News Analysis: SalesLogix Given New Life With Infor Acquisition

Principal Analyst and Founder
Constellation Research

R “Ray” Wang is the CEO of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc. He co-hosts DisrupTV, a weekly enterprise tech and leadership webcast that averages 50,000 views per episode and blogs at www.raywang.org. His ground-breaking best-selling book on digital transformation, Disrupting Digital Business, was published by Harvard Business Review Press in 2015. Ray's new book about Digital Giants and the future of business, titled, Everybody Wants to Rule The World was released in July 2021. Wang is well-quoted and frequently interviewed by media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, Fox Business, CNBC, Yahoo Finance, Cheddar, and Bloomberg. Short Bio R “Ray” Wang (pronounced WAHNG) is the Founder, Chairman, and Principal Analyst of Silicon Valley-based Constellation Research Inc. He…...

Infor Acquires SalesLogix To Expand Vertical CRM Footprint

On August 14th, New York City headquartered, enterprise software giant, Infor, announced the intent to acquire the assets of Scottsdale AZ, Saleslogix for an undisclosed sum. For those keeping track of CRM history, Saleslogix was last owned by Sage Group and sold off to Swiftpage, an existing Saleslogix and ACT! partner based in Denver, Colorado. Swiftpage intended to focus in on digital marketing platforms for small and midsized businesses using the ACT! and Saleslogix producst as the base.

However, the Saleslogix fit appeared to work best with midsized to enterprise customers while ACT! was better targeted to the small to medium sized businesses and individual sales professionals. Analysis of the deal shows that:

Saleslogix provides a strong industry vertical overlap with Infor. Saleslogix brings vertical industry expertise in construction, financial services, government, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, professional services, retail, and transportation. Some notable customers from the 1700 organizations using Saleslogix include ABC Construction, Aspyra, Big River Telephone, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee, Cabot Corporation, CNL Investment Co., CORE Realty Holdings, Dollar Thrifty Automotive, Hermanson Construction, Kantar Health, Mortgage Lenders of America, and Sandals Resorts.

(POV): Constellation sees a strong vertical alignment with Infor’s deep vertical industry strategy. Infor’s vertical strengths include government, healthcare, hospitality, manufacturing, and retail. Saleslogix partners often provided deep micro vertical expertise on top of the core cross CRM solution to small and medium sized enterprises.

Infor CRM will gain a modern multi-tenant SaaS based solution. Infor gains a modern cloud-based CRM solution for sales and service. As part of the Infor CloudSuite, the product will run on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud. Infor will also continue to develop and support Inforce, the Force.com solution that ties Infor’s ERP and Financial appplications with Salesforce.com.

(POV): Saleslogix is one of the earliest CRM vendors to move to the AWS. The Saleslogix cloud was generally available in June 2010 and has been upgraded since. Infor customers gains key features from Saleslogix 8.1, launched in January 2014. The new social media suite compliments Infor Mingle while other key feature releases include a new mobile platform, improved outlook synchronization, better admin integration, and expanded browser support. The Mobile 3.0 release provided a modern responsive design interface. However, given Infor’s track record, customers can expect Infor’s Hook and Loop design team to massively improve on the existing user experience with cutting edge design to match existing Infor’s newer product lines.

The Bottom Line

Infor’s Saleslogix acquisition breathes new life to the Saleslogix customer and partner base. Constellation sees this as a good move for Saleslogix and Infor customers in general. While Swiftpage did a decent job managing the acquisition and improving the product, Infor’s deeper R&D budget, well paired vertical customer base, and mid market to enterprise focus provides a better fit for long term growth. Existing Infor customers should gain a cloud based CRM that will be enhanced and developed with vertical focus and strong integration frameworks through Infor ION. In addition, Infor intends to bring over 105 employees from the Saleslogix team.

Your POV.

Are you a Saleslogix customers? Do you see this as a positive or negative move? As an existing Infor customer, will this make you more likely to adopt the Infor CRM product? Add your comments to the blog or reach me via email: R (at) ConstellationR (dot) com or R (at) SoftwareInsider (dot) com.

