The MarTech Minute: Google’s Verified SMS for Messages, HubSpot adds first chief customer officer

MarTech Minute briefs always appear first in our daily newsletter throughout the week. Click here to subscribe. The following is our compilation of the past week’s briefs from those newsletters.

Google rolls out verified SMS feature for messages from businesses. Looking to make messaging between businesses and consumers safer, Google has launched Verified SMS for Messages. The feature verifies, on a per-message basis, that a message is sent by a specific business. Users will see the business name, logo and a verification badge in their message thread with the business. 1-800-Flowers, Banco Bradesco, Kayak, Payback and SoFi are among the first brands to use the verified messaging feature. Google has rolled out Verified SMS for Messages in the U.S. and eight other countries, including the UK, Spain, Mexico, India and Canada. 

TrueCommerce gives Magento users an upgrade. The ecommerce solution TrueCommerce has updated its Magento (Adobe) integration, adding a number of new features. Users on both platforms will now be able to transfer order, shipment and inventory data between their business systems and Magento storefronts and automatically create customer profiles within their business system based on online orders. “Adobe (Magento) has one of the largest footprints in the worldwide digital commerce market, both in terms of market share and mindshare. TrueCommerce’s announcement to beef up its Magento integration is a move that’s sure to benefit customers of both platforms,” said TrueCommerce President Ross Elliott. Other new features include the ability to update online product quantities via ERP inventory integration and create shipments with tracking information to keep customers updated on their orders.

DataRobot simplifies data preparation with Paxata acquisition. The AI-powered data science platform DataRobot has acquired Paxata, a self-service data preparation solution. The primary goal of the acquisition is to build an automated, end-to-end enterprise AI platform, says DataRobot. “After both teams spent a significant amount of time together talking about our joint vision for the future of enterprise AI, it became apparent that the Paxata team was best aligned with us across our product and technology vision, as well as our culture and values,” writes Igor Tabor, DataRobot’s SVP of corporate development and strategy. Per the announcement by Tabor, Paxata’s CEO Prakash Nanduri, CTO Dave Brewster and CPO Nenshad Bardoliwalla, along with the rest of the Paxata team, will be joining DataRobot.   

YouAppi retargeting tool. Mobile monetization platform YouAppi has released a retargeting solution called ReAppi, which has been in beta for three years. Aimed at app re-engagement, marketers can monitor campaign incremental lift by revenue, conversion rate, and user LTV based on the performance of the test group (users exposed to the app retargeting campaign) versus the control group (users not exposed to any ads). A real-time dashboard includes campaign performance insights according to KPIs, ad units, devices, audience segments, and other data points.

Episerver to buy Insite Software. The digital experience company has agreed to buy the B2B commerce solution. “It proves our commitment to invest aggressively behind Episerver’s ambitious customer-centricity strategy, visionary product roadmap and growing market presence,” said Adam Berger, Chairman of Episerver in a statement. Steve Shaffer, CEO of Insite, said, “Combining Insite’s best-in-class commerce capabilities with Episerver’s leading Customer-Centric Digital Experience Platform creates a complete B2B solution second-to-none. Joining Episerver will help us expand the scope of our mission by offering a richer suite of products in a rapidly maturing market.”

LogMeIn gives the okay-to-go on $4.3 billion acquisition. LogMeIn, a cloud-based connectivity platform, has entered an agreement to be acquired by Francisco Partners and Evergreen Coast Capital Corporation. The deal is valued at approximately $4.3 billion and will likely close toward the middle of next year. “We believe our partnership with Francisco Partners and Evergreen will help put us in a position to deliver the operational benefits needed to achieve sustained growth over the long term,” said LogMeIn CEO Bill Wagner. Leadership from both Francisco Partners and Evergreen said they were thrilled to partner with LogMeIn and look forward to working with the team. Per the terms, LogMeIn has a customary 45-day period to solicit alternative acquisition proposals, with the right to terminate the deal (subject to the terms and conditions of the definitive agreement) should a stronger offer be made. LogMeIn’s financial advisors include Qatalyst Partners and JP Morgan Securities LLC. 

