Industry experts and Talkdesk customers will join the CX Innovators Masterclass to share real-world customer experience innovation insights

• Attendees can learn from winners of the Talkdesk 2023 CX Innovators Awards on Thursday, January 25, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. EST during the CX Innovators Masterclass.

• The virtual masterclass will feature advice from CX Innovators Awards winners on using AI-powered contact center solutions to optimize workflows, operations, and the customer experience, as well as trends shaping the future of customer experience.

• The 2023 CX Innovators Awards winners are representative of the many companies globally transforming customer experience with Talkdesk AI-powered contact center solutions. Recently, Talkdesk was named a Leader in the G2 Winter 2024 Reports in the Contact Center as a Service category with over 1,800 five-star reviews, and ranked #1 in multiple categories, including Enterprise Results and Usability Index for Contact Center based on customers’ authentic feedback.

Talkdesk®, Inc., a global AI-powered contact center leader for enterprises of all sizes, today announced it will host the company’s second annual CX Innovators Masterclass on Thursday, January 25, 2024, at 12:00 p.m. EST, to showcase top innovators using Talkdesk’s AI-powered contact center platform to elevate and modernize their customer experience (CX).

During the virtual masterclass, CX professionals will learn about trends shaping the future of CX and gain actionable insights from success stories shared by Talkdesk fourth annual CX Innovators Awards winners. The winners are leading organizations across a wide range of industries who each used a variety of Talkdesk contact center solutions over the past year to improve outcomes at each stage of the customer journey and deliver best-in-class CX.

Masterclass attendees will hear real-life examples of how accessible, reliable CX solutions can result in numerous achievements, including increased response rates, reduced call handling time, and improved CX evidenced by higher net promoter scores (NPS) and customer satisfaction scores (CSAT), as well as lower operational expenditure (OPEX).

Featured speakers include CX leaders from Talkdesk customers and Class of 2023 CX Innovators winners LegalShield, CAI, BCLC, and JK Moving. For example, AI Innovator Award winner CAI will share how the company reduced call escalation rates and decreased time spent on post-call documentation by eight minutes or more with Talkdesk Workforce Management™. Jeffrey Sturman, senior vice president and chief digital officer of Memorial Healthcare, will accompany Amy Payne, Talkdesk vice president of global customer, partner, and events marketing, as hosts for the event.

The Class of 2023 CX Innovators winners are just a few of the many companies globally that see success with the Talkdesk AI-powered contact center solutions. Additional examples can most recently be found within the G2 Winter 2024 Reports, which named Talkdesk a Leader in the Contact Center as a Service category with over 1,800 five-star reviews, and ranked Talkdesk #1 in multiple categories, including Enterprise Results and Usability Index for Contact Center based on customers’ authentic feedback.

Supporting Quotes

Amy Payne, vice president of global customer, partner, and events marketing at Talkdesk, commented: “The CX Innovators Masterclass is a time to reflect and learn from some of the most successful Talkdesk customers, including those that consider the contact center as a growth center and those that have embraced AI. It’s also an excellent opportunity to gather with industry professionals and think through innovative customer experience strategies for the coming year.”

Tom Grosso, executive director, service desk, at CAI, said: “Talkdesk differentiates our business and drives our innovation. We’re always looking to understand what we can do differently, better, and faster to meet our customers where they are.”

Today, Maropost, the commerce software suite built for fast-growing retail and ecommerce brands, named Kristyn Wallace as Country Manager and Vice President of Revenue for Australia. For over a decade, Wallace has lived and worked in the country, helping merchants attract, acquire, and retain customers. In her new role, she will empower the region’s retailers to confidently launch, grow, and scale operations.

Most recently, Wallace served as Regional Vice President of Revenue and Country Manager for the Asia Pacific and Japan region at Emarsys, an omnichannel customer engagement platform. In her tenure with the Australian business, the company’s business doubled. During that time, Wallace also helped local retailers learn from shopper data, think holistically about their ecommerce and brick-and-mortar storefronts, and get more from their marketing efforts.

