Sitecore CMO on Launch of Global Marketing Services with IBM iX
Last week, Sitecore announced a global marketing services and technology agreement with IBM iX; a services organization dedicated to creating transformative ideas.
With this agreement, IBM iX clients will get access to Sitecore’s CMS, commerce, marketing tools, and “enable companies to mature their marketing strategy by aligning insights and strategy to design great experiences with content that scales across existing and emerging channels, and spans the entire customer journey.”
To get the inside scoop and details on the partnership, I was able to connect with Paige O’Neill, CMO at Sitecore to discuss the benefits and driving factors behind the new agreement with IBM iX, and what it means to have a customer-centric approach to digital transformation. Read the exclusive interview below!
What was the driving factor behind the global marketing services and technology agreement with IBM iX?
“IBM iX has been a Sitecore Platinum Solution Partner for more than 10 years, using Sitecore’s platform to drive future-thinking, transformative ideas. The company’s established expertise makes them the ideal partner to help Sitecore enable enterprises to level up their digital transformation in a scalable way. Furthermore, Sitecore is continuing to grow, and the company’s goal is expanding its global reach and bringing its capabilities to more companies. With over 40+ digital studios around the world, IBM iX offers global traction on every continent (with the exception of Antarctica), giving companies around the world an opportunity to innovate their brands.”
What is the biggest benefit that clients can obtain from this new agreement with IBM iX?
“As industry leaders, IBM iX and Sitecore have years of experience driving personalization at scale, and the partnership will give customers access to more mature marketing strategies and better in-the-moment personalization. Combining Sitecore’s leading digital experience management platform with IBM iX’s unrