Why the Ads Retailers Don’t Send Are Just as Important

Note: a version of this article previously appeared in Retail Dive. Dads always seem to get the short end of the stick, even on holidays. Case in point: Father’s Day gift spending, which trails about $10 billion behind the pace set by Mother’s Day spending, according to the National Retail Federation. Even so, Father’s Day …

Enterprise Identity Resolution Platforms: A Marketer’s Guide

You think omnichannel marketing is challenging now? You haven’t seen anything yet. According to Cisco’s annual Visual Networking Index, the average American is on pace to own about 13 connected or networked devices by 2022 as wearables, AI-powered speakers, interactive televisions and smart home products will become fixtures of everyday life. And consumers are going …

How Data Insights Can Cure Retail’s Holiday Returns Headache

Note: a version of this article originally appeared in Retail Dive. Good news! Shoppers spent so, so much money during the 2018 holiday season — as much as $721 billion (up more than 4 percent year over year), according to the National Retail Federation. Bad news! Shoppers returned so, so much of the stuff they …

Forget Customer Convenience, Amazon Go Is About Customer Data

Note: a version of this article originally appeared in Retail Dive. It’s far from certain whether Amazon Go represents the future of shopping, but it certainly feels like shopping in the future. The checkout-free convenience store’s new location in downtown Chicago — the first to open outside of Seattle — is every bit as high-tech …

3 Foolproof Tricks to Identify Your Customers This Halloween

Every day is Halloween for brands who can’t recognize their customers. Failing to identify customers across devices and channels is like failing to identify Halloween revelers obscured behind masks and makeup. If you don’t know who you’re engaging, you have no context for interaction, and the conversation inevitably takes a frightful turn. But every day …

3 Tactics for Brand Survival in the Age of the Customer

We are all living in what Forrester Research famously proclaimed “The Age of the Customer.” But some brands are living better than others — for that matter, many are just barely hanging on. The Age of the Customer heralds a decisive, disruptive shift in the balance of marketplace power. Consumers now control relationships with brands, not …

Fantastic 4: Signal Returns to Top Rungs of Crain’s Fast 50

Signal is deeply proud of its roots in the Chicago business community — and the Chicago business community is once again sharing the love. A year after topping Crain’s Chicago Business’ annual Fast 50 List of the Windy City’s fastest-growing companies, Signal this week roared back into the upper echelon of Crain’s 2017 rankings, landing …