MarTech Minute: Pegasystems’ new service offerings, YouTube releases Video Builder, more

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SERVICE ORIENTED. Customer engagement platform Pegasystems has launched a new suite of services under the name Pega Kickstart. The offering includes a set of fixed-priced services, ranging from $100,000 to $25,000 and designed to help companies address critical customer and employee experience problems. Why we care: $100,000 is nothing to sneeze at, but if Pegasystems’ new service offerings can deliver desired outcomes, the payoff could be exponential. Martech companies often have a love/hate relationship when it comes to offering services. They don’t scale and they don’t provide the same revenue opportunities as software, but they may be necessary for client success. Be on the lookout: it’s a trend we’re definitely going to dig into for future coverage.

WATCHED ANYTHING GOOD LATELY? ID resolution provider Neustar is partnering with iSpot.tv, a television ad measurement and attribution company. The deal brings iSpot’s ad measurement data into Neustar’s identity management, multi-touch attribution and unified marketing analytics platforms. The added data will give Neustar clients a more granular and complete view of their linear, addressable and OTT TV ad efforts. Why we care: Video advertising efforts are being distributed across multiple platforms and channels, making the holy grail of attribution all that more difficult to capture. There’s also the added challenge of collecting the necessary analytics data to measure ad performance. By integrating iSpot.tv’s capabilities into its platform, Neustart is filling in some major gaps for video advertisers.

LIGHTS. CAMERA. YOUTUBE. YouTube has released a new “Video Builder” tool for advertisers that animates static images, texts and logos with music from the YouTube library. It’s currently in beta and free to use, but advertisers must sign up to gain access to the tool. According to one brand with early access to the Video Builder, its ad team was able to create “high quality creative with increased velocity.” Why we care: With so many ad teams working from home, a tool that can ease the video creation process is a welcome addition to any martech stack, especially stacks belonging to SMBs already strapped in terms of video ad resources. It may not come with the bells and whistles of its brethren tools like Adobe Spark, but the fact that it’s free does sweeten the deal.

AI FOR ALL AND ALL FOR AI. Speaking of Adobe, the company has rolled out its Product Recommendations feature in Magento Commerce to merchants globally. The AI-powered tool that automates product recommendations across Magento Commerce storefronts was first announced last October, with a small roll-out to a limited number of merchants via an early access program. Now all merchants on the Magento Commerce platform have access, free of charge, to the product recommendation feature. Why we care: Retailers with an online presence are looking for every possible way to differentiate themselves from the competition, especially SMBs struggling to stay afloat with their retail locations now closed to foot traffic. Built-in AI that powers relevant product recommendations is one tool that can help boost conversions and drive revenue. For merchants already in the Magento Commerce ecosystem, it’s a no-brainer.