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SDL Tridion Sites 9.1 Now Available

SDL’s Web Content Management (WCM) Platform Helps Brands Get Smarter with Digital Content, Integrating with CRM, eCommerce and DAM Platforms

A global leader in content creation, translation, management and delivery, launches SDL Tridion Sites 9.1, its latest web content management platform.  Driving improved efficiency for marketers and digital teams, it now provides users with centralized access to content and data repositories from elsewhere in their organization, making it even easier to deliver highly relevant digital content to audiences globally.

Despite ambitions to deliver personalized digital experiences, marketers are struggling to manage the speed and velocity of content required to engage with global customers. Disjointed technology stacks, accessing third party systems, and manual processes are to blame, leading to enormous inefficiencies across the content supply chain.

The latest version of SDL Tridion Sites addresses these challenges, bridging organizational and technology silos. It eliminates inefficiencies across the entire content marketing process, while making the most of existing IT investments. More specifically, SDL Tridion Sites 9.1 gives marketers the ability to:

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  • Automate content driven marketing: reduce manual efforts, eliminate content duplication and help global teams to collaborate easily using a unified environment to quickly access information sitting in any content or data repository.
  • Make smarter use of content: easily mix different content types to create rich, media-led experiences across the different stages of the customer journey.
  • Engage in new ways: easily and quickly engage on any existing or emerging digital channel or device with smart conversations to build brand trust and advocacy.
  • Explore new digital revenues: quickly add eCommerce capabilities to digital channels to contribute to business growth.

The new SDL Tridion Integration Framework allows marketers to easily plug SDL Tridion Sites into a wide variety of technologies. Based on this framework, SDL releases connectors for SAP Commerce Cloud, Salesforce CRM, and an upcoming connector for Aprimo DAM. The Partner Community has already built an integration for Bynder DAM, and more will follow.

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“We’re delighted to announce major enhancements to SDL Tridion Sites, making it even easier for everyone across the content supply chain to publish any type of digital content – to any market,” said Jim Saunders, Chief Product Officer, at SDL. “As an example, daily work for web editors is simplified through a single view on all assets combined with streamlined capabilities to manage, edit, translate and deliver all content. The pre-built connectors, add-ons and accelerators ensure these integrations are quick to activate and easy to upgrade.”

“Companies struggle with a mash of technology, systems and processes. It’s what’s holding many back from delivering those exceptional experiences that customers now want,” explains Marc Vieleers, CEO of EXLRT. “SDL Tridion Sites 9.1 helps companies achieve that much-needed business agility, prevent vendor lock-in and become smarter with their content operations by simply connecting their existing technologies. It opens the door to customers experiencing highly engaging, media-led experiences.”

Consistently included among the top WCM vendors in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Web Content Management since 2001, and recently recognized among the top two WCM platforms by industry analyst Ars Logica, SDL Tridion Sites is a powerful web content management solution. SDL Tridion Sites 9.1 enables companies to effectively create and manage combined marketing, commerce and product-led content across global web, digital and mobile properties to deliver continuous digital experiences. It scales to any number of sites, channels, languages and brands and is highly interoperable, protecting existing technology investments.

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Expedia Reveals When to Book Flights for the 2019 Holiday Season

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Data highlights how far in advance to book airfare, best dates to travel and other tips to help travelers plan ahead and save

When it comes to booking airfare, common sense says to plan ahead in order to get the best deals. But the sweet spot for flights can vary, with seasonality, travel dates and other factors all influencing price. Each year, Expedia.com aims to take the guess work out of holiday travel by analyzing thousands of holiday bookings to determine the optimal time to book and save. Tips include:

  • Traveling on the holiday itself often yields the cheapest rates
  • Book at least two weeks to a month ahead of your trip
  • Avoid starting your trip on the Saturday before the holiday – this was consistently the most expensive day to fly

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Holiday Airfare Booking Tips

Thanksgiving
  • Cheapest Time to Buy: October 29 – November 13
    • Booking two weeks to a month in advance of travel saved travelers more than five percent.
    • Those who booked 91+ days out and less than one week out paid the most, with last-minute bookers paying more than 20% above average.
  • Best Time to Fly:
    • For the cheapest rates, start your trip on Thanksgiving Day – last year travelers who departed on Thanksgiving paid about $100 less than those who departed the Saturday prior to the holiday.
    • If traveling on the holiday is a no-go, your second cheapest options will be starting your trip on Monday or Tuesday of Thanksgiving week.
    • Data confirms the busiest travel day leading up to the holiday is Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving.

