All the latest martech and ad tech news from Teradata, Nuix, Zenreach, Datorama, Adstream, Hootsuite, Performance Horizons, Kiip, ClickDealer, Syntonic and more
Teradata and Nuix partner to tackle dark data
Big data may promise a world of new insight, but if it can't be analysed, you can kiss that potential goodbye. Enter Teradata and Nuix, who have teamed up to bring ‘dark data’ to light.
Through their partnership, the companies will integrate Nuix's namesake data processing and indexing engine with Teradata's Aster Analytics software, giving organizations a new way to uncover their dark data and analyse it on the spot.
The Nuix Engine focuses on turning unstructured, structured and semi-structured data into searchable text and metadata. As a result of the integration, companies will be able to use it to extract information from hundreds of file types and millions of documents -- including emails and PDFs, for example -- and then perform an initial analysis. Once they've identified the most relevant data from that set, they can feed it directly into Teradata's Aster Analytics and apply sophisticated machine learning, text analytics and other analysis techniques to uncover new insights.
Aster can look for words and phrases and then apply analytical business rules to find compliance infractions or fraud, for instance, helping human investigators target their auditing efforts.
Nuix and Teradata will focus initially on creating a communication compliance product for the financial services sector, but eventually they see a much broader range of applications, including also litigation, cybersecurity, intelligence, and information governance.
New CRM promises to close online and offline loop
Zenreach, a new technology vendor aiming to close the loop between online and offline retail activity, has raised US$50 million to pursue its efforts.
Its first product is a hardware-powered SaaS solution that merchants plug in to create a free Wi-Fi hotspot for consumers to log into. The product then builds a customer list, identifying those that are new versus repeat, loyal or lost. It also features reporting tools based around the concept of a store’s ‘walk-through rate’.
“From founding and running Milo.com, I became intimately aware of the online-to-offline opportunity,” said Zenreach founder, Jack Abraham, in a blog post. “Customers were turning to the internet to find what to buy, but there was no great way to figure out their options for buying it locally. We showed them. But the one bridge we weren’t able to build before being acquired by eBay was solving the online-to-offline attribution problem, showing merchants the impact we were having on their offline sales.
“Since then, every shopper has a smartphone, and it’s become clear that these devices are the key to linking online and offline, finally giving brick and mortar merchants the metrics they need to succeed.”
The idea is to use the tool to help understand how digital and online marketing activities are impacting in-store traffic.
Zenreach has already grown its headcount in San Francisco to 150 employees, and this week announced that it had raised US$50 million in its first round of investment funding, including a $30m cash injection from Founders Fund.
Kiip raises US$12m for moments-based platform
Kiip has chalked up US$12 million in its latest Series C funding round to advance its moments-based ad platform.
According to CEO, Brian Wong, the company is now close to break even and rapidly approaching profitability. The latest round brings its total funding to $32 million. Kiip plans to use the cash injection to build out its US and international sales and marketing teams as well as further develop its moments-based tool.
Kiip allows brands to target ad based on geolocation and mobile device performance, as well as serve them up based on specific customer actions, such as receiving tickets to a theatre performance or completing a task. Its SDK has been implemented in more than 5000 apps, giving it access to more than 150 million users.
The platform has also been white-labelled by Cheetah Mobile in four of its apps in Asia, including Clean Master and battery Doctor.
Sponsored content services player debuts on ASX
Syntonic, the mobile platform services provider that has given thousands of Pokemon GO fans sponsored access to the massively successful augmented reality game, has listed on the Australian Securities Exchange after raising $2.2 million for its IPO.
The company’s flagship product is its Connected Services Platform, which is the foundation for two technologies: Freeway by Syntonic and Syntonic DataFlex. Freeway by Syntonic has been used to enable sponsored access to the Pokemon GO game for the first 10,000 US Android Users, giving them 1GB of free mobile data over the AT&T Network to play the game. The bill is picked up by brands , developers and content providers looking to grow their audience.
Syntonic noted the market for sponsored data is estimated to grow to US$23 billion in the next three years as brands look to meet rising demand for engaging mobile content through users concerned about data usage. Having launched in the US, Freeway is now being piloted in Malaysia and the company is looking to further extend its footprint into Southeast Asia and Latin America.
The Syntonic DataFlex offering is a mobile split billing solution that allows a user to split personal and professional charges on their phone.
“Our mission is to transform the mobile industry with an entirely new way of capitalizing the value of mobile apps, content, and network traffic – and we will do this with our market leading mobile technologies,” said Syntonic CEO and managing director, Gary Greenbaum.
Datorama’s deal with Slack for marketing team collaboration
Datorama has struck up an integration with workplace collaboration player, Slack, to bring its tools into its marketing analytics platform.
Thanks to the integration, all customers using Datorama's Marketing Integration Engine will be able to leverage the self-service, turnkey integration to improve team collaboration and data-driven decision making across an organisation. For example, stakeholders will be able to engage with each other around marketing data while collaborating within Datorama’s dashboards. The vendor said non-technical team members, data analysts and the c-suite can also ask questions, discuss insights, share reports and make real-time decisions about their performance and investments across channels, platforms, campaigns and strategies.