At Emarsys, Wallace worked closely with Sean Brady, now Maropost’s President and Chief Operating Officer. Having witnessed Wallace’s regional dedication and expertise firsthand, Brady is convinced she is the right person to expand the company’s presence in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ).

“In 2021, Maropost acquired Neto, Australia’s leading unified e-commerce platform. In 2022, we acquired Retail Express, the country’s first cloud-based point-of-sale platform,” says Brady. “Although Maropost is a global company, we remain committed to providing world-class sales and support to ANZ from in-market experts led by Kristyn. She’s not only well-known in the region, she’s a retail thought leader with a deep understanding of the market, its merchants, and their customers.”

“I am thrilled to build on the home-grown success of Retail Express and Neto in Australia and New Zealand,” says Wallace. “As customers know, both products contain a remarkable amount of customer gold. It’s my job to help merchants mine it.” Considering the work ahead, Wallace notes, “It’s remarkable that an international company like Maropost is so serious about investing in ANZ. It’s a huge opportunity, and I’m both grateful and excited to lead the charge.”

Ipsos acquires Jarmany, a company specialising in data management and analytics in the UK

Ipsos, one of the world's leading market research companies, announces the acquisition of Jarmany, a company renowned for its expertise in data analytics and strategy in the UK.

Founded in 2008, Jarmany supports a range of international companies in their operational, financial and strategic decision-making. Its expertise is grounded in the aggregation, analysis and visualisation of data, in particular through the use of artificial intelligence.

The company will continue to be led by its co-founders, Matthew Rhodes and Tom Hunt. The Jarmany team joins the Ipsos business in the UK, with whom they will work closely to develop their capabilities in integrating diverse and complex datasets.

Ben Page, Chief Executive Officer of Ipsos, comments: “This acquisition contributes to Ipsos' 2025 growth plan by strengthening our data analytics capabilities and consolidating our position as a key partner for our clients. I am delighted to welcome Jarmany’s team, which will allow us to broaden our offer in sectors where we are already present.”

Commenting on the acquisition, Matthew Rhodes and Tom Hunt, Co-CEOs of Jarmany, say: “We are very excited about joining Ipsos. We have built a talented team of 70 experts in technology areas where Ipsos is seeking to grow, such as cloud architecture and platform automation. Our collaboration opens up new opportunities to meet our clients' challenges, in fields such as ESG.”  

Empowers North American broadcasters to transform daily ad sales operations and enable a converged audience-first future

Imagine Communications, a leading provider of ad tech solutions for TV broadcast, has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the award-winning Marketron REV broadcast sales and order management platform. By integrating the powerful sales growth engine into its core ad tech portfolio, Imagine now offers a comprehensive monetization solution that enables North American broadcasters to transform daily sales operations, maximize revenue and prepare for a future of converged orders and expanded audience measurement. The product will be re-released as CrossFlight™ after some key enhancements for broadcast TV and is expected to be available in early 2024.

CrossFlight is a cloud-based broadcast sales platform that automates management of ad sales, proposals, pricing and audience forecasting. The platform integrates with Imagine’s widely deployed OSI™ traffic and billing solution, providing a modern, unified monetization solution that enables salespeople to deliver more revenue more effectively. As development continues, the rapidly evolving platform will enable broadcasters to make more money in a cross-platform world by selling an audience across linear and streaming from a single, converged system.

“We are excited to integrate Marketron’s innovative technology into our ad tech portfolio, which will enable us to deliver the exact right solution at the right time for the North American broadcast market,” said Rob Malcolm, general manager of Ad Tech at Imagine Communications. “Our OSI customers will realize immediate benefits from this extension to our core solutions, allowing them to reduce the workload on their sales teams and run their businesses much more efficiently ― while at the same time preparing to successfully navigate a converged linear/digital future.”

CrossFlight delivers an array of powerful sales tools designed to help broadcasters maximize revenue. Built-in pipeline management capabilities allow salespeople to easily manage prospects and customer accounts. Avail requests and proposals can be converted with one step, and orders are executed in TV traffic systems using a modern, web-based user interface (UI). Dynamic pricing capabilities enable inventory to be sold at the best possible price point. Sales performance is easily monitored via an interactive dashboard that provides visibility into pipeline, committed orders, top sellers, and how stations are performing against targets.