Christmas

  • Cheapest Time to Buy: November 23 – December 9
    • Booking during this window saved travelers around 15 percent, so aim to book at least two weeks to a month in advance of travel.
    • While last-minute bookers payed around 2% more than average, early birds who booked 91+ days out paid around 15% more than the average holiday traveler.
  • Best Time to Fly:
    • The cheapest day to fly was Christmas Eve, with travelers paying around $100 less than those who started their trip on the Saturday prior to the holiday.
    • If traveling on Christmas Eve or day isn’t an option, aim to start your trip on the 23rd.
    • Data confirms the busiest travel day leading up to Christmas is shaping up to be December 21st.
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More Tips to Help Travelers Save this Holiday

It’s not quite time to start booking, but there are some things travelers should do in the meantime to make sure they get the most out of their holiday trip:

  • Set up price alerts and favorite the hotels you like. If you log in or create an Expedia.com account, your recent searches and any hotels you save will automatically be saved in “My Trips” so you can come back and track price changes.
  • Work the Rewards. If you haven’t already done so, make sure you’re signed up for any travel loyalty programs. With Expedia’s free Rewards program, travelers can collect points to redeem on air, hotel and package bookings, while still collecting frequent flier miles. Plus, when you book on the Expedia Mobile App, points are worth double.
  • Save by bundling your flight with hotel. Whether you book your flight and hotel at the same time on Expedia or come back and add a hotel later, you’ll save. Travelers save an average of up to $600 on package bookings.
  • Double-check blackout dates. If you’re preparing to use a companion ticket or award miles to book flights, look up the fare blackout dates so you know exactly what days you can depart and return home.
  • Prepare your travel documents. Don’t get left behind because you didn’t have the necessary documents to leave the country. Remember: processing times for new U.S. Passports range anywhere from 2-8 weeks, and if you already have a passport make sure it won’t expire within six months of your travel dates.
  • Enroll in TSA Precheck or Clear. Save yourself a lot of time and security line headaches by applying for TSA Precheck or Clear before your trip. You’ll get to skip the longest lines at security and keep your shoes on. TSA Precheck is absolutely worth the $85 fee, and your application lasts for five years. Clear is another great way to speed through security lines.
  • Mark your calendars for major sales. There are so many ways to save on Expedia before and during the holidays. Our epic Black Friday and Cyber Monday sale – November 29-December 2 – will have hundreds of deals on flights, hotels, activities, and more.

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Trisha Yearwood’s Avatar and Song Coming Soon to FarmVille 2: Country Escape

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Zynga Inc. a global leader in interactive entertainment, announced that country music icon Trisha Yearwood will be featured as a welcoming farmhand avatar in FarmVille 2: Country Escape along with her new single, “Every Girl in This Town,” starting on September 9. The special appearance celebrates the company’s 10 year anniversary of its FarmVille franchise and Ms. Yearwood’s highly anticipated new album, Every Girl, available tomorrow.

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Ms. Yearwood will provide fans an exclusive sneak peek of her in-game avatar during her #EveryGirlRoadTrip, which kicks off tomorrow. Ms. Yearwood goes back to her Georgia roots to retrace the path she took to Music City to follow her dreams before she became a country superstar. The special tour kicks off in her hometown of Monticello, GA on Friday night, followed by stops in Georgia and Tennessee. Her final destination will be the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville on Sunday– where she was once a tour guide. Ms. Yearwood’s avatar will be making special appearances throughout the road trip.

“Seeing what my avatar looks like in FarmVille 2: Country Escape brings back fond memories of my country roots,” says Trisha Yearwood. “Just as this album reminds people that it’s OK to be whoever you are, FarmVille offers a similar experience and lets you customize and build your farm just how you’d like.”