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Marketing Transformation Matrix Commerce Next-Generation Customer Experience New C-Suite Revenue & Growth Effectiveness Innovation & Product-led Growth Data to Decisions Tech Optimization Future of Work infor SoftwareInsider amazon ML Machine Learning LLMs Agentic AI Generative AI Robotics AI Analytics Automation B2B B2C CX EX Employee Experience HR HCM business Marketing Metaverse developer SaaS PaaS IaaS Supply Chain Quantum Computing Growth Cloud Digital Transformation Disruptive Technology eCommerce Enterprise IT Enterprise Acceleration Enterprise Software Next Gen Apps IoT Blockchain CRM ERP Leadership finance Social Healthcare VR CCaaS UCaaS Customer Service Content Management Collaboration M&A Enterprise Service Chief Executive Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Data Officer Chief Digital Officer Chief Analytics Officer Chief Financial Officer Chief Operating Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief Revenue Officer Chief Customer Officer Chief People Officer Chief Human Resources Officer Chief Information Security Officer Chief Experience Officer

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The Insidiousness of Facebook Messenger's Android Mobile App Permissions (Updated)

Partner, Sensei Marketing
Partner, Sensei Marketing

Sales & marketing veteran with almost 30 years’ experience and now 1800 digital projects to his credit for clients including Morgan Stanley, AOL, Hyatt Gaming Management, Snyder's of Hanover, Hitachi, the Home Depot, Kraft Foods, Drees Homes, American Idol, and hundreds more, including leading agencies around the North America.     ...

Corrections/Updates (4:45pm EST 8/11/2014): A previous version of this post contained inaccurate and outdated information about Facebook's Messenger app for Android devices (Facebook has provided its own response to concerns about the app here). The post incorrectly equated the app's Terms of Service to its Android-specific permissions language, and the permissions language it originally quoted has since been updated by Google. These changes are now reflected in the post.

_____

How much access to your (and your friends') personal data are you prepared to share for access to free mobile apps? I suspect the amount is significantly less than that which you actually agreed to share when blindly accepting an app's Terms of Service or the default permissions required by a given operating system for an app to function.

Case in point: Facebook's Messenger App, which boasts more than 200,000 million monthly users, requires you to allow access to an alarming amount of personal data and, even more startling, direct control over your mobile device. I'm willing to bet that few, if any, of those using Messenger on Android devices, for example, fully considered the permissions they were accepting when using the app.

The Facebook Messenger app is a standalone version of the instant chat feature within the social network. In April 2014 Facebook announced that this service would no longer be available in the main app and that users would need to download the separate Messenger app for chat functionality. If you're using this app on an Android device, take a look at the permissions that may be governing its functionality (which you can do by going to Settings > Apps or Application Manager). Below is a full list of Android's current permissions groups (the following section has been updated to reflect the current language listed at Support.Google.com; 8/11/2014):

In-app purchases
An app can ask you to make purchases inside the app.

Device & app history
An app can use one or more of the following:

Read sensitive log data

Retrieve system internal state

Read your web bookmarks and history

Retrieve running apps

Cellular data settings
An app can use settings that control your mobile data connection and potentially the data you receive.

Identity
An app can use your account and/or profile information on your device.

Identity access may include the ability to:

Find accounts on the device

Read your own contact card (example: name and contact information)

Modify your own contact card

Add or remove accounts

Contacts/Calendar
An app can use your device's contacts and/or calendar information.

Contacts and calendar access may include the ability to:

Read your contacts

Modify your contacts

Read calendar events plus confidential information

Add or modify calendar events and send email to guests without owners' knowledge

Location
An app can use your device's location.

Location access may include:

Approximate location (network-based)

Precise location (GPS and network-based)

Access extra location provider commands

GPS access

SMS
An app can use your device's text messaging (SMS) and/or multimedia media messaging service (MMS). This group may include the ability to use text, picture, or video messages.

Note: Depending on your plan, you may be charged by your carrier for text or multimedia messages. SMS access may include the ability to:

Receive text messages (SMS)

Read your text messages (SMS or MMS)

Receive text messages (MMS, like a picture or video message)

Edit your text messages (SMS or MMS)

Send SMS messages; this may cost you money

Receive text messages (WAP)

Phone
An app can use your phone and/or its call history.

