Report offers insights on how marketers are using technology like identity resolution to capture the attention of travelers in new ways.

Loyalty360, in collaboration with Wunderkind, has released a new report titled Enhancing Booking Experiences with Customer Identity Resolution: Loyalty360 Brand Marketer Research. This report provides insights from nearly 100 marketers across the travel, hospitality, and ticketing industries, focusing on the impact of identity resolution on booking experiences.

Key Findings and Insights

• Importance of Customer Identification: Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360, underscores the necessity of understanding and identifying customers across multiple channels in the highly competitive travel, hospitality, and ticketing sectors. The report highlights how advanced identity resolution technologies are enabling brands to deliver personalized and engaging booking experiences.

• Survey Insights: Conducted in early 2024, the survey reveals marketers' perspectives on the tools, technologies, and benefits of identity resolution. Key findings include:

  • Challenges: Difficulty in identifying customers across devices and channels, particularly when third-party online travel agencies (OTAs) are involved.
  • Solutions: Effective use of identity resolution tools and strategies to overcome these challenges and enhance customer engagement.

Industry Challenges and Solutions

• Cookie Deprecation and Ad Costs: With the phase-out of cookies and rising advertising costs, marketers face significant challenges. Ronen Kadosh, Head of Travel and Ticketing at Wunderkind, emphasizes the potential of contextual identity resolution to positively impact revenue, drawing from its success in retail and eCommerce.

• Report Insights: The report provides both quantitative and qualitative data on:

  • Brands' Understanding: Knowledge and considerations regarding identity resolution tools.
  • Business Priorities: Objectives for driving new business in the next 18 months.
  • Technology Adoption: Self-assessments of being "technology-first" or lagging behind competitors.
  • Cookie Deprecation Impact: Effects on digital marketing strategies.

Enhancing Booking Experiences with Customer Identity Resolution offers valuable insights into how identity resolution can transform booking experiences in travel, hospitality, and ticketing. The report is available for download on Loyalty360.org and provides actionable guidance for brands looking to enhance customer loyalty and engagement.

Previously only available for Google, Yahoo, and Meta, the leading digital automation tool now suggests more optimal keyword and search query settings for Amazon Ads

Shirofune, a leading digital advertising automation management tool, has announced an enhancement to its Improvement Suggestion feature, now extending its capabilities to Amazon Ads. This upgrade is designed to optimize keyword and search query settings, aiming to reduce costs and improve ad performance.

New Features and Capabilities

• Enhanced Improvement Suggestion: The updated feature identifies keywords and search queries that are increasing costs without delivering results. It:

  • Excludes Ineffective Keywords: Automatically lists keywords that need to be excluded or reviewed.
  • Recommends Additional Keywords: Suggests new keywords expected to enhance performance.
  • Incorporates Negative Keywords: Recommends adding negative keywords, a functionality not available in Amazon Ads.

• Cost Reduction: By excluding high-cost keywords and optimizing settings, the feature helps reduce unnecessary expenses and lowers the Advertising Cost of Sale (ACoS).

Expansion and Integration

• Support for Multiple Platforms: This enhancement marks Shirofune’s fifth supported platform, following Google Ads, Yahoo Ads, and Meta Ads. The feature has already proven effective across these platforms.
• Amazon Ads Integration: The addition to Amazon Ads is expected to bring increased efficiency and performance for users.

Strategic Impact

• Streamlined Ad Management: According to Tomomi Takeshita, Co-Founder of Shirofune, this expansion is a significant milestone. It simplifies ad management by automating keyword and search query adjustments, allowing advertisers to focus on strategic decisions.
• Automated Optimization: The feature’s advanced algorithm presents recommended changes as improvement cards on the management screen. Users can easily approve or reject suggestions, ensuring ongoing optimization with minimal effort.

Shirofune’s latest enhancement to the Improvement Suggestion feature for Amazon Ads represents a major advancement in digital advertising automation. By automating keyword and search query optimization, Shirofune empowers users to achieve better performance and lower costs with ease.

Meltwater, a leading global provider of media, social, and consumer intelligence, has announced a strategic partnership with Blackbird.AI, a pioneer in AI-driven narrative and risk intelligence. This collaboration aims to address the growing threat of misinformation and disinformation that jeopardizes brand reputation and financial stability.

Strategic Partnership Overview

• Objective: The partnership seeks to protect customers from harmful misinformation and disinformation, which the World Economic Forum identifies as a major global risk.
• Combined Solutions: By integrating Meltwater’s AI-powered media and social intelligence with Blackbird.AI’s narrative intelligence platform, the partnership offers a robust solution for managing and mitigating the impact of harmful narratives.

Key Features and Benefits

• Enhanced Risk Management:

  • Meltwater’s Solutions: Provides comprehensive media and social intelligence to monitor and analyze data from various sources.
  • Blackbird.AI’s Platform: Offers real-time insights into narratives across news, social media, and the dark web, revealing hidden risk signals like bot manipulation and underlying influences.

• Improved Decision-Making: The partnership enables better executive-level decisions through actionable data and insights, helping customers proactively address and counteract harmful narrative attacks.

Executive Insights

• Doug Balut, Senior Vice President of Global Alliances and Partnerships at Meltwater: Emphasized the significance of the partnership in enhancing the ability to combat narrative attacks and protect brand reputation, reducing both financial and operational risks.
• Wasim Khaled, CEO and Co-founder of Blackbird.AI: Highlighted the critical nature of early knowledge about narrative attacks for informing stakeholders and reducing brand and financial risk. The partnership expands Blackbird.AI’s capacity to safeguard customers using their Constellation Narrative Intelligence Platform and new products like Narrative Feed and Compass.

Partnership Integration

• Meltwater Partner Program: Blackbird.AI has joined Meltwater’s Partner Program, gaining access to a wide range of programs and opportunities. This inclusion provides access to innovative technologies and exclusive co-marketing initiatives, aiming to amplify brand presence and drive revenue growth.

The new partnership between Meltwater and Blackbird.AI represents a significant advancement in the fight against misinformation and disinformation. By leveraging both companies’ strengths, the collaboration offers a powerful solution for managing narrative risks and enhancing brand protection.

Shutterstock, Inc., a leading global creative platform, has finalized its acquisition of Envato Pty Ltd., a major provider of digital creative assets and templates. This strategic acquisition enhances Shutterstock's offerings and expands its market reach.

Strategic Highlights

• Enhanced Offerings:

  • Envato Elements Integration: The acquisition adds Envato Elements, a prominent unlimited multi-asset subscription service, to Shutterstock's portfolio.
  • Expanded Content Library: Shutterstock’s content library grows significantly, including:
    • 10 million images
    • 6 million videos
    • 1 million audio clips
    • 0.5 million templates
    • 0.2 million graphics & fonts

• Subscriber Base Growth:

  • Doubling Subscribers: The acquisition increases Shutterstock's subscriber base to 1.15 million by adding 650,000 new subscribers from Envato.

• Revenue and Market Expansion:

  • Content Revenue Boost: Expected growth in Shutterstock's revenue from diverse content types such as video, audio, graphics, fonts, and templates.
  • New Content Types: Diversifies Shutterstock’s offerings to include code & web themes, product mock-ups, and various creative templates for presentations, social posts, gaming, and print-on-demand.

• Audience Expansion:

  • Targeting Growing Segments: Enhances Shutterstock's reach among freelancers, hobbyists, small businesses, and agencies.

Visual Brand Identity

• Envato's New Identity: The completion of the acquisition coincides with the phased rollout of Envato's new visual brand identity, marking a significant step in its evolution and commitment to the creative community.

Shutterstock’s acquisition of Envato represents a major expansion of its creative content offerings, significantly increasing its subscriber base and content library. This move aligns with Shutterstock’s strategy to diversify and enhance its market presence across various creative sectors.