“With Marketron REV, our team built an unrivalled platform for sales efficiency, and we are confident that Imagine is the ideal partner to take the platform to the next level of success, while we focus on bringing innovation to the radio industry,” said Jimshade Chaudhari, CEO at Marketron. “Imagine’s deep customer relationships in broadcast TV will enable them to move quickly on development to further meet the industry’s requirements for audience-based and converged linear and CTV sales solutions.”

Captello, a leader in universal lead capture technology, reaffirms its commitment to innovation amid significant industry consolidations, such as Cvent's acquisition of iCapture and Jifflenow, and the formation of Stova. Despite these changes, Captello remains focused on advancing its technology, emphasizing data security and compliance, including pursuing ISO 27001 certification. The company's launch of an AI-powered lead capture solution positions it as a key player in the evolving event technology landscape, offering advanced, reliable, and secure solutions during a period of increased integration and consolidation in the sector.

The Report Finds that 63% of Consumers Lack Trust in Social Media Advertising, Signaling a Greater Opportunity to Double Down on Proven Communication Channels

Marigold, a global martech leader focused on delivering relationship marketing solutions that help brands and organizations acquire, grow and retain customers, announced the release of the 2024 Marigold Global Consumer Trends Index Report, which offers valuable insights into relationship marketing for the year ahead. Based on surveys conducted by Econsultancy across nearly 10,400 consumers worldwide, the report examines consumer attitudes and generational differences in personalization, privacy, messaging, advertising and brand loyalty.

Today’s marketers continue to face challenges on multiple fronts, including building customer trust, delivering value, navigating economic uncertainty, all while balancing data privacy and personalization as third-party cookies crumble. The 2024 Marigold Global Consumer Trends Index Report provides insights into consumer preferences that drive marketing decisions and explores the influence of brand relationships. In this year’s report, consumers indicated that they value relationship marketing strategies, personalization and loyalty programs, while third-party tracking tools and social media advertisements continued to rank among the most unpopular.

“Consumers reward brands they love with a larger share of their wallet and repeat business. The 2024 Marigold Global Consumer Trends Index Report shows that brands earn that love by delivering personalized interactions, in the moments that matter, and demonstrating that they really know their customers,” said Wendy Werve, CMO of Marigold. “In addition to underscoring that email continues to be a critical marketing channel for building loyal customers, this year’s report provides actionable insights that can help brands turn their customers into superfans for the long term.”

Heading into 2024, savvy brands can harness these top report takeaways to build better campaigns:

• Email Tops Marketing Channels in Purchase Frequency
  Email is the most popular marketing channel when it comes to consumer purchases, with half of consumers surveyed stating they have purchased an email offer in the last year, surpassing social media ads (48%), social posts (43%), SMS/MMS messages (24%) and banner advertisements (21%).

• Convenience and Quality Outrank Economic Concerns
  Despite half of consumers reporting economic pessimism, 59% consider convenience more important than price when making purchase decisions, while 69% place greater emphasis on product and service quality.

• Personalization and Relationship-Building Matter
  An overwhelming majority of consumers say their favorite brand treats them like an individual (85%), and strives to develop a relationship with them (82%).

• Non-Monetary Messages Resonate Better with Younger Consumers
  Roughly two-thirds of Gen Z (64%) and Millennial consumers (66%) cite they’re likely to engage with messages about brand purpose-related activities, compared to 46% of Baby Boomers. Younger consumers also find more value in community and unlocking exclusive content than older consumers.

• Brand Loyalty Proves Immensely Valuable
  63% of consumers will pay more to shop with the brands they’re loyal to. Brands need to satisfy consumers' desires in key areas like customer service/support and data privacy to maintain this loyalty.

• Consumers Lean Into Loyalty Programs
  This year, compared to last, 43% of consumers will be relying more often on loyalty program benefits before making purchases. Overall participation is also up with 39% of consumers more likely to engage with a loyalty program this year, vs. just 8% who reported being less likely to engage.