Note: Depending on your plan, you may be charged by your carrier for phone calls.

Phone access may include the ability to:

Directly call phone numbers; this may cost you money

Write call log (example: call history)

Read call log

Reroute outgoing calls

Modify phone state

Make calls without your intervention

Photos/Media/Files
An app can use files or data stored on your device.

Photos/Media/Files access may include the ability to:

Read the contents of your USB storage (example: SD card)

Modify or delete the contents of your USB storage

Format external storage

Mount or unmount external storage

Camera/Microphone
An app can use your device's camera and/or microphone.

Camera and microphone access may include the ability to:

Take pictures and videos

Record audio

Record video

Wi-Fi connection information
An app can access your device's Wi-Fi connection information, like if Wi-Fi is turned on and the name(s) of connected devices.

Wi-Fi connection information access may include the ability to:

View Wi-Fi connections

Device ID & call information
An app can access your device ID(s), phone number, whether you're on the phone, and the number connected by a call.

Device ID & call information may include the ability to:

Read phone status and identity

Other
An app can use custom settings provided by your device manufacturer or application-specific permissions.

Note: If an app adds a permission that is in the "Other" group, you'll always be asked to review the change before downloading an update.

Other access may include the ability to:

Read your social stream (on some social networks

Write to your social stream (on some social networks)

Access subscribed feeds

When you review individual permissions, all permissions, including those not displayed in the permissions screen, will be shown in the "Other" group.

The fact that social media and mobile apps are so insidious is nothing new, we all know (or should know) that no app is truly free. "Free" online apps are paid for by the provision of personal data such as name, location, browsing history, etc. In turn, mobile developers and social networks charge advertisers to serve up highly targeted ads to specific groups of people.

In a way, it pays to offer some personal information for a better experience with online ads, which we all hate so much. However, in the case of Messenger on Android, the attempt to collect so much information and take control of one's device is unprecedented and, quite frankly, frightening. The fact that so many people have agreed to these permissions is an alarming insight into the future of mobile apps and personal security.

If this many people have not checked the permission groups that apply to Facebook Messenger (or have read them and don't care), how emboldened will mobile developers be in the future? I understand the nature of "free" mobile apps. I'm prepared to give up some personal data for the right to access a game, content, or social network for free and to have an improved advertising experience while enjoying that free service. However, the current situation goes too far. It's time we stood up and said "no!"

Take the first step by deleting this app. Next, review the Terms of Service agreements or permissions you've previously accepted without reading, and be sure you're comfortable with the cost of "free." The only way to curb this harmful trend is to take a stand. Read every online and mobile agreement before accepting and, where it goes too far, say no.

Will you say no?

Marketing Transformation Digital Safety, Privacy & Cybersecurity meta Marketing B2B B2C CX Customer Experience EX Employee Experience AI ML Generative AI Analytics Automation Cloud Digital Transformation Disruptive Technology Growth eCommerce Enterprise Software Next Gen Apps Social Customer Service Content Management Collaboration Security Zero Trust Chief Marketing Officer Chief Information Security Officer Chief Privacy Officer

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The 800lb supply chain gorilla continues to disrupt with payment services

pending

Guy Courtin was formerly Vice President and Principal Analyst at Constellation Research covering Matrix Commerce and how the Internet of Things drives the evolution of commerce.  Guy has over 15 years experience in the technology space and specifically in the supply chain space. Most recently he was the Vice President of Research at SCM World. Where he focused on the service providers that empowered supply chains. Prior to SCM World, Guy held numerous senior positions. He was responsible for product marketing at RSi, a retail supply chain solution provider. There managed RSi’s go to market strategy around their leading cloud based supply chain solutions. He also spear headed Progress Software’s supply chain group. Where he was responsible for driving revenue and market share as well…...

