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The Forrester Wave™: Customer Data Strategy And Activation Services, Q2 2022
The Forrester Wave™: Customer Data Strategy And Activation Services, Q2 2022


report
The Forrester Wave™: Customer Data Strategy And Activation Services, Q2 2022
June 27, 2022
The Eight Providers That Matter Most And How They Stack Up
June 27, 2022
SLStephanie Liu
with Emily Collins, Jay Pattisall, Ted Schadler, Sara Sjoblom, Christine Turley


Summary
In our 27-criterion evaluation of customer data strategy and activation service
providers, we identified the eight most significant ones — Acxiom, Ansira, Bond,
Choreograph, Epsilon, ICF Next, Merkle, and RRD Marketing Solutions — and
researched, analyzed, and scored them. This report shows how each provider
measures up and helps B2C marketers select the right one for their needs.


TOPICS

Agility Is Clutch In A Rapidly Shifting Consumer Data Landscape
Data Services Are Part Of A Bigger Portfolio Of Capabilities
Evaluation Summary


Vendor Offerings
Vendor Profiles
Evaluation Overview
Supplemental Material




AGILITY IS CLUTCH IN A RAPIDLY SHIFTING CONSUMER DATA LANDSCAPE

Marketers face unprecedented headwinds in capturing and acquiring customer data
in light of the four forces of data deprecation: 1) consumer adoption of
privacy-protecting behaviors and tools; 2) browser and operating system
restrictions on data collection; 3) new privacy laws; and 4) ever-taller and
ubiquitous walled gardens. As a result, marketers and agencies alike are putting
renewed emphasis on capturing first- and zero-party data and maximizing the
value of that data to define segments, personalization tactics, and engagement
strategies. As a result of these trends, customer data strategy and activation
services customers should look for providers that:
   

 * Keep a keen eye on the future of data-driven marketing. Don’t expect data
   deprecation to slow — while a federal US privacy law is far from certain,
   Apple, Google, and other tech giants have made it clear that they will
   continue to reevaluate access to user data in the name of protecting privacy
   (leading journalist Kara Swisher to call Apple “tech’s biggest regulator”).
   Seek a partner that has a perspective on how data-driven marketing will shift
   and a plan for adapting marketing plans accordingly, because the status quo
   is undoubtably going to change over the next few years.

 * Support partial in-housing of customer data. As privacy concerns abound, many
   marketers and client references are increasingly limiting how often customer
   data leaves their native environments. Some providers have built flexible
   implementation plans that allow for in-housing down the road, including
   helping clients ramp up internal knowledge and technical know-how on managing
   and operating marketing and data platforms. Look for a partner willing to
   build flexible solutions that allow for future in-housing of data and
   marketing technology (martech) platforms.

 * Let clients control identity graph creation and hosting. Marketers want more
   control over identity graphs — including how they are built, hosted, and
   accessed. Many providers give clients more options and leeway as a result.
   Find a partner that puts clients in control of match confidence levels and
   the balance of reach and accuracy. Ensure the partner has flexible hosting
   options — whether in the environment of the brand, service provider, or a
   third party.




DATA SERVICES ARE PART OF A BIGGER PORTFOLIO OF CAPABILITIES

Forrester previously evaluated media, data strategy and activation, digital
experience, and other marketing services in separate Forrester Wave™
evaluations. But as C-suite demands for growth and cost effectiveness rise, some
enterprise buyers are seeking integrated and orchestrated solutions to unlock
value across marketing campaigns, customer experience (CX), and commerce. To
reflect this shift and provide clients with an aligned view of the services that
an agency holding company or network offers, we are including these services
plus creative and content in a single process across five Forrester Wave
evaluations in 2022. This evaluation of customer data strategy and activation
services is part of that portfolio.


EVALUATION SUMMARY

The Forrester Wave evaluation highlights Leaders, Strong Performers, Contenders,
and Challengers. It’s an assessment of the top vendors in the market and does
not represent the entire vendor landscape. You’ll find more information about
this market in our report on consumer data marketing services.
We intend this evaluation to be a starting point only and encourage clients to
view product evaluations and adapt criteria weightings using the Excel-based
vendor comparison tool (see Figure 1 and see Figure 2). Click the link at the
beginning of this report on Forrester.com to download the tool.
Figure 1Forrester Wave™: Customer Data Strategy And Activation Services, Q2 2022

Figure 2Forrester Wave™: Customer Data Strategy And Activation Services
Scorecard, Q2 2022



VENDOR OFFERINGS

Forrester included eight vendors in this assessment: Acxiom, Ansira, Bond,
Choreograph, Epsilon, ICF Next, Merkle, and RRD Marketing Solutions.


