The BBC’s Beeb shows why AI voice assistants are not yet ready for enterprise prime time

Opinion Last week, the BBC announced that it has begun work on a voice-enabled virtual assistant scheduled for 2020. Codenamed Beeb, the new virtual assistant is being seen as an alternative to Amazon’s Alexa and Google Home, with a focus on helping users find content on the British broadcaster’s services and being able to understand British regional accents.

This last part is important, because it indicates that even as far as we have come with voice technology,...

2 September 2019 | Automation

Getting started on the data-driven content journey: Machine learning models and upskilling SEO

Lee Wilson, head of services and SEO at Vertical Leap, has had enough of organisations putting together elaborate campaigns, content and metrics which ultimately don’t go anywhere. All that wasted effort from businesses who have the right intentions. So what are the biggest mistakes companies can make?

“Fundamentally, this occurs as content is created based on assumption, gut feel, plus broader perceptions that ‘it seemed like the right thing to do at the...

18 June 2019 | Content Marketing

How Sage is using employee advocacy to create a strong voice on social

Last week, Kim Kardashian West - perhaps the ultimate influencer - put digital ink to silicon and tweeted forth. Yet this wasn't quite a case of affirmation-brought-to-you-by-X. The socialite had visited Jack in the Box and wished for a discussion about the experience "pronto." Underneath, rival fast food brands, from Burger King, to Wendy's, to Steak-umm, were queuing up to throw shade.

For some, this may be seen as light relief on the increasingly divisive social...

24 May 2019 | Campaigns

Netflix and machine learning is one thing – but for the rest of TV, AI is just hype

Artificial intelligence (AI) hype is everywhere. But does AI truly have a place in the TV industry? 

Electronics company, LG, is testing smart assistant integration that could streamline TV interaction, meaning it may soon be time to say goodbye to your remote. When it comes to content, the BBC used AI to create programming; with two nights of AI-assisted content for BBC “4.1”. While over in China, in a...

17 May 2019 | Advertising Technology

Grad Conn, CXMO, Sprinklr: On changing CMO strategy and the Copernicus effect for customer experience

Grad Conn, chief experience and marketing officer (CXMO) at Sprinklr, is something of a rare breed: a CMO who has been in it for the long haul.

Prior to joining the customer experience management platform last year, Conn spent almost seven years as Microsoft’s US chief marketing officer. Indeed, Conn laughs as he relates the tale of an interview feature he did which riffed on this: “Basically the premise was ‘how did this guy last for seven years?’ What kind...

30 April 2019 | Automation

To Google, or not to Google: Why collaboration is vital for the future digital ecosystem

Opinion In a double clampdown, Google has capped the campaign data available to advertisers and the inventory they can buy — thereby severely restricting their flexibility to deliver successful campaigns to consumers.

Its decision to block use of the DoubleClick ID when transferring data between services has left advertisers in the dark — unable to connect the dots between campaign insights held in DoubleClick Bid Manager (DBM), Campaign Manager (DCM) or the Google...

8 April 2019 | Advertising

Six killer marketing metrics that really matter: Segmentation and engagement

The life of a digital marketer is rarely straightforward. Whilst other communicators may perhaps argue it’s easier for their digital peers to evidence ROI, those within the world of email marketing, for instance, may be quick to defend their position. Because yes, they have a wealth of metrics at their fingertips, but it can be difficult to know where to start. Death by data anyone?

Focusing only on open and click rates?

In his book How to Win Friends and Influence...

3 April 2019 | CRM

The big ‘tech-tonic’ shift: As Amazon begins to break the advertising duopoly – what’s left for anyone else?

Google and Facebook have held a well-documented, vice-like grasp over digital advertising budgets for over a decade, commanding 56% of global digital ad spend in 2018. That’s a fairly lucrative share of a market worth £470 billion. Viewing these figures, it is easy to regard the incumbent digital duopoly as unassailable; concluding their influence is too wide and their foundations are too strong.

But rumbling away behind these astronomical numbers is a very real threat...

25 March 2019 | Advertising

Google slapped with €1.49bn EU fine for antitrust in advertising

Google has been fined €1.49 billion (£1.28bn) by the European Commission for breaching antitrust rules for its online advertising services.

The Commission concluded that the search giant had abused its market dominance – exceeding 85% for most of the analysed time period – for favouring its own price comparison results for searches through its AdSense for Search platform.

“Market dominance is not illegal under EU antitrust rules. However,...

20 March 2019 | Advertising

Instagram beats YouTube as top influencer platform as brands see rewards for better disclosure

Instagram has topped YouTube as the number one platform for influencer content – with brands heeding consumer interest and moving towards ‘honest disclosure’ of partnerships.

That’s according to new research from Rakuten Marketing. The company, in its 2019 Influencer Marketing Global Survey which polled 3500 consumers and 700 marketers globally, saw Instagram cited by 65% of those polled as where they most follow influencers, beating YouTube (62%) and...

14 March 2019 | Branding