Amazon announced today it was going to jump right into the deep end when it comes to physical, in-store payment systems. They have unveiled a mobile payment service for brick and mortar stores. Taking direct aim at other mobile POS systems – Square, Paypal as well as Google and Apple. From the reports, Amazon will look to undercut other mobile payment systems – taking 2.5% of transactions versus 2.7% for the likes of Square – to grow their market presence. They are giving merchants an introductory rate under 2% to build that beachhead (feels like a credit card invitation – 0% APR and then only a slight bump to 33%).

In the online world, Amazon already knows how to handle and secure credit cards. They are also well versed when it comes to mobile payments as their iOS and

Coming to a brick and mortar store near you…

Android apps’ success has demonstrated. The natural progression was to push into the brick and mortar space – where 90% of retail transactions live. In the near term I am not sure that Amazon will do more than offer a secondary maybe even tertiary option. Brick and mortar retailers could view the Amazon system as letting the fox into the hen house. It would be understandable if these brick and mortar players do not flock to embracing Amazon and their payment systems. But I am sure that the favorable financial set up will force a large number of players to give it some serious consideration. Whether or not Amazon is widely successful with this venture is secondary to what the eCommerce 800lb gorilla is doing with regards to their overall supply chain disruption.

A quick look at what Amazon has been doing to become the 800 lb gorilla in supply chain:

Acquired Kiva Systems to add sophisticated robotics and automation to their massive distribution centers.
Gobbled up the likes of fabric.com, CDNow, Zappos, Pets.com to constantly expand their ability to offer a wide array of inventory.
Pushed out a tablet and now a mobile phone under the Fire umbrella. Both of which are really hand held sales terminals for Amazon to leverage.
Started pushing last mile grocery delivery in certain markets with their AmazonFresh offering.
Even leaking that they are thinking of delivering via drones.

This is in addition to their deep experience in the online retail world. Taken together and you have the 800 lb gorilla that is disrupting the supply chain jungle. Add to this the news of them pushing into the payment space and you see Amazon gaining access to POS data from brick and mortar, coupled with all the data they have on consumer online buying. Amazon is quickly aggregating vital data sources on how consumers buy, where demand is being generated and how it impacts the retail supply chain.

So now Amazon is dabbling in last mile logistics, continually working on more efficient warehouse management, putting portable POS systems in consumers’ hands and now putting POS systems in the retailers’ hands.

That 800lb gorilla might have added another 50lbs of lean muscle.

New C-Suite Matrix Commerce Chief Customer Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Supply Chain Officer

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How to Make the Case for the Digital CXO Webinar Recording

Today Constellation hosted the webinar, How to Make the Case for the Digital CXO. Please find the webinar reording and additional digital CXO resources below.

Disruption is inevitable. The Chief Digital Officer (CDO) is the executive that will lead companies through the current era of digital disruption.

Resources

Download the deck

Download the report: Making the Case for the Chief Digital Officer

Read: Who Gets to be the CDO?

New C-Suite Marketing Transformation Next-Generation Customer Experience Data to Decisions Future of Work Innovation & Product-led Growth Tech Optimization Webinar AR AI ML Machine Learning LLMs Agentic AI Generative AI Analytics Automation B2B B2C CX EX Employee Experience HR HCM business Marketing SaaS PaaS IaaS Supply Chain Growth Cloud Digital Transformation Disruptive Technology eCommerce Enterprise IT Enterprise Acceleration Enterprise Software Next Gen Apps IoT Blockchain CRM ERP Leadership finance Customer Service Content Management Collaboration M&A Enterprise Service Chief Information Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief Digital Officer Chief Technology Officer Chief Data Officer Chief Analytics Officer Chief Information Security Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief Operating Officer

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Sony Finds Influencers Among Friends, Not Social Celebrities

Partner, Sensei Marketing
Partner, Sensei Marketing

Pursways, a new influence targeting software firm, has announced that Sony is now testing its new platform, which transforms a brand’s existing customer and prospect database into a customized social graph. It identifies actual relationships between people and empowers marketers with the knowledge they need to motivate action.

People buy what their friends buy but how can you target those friends?