• Creating Value Exchange Remains Key
  When it comes to sharing their data in exchange for something, a majority of consumers find value in discounts/coupons (91%), loyalty points/rewards (89%), early/exclusive access to offers (83%), a chance to win something (81%), unlocking content (60%) and brand community (55%).

• Social Media Pessimism Signals Concerns
  Notably, 63% of consumers don’t trust the advertising they see on social media and 55% of consumers are engaging with social media less for the sake of their mental health.

"Loyalty is an all-encompassing strategy, not simply a product. This report underscores the significance of messaging-driven loyalty and trust-building through personalization in every interaction. Brands must go beyond generic incentives to establish meaningful relationships with savvy consumers who have become frustrated with irrelevant content and offers," stated Werve.

• Email security risks remain high with 94% of organizations experiencing incidents in the past 12 months. 

• 96% of organizations that experienced phishing attacks were negatively impacted, up from 86% last year. 

• Most cybersecurity leaders are stressed about email security, and 61% are kept awake at night by the use of AI in phishing. 

• Alarmingly, data loss and exfiltration incidents were experienced by 91% of respondents. 

  Leading cybersecurity company Egress today releases its second Email Security Risk Report. The report lays bare the attitudes and approaches to email security, the evolution of risks, and the impact of incidents. In the 2024 Email Security Risk Report, alongside expert commentary, a comparison of 2023’s results offers insight into how 500 Cybersecurity leaders view the threat landscape, including how they remain vulnerable to both inbound phishing attacks and outbound data loss and exfiltration, and how they continue to question the effectiveness of traditional approaches to email security. The report contains new data on phishing attacks, data loss prevention, and concerns about technical defenses’ ability to detect and prevent advanced threats within Microsoft 365 environments. Jack Chapman, VP of Threat Intelligence at Egress, comments: “The 2024 Email Security Risk Report is an essential read for all cybersecurity professionals and ultimately a tool to help teams assess their inbound and outbound defenses.  
  “What has been staggering is the emergence of trends alongside the 2023 edition of the Email Security Risk Report; for example, 94% of respondents fell victim to phishing attacks, up 2% from the previous year. Organizations continue to face vulnerabilities when it comes to advanced phishing attacks, human error, and data exfiltration, and analyzing emerging trends will be key to bolstering defenses. “The report also highlights how Cybersecurity leaders know that they’re vulnerable when it comes to phishing attacks. 58% of organizations have experienced account takeover incidents in the last 12 months, and 79% of these started with a phishing email that harvested an employee’s credentials, so it’s no wonder that phishing attacks and compromised accounts are causing concern for our Cybersecurity leaders.“The use of AI by cybercriminals is also at the front of our leaders’ minds, and rightly so. While it’s currently impossible to actually prove chatbots are being used to create phishing attacks, cybercriminals generally take every advantage they can get. Organizations can’t afford to be left behind but must ensure their defenses keep pace with cybercriminals’ methodology and the resulting attacks. “The stats in this latest report are truly staggering; 94% of companies have experienced security incidents in the last 12 months, and 95% of cybersecurity leaders are stressed about email security. Organizations urgently need to adapt their approach, or risk finding themselves in the same position next year.”Email Security Risk Remains High The Egress Email Security Risk Report 2024 has revealed that 94% of respondents fell victim to phishing attacks, up 2% from the previous year. Inbound email incidents primarily took the form of malicious URLs, attacks sent from a compromised account, and malware or ransomware attachments.
    
