MarTech Minute: Criteo’s Retail Media ad platform, Agilify Training’s virtual Scrum Master course

A quick round up of the latest marketing technology news and announcements.

Our MarTech Minute briefs first appear in the MarTech Today daily newsletter. Click here to subscribe so that you can start your day “in the know” for all things martech-related.

Criteo launches a self-service ad platform for retail websites

Adtech company Criteo has launched Retail Media, a self-service ad platform that offers ad placement on retailer and e-commerce websites and apps. Retailers will be able to earn incremental revenue via the ad network, while brands and agencies can use the platform to, “deliver consent-based, personalized advertising without relying on third-party cookies.” Criteo positioned the platform as a way for retailers to optimize their vendor marketing programs and gain access to new marketing budgets, like search and national media. Right now, the platform is available in the U.S. and Canada with plans to expand into EMEA and APAC later this year. 

Why we care: E-commerce is surging and analysts report there’s a good chance consumer behavior will likely hold even after we recover from current conditions. This makes retailer and e-commerce sites prime real estate for ad inventory — something Criteo is aiming to maximize. The fact that Criteo’s platform offers targeted advertising that doesn’t rely on third-party cookies only makes it that much more appealing to brands. 

Agilify Training launches virtual Scrum Master certification course

Agilify Training, which offers agile marketing coaching and training programs, is launching a Scrum Master for Marketing course June 24 – June 25. The cost for the course is $850 and it will be hosted virtually, giving attendees the opportunity to earn a Scrum Master in Marketing certification. According to Agilify, the course will cover a variety of topics, including the origins of the Scrum framework, how to create empathy maps, a simulation of a marketing campaign that uses Scrum principles and strategies for prioritizing work. Attendees will also earn 15 PDUs within the PMI and 16 SEUs within the Scrum Alliance. 

Why we care: According to AgileSherpa’s recent “State of Agile Marketing” report, education was the most commonly cited barrier to marketers adopting an agile approach. Learning how to implement a Scrum agile marketing practice could lead to improved outcomes with so many marketing operations teams struggling to prioritize projects right now. Of the more than 400 marketers surveyed for the report, 21% said they practiced a Scrum approach compared to 9% that used a Kanban approach — the greatest majority (54%) used a hybrid approach

Twilio tapped for COVID-19 fight

Communications platform Twilio has scored a major contract from the City of New York to support the city’s massive contact tracing initiative in the fight against COVID-19. According to the company, Twilio will use its Flex contact center platform to create a central contact center for the initiative. The platform allows the city to call, message, or email COVID-19 patients and give them tools to input any information about people they may have been in contact with.

Why we care. For starters, contact tracing is one of those initiatives that will give us the ability to safely reopen our lives ahead of a major medical breakthrough. So it’s great to see a foundational piece of martech like Twilio tapped. But it’s also a testament to the innovation coming out of our martech landscape that a massaging tool like Twilio, which is known for its flexibility, was selected.

AppsFlyer integrates with major ad tech platforms to optimize attribution data

AppsFlyer has launched a Campaign Management Integration tool, making it possible for the attribution platform to integrate with ad tech providers like Bidalgo, Algolift, Bidshake and Appsumer. The new tool automates the data flow process, pushing AppsFlyer’s attribution data into the marketer’s chosen ad tech solution. According to AppsFlyer, its latest roll-out will offer richer and more granular data in real-time, “enabling faster and better campaign optimization capabilities.” 

Why we care: The key word here is automation. The marketing ops teams managing these platforms are running at full tilt right now, so being able to integrate an attribution tool with your ad tech platform, removing one more manual task, is a welcome time-saver.