“Today, marketing analytics is a team sport. While our Marketing Integration Engine does the 'heavy lifting' to connect, make sense and visualise all marketing data, we wanted to further improve the user experience to make collaborating around insights and decision making even faster and easier,” said Datorama CEO and co-founder, Ran Sarig.
“In beta testing, we saw a strong benefit in pairing a powerful collaboration tool with our unified data layer to support better team communication, and to help the entire organisation maximise the value of a company's marketing data."
Datorama’s Marketing Integration Engine uses artificial intelligence to automate the process of connecting all of marketing online and offline data sources, as well as provides a range of reporting and analytics functionality.
Performance Horizon and LiveRamp partner up
Partner marketing platform provider, Performance Horizon, has struck an alliance with LiveRamp to use the latter’s data connectivity and onboarding tools to help brands understand how their marketing partners drive offline sales.
Under the partnership, Performance Horizon will leverage LiveRamp’s technology to connect offline sales data to online IDs within its platform. The vendor said this will minimise configuration time for mutual clients while still meeting its privacy compliance standards. It also provides access to the wider product portfolio of LiveRamp’s parent company, Acxiom.
“The ability to connect all online and in-store sales to initiatives driven by strategic digital partners allows CMOs to truly understand the user journey and how a product discovery path online contributes to the customer experience at 360 degrees, even when the purchase is executed in a physical retail location,” said Performance Horizon’s head of product, Marco Botticelli.
Adstream acquires Dubsat
Creative asset management, delivery and analytics tech vendor, Adstream, is acquiring Dubsat from Omnilab Media.
The advertising content management and distribution company has been operating in several markets including Australia and was founded in 2000 with the aim of providing a more reliable way of delivering linear TV ad campaigns to broadcasters. Since then, it has evolved into providing cloud-based solutions to agencies, brands, broadcasters, production houses, and publishers across all types of media.
In a statement, Adstream said the purchase continues its ongoing investment into driving global scale both for its platform and for its customer base. The company’s platform is used by more than 6000 global agencies and brands to deliver 2 million creative assets across 125 countries annually.
“Following the acquisition of Deluxe AdServices earlier this year, our partnership with Dubsat is another significant step forward in the global expansion of our offering and the capabilities we provide customers,” said Adstream CEO, Gerry Sutton.
“We will continue to invest in bringing leading global solutions to our worldwide client base, which now includes Dubsat’s impressive portfolio of agencies, brands and media owners. We look forward to working with these clients, offering innovative products, while continuing to provide the high level of service they have come to expect from the Dubsat team.”
The Dubsat acquisition is subject to customary regulatory approvals and other closing conditions and is expected to close in the coming weeks.
Shine switches tack from ad blocking to ad verification
Israel-based ad blocking technology provider, Shine, is switching tack and branching out into ad tech.
The company announced the appointment of ex-AdTruth EMEA MD, James Collier, as its new chief revenue officer last week. Among his tasks will be working with the ad industry on a brand safety and verification platform, which Shine plans to launch in October.
In a report on Mobile Marketing Magazine, Collier said that despite the group’s work to date on ad blocking, it had never been a long-term business proposition.
“It was not sustainable because it’s in the interests of carriers to drive downloads of apps and the use of the mobile web to drive data consumption and many of those apps rely on advertising,” Collier told the publication. “But the reality is that the current mode of ads on mobile is not healthy or effective and there is a dire need for advertising to evolve… Our intention is to build a verification platform to combine cybersecurity with a consumer-first policy in terms of what should be seen and acceptable in terms of formats.”
Read the full report at: mobilemarketingmagazine.com/shine_brand_safety_platform/
New Global Digital Marketing Group launches
ClickDealer, a Netherlands-based performance marketing firm, and its mobile performance app division, MobAir, have formed the Global Digital Marketing Group (GDM Group), a digital performance marketing company.
GDM Group’s offerings include a mobile monetisation and user acquisition platform, performance marketing, media buying and video advertising. Both ClickDealer and MobAir will remain independent within GDM Group alongside the newly launched GDM Group Video division, which offers a cross-device video placement solution.
ClickDealer launched in 2012 and a specialist in cost per action performance marketing activities. The MobAir mobile marketing app platform was made available last year. Customers include Alibaba Group, Baidu and Booking.com.
“With a full set of digital media solutions intended to drive revenue and increase brand awareness, Global Digital Marketing Group will deliver improved customer engagement and lifetime value to our customers,” said Dmitry Atamanyuk, CEO, Global Digital Marketing Group.
Hootsuite integrates with content storage platforms
Social media management platform, Hootsuite, has integrated its publishing offering with a series of new content sources including Dropbox, Microsoft, OneDrive, Box and Google Drive.
The new integrations mean users can now directly access photos, gifs and other digital assets directly from their cloud content platforms within Hootsuite. For example, users can add a content source they already use into their Hootsuite dashboard, search and organise digital assets directly within their content sources, and access assets from content sources within the compose message box of Hootsuite Publisher,
“In the coming months, we will further unify advertising efforts worldwide, giving marketers more opportunities to reach and engage their customers without the stress that typically comes with navigating the digital media landscape.”
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