, our Department of the Obvious intern, look at academic research because there’s so much obviousness that he gets overexcited and then needs a nap. But he somehow uncovered this study, which found that people will exercise more if you pay them. We thought it might be a joke but apparently it’s legitimate.

Autonomous marketing campaign builder Albert Technologies has raised an $18 million funding round. Albert uses artificial intelligence to select optimal campaign channels, segments, and contents from feeds provided by its clients. The firm had already raised $42 million in 2015 when it was called Adgorithms.

Another day, another blockchain announcement. But at least Oasis Labs is working on smart contracts, not helping consumers sell their own data. They just raised $45 million based largely on the reputation of company leader Dawn Song, an industry superstar. You haven’t heard of her because she’s an expert in keeping things private and she’s just that good.

AI and blockchain are cool but marketers are really spending their money on data technologies, according to this survey sponsored by smarterHQ, Cheetah Digital, Liveclicker, and MailCharts. Lots of insights packed into 16 pages including differences by industry.

Let’s talk about digital transformation because, well, there’s no actual news today. First an IDC study for Avaya that finds most digital transformation initiatives have been “less than ‘extremely successful’” in part because IT and business managers both think they’re in charge. More disturbing, more projects focus on efficiency (62%) than customer experience (54%). Companies that do prioritize customer experience grow faster.

This report from development tool vendor OutSystems argues that development backlogs are a big obstacle to digital transformation success. OutSystems sells tools to make development more efficient but they’re unintentionally making a case for packaged software. You know, like Customer Data Platforms. Unlike Avaya, they find companies are giving highest priority to customer experience applications.

This Mitel study also reports that improved customer experience is a major goal for digital transformation project. But they find that consumers are still not getting the experience they want. The main takeaway is consumer preferences vary widely so there’s no single solution. Lots of detail on differences by country and industry.

Direct mail was never really lost but that doesn’t prevent companies from rediscovering it. The latest is Postie, which has just launched an integrated system combining access to a 320 million-name database; connections with a company’s own CRM, Web, and other systems; look-alike prospect modeling; rule- and event-based trigger campaigns; and more. Users upload creative and do everything else within the system. Sweet.

It’s a federal crime to read someone else’s postal mail but the rules for email are less rigid. The latest reminder comes from Google, which was recently reported to have given third-party app developers access to subscribers’ Gmail messages. Google’s response was that subscribers must give the app developers permission in their signup notice. Which everyone reads carefully.

Privacy aside, email is still the marketer’s best friend. But email vendor Return Path and Demand Metric found that marketers aren’t taking full advantage: only 68% do personalization, 39% do a/b testing, and 36% optimize for deliverability. Companies that do those things report vastly better results. Lots of good detail in this 51 page report.