KINESSO Commerce, the technology-driven commerce division of IPG Mediabrands, has announced a groundbreaking global partnership with Vudoo, a leading technology company specializing in content commerce. This collaboration introduces "ShopNow," an innovative, always-on commerce media solution that combines KINESSO Commerce’s media activation capabilities with Vudoo’s advanced shoppable ad technology. This integration aims to make content shoppable across the open web, providing a seamless consumer experience.

Strategic Highlights

• ShopNow Solution:

  • End-to-End Capabilities: Combines Vudoo’s shoppable ad technology with KINESSO’s media activation, performance capabilities, and IPG Mediabrands’ creative solutions.
  • Global Launch: Initially rolling out in Australia with iconic retailers, followed by expansions in the UK, US, and APAC regions.

• Enhanced Consumer Journey:

  • Transparency and Visibility: Offers insights into the consumer journey, including tracking whether items added to carts result in purchases.
  • Integration with Major Commerce Partners: Includes leading platforms such as Amazon for comprehensive commerce engagement.

Benefits and Innovations

• Seamless Shopping Experience:

  • Always-On Shoppable Content: Enables consumers to shop directly from content across the open web, addressing the expectations of digital-native audiences.
  • Real-Time Data Capture: Vudoo’s interactive video features capture first-party data, providing actionable customer intent signals.

• Increased Optimization Capabilities:

  • Enhanced Analytics: KINESSO Commerce’s expertise in measurement and analytics, combined with Vudoo’s real-time data, will boost optimization and conversion efforts.
  • Content Creation and Activation: Elevates off-retailer website and content creation services, benefiting the broader IPG Mediabrands network.

Executive Insights

• Hope Williams, Head of Commerce at KINESSO Australia: Emphasized the alignment of Vudoo’s vision with KINESSO’s commitment to providing seamless consumer experiences and transforming global brand engagement.
• Nick Morgan, CEO and Founder of Vudoo: Highlighted the partnership’s potential to revolutionize traditional advertising by making all content shoppable and expanding retailer reach.
• Amie Owen, Global Chief Growth Officer at KINESSO Commerce: Expressed excitement about leveraging Vudoo’s platform to enhance customer engagement and streamline the checkout process, setting a new standard in content commerce.

The partnership between KINESSO Commerce and Vudoo marks a significant advancement in content commerce, offering a seamless and interactive shopping experience across the open web. The "ShopNow" solution is set to transform how brands engage with consumers, providing deeper insights and enhanced optimization capabilities.

Website Speedy, a leader in website performance optimization, has launched its new app on the BigCommerce App Store. This app is designed to help BigCommerce users enhance their website speed, improve SEO rankings, and provide a superior user experience. By leveraging advanced optimization techniques, the Website Speedy app ensures faster load times and smoother website performance.

Key Features

• Asynchronous Loading: Improves load times by ensuring that non-essential resources are loaded after the main content.
• Resource Prefetching: Preloads resources to enhance website speed and responsiveness.
• Third-Party Script Management: Blocks non-essential third-party scripts until after the page has loaded, reducing initial load time.
• Detailed Performance Reports: Provides insights into website performance and optimization metrics.

Benefits

• Enhanced Website Speed: Faster page loads lead to higher engagement and lower bounce rates.
• Improved SEO Rankings: By fixing core web vitals, the app helps improve search engine rankings.
• Better User Experience: A smoother and faster website translates to increased user satisfaction and retention.
• Increased Revenue: Optimizing website speed can boost sales by up to 10-20% and reduce bounce rates, directly impacting e-commerce revenue.

Impact and Testimonials

Research indicates that a one-second delay in page load time can result in a 7% reduction in conversions and a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction. Conversely, faster websites can significantly improve engagement and sales. Early users of the Website Speedy app have reported substantial improvements, with one user noting a 30% reduction in load times and enhanced search engine rankings.

The Website Speedy app is now available for download on the BigCommerce App Store, offering a free trial for new users. It simplifies website speed optimization with an intuitive interface and automated processes, making it easier for BigCommerce store owners to enhance their site’s performance without needing extensive technical expertise.