Over the last three years, social scoring platforms like Klout, Kred, and PeerIndex have been making news in marketing circles with claims that they can identify the most influential people in various categories on the Internet. Today the power of social influencers to sway actual purchase decisions has been largely debunked and replaced by newer theories and platforms such as Traackr and Appinions. These tools have stripped away the ego-centric and gamified public scoring system in favor of multi-point data analysis that determines who drives real and measurable action for brands.

People buy what their friends buy

When Danny Brown and I wrote Influence Marketing: How to Create, Manage, and Measure Brand Influencers, we created a new model that changed the focus of influence marketing. We demonstrated that the key to swaying purchase decisions was based on the context of the personal relationship between consumers and those they connect to via social channels, not the socially active and popular “celebrities” they follow.

Sony and Pursways have tapped into that concept by connecting the communications occurring between friends in social conversations, direct mail, and email communications. Sony’s vice president of marketing has confirmed that the program has aided in converting more customers by better identifying and targeting real-life relationships among their target audience.

In short, the system studies the conversations of 150 million US consumers to identify communication patterns and keywords that connect people based on their shopping-specific dialogue. Those conversations help identify target customers in the buying cycle for specific products and services, and leverages that knowledge to offer targeted marketing messages.

The Influential Power of Real Relationships

Within a large online community, many people may be engaged in a group conversation, yet the net result of that mass engagement is vastly different than that of the exchanges between two people with a defined relationship at a particular moment in time.

Group conversations serve to highlight issues, publicly debate commonly held beliefs, or make the larger community aware of trending topics. The net result is almost always “awareness.” When two people within a defined relationship (such as co-workers, family members, etc.) speak to each other about a specific product (eg. smart phone, groceries, autos, etc.) and at a specific time in the consumer buying cycle (awareness, consideration, decision), the result is often behavioral change.

There’s a fundamental difference in the trust attributed to the collective voice of our social community than that given to individuals with whom we share personal experiences. The collective voice of our community may agree that Geico has the best auto insurance program, but we often choose an auto insurance company based on the experiences of our parents and siblings.

Influence Marketing and Customer Relationship Management

According to Jeremy Lyons, Senior Manager, Email and CRM Programs at Sony Electronics, after struggling to monetize Facebook and influence scoring platforms such as Klout, Sony found success with this new focus.

By connecting social behavior and social connections with purchases, Sony Electronics has been able to increase various revenue and profit-driving metrics, including the number of responses generated by the campaign, the number of referrals generated, the number of conversions earned, an increase in repeat purchases, and the number of inactive customers who purchased again.

If you wish to analyze the success of your influence marketing campaigns, these are the metrics that contribute to actual measurement: Revenue; profit; and customer lifetime value. “The ability to understand the impact on the bottom line” is critical to understand marketing success added Lyons. Sony set its influence marketing benchmark as the “ability to understand the influence on [its] financials…of customers who are social, and really understanding who are the people that can influence their family and friends….that drive new sales.”

The fact that Sony has tasked its CRM manager with an influence marketing campaign is a positive sign of things to come in this industry.

Sensei Debates

Should influence marketing campaigns be adopted by CRM/email marketing professions and software?

Sam Fiorella
Feed Your Community, Not Your Ego

The post Sony Finds Influencers Among Friends, Not Social Celebrities appeared first on Sensei Marketing.

Marketing Transformation Next-Generation Customer Experience B2C CX Chief Marketing Officer Chief Customer Officer Chief People Officer Chief Human Resources Officer

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PeopleLinx Pivots To Social Selling

Alan Lepofsky

Vice President & Principal Analyst
Constellation Research

Alan Lepofsky - VP and Principal Analyst, Constellation Research. With almost two decades of experience in the collaboration software industry, Lepofsky helps organizations improve the way their employees work together to get their jobs done. Lepofsky’s primary research area The Future of Work, focuses on: integrating collaboration and business processes (Purposeful Collaboration), structuring work via Social Task Management, leveraging analytics and digital assistants to work more productively, the strategic impact of mobile computing on business transformation, and measuring workforce culture based on Digital Proficiency instead of age. Twitter: @alanlepoLinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/alanlepo     , Title: Big IdeasIntelligent Collaboration: The Intersection of…...

