Top martech in 2016: CMOs from PepsiCo, Mizzen+Main & Olapic list their favorite martech this year

From artificial intelligence to Instagram's latest tools, these three CMOs share the martech they were most excited about in 2016.

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It’s been a big year for marketing technology. Machine learning, chatbots, personal assistants…the list of buzzwords coming from the martech industry has grown as fast as the artificial intelligence powering it.

For marketers like PepsiCo’s CMO Seth Kaufman martech is at the core of his brand’s consumer experience. Earlier this month, Kaufman told Marketing Land how his team relies on technology.

“In addition to being highly targeted media-wise, our brands are primarily marketed digitally and experientially, and we rely on technology to do this in culturally relevant ways,” said Kaufman, “Technology is a huge driver of the consumer experiences we create.”

Now that 2016 is coming to a close, we reached out to Kaufman, along with Mizzen+Main CMO Jen Lavelle and Olapic CMO Rachel Meranus to find out what marketing technology they were most excited about this year.

CMOs from PepsiCo, Mizzen + Main & Olapic on their favorite 2016 MarTech

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Seth Kaufman, CMO, PepsiCo North America Beverages

The true arrival of AI in the home was the most exciting to me. Personal assistants like Amazon’s Echo and Google Home point to a revolution in human-device interaction, and it’s really been a long time coming. This is something that’s really exciting to me personally – and I think it’s safe to say this is only the beginning of AI in our homes.

Think about how much science fiction we’ve enjoyed in which humans rely on these voice-based user interfaces. It’s pretty amazing that, thanks to Amazon, Google and Apple, among others, these capabilities are already widely available to the masses.

I’m looking forward to seeing how these technologies continue to evolve in 2017 and beyond, and especially the implications for marketers across disciplines and categories.
Jen Lavelle

Jen Lavelle, CMO, Mizzen+Main

Our favorite new MarTech in 2016 has been Impact Radius.

Impact Radius is a platform that monitors our affiliate program, which we launched in 2015. The program has seen tremendous growth within the last year, and the platform allows us to monitor each affiliate’s performance and quickly see where improvements are needed.

The ability to react quickly and efficiently is a huge bonus for our brand.

 

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Rachel Meranus, CMO, Olapic

In 2016, we were excited to see the plethora of features Instagram added to its platform, from ‘Stories’ and live video to, most notably, its new ‘Shop Now’ feature.

With its new Shopping Feature, Instagram is uniquely positioned to make social shopping thrive, creating a more streamlined experience that should increase the conversion rates for brands.

These changes have had a huge impact on the way marketers develop social content, and smart brands will need to continue expanding their use of the platform to successfully engage consumers.


Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily MarTech. Staff authors are listed here.


About the author

Amy Gesenhues
Contributor
Amy Gesenhues was a senior editor for Third Door Media, covering the latest news and updates for Marketing Land, Search Engine Land and MarTech Today. From 2009 to 2012, she was an award-winning syndicated columnist for a number of daily newspapers from New York to Texas. With more than ten years of marketing management experience, she has contributed to a variety of traditional and online publications, including MarketingProfs, SoftwareCEO, and Sales and Marketing Management Magazine. Read more of Amy's articles.

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