VENDOR PROFILES

Our analysis uncovered the following strengths and weaknesses of individual
vendors.
Leaders
   

 * Epsilon delivers a one-stop shop, unifying strategy, tech, and execution.
   Three years after the acquisition, Epsilon is well and truly settled into its
   Publicis Groupe home. The company’s value proposition is clearer and stronger
   than in years’ past thanks to a streamlined services portfolio and simpler
   product messaging for Epsilon PeopleCloud and CORE ID. It has a clear vision
   of how to execute marketing in a world that is fragmented by platforms and a
   roadmap to support its data deprecation story. Epsilon’s sheer size offers a
   strategic advantage — it has a diverse roadmap of AI and machine learning
   (ML) initiatives, verticalized offerings, and additional data privacy
   features. It can meet most brands’ needs, either as part of an integrated
   Publicis Groupe solution or as a standalone data strategy and activation
   agency. Epsilon stands out for continually leading clients to be more
   strategic in their customer engagement decisions and to optimize their use of
   data. Client references noted the quality of Epsilon’s recommendations and
   its ability to improve marketing programs. And the company is flexible enough
   to create new solutions as clients’ data privacy and protection concerns
   grow. It has relatively few weaknesses, such as reporting that can be
   cumbersome and customer analytics that don’t incorporate emerging channels or
   techniques. Companies seeking a strategic partner for data strategy and
   customer engagement should consider Epsilon.

 * Merkle serves as the glue that connects departments, data, and dentsu
   agencies. Merkle expanded on its long-standing vision of people-based
   marketing to focus on connecting marketing to CX, e-commerce, and technology.
   Central to its ability to serve as this connective tissue is Merkury,
   Merkle’s identity graph platform. Merkle is leaning heavily on the Merkury
   platform for future success. Its execution and innovation roadmaps are
   squarely focused on improving or adding capabilities to Merkury — such as
   industry- and region-tailored identity graphs — but plans are sparse for
   developing non-Merkury services. With a long legacy in direct marketing,
   Merkle is highly capable of database builds and management. And it receives
   high marks for its technology capabilities. All three client references
   tasked Merkle with data infrastructure projects, such as cloud migrations,
   new data marts, or implementing new tools, with satisfactory results; one
   reference called Merkle his shadow IT team. Merkle has a deep analytics bench
   and takes an analytical approach to much of its work. However, reference
   clients found Merkle’s thought leadership to be weak and were hoping for more
   proactive input on things like improving efficiency via tech infrastructure
   and emerging channels. Merkle is a good fit for enterprises with
   sophisticated cross-functional needs.

Strong Performers
   

 * Choreograph shows early promise, but its client experience is a work in
   progress. Choreograph is a young firm, launched in April 2021, but don’t call
   it a newcomer. This WPP-owned agency centralizes the data and technology
   capabilities of GroupM and Wunderman Thompson under one umbrella. As part of
   the launch, Choreograph expanded its data hosting and access options, giving
   clients much more flexibility and control over whether data leaves their four
   walls and how Choreograph accesses that data. It has a differentiated vision
   of a future where personal information isn’t the only solution for marketing
   and a thoughtful, above-par roadmap that includes location-specific
   capabilities that align with a market’s data protection needs. While unifying
   data and technology capabilities makes logical sense for the agency and
   clients alike, the actual orchestration of client work remains a work in
   progress. Shaking legacy agency names, departments, and mindsets takes time,
   and questions remain about where GroupM and Wunderman Thompson end and
   Choreograph begins, though client references are optimistic about
   Choreograph’s potential. With strong database management capabilities,
   principled data practices such as checking for ethical AI models, and robust
   measurement and analytics, Choreograph’s future looks bright. Choreograph is
   a good fit for companies seeking a partner to shape analytically driven
   customer engagement strategies.

 * Ansira provides executional excellence but weaker strategy work. Ansira
   punches above its weight as a smaller agency not owned by a holding company —
   it is owned by private equity firm Advent International. It stands out thanks
   to its unique expertise in distributed marketing organizations, such as
   franchises and dealership networks, which shapes its capabilities and vision
   of “connected marketplaces.” As a highly tactical partner, Ansira’s vision of
   connecting brands, partners, and customers aligns well to its market approach
   but is not forward-looking. And its innovation roadmap isn’t particularly
   innovative. Ansira excels in marketing execution, particularly with
   implementing and managing clients’ martech tools and executing marketing
   campaigns. It received high marks for its customer engagement strategy work,
   and client references praised Ansira’s technical know-how — ranging from
   email marketing execution to customer data platform implementations. But
   Ansira is firmly rooted in clients’ near-term goals and programs, sometimes
   at the cost of a longer-term vision. It’s less focused on emerging technology
   than others in this evaluation, and client references spoke of unmet needs
   when they were hoping for Ansira’s guidance on new tactics and technologies
   to consider. Ansira is a good fit for distributed marketing organizations and
   enterprises that have deep technical needs and can look elsewhere for
   visionary work.