Yesterday's launch of PeopleLinx version 3 represents an important evolution for the company, as they shift their platform from being LinkedIn-centric to broader platform for helping Sales Professionals do their job.

When I first met with PeopleLinx, the company was focused on helping businesses improve their employee's LinkedIn profiles. The idea was that employees are embassadors of the company they work for and therefore their LinkedIn profiles should properly represent their employer. That never resonated well with me, as in my opinion, my LinkedIn profile represents me, not the company I work for.

With V3, I'm happy to report that PeopleLinx has now evolved their vision and product to be part of the fast growing "Social Selling" market. What that means is, PeopleLinx examined the end-to-end workflow that Sales Professionals go through from lead generation to signing new customers, and is providing tools to help various steps along the way. At the moment the company is focused on the areas of content distribution and employee training or guidance, but their roadmap includes much more.

For content distribution, PeopleLinx is providing a way for employees to share content with their connections on various social networks. For example, say the Marketing department creates a new product brochure. They can upload that content to PeopleLinx and each Sales Professional can then share (via social media) the brochure with their prospects and customers. PeopleLinx then tracks the sharing of that content, providing a dashboard for monitoring the combined activity.

On the employee training side, PeopleLinx guides (and tracks) employees through a set of steps that their company has configured. As you can see below, each step has an action for the employee to take, which they can either dismiss or mark as completed.

MyPOV: The Challenge of Yet-Another-Tool

There are several impressive things about PeopleLinx. They have invested a lot of time with their customers to understand what they need to make their sales teams more organized, better connected, and consistent in delivery. V3 is a step in the right direction in delivering on those needs. They have also invested heavily in user experience / design. The product is simply yet powerful, clean yet highly functional.

The challenge I see is that PeopleLinx is "Yet-Another-Tool". It is not the company intranet, email client, social network, file-sharing tool, project management platform, CRM package, social media monitor, etc. It's an additional tool that Sales Professionals will have to add to their ever expanding toolset (both on desktop and mobile) and that may not be something people are looking to do. I'd like to see PeopleLinx partner with some of the key social business vendors, enabling them to surface their content sharing and guided tasks inside the company intranet, social network or task system.

There are several players in the Social Selling market, including vendors like Nimble, Contatta, Tellwise, RelateIQ (now owned by Salesforce.com), Crushpath, TinderBox, Clearslide and many more. The product that can offer the most seamless (integrated) experience across all the tasks that busy sales professionals have to do, while at their desk and on the road, is the one that has the best chance of winning.

Marketing Transformation Future of Work Innovation & Product-led Growth New C-Suite Next-Generation Customer Experience Digital Safety, Privacy & Cybersecurity Chief Customer Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief Digital Officer Chief People Officer Chief Human Resources Officer

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Disrupt Your Strategy – Planning for Audiences not Generations

Gavin Heaton

Founder
Disruptors Co

Gavin is the Founder of Disruptors Co, one of Australia’s leading independent strategy and innovation companies. Gavin advises firms on strategy, marketing, product development and innovation. He is also a member of the Orbits program, the influencer network of award winning analyst and advisory firm, Constellation Research. Gavin advises boards and leadership on innovation strategy, marketing, data-driven product development and corporate venturing. Gavin is on the board of Vibewire, a youth-led social enterprise based in Sydney, Australia and on the Technology Advisory Group for Good2Give – the workplace giving platform. ...

I have never been a fan of demographic profiling. Sure, this information, at scale, can reveal certain things about a population – and this can be useful to understand whether there might be a connection between our age and (for example) our propensity to over-eat. Or contract disease. Or buy new cars every four years.

But populations don’t interest me. They feel like a dead weight around my sense of, and interest in, humanity. Instead, I prefer audiences – which is perhaps why I studied theatre rather than statistics.

It’s also why I am continually fascinated by digital technology and transformation – and it is why social media continues to attract the attention of people, corporations and governments. For digital transformation is not just about bringing the non-digital world online – it’s challenging the very nature of what we consider “our selves” to be.

