This Week in Martech:
✍️ WPP Buys Social Influencer Marketing Agency Obviously 💰 Openview Raises $560M ⚙️ Adobe to integrate generative AI into its CDP ⚙️ Movable Ink Unveils Mobile Suite 👥 Salesforce, Google Partner on Local Commerce👥 WPP Partners With Braze ⚙️ ARHT Rolls Out Retail Hologram Experiences ⚙️ Email Creation Platform Stensul Expands Its Offering to Landing Pages ⚙️ Instagram Unveils Two New Advertising Channels
WPP Buys Social Influencer Marketing Agency Obviously
WPP, a British advertising group, has acquired Obviously, a technology-led social influencer marketing agency based in New York and operating in San Francisco and Paris.
Obviously's tech offerings include process automation, the streamlined workflow between influencers, clients, and internal teams, and enhanced data analysis for real-time campaign and audience insights.
The agency's unique data analytics infrastructure leverages AI to provide predictive analysis and assess campaign pricing and benchmarking. This acquisition follows WPP's recent purchase of Goat, an influencer marketing specialist that focuses on improving customer engagement for brands like Dell, Tesco, Uber, and Natura.
Openview Raises $560M
OpenView Venture Partners has raised $570 million for its seventh fund, which is a 25% increase from its sixth fund of $450 million. The firm will continue to invest in high-growth software startups across various categories, including infrastructure, applications, cybersecurity, and vertical software, with a global focus.
Adobe to Integrate Generative AI into its CDP
In the near future, generative AI will empower marketers to develop models that generate audience segments and simulate customer journeys. This breakthrough was recently announced by Adobe, which intends to incorporate generative AI tools into its real-time customer data platform through Sensei, its AI and machine learning technology.
According to Ryan Fleisch, the Director of Product Marketing for the Adobe CDP, marketers will have the ability to train AI models with their own data and content directly within Adobe's CDP. This will ensure that the output is consistent with their brand style, providing marketers with the ability to fine-tune the AI-generated models to meet their specific needs.
Movable Ink Launches Mobile Suite
Movable Ink, the platform for personalised content, has unveiled a new mobile suite to extend the range of channels it can use data to create tailored engagement with users. The suite includes delivering personalised experiences in real-time through media-rich push notifications, in-app messages, mobile app inboxes and SMS.
Salesforce and Google Partner on Local Commerce
Salesforce has announced an integration between Salesforce Commerce Cloud and Google Merchant Center to help merchants highlight the availability of products in stores. This builds on Salesforce's data suggesting the widespread use of online searches before in-person store visits and the increased likelihood of shopping trips when consumers see that a store has an item in stock.
WPP Collaborates With Braze
WPP has revealed a new partnership with Braze, the comprehensive customer engagement platform that facilitates interactions between consumers and brands. The collaboration will focus on joint integrations and solution development to help brands harness their first-party data to create personalised engagement.
ARHT Introduces Retail Hologram Experiences
Hologram technology firm ARHT is launching a new touchscreen model, ARHT CAPSULE, to improve in-store shopping experiences. The screens display life-sized presenters and products, either live or on a video loop. The first CAPSULE screens will be deployed this summer in high-end luxury stores and at several hundred locations of a large retail chain.
Email Creation Platform Stensul Expands to Landing Pages
Stensul, the platform for rapid and collaborative email creation, has announced that it will now support similar processes for landing pages. The Stensul Landing Page Builder is now available within the Stensul Creation Platform, as part of a strategic expansion of Stensul's capabilities into assets beyond emails.
Instagram Unveils Two New Advertising Channels
Instagram has revealed two new advertising channels. One, called Reminder Ads, is currently available; the other, ads in search results, is expected to launch in the coming months. Reminder Ads is designed to "help advertisers build awareness, anticipation, and consideration for upcoming moments." Consumers who opt-in will receive three reminders about a marketing event: one day before, 15 minutes before, and at the time it happens. The Meta-owned company says this follows a successful test run in partnership with the cable network Starz.
MarTech News Round-up – over and out.
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