  Looking towards outbound email incidents, 91% of organizations experienced data loss and exfiltration due to reckless behavior to ‘get the job done’, human error or malicious exfiltration amongst other contributing factors.  
  • 94% of organizations were victims of phishing attacks 
  • 96% of organizations were negatively impacted by phishing attacks 
  • 94% of organizations were negatively impacted by outbound email security incidents 
  • 79% of organizations were victims of account takeover attacks which started with a phishing email 
  • 61% of cybersecurity leaders say the use of chatbots in phishing keeps them awake at night 
  Employees face the consequences for email security incidents The impact of an email security incident can be severe for employees and their organizations. 96% of surveyed organizations experienced negative impacts from phishing attacks, which is a jump of 10% versus last year’s report (when the number sat at 86%). Findings from the Email Security Risk Report show that leaders are taking a tough stance with employees caught by phishing attacks with negative outcomes for the people involved happening in 74% of companies. In particular, the report revealed the way organizations responded, with: 
  • 51% of employees caught in phishing attacks disciplined 
  • 39% of employees caught in phishing attacks fired 
  • 27% of employees caught in phishing attacks voluntarily leaving their roles 
  Looking at outbound threats, a similar picture is seen with 94% of the surveyed organizations reported being adversely affected, which is an increase of 8% from last year’s report. In outbound email incidents, 67% of people were disciplined, let go, or chose to leave the organization. Employees being disciplined was the most common outcome, seen in 51% of organizations. It is evident from the report’s data that email security incidents continue to have far-reaching impacts for organizations, with financial loss from customer churn and reputational damage topping the organizational costs in both inbound and outbound incidents. Organizations should provide the right technology to their teams to detect advanced threats and SAT programs that genuinely increases their understanding of real threats going forwards.AI is a growing concern for cyber riskAI continues to be one of the industry's biggest talking points, and our Cybersecurity leaders are savvy to the effect new tools, large language models, and generative AI could have on phishing attacks. 63% are being kept awake at night by deepfakes, and 61% by AI chatbots being utilized to create efficient phishing campaigns. This trend is expected to continue into 2024 and beyond, with organizations being encouraged to continuously review their defences.Through stolen Microsoft credentials threat actors can gain access to the kingdom Microsoft credentials are synonymous with being ‘the keys to the kingdom’, giving cybercriminals the power to move laterally across systems and networks to exfiltrate data and access email accounts to target customers and suppliers with further attacks.Findings from the report show that account takeover attacks (ATOs) are a significant concern for Cybersecurity leaders as 58% of organizations experienced account takeover incidents. Of these: 
  • 79% began with a phishing email harvesting an employee's credentials 
  • 83% saw multi-factor authentication bypassed before proceeding with the account takeover 
  Additionally, over half (51%) of organizations fell victim to phishing attacks sent from compromised accounts within their supply chain in the last 12 months. Utilizing a trusted domain helps enable attacks to get through traditional perimeter defenses and people are less suspicious of emails sent from addresses they recognize. Cybersecurity leaders are well-aware of their vulnerability, with supply chain compromise and ATO their top sources of stress.  Cybersecurity leaders question the value of their SEGs Many of the email security features Microsoft 365 offers overlap with the functionality available in SEGs, leaving organization to question their tech stack. Of those who use a SEG, 91% expressed frustration with it, and 87% are considering replacing their SEG or have already done so. As organizations adopt native controls in favor of SEGs, they are still left vulnerable to the advanced phishing attacks that can bypass signature-based and reputation-based detection, as well as employees’ behaviors that lead to outbound incidents, such as human error. 
  Combining Microsoft's controls and integrated cloud email security (ICES) solutions covers the full spectrum of inbound and outbound email security incidents, so it's little surprise that a large portion of organizations are weighing up their options. Training is considered a checkbox requirement According to the findings from the report, email security risks remain a top concern for organizations with 94% having experienced security incidents over the past year. Despite this, according to the majority of respondents, training is provided only to meet compliance requirements with 88% acknowledging that they are doing SAT for compliance purposes.  
  If training is engaging, in bite-size modules and relevant to the employee’s tasks, it should be an enriching activity with real-time teachable moments throughout their workday, but Cybersecurity leaders are currently worried that employees skip through training as quickly as possible and that they find training annoying. 
  With this in mind, it is no wonder that 91% of Cybersecurity leaders have doubts about the effectiveness of traditional training, and making the training tailored to teams or individuals isn’t being offered commonly: 
  • Only 19% of organizations deliver SAT that reflects on the department or team that employees work in 
  • Just 9% of organizations tailor training to the individual employee. 
  The ramifications of this are significant for both employees and their organizations as quality learning can turn a company’s biggest risk into one of their strongest defences – their people.