As marketers, we are constantly drawn to the idea of demographics – the cashed up profiling of the Baby Boomers, the anxious, try-harder Gen X-ers and the slacker Gen Ys. But like any generalisation, these labels are easily unpicked. There are plenty of Baby Boomers who are slackers and plenty of cashed up, power wielding Gen X-ers. And Gen Y are just starting to flex their creative, financial and intellectual powers – and there is more goodness to come. Rather than simply relying on this style of profiling, we should be working harder to understand these audiences. We need to map their behaviours, attitudes and interests, not just their age, sex and location.

This is why I quite like the work that marketing automation firm, Marketo, has done on Generation Z. And while, yes, they have started out with the age-focused label, the research carried out by agency, Sparks and Honey, reveals the patterns of behaviour, interests, attitudes and insights that can help build a deeper understanding of this audience. While the data reflects a US-based audience, there are cultural parallels that are useful indicators such as:

Do-Gooders – an interest in making a difference in the world
Shift FROM Facebook – Facebook lost its allure when the parents arrived. Gen Z are embracing newer platforms like snapchat, secret and whisper
Creation trumps sharing – Gen Z embrace the prosumer ethic of digital media creativity.

But to really understand this “Gen Z” audience, I would go further. I wouldn’t stop at the age of 19. I would ask:

Why would my brand be relevant to audiences exhibiting these behaviours
Why would these audiences choose to purchase my product/service/thing
Which values embodied by my brand augments the life, behaviour, experience or purpose of this audience
How do these behavioural profiles help me understand my customers regardless of age / demographics

And when it comes to planning, insight and future proofing your brand, I’d look to opportunities to self-disrupt your strategy. Ditch the path of lazy profiling, put the work in to really understand your audiences, and then invite them into the process of creating a brand that has a purpose. Start by delving into the data behind the Sparks and Honey research (below) – and then work on your own business by starting with the audiences you rely upon.

Marketing Transformation Chief Customer Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief Digital Officer

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Disrupt Your Planning – It’s Time We Ditched Lazy Profiling

Gavin Heaton

Founder
Disruptors Co

Do-Gooders – an interest in making a difference in the world
Shift FROM Facebook – Facebook lost its allure when the parents arrived. Gen Z are embracing newer platforms like snapchat, secret and whisper
Creation trumps sharing – Gen Z embrace the prosumer ethic of digital media creativity.

But to really understand this “Gen Z” audience, I would go further. I wouldn’t stop at the age of 19. I would ask:

Why would my brand be relevant to audiences exhibiting these behaviours
Why would these audiences choose to purchase my product/service/thing
Which values embodied by my brand augments the life, behaviour, experience or purpose of this audience
How do these behavioural profiles help me understand my customers regardless of age / demographics

Marketing Transformation Chief Customer Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief Digital Officer

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SuperNova Awards Now Closed

Sorry folks, this year's SuperNova Award competition is now closed!*

The judges are hard at work evaluating your applications.

We will be announcing the finalists and inviting them to Connected Enterprise on August 26, 2014!

Check back on September 9 to vote for your favorite finalist to win the SuperNova Award!

TIMELINE

May 22, 2014 application process begins.
~~August 1, 2014~~ August 12, 2014 last day for submissions.
~~August 22, 2014~~ August 26, 2014 finalists announced and invited to Connected Enterprise.
September 9, 2014 voting opens to the public
September 30, 2014 polls close
October 29, 2014 Winners announced, SuperNova Awards Gala Dinner at Connected Enterprise

*Please contact [email protected] if you need a short extension.

Data to Decisions Future of Work Marketing Transformation Matrix Commerce New C-Suite Next-Generation Customer Experience Tech Optimization Innovation & Product-led Growth AR Executive Events Chief Customer Officer Chief Digital Officer Chief Executive Officer Chief Financial Officer Chief Information Officer Chief Marketing Officer Chief People Officer Chief Procurement Officer Chief Supply Chain Officer

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More Waves of Digital Disruption: From DoubleClick to Twitter via Facebook

Gavin Heaton

Founder
Disruptors Co

When DoubleClick launched their self-service advertising network it was a revelation. It provided marketers with a powerful sense of control over their advertising, its placement and spend. At the same time, it caused a level of disintermediation – with marketers taking on the media planning that was once the domain of agencies. Technology was, in effect, causing an in-sourcing within marketing departments – by providing the tools, techniques and education to succeed, DoubleClick was putting the power and knowledge in the hands of marketers who began to understand the intricate power and relationships between data, planning and budgets. DoubleClick represented a wave of digital disruption that we are still feeling today.

