Direct-to-Consumer Brands Are Redefining Marketing

Note: a version of this article previously appeared in The Drum. Direct-to-consumer brands have disrupted nearly every industry. Names like Warby Parker, Uber, Allbirds, Stitch Fix, and HelloFresh are inescapable, with plenty more coming into the collective American consumer consciousness on a regular basis. These brands are also the subject of intense interest — even …

Video: AdExchanger Industry Preview 2019 Keynote

The following is a transcript of Signal CEO Mike Sands’ keynote presentation at AdExchanger’s Industry Preview 2019 conference. It has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity. Identity: The Future of Real-Time Engagement in the Age of Going Direct [Forrester analyst Joanna O’Connell] and I were catching up in the back, and I’m like, “Boy, …

Why Gaming Brands Are the Proving Ground for Tomorrow’s CMOs

Note: a version of this article previously appeared in Adweek. At first blush, the National Football League’s recent hire of Activision Blizzard’s Tim Ellis as CMO looks like a beleaguered brand’s attempt at leveraging fresh marketing insight to recapture a young male demographic abandoning traditional sports for esports. But at a deeper level, the move says a lot …

Why Data Onboarding Matters More Today Than One Week Ago

A version of this article previously appeared in Martech Today. As U.S. marketers intensify their focus on customer identity resolution — an investment a Winterberry Group/DMA study projects will jump from $900 million in 2018 to $2.6 billion by 2022 — data onboarding is thrust into the spotlight. Why now? Sure, onboarding — the technical …

How the GDPR Will Revolutionize Retail Marketing

Note: a version of this article originally appeared in Internet Retailer. We’re now several months removed from the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) dropping across the European Union — and the Y2K-esque panic accompanying its debut turned out to be more bark than bite. Sure, the first few weeks saw an initial burst of consumer …

119 Billion Reasons Why Brands Must Control Their Customer Data

Note: a version of this article originally appeared in MarTech Today. In late July, Facebook woke up to the largest one-day loss by any company in the history of the U.S. stock market, dropping $119 billion (roughly one-fifth of its market value) after posting slower-than-expected user growth in its Q2 earnings report. For those who …

Without Identity, Retailer Ad Retargeting Misses the Mark

Note: a version of this post originally appeared in Marketing Land. “Are we there yet?” As any parent who has endured a summer road trip with young, easily bored children can attest, there is no question more annoying. Especially after hearing it repeated ten times… within the first half hour. Sound familiar? If you’re a …

Identity resolution is a market of two — with one clear choice

Identity continues to attract attention — and investment. U.S. marketers are responding to surging consumer demand for highly personalized, contextually relevant customer experiences by spending close to $900 million this year on services and solutions dedicated to solving identity resolution — a sum expected to triple to $2.6 billion in 2022 — according to researcher …

It’s Identity’s Big Moment, But Most Martech Still Comes Up Small

Note: A version of this post originally appeared in MarTech Today. Have you noticed anything different about the LUMAscape lately? Recently, the imposing cluster of logos representing the marketing technology landscape grew a little denser. Nestled under the data management platform (DMP) category, and to the right of the increasingly hyped customer data platform (CDP) grouping, …

Smart marketing still hinges on humanity, not technology

Note: A version of this post originally appeared in MartechToday. Remember what life was like before we had smartphones? We scrolled through inches of white pages without a thought, carried impossible-to-fold maps wherever we traveled and never left home without pocket change. Now it seems as if we think everything would work better if it were …