MarketingTech’s 12 top 2017 predictions from martech experts

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We’re not sure anything we write in this first paragraph is going to sum up what a cracker of a year 2016 was for marketing tech, and marketing in general. From some amazing work coming from IBM Watson, to huge events such as the US presidential elections, Brexit, the EUROs and Rio Olympics, to the mass adoption of 360 video and virtual reality and beyond, it has certainly been a year to keep marketers on their toes

The...

20 December 2016 | Big Data

Interview: Lithium CEO on how AI will change the face of marketing in 2017

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Emerging technologies are already beginning to shape how marketers perform their everyday roles; but what’s in store for the years ahead? MarketingTech gets some expert advice from CEO of Lithium Technologies Rob Tarkoff around AI, social media and replacing the CRM.

Tarkoff is certainly no stranger to the world of martech and social media, having joined Lithium in 2011 from Adobe, where he had led its $1b Digital...

7 December 2016 | Automation

Consumers prefer streaming content on connected TVs, new report says

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Central to delivering the right kinds of experiences for customers is knowing what devices they use the most, and how they use them. 

There is an ever-increaseing arsenal of streaming devices becoming more affordable and available to consumers, so it can be tough for marketers to keep up-to-date with what's hot in the moment. 

However, Conviva and nScreenMedia have carried out a research study, looking at how viewers' online streaming...

30 November 2016 | Video & Audio Marketing

Oracle adds new features to Marketing Cloud product

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Oracle has released some new enhancements for its Oracle Marketing Cloud suite that aim to "simplify digital marketing" and enhance the delivery of personalised, cross-channel content. 

The feature additions to Oracle Eloqua and Oracle Content Marketing are as a result of customer expectations meaning many businesses need to rethink internal marketing processes to streamline customer expeirence. 

This means marketers and salespeople...

29 November 2016 | Automation

Odeon first cinema in Europe to launch consumer chatbot

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We all know by now the scope of how consumers can interact with brands via chatbots is growing by the day, with more platform integration as well as smarter apps on the rise.

Consumers can have their complaints handled, find out opening times, order a pizza and book an appointment via chatbot so far - but what about booking cinema tickets?

This is the goal Odeon is trying to reach with its new Facebook Messenger chatbot, developed by social...

28 November 2016 | Personalised Marketing

Comic Relief’s new Red Nose Day partners include Pinterest, Snapchat and Unruly

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A number of brands - including martech and social media vendors - are partnering up with Comic Relief for the first time to support Red Nose Day 2017. 

New partners such as adtech firm Unruly, Snapchat, Fitbit and Pinterest will add their names to the list of brands who support the campaign year after year. 

Oxfam has for example championed Red Nose Day since 1988, and Sainsburys has raised over £100m for the cause since its partnership...

25 November 2016 | Branding

UK advertising investment set to grow to p18.8bn in 2017

Investments in the UK advertising industry will be worth over £18.8bn in 2017, with the sector set to enjoy its eighth successive year of growth.

Media investment management business GroupM has released its forecast for the year ahead in advertising, and predicted that the industry will grow up from 6.3% to 7.2% in 2016, and 7.2% in 2017.

While digital display will rise 15% next year, particularly into social media and video, GroupM's outlook for traditional media is...

14 November 2016 | Advertising

Twitter Awards: Winners include Dove, Airbnb and Apple

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Twitter has announced the winners of its yearly Twitter marketing awards to recognise the "most original and creative" advertising work being done today. 

The platform said it had received hundreds of entries from over 15 countries, but after a competitive selection process, chose the marketers they thought had the best ideas. 

All entries were judged based on three criteria: 

Creativity: Did the campaign challenge convention...

11 November 2016 | Social Media Marketing

What brands should learn from the US presidential election

However you feel about America's election results today, one thing is for sure: the instrumental role PR and marketing had to play in Trump's rise to victory, as outlined by Marketing Week.

The outspoken 'political outsider' businessman and his team would have been no stranger to either of these areas, having spent years in enterprise and as a celebrity before the US presidential election. Controversy as a tactic, if indeed it was one, works for many other brands in terms of...

9 November 2016 | Best Practice

Gartner: Marketing budgets set to rise in 2017

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Gartner has said that marketing budgets are continuing to increase in the US and UK, and half of marketers expect their budgets to increase further next year. 

The analyst's 2016-2017 Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Spend Survey details findings from over 370 marketers and companies with over $250m in annual revenue, and found marketing budgets rose by 1% of company revenue over the last year. 

8 November 2016 | Campaigns