Reimagining the Contact Center With Smarter, Human-Centered Experiences Summary Contact centres remain one of the most important customer touchpoints. This sponsored piece argues that the best outcomes come from combining smarter technology (notably AI and GenAI) with better agent support — knowledge management, contextual data and process improvements — so agents can focus on empathy […]
Cracker Barrel’s Logo Backlash: What Marketers Can Learn From a Rebranding Gone Wrong Summary Cracker Barrel unveiled a simplified, flat logo as part of its “ALL The More” refresh intended to modernise the brand and improve digital recognition. The redesign removed the Uncle Herschel character, a beloved figure tied to the chain’s heritage, which triggered […]
What the ManningCast Teaches Us About Conversational CX Summary The ManningCast — Peyton and Eli Manning’s informal, guest-filled alternative broadcast for Monday Night Football — is a live case study in how transparency, personality and community-driven conversation create loyal audiences. The show’s candid banter, rotating celebrity guests and relaxed format make hosts relatable and pull […]
Genesys Turns Up the Volume on Agentic AI in Music City Summary At Xperience 2025 in Nashville, Genesys pushed a broad set of updates that move customer experience orchestration beyond the contact centre. Key launches include Genesys Cloud Work Automation for end-to-end case orchestration, Genesys Cloud Associate to bring field and back-office staff into unified […]
The UPS Store’s CX Secret: Serve Two Customers, Not One Summary The UPS Store treats franchisees and end customers as dual customers — because end-customer experience can never outpace the franchisee experience. Sean O’Neal, VP of Retail Operations, explains how a culture of rapid recovery, a “high say-to-do ratio”, and fast feedback loops (double-blind NPS, […]
Tech Marketers Set the Pace as AI Leaders Summary New research commissioned by ActiveCampaign and conducted by Talker Research finds that marketers in tech and startup companies lead the broader marketing community in AI adoption and maturity. The study of 1,000 US marketing professionals (211 in the Tech & Startup segment) shows near-universal AI use […]
The Customer Retention Pipeline: How to Seal Leaks and Keep Loyalty Flowing Summary This CMSWire piece argues that the era of cheap acquisition-fuelled growth (ZIRP) is over and that retention must now be the primary growth strategy. With rising customer acquisition costs, ad fatigue and data distrust, brands need to stop treating growth like a […]
How CDPs Bridge the Customer Data Gap CRM Can’t Summary Data volumes are exploding and traditional CRMs are struggling to keep pace. This piece explains why Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) have become the essential infrastructure for turning the incoming data deluge into usable customer intelligence. CDPs ingest, cleanse and unify data from many sources (including […]
Why B2B Tech Deals Really Stall — And What Marketers Can Do About It Summary This article argues that the primary competitor in modern B2B tech deals is not another vendor but buyer indecision driven by internal misalignment, information overload and fragmented stakeholder groups. Traditional urgency-driven sales tactics and feature-focused pitches no longer work; clarity, […]
Big Apple and Big AI: Marketing Takeaways From Optimizely Opticon25 Summary Optimizely’s Opticon25 in New York made one thing clear: AI in marketing has moved from isolated features to agentic orchestration. The company showcased Opal as an orchestration hub that unifies content, experimentation and martech integrations. Presentations and demos emphasised scaleable personalisation, experiment-driven growth, improved […]