 * Bond offers an analytical, loyalty-driven approach to data strategy and
   activation. Formerly known as Bond Brand Loyalty, Bond aims to build on its
   success in the loyalty sphere (it was a Leader and Strong Performer in the
   most recent Forrester Wave evaluations on loyalty tech and services,
   respectively) by expanding to non-loyalty use cases. However, the company’s
   loyalty heritage still features heavily in its approach. For example, its
   vision focuses on creating “enduring relationships” between the brand and
   customer and its approach includes applying loyalty best practices to other
   stages of the customer lifecycle. This Toronto-based firm works with an array
   of large enterprises, primarily in the financial services, automotive and
   mobility, manufacturing, and retail sectors. Bond’s strength is in its
   customer engagement strategy work and its client guidance. Client references
   spoke highly of the best practices and thought leadership that Bond provides,
   as well as its analytics-backed approach to its work — although it sometimes
   struggles to present analyses at the right altitude for broader business
   stakeholders. Bond has done well to apply its loyalty strengths to broader
   areas of customer understanding, customer analytics, and martech, although
   its identity resolution capabilities are weaker. Bond is one of the smallest
   companies in this evaluation, and client references expressed concern about
   the company’s ability to scale with their needs, particularly as they hope to
   lean more on Bond to drive strategic work. Bond is a good fit for companies
   seeking deep analytical expertise and loyalty-based execution strategies.
   Contenders

 * Acxiom excels at data fundamentals but has limited room for adding additional
   services. While IPG-owned Acxiom may have a new logo and new sister agencies,
   Acxiom itself has remained a rock-solid partner for brands seeking database
   and identity management services. IPG’s decision to splinter data management,
   tech, and activation among three agencies (Acxiom, Kinesso, and Matterkind)
   creates a bloated go-to-market for brands seeking end-to-end services and
   leaves Acxiom with a narrow lane in which it can expand its foundational data
   and martech capabilities. Acxiom’s database and identity chops are market
   leading, and its long tenure in this realm makes it a good fit for an
   incredibly wide range of company types and industries. The company excels in
   database builds and management, data hygiene, data enrichment, and identity
   resolution, all rooted in principled ethics and privacy practices. It has
   also launched an array of tech capabilities and partnerships over the past
   year, ranging from customer data platform (CDP) solutions to a
   vertical-specific clean room. Beyond that, its services fall short — possibly
   intentionally if brands are meant to engage with Kinesso and Matterkind for
   advanced analytics, engagement strategy, or cross-channel activation
   services. Acxiom continues to be a good fit for brands that need help with
   the nuts and bolts of database management. Acxiom declined to participate in
   the full Forrester Wave evaluation process.

 * RRD Marketing Solutions is firmly rooted in direct marketing. RRD Marketing
   Solutions is the marketing services arm of R. R. Donnelley. With roots in
   printing and publishing that date back more than 100 years, R. R. Donnelley
   offers modern marketing capabilities via its RRD Marketing Solutions
   offering, which includes the customer engagement agency formerly known as
   Precision Dialogue. RRD takes a methodical approach to innovation, gathering
   input from clients, staff, partners, and its own research to ensure it
   continues to meet client needs. As of February 2022, R. R. Donnelley has a
   new owner in investment firm Chatham Asset Management, following a brief
   period where three firms jockeyed to acquire it. RRD Marketing Solutions
   lacks the glossy marketing and proprietary tech of its larger competitors but
   is a sensible partner for the essentials of direct marketing. It has strong
   data hygiene and enrichment capabilities and offers a well-rounded bench of
   analytics services, ranging from sophisticated segmentation to marketing
   measurement and highly advanced customer analytics. It can translate these
   analytics into action using a formal and thoughtful framework for shaping
   customer engagement strategy, but its expertise beyond direct marketing
   channels is limited. RRD is a good fit for brands seeking a tactical partner
   for executing direct marketing that can also support data hygiene and deep
   analytics needs. RRD declined to participate in the full Forrester Wave
   evaluation process.

