Are you attending the MarTech West Conference, which starts today and runs from April 23-25, 2018 in San Jose, CA? This is Merkle’s first time participating as we’ve had many clients give the event enthusiastic reviews. This is an excellent chance to get an objective view of the state of marketing technologies, network with other brands to see how others are managing their technology, and meet some of the new players on the martech scene. Personally, I am particularly interested in talking with some of the CDP providers and seeing the evolution of their solutions.
What especially excites me about the conference is the Stackies. I think that Scott Brinker, Conference Chairman, is a visionary, and believe his idea that marketing needs to own the martech stack within the organization is important for agencies to understand and put into practice. Specifically, brands should have a dedicated person to oversee and manage that stack. Merkle submitted its martech framework to the Stackies for award consideration, and we hope Scott Brinker will share our entry during his presentation Tuesday. Our framework on data management, analytics, orchestration, integration and activation provides marketers with a capability model to help them rationalize their stack and build a plan for the future.
Matt Mobley, chief marketing technology officer at Merkle will be speaking with NBC Universal — discussing topics like the rise of the CDP platforms, AI and decision management, and how organizations are handling these new trends. While these are all technological advancements, it is also important for organizations to understand how their people and processes need to adjust quickly to support change. The session will take place Wednesday, April 25th at 11:15 am.
If you are attending the conference, stop by our booth for a complimentary five-question martech assessment and receive a $5 Starbucks gift card! Our strategy team will give you some concrete next steps in your martech evolution. Let us know if you are interested in attending our dinner at the event. We hope to see you next week!