Amplitude, a leading digital analytics platform, has announced the appointment of Lee Edwards as Vice President of Sales in the EMEA region. Edwards brings over 25 years of experience from leading technology companies in Europe and will play a pivotal role in driving customer adoption across the UK, France, and Germany.

• New Appointment: Lee Edwards joins Amplitude with a robust background in sales leadership from notable firms like Oracle, Adobe, and SAP.
• Strategic Role: Edwards' expertise will help enhance Amplitude's market presence and customer engagement in EMEA.
• Customer Focus: Emphasis on understanding customer behavior to improve digital products and experiences.

Recent Innovations

• Product Innovations: Amplitude has recently launched several new features, including:
  • Snowflake Native Offering: General availability announced last month.
  • New Integrations: Expanded integrations to help companies maximize ROI.
  • Session Replay: Earlier this year, the platform was enhanced with Session Replay to merge qualitative and quantitative data for a comprehensive user understanding.

Leadership Insights

• Executive Perspective: Nate Crook, Chief Revenue Officer at Amplitude, highlights the significant opportunities for European companies to leverage data effectively with Amplitude’s platform.
• Lee Edwards' Vision: Edwards expresses his enthusiasm for joining Amplitude, noting the company’s strong reputation and potential for further growth in the EMEA region.

Customer Success

• Global Reach: Amplitude serves nearly 3,000 customers worldwide, including prominent EMEA brands like Skyscanner, Klarna, Schibsted, Le Monde, Canal+, Criteo, Babbel, Decathlon SE, and Haven.
• Customer Testimonials: Lee Marshall, Head of Growth Product at ITVX, praises Amplitude for empowering teams with data-driven decision-making capabilities.

Amplitude’s strategic expansion in EMEA, under the leadership of Lee Edwards, marks a significant milestone in the company's growth journey. With innovative product offerings and a strong customer-centric approach, Amplitude is set to enhance its footprint and deliver substantial value to its clients in the region.

With more than a decade of proven sales leadership experience, Brooks will oversee Emplifi’s revenue and go-to-market initiatives

Emplifi, a leading customer engagement platform, has announced the appointment of Jennifer Brooks as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). In her new role, Brooks will oversee revenue operations and lead the global sales team, focusing on high-growth initiatives that prioritize customer-centric tactics.

• New Appointment: Jennifer Brooks joins Emplifi as CRO, bringing over a decade of experience in leading revenue operations for global technology brands.
• Strategic Focus: Brooks will lead the design and implementation of innovative go-to-market (GTM) strategies while building a sales team structured for growth.

Leadership Insights

• CEO's Perspective: Ohad Hecht, CEO of Emplifi, highlights Brooks’ impressive background in global business management and her ability to scale organizations strategically.
• Jennifer Brooks' Vision: Brooks is enthusiastic about joining Emplifi, noting the platform's innovative use of AI and machine learning, which drives social engagement and customer care efficiency for leading brands.

Professional Background

• Previous Roles:
  • Monotype: Served as CRO, leading GTM engagement strategies and revenue generation projects for over seven years.
  • Olapic and Pitney Bowles: Held senior sales leadership roles, including Vice President of Global eCommerce Sales.
  • Magnetic: Founded and led the web development firm until its acquisition by Bridgeline Digital, where she then served as SVP of Enterprise Business Development.

Future Outlook

• Growth Phase: Brooks’ appointment comes at a pivotal stage for Emplifi as it enters an accelerated growth phase, focusing on driving results, increasing revenue, and enhancing digital experiences for global brands.
• Customer Success: Brooks' customer-centric approach and SaaS industry expertise are expected to further elevate Emplifi's position as a leading customer engagement platform.

Jennifer Brooks’ appointment as Chief Revenue Officer marks a significant step for Emplifi in its growth journey. Her extensive experience and strategic vision will be instrumental in driving high-growth initiatives and ensuring exceptional results for Emplifi's clients worldwide.