Challengers
   

 * ICF Next provides analytics consulting but struggles to connect insights to
   activation. ICF Next, the only company in this evaluation to call itself a
   consultancy, expanded its remit beyond loyalty programs. But it faces
   considerable headwinds, including sluggish growth and leadership turnover.
   Its vision of driving active participation (i.e., engagement) with brands
   lacks differentiation, and while it has earmarked a considerable amount of
   revenue for developing its proprietary analytics platform and supporting
   capabilities, its roadmap lacks specifics and it has few development plans
   beyond the analytics engine. ICF Next has the potential to do good work but
   needs to make incremental improvements to its offering and market awareness.
   ICF Next can build strategies and roadmaps for data collection and use. One
   client reference appreciated that the team offers many strategic ideas and
   takes care to ensure proposals are actionable, measurable, and worthwhile.
   While it has long-standing clients, it can limit itself by approaching client
   work as a series of one-off projects rather than long-term partnerships, and
   its execution capabilities are limited. It offers a variety of support
   options, ranging from full managed service engagements to self-serve clients
   who use ICF Next’s proprietary technology but in a limited array of channels.
   It must expand the number of marketing channels and tools it can support to
   stay current with marketers’ needs. It has a significant portion of revenue
   earmarked for research and development but also needs to improve client
   retention and growth rates. Companies looking for analytics-driven strategy
   and campaign execution support should consider ICF Next.




EVALUATION OVERVIEW

We evaluated vendors against 27 criteria, which we grouped into three high-level
categories:
   

 * Current offering. Each vendor’s position on the vertical axis of the
   Forrester Wave graphic indicates the strength of its current offering. Key
   criteria for these solutions include first-party personally identifiable
   information (PII) management, data enrichment, principled data practices,
   marketing technology, analytics, customer engagement strategy, and
   cross-channel marketing execution.

 * Strategy. Placement on the horizontal axis indicates the strength of the
   vendors’ strategies. We evaluated vision, execution roadmap, innovation
   roadmap, partner ecosystem, market approach, and performance.

 * Market presence. Represented by the size of the markers on the graphic, our
   market presence scores reflect each vendor’s revenue, number of clients, and
   number of employees.

Vendor Inclusion Criteria
Forrester included eight vendors in the assessment: Acxiom, Ansira, Bond,
Choreograph, Epsilon, ICF Next, Merkle, and RRD Marketing Solutions. Each of
these vendors has:
   

 * Fifty or more clients using the company’s customer data strategy and
   activation services.

 * Both data strategy and marketing activation services (as defined in the Now
   Tech).

 * Experience managing a customer database of 40 million customer records or
   larger.




SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL

Online Resource
We publish all our Forrester Wave scores and weightings in an Excel file that
provides detailed product evaluations and customizable rankings; download this
tool by clicking the link at the beginning of this report on Forrester.com. We
intend these scores and default weightings to serve only as a starting point and
encourage readers to adapt the weightings to fit their individual needs.
The Forrester Wave Methodology
A Forrester Wave is a guide for buyers considering their purchasing options in a
technology marketplace. To offer an equitable process for all participants,
Forrester follows The Forrester Wave™ Methodology Guide to evaluate
participating vendors.
In our review, we conduct primary research to develop a list of vendors to
consider for the evaluation. From that initial pool of vendors, we narrow our
final list based on the inclusion criteria. We then gather details of product
and strategy through a detailed questionnaire, demos/briefings, and customer
reference surveys/interviews. We use those inputs, along with the analyst’s
experience and expertise in the marketplace, to score vendors, using a relative
rating system that compares each vendor against the others in the evaluation.
We include the Forrester Wave publishing date (quarter and year) clearly in the
title of each Forrester Wave report. We evaluated the vendors participating in
this Forrester Wave using materials they provided to us by March 2022 and did
not allow additional information after that point. We encourage readers to
evaluate how the market and vendor offerings change over time.
In accordance with The Forrester Wave™ And New Wave™ Vendor Review Policy,
Forrester asks vendors to review our findings prior to publishing to check for
accuracy. Vendors marked as nonparticipating vendors in the Forrester Wave
graphic met our defined inclusion criteria but declined to participate in or
contributed only partially to the evaluation. We score these vendors in
accordance with The Forrester Wave™ And The Forrester New Wave™ Nonparticipating
And Incomplete Participation Vendor Policy and publish their positioning along
with those of the participating vendors.
Integrity Policy
We conduct all our research, including Forrester Wave evaluations, in accordance
with the Integrity Policy posted on our website.

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