Accenture boosts data science capabilities with Clarity Insights acquisition. Accenture has purchased the data consultancy and data science company Clarity Insights. The deal will add nearly 350 employees to the Accenture team and elevate Accenture’s Applied Intelligence data capabilities. “Clarity Insights’s combination of strong technical talent, combined with deep industry expertise, will fortify and broaden our ability to help our client’s scale AI across their businesses,” said Athina Kanioura, chief analytics officer for Accenture’s Applied Intelligence division. Accenture says the acquisition will help it meet the growing demand for enterprise-scale AI, analytics and automation solutions. Clarity Insights was founded in 2009, with a focus on data insights for the healthcare, financial services and insurance industries. 

Smart AdServer buys LiquidM. The Paris-based ad monetization platform Smart AdServer has acquired the DSP LiquidM. The company says it is integrating LiquidM’s technology into the Smart technology stack, enabling it to offer advertisers and agencies enhanced access to premium ad inventory. “LiquidM’s proven record in innovation will boost Smart’s commitment to creating Value Path Optimization emphasizing full transactional transparency,” said Smart CEO Arnaud Créput. Smart AdServer says “consumer privacy” is the cornerstone of its platform and credits itself as being a “GDPR ready” company certified by independent data protection specialist, ePrivacy GmbH.

Marketers on the Move

HubSpot has named Yamini Rangan as its first-ever chief customer officer. She will start in January and is tasked with uniting the company’s marketing, sales and services teams. HubSpot says Rangan will be a key member of its executive leadership team,overseeing teams charged with accelerating the company’s business goals. “Today’s most disruptive companies are finding ways to innovate on how they market, sell, and provide service to their buyers, and Yamini has a proven track record of doing just that,” said CEO Brain Halligan. Prior to joining HubSpot, Rangan was chief customer officer for Dropbox and spent time at Workday as its VP of sales strategy and operations. 

Mauro Baz has been promoted to CMO for the Americas at Hogarth Worldwide, a marketing implementation agency owned by WPP. Baz has been part of Hogarth for nearly a decade, previously working in the firm’s Miami offices serving its North American and Latin American markets. He will be one of the youngest C-suite members within the organization, a firm WPP credits with being the “fastest-growing” company inside the WPP Group. “Hogarth made a strategic decision to work with global companies and help them reshape the traditional production model,” said Baz, “What we are seeing today in the industry is nothing short of a new era and we have to be agile in order to offer real value at scale.” 

TapClicks, a marketing cloud solution for intelligence, analytics, reporting and orders management, has hired Michael Rosner as its SVP of global sales. He will be responsible for the company’s international sales performance and be charged with aligning TapClicks’ sales objectives with its mission and strategy. “We’re thrilled to bring Michael’s leadership to our team as we scale rapidly given the growing demands of omnichannel enterprise marketers,” said CEO Babak Hedayati, who noted the company now serves more than 5,000 B2B and consumer media companies, agencies, franchises and brands. During his career, Rosner has held sales leadership roles with a number of adtech companies, including DoubleClick, Sizmek and Forensiq. 

The marketing platform Iterable has added two new C-level officers: Will Johnson has been named chief financial officer and Andrew Becherer has been named chief information security officer. The company says both will play key roles in helping Iterable with its global expansion plans and enhanced offerings. “Their collective expertise will help us grow sustainably and ensure our customers are in safe hands,” said CEO Justin Zhu. Prior to joining Iterable, Johnson held leadership roles at Workday, DemandTec and GuideSpark. Becherer comes to the company from Datadog where he was the chief security officer. 

John Roswech was named chief revenue officer for Marchex, the conversational analytics solution. He will be responsible for the company’s sales and customer success organizations. “We believe John’s deep experience in successfully leading sales organizations, and selling data, marketing and software products is a strong fit to advance our efforts going forward,” said Russell Horowitz, Marchex executive chairman. Horowitz noted Roswech is joining the company at a pivotal time as it focuses on product expansion. Roswech comes to Marchex after serving as the executive vice president of Criteo Brand Solutions. 

After being part of Swiftpage’s board for more than a year, Steve Oriola has been appointed president and CEO of the company. He will replace John Oechsle who served as CEO during the last seven years and will continue to serve on the board and be a shareholder. Oriola is tasked with carrying forward the growth and success of Act! CRM and marketing automation platform owned by Swiftpage. “I can’t wait to dig in and begin working with the hundreds of thousands of Act! users worldwide as we continue to look for ways to add value and help grow their businesses,” said Oriola. The CEO has held previous martech leadership roles, including CEO for Pipedrive and a ten year stretch as an executive at Constant Contact.