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“We’re delighted to have Trisha Yearwood celebrate FarmVille’s momentous anniversary and share her music in FarmVille 2: Country Escape,” said Bernard Kim, President of Publishing, Zynga. “FarmVille is one of the most beloved game franchises in the world and we look forward to finding new ways to surprise and delight players, especially with the new FarmVille mobile title we’re developing.”

Ms. Yearwood’s avatar and single will be featured for a limited time in FarmVille 2: Country Escape September 9–October 9, 2019.

FarmVille 2: Country Escape is available on the App Store and Google Play. Follow FarmVille 2: Country Escape on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

FarmVille: Tropic Escape is available on the App Store and Google Play. Follow FarmVille: Tropic Escape on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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Mergers and Acquisitions and Meltwater Refinancing Reshape PR Software Market

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M&A spend in current round of industry restructuring runs into billions

 The market for Media Intelligence software and information solutions for public relations professionals is being radically reshaped through mergers and acquisitions, with M&A spending running into the billions, according to a new report published today by Burton-Taylor International Consulting (part of the TP ICAP group).

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The report looks at acquisitions by key companies including Cision, Meltwater, Kantar, Isentia and West Corp, as well as consolidation moves involving many small to medium-sized market participants.

A second report, also published today, provides new insight into a USD175 million refinancing of the world’s second-largest Media Intelligence provider, Meltwater.

“We have looked in detail at almost 100 transactions in the Media Intelligence market over the last ten years or so,” says report contributor Chris Porter, Director at Porter Walford Consulting and a consultant to Burton-Taylor.

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“Our research shows that total acquisition spend during the current round of industry consolidation adds up to several billion dollars, but the level of M&A investment varies dramatically by company. Outcomes also vary hugely, with some acquisitions leading to dramatic growth, while others we’ve looked at have resulted in significant revenue declines or even the closing down of businesses.”

Douglas B. Taylor, Founder & Managing Director of Burton-Taylor, said, “We have also seen a huge variation in deal metrics across different market segments.  When you really dig into the detail, it’s astonishing how transaction multiples have varied.”

The second report gives a detailed analysis of Meltwater’s USD175 million refinancing, announced earlier this year, and describes key events before and after that transaction.

It also gives fresh information on Meltwater’s revenue, profitability and spending patterns, drawing on recently published data, and puts the company’s latest performance into historical context.

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AdsWizz & Big Mobile Successfully Track Increase in Store Visits Driven By Audio Ads

Audio Ad Tech is an Industry First, Measuring Nearly 2X Lift in Store Visits in First Campaigns in Australia

Mobile engagement specialist Big Mobile has partnered with AdsWizz, the leading global platform for digital audio advertising, to implement tech that tracks unique visits to retail locations from specific audio ad campaigns.  In its first campaign with a major Australian brand, the technology measured more than a 90% lift in footfall traffic to their retail locations when individuals listened to their audio ads.

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Big Mobile’s location-based ad tech uses a filter for a common device ID captured in the in-app audio session. This is then tracked against device IDs that enter an advertiser’s stores to accurately record footfall attribution, measuring any uplift in visits to the stores as a direct result of the digital audio campaigns.

“We are very pleased with the results and have already signed with advertisers for follow-up campaigns,” said Andrew O’Shea, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Big Mobile Group. “With brick and mortar stores, measuring the success of our audio advertising campaigns has previously been based on guesswork and estimation. Now we have a tangible way to access and track real ROI. It’s a significant advancement in the growing audio industry and we are happy to be on the forefront of this cutting edge technology.”

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AdsWizz provides an end-to-end suite of digital audio software solutions that connect the largest digital audio publishers to programmatic buyers in markets all over the world.  AdsWizz global audio ad tech platform reaches over 200M unique listeners every month. In Australia, AdsWizz powers audio campaigns that reach 7.1M unique listeners with over 100M audio listens per month across all in-app environments.

“We’ve seen a big increase in our Australian audiences in recent years as consumers there change their audio consumption habits,” said Alexis Van de Wyer CEO of AdsWizz. “We’re excited to help Australian advertisers tap into the power of audio with measurement and attribution tools that provide clear ROI on their digital audio campaigns.”