It was a no-brainer for Google to acquire DoubleClick in 2007 and roll its advertising network into its product line. And as they leveraged their massive advantage in search to bring additional context, targeting and data insights to bear, this advertising network became available (and useful) to smaller advertisers – to small business owners and startups – monetising the “long tail” of the internet and generating another wave of disruptive innovation in the marketing world.

And while Google has done wonders with its AdSense product, the DoubleClick heritage and its clunky user interface left it open to disruption. Into this gap stepped Facebook with its billion strong, socially connected audience, offering a slick, audience oriented interface.

With Facebook advertising, there was none of the legacy media planning/buying jargon or process dominating the interface. It was about creating very limited (or should I say “constrained”) styles of ad units and then targeting them by a range of data points – from the standard demographics (age, sex, location), to the more sophisticated targeting of interests, connections and combinations thereof. Facebook took its cues from the disruptive trend that began with DoubleClick and pushed it further, generating a massive business in the process. Recent results showed that Facebook’s revenue rose 61% to $2.91 billion in the second quarter of 2014. This more than doubles Facebook’s profit year-on-year, up from $333 million to $791 million.

Recently, Facebook streamlined their ad creation process by following good user-experience design – focusing on the desired outcome rather than the process of advertising. By asking “what kind of results to you want for your adverts?”, Facebook were able to help novice advertisers improve their advertising. It didn’t require education or training. And it certainly did not require some certification. They used their knowledge, insight gleaned from the data generated by millions of ads and design expertise to help their advertisers make better ads.

Sure there is the more advanced ad building tools, but for many, this is good enough – and a vast improvement on the previous toolset.

And now, Twitter are also upping their game. I suspect they are hoping to disrupt the markets that DoubleClick created, Google grew and Facebook co-opted. Taking a similar approach to Facebook, Twitter now offer objective based campaigns – again, turning their big data to the advantage of their advertisers, customising workflows and creating niche outcomes like “app installs” or “leads”.

It’s an advertising product that is still being rolled out across Twitter’s global client base. It will be interesting to see how it performs when it starts being trialled by local Australian clients. But one thing is for certain – it won’t be the last wave of disruption in the digital marketing sphere. Learn more about the new Twitter offerings in the video below.

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News Analysis: SalesLogix Given New Life With Infor Acquisition

News Analysis: SalesLogix Given New Life With Infor Acquisition

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The Insidiousness of Facebook Messenger's Android Mobile App Permissions (Updated)

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How to Make the Case for the Digital CXO Webinar Recording

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Sony Finds Influencers Among Friends, Not Social Celebrities

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More Waves of Digital Disruption: From DoubleClick to Twitter via Facebook

More Waves of Digital Disruption: From DoubleClick to Twitter via Facebook

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News Analysis: SalesLogix Given New Life With Infor Acquisition

The Bottom Line

Your POV.

Related Research:

Reprints

Disclosure

The Insidiousness of Facebook Messenger's Android Mobile App Permissions (Updated)

The 800lb supply chain gorilla continues to disrupt with payment services

How to Make the Case for the Digital CXO Webinar Recording

Resources

Sony Finds Influencers Among Friends, Not Social Celebrities

People buy what their friends buy

The Influential Power of Real Relationships

Influence Marketing and Customer Relationship Management

Sensei Debates

PeopleLinx Pivots To Social Selling

Disrupt Your Strategy – Planning for Audiences not Generations

Disrupt Your Planning – It’s Time We Ditched Lazy Profiling

SuperNova Awards Now Closed

TIMELINE

More Waves of Digital Disruption: From DoubleClick to Twitter via Facebook