IAB Australia recently released positive numbers on the Australian audio industry, highlighting that 87% of agencies bought streaming audio as part of their ad spend in 2018.  O’Shea added, “With the new ad tech enhancements we’ve developed that enable us to track footfall in the audio environment, we’re certain this will help marketers and the industry overall confidently invest even more in audio.”

Campaigns with audio and location tracking can be booked today through the Big Mobile team.

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Hyperlocal marketing, for e-commerce?

Davines and Hyperlocology prove the model for success

How exactly does hyperlocal advertising and e-commerce work together?  After all, hyperlocal advertising traditionally leverages accurate and precise location data to reach consumers within the vicinity of a brick and mortar store to drive in-store sales. However, e-commerce is completely online. There are no physical stores to drive traffic to.

So how then would a hyperlocal approach drive results for e-commerce?

Hannah Dixon, Marketing Director for Davines North America, a leader in sustainable hair care and beauty, has found the answer.

  • Hyperlocal is as much about locally-relevant as it is location-specific. When viewed through this lens, hyperlocal marketing will drive outsized results against marketing and sales objectives both in-store and online.
  • Consider how “hair care” and “sustainability” mean different things to each community, and each person within that community.
  • Customs, competition, and demographics all vary greatly by location and drive how consumers interact with the brand and ultimately influence purchase decisions.

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It’s no surprise, with clear social priorities beyond revenue, Davines thinks differently.

“Understanding our customers and how they interact with our products as local communities is extremely important to us. Audience targeting alone is not enough. Our brand has been built through local relationships at the salon level and we wanted our messaging to be curated and specific to each community – otherwise it feels inauthentic and falls flat. This belief has been an integral part of our success. The ability to identify communities and address them each specifically no matter where they are online with content curated to their geography is the experience we want to create for our customers,” says Dixon.

Increasing e-commerce revenue and providing an authentic customer experience requires a new hyperlocal approach.

One not possible through traditional automated display media buying terminals that apply optimizations more broadly across local audiences and operate within silos. Execution must be handled differently. Community messaging.  Community data.  Community growth.   Identifying and addressing relevant audiences within specific geolocations with unique messaging ultimately drives faster and greater results.

To accomplish this Davines partnered with Hyperlocology, a platform already widely adopted by franchises, financial services, and multi-location brands to execute hyperlocal marketing, because of their unique ability to automate and power individual community campaigns at scale.

Together, through a partnership with Whalar, a leading creative influencer marketing company, Davines selected authentic, diverse and brand-aligned local influencers and created assets specific to each influencer, which were then assigned to the relevant geos and used across multiple marketing channels. Utilizing Hyperlocology’s Distributed Automated Marketing platform, Davines was able to seamlessly build, execute, and analyze hundreds of specialized local marketing campaigns within one user interface.

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This campaign hit the marketing sweet spot of delivering measurable and immediate sales return and growing brand awareness. Davines was able to achieve a three-fold direct sales return on investment for this campaign, over 130% vs. the target, while also growing brand awareness off a small investment by reaching over 11M people via the influencer campaign and the digital advertising.

Dixon adds, “We are extremely proud of the results from our first digital campaign in partnership with Hyperlocology and Whalar. It was a big step for our brand to test advertising online for the first time and partner with influencers in a paid manner. It also provided great insights into the geography of our consumers across North America and showed us how authentic, diverse and brand-aligned content can deliver real engagement with the brand. Since the initial campaign, we’ve continued to leverage the learnings and partner with Hyperlocology and are trending significantly above our plan for e-commerce.” 

Hyperlocal and e-commerce are a powerful combination; breaking the mold of how marketers typically believe hyperlocal marketing is best utilized.

To do hyperlocal right requires the ability to easily view unique communities as individual campaigns, across all channels, to drive the required results.  This community up approach allows Davines to outperform their e-commerce objectives and improve how they connect authentically and stay true to their mission of beauty and sustainability within their desired communities.

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Aprimo Unveils “Aprimo AI” for its Digital Asset Management (DAM) and Productivity Management Solutions

New artificial intelligence (AI) solution designed specifically to modernize the Digital Workplace and enrich content throughout the Content Lifecycle

FB Starts Campaign to Teach UK Citizens on How to Use Their ‘Privacy Settings’

Facebook has announced the launch of a nation-wide campaign to teach UK citizens on how to use FB privacy options. The decision was taken following a survey that revealed that over 20 percent of Facebook users in the UK do not know how to use privacy settings.

A Digital Marketing agency named Possible has been roped in to assist FB in the campaign called ‘Privacy is Personal’. UK citizens will now be taught how to control the privacy of their photos, videos, and posts. Facebook’s own platforms including Instagram will be used to push the propaganda. Apart from this print, audio, cinema, and video-on-demand options will be used.

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Pop up Cafes to Give Coffee and Awareness

Facebook will host Facebook Cafes in the coming weeks where netizens of the UK can go and personally learn to keep their privacy over a cup of free coffee. The pop-up cafes will be opened at The Attendant in London, Takk in Manchester, The Flour Pot Cafe in Brighton, Union Brew Lab in Edinburgh and Coffee Barker in Cardiff.

“Millions of Brits use social media to connect and share with friends and family, but many are concerned about who is able to see what they post online,” said Steve Hatch. “We want people to have more control of their experience on Facebook and know about the many new tools and features we’ve introduced to help manage their privacy,” he said.

“Doing a privacy check-up is quick and easy – but if you’re unsure how then head down to one of our pop-up cafes. We can help you personalize your privacy settings – and all in the time it takes to make a cup of coffee,” he said.

Facebook started giving more emphasis to privacy after Cambridge Analytica allegedly harvested the personal data of millions of people from their Facebook profiles for political advertising purposes.

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Dentsu Aegis Network Acquires Top Direct-to-Consumer Marketing Agency MuteSix

Top Digital Performance Agency Will Become Part of iProspect

 Dentsu Aegis Network announced the acquisition of MuteSix, a top digital performance agency and one of the world’s largest direct-to-consumer marketing agencies. MuteSix will join iProspect, a leading global digital performance agency. Going forward, the agency will be called “MuteSix, an iProspect Company.”

As all marketers demand more accountability from their marketing spend, and increasingly launch and build brands through performance marketing channels, the acquisition of MuteSix supports Dentsu Aegis Network’s continued growth strategy for the U.S. Additionally, it extends iProspect’s suite of performance marketing solutions for both enterprise and direct-to-consumer (DTC) marketers.

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“DTC advertisers are born from performance, building their brands online through smart targeting, engaging creative and seamless customer experiences, and MuteSix is the leading solutions provider for this hyper-growth category,” said Jeremy Cornfeldt, CEO, iProspect US. “With their expertise in this unique segment of the market, combined with our deep experience working with larger portfolio enterprise companies and global performance marketers, we now offer a full suite of performance marketing solutions for clients at every stage of their growth.”

Headquartered in Los Angeles, MuteSix was founded in 2015 by Steve Weiss and Daniel Rutberg. By marrying high-quality creative with extensive knowledge of digital performance and social ad platforms, the agency has differentiated itself and today is one of Facebook’s largest direct response advertisers. It provides scalable marketing solutions for clients across a broad spectrum of start-ups, established blue chips, and challenger brands across various B2B and B2C industries. In 2018, MuteSix was named to the Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest-growing private companies in America, home to 120 talented employees.

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MuteSix CEO Steve Weiss and President Daniel Rutberg will continue to lead the agency and will report directly to Jeremy Cornfeldt.

“iProspect is one of the top performance marketing agencies in the world and a proven leader when it comes to innovation in the industry. We truly have the same DNA,” said Weiss. “Together with iProspect, MuteSix is able to service the best direct-to-consumer brands on a global scale, extending our capabilities and offerings to provide solutions to clients beyond Facebook and Google.”

In the last four years, Dentsu Aegis Network has closed more than 100 acquisitions. In the last five years, iProspect has made five U.S.-based acquisitions in order to help clients fully own and personalize every media touchpoint during the consumer’s path to purchase, delivering better performance and driving business outcomes. These acquisitions include content performance agency Covario, attribution shop Rockett Interactive, personalization and landing page optimization platform Leapfrog Online, and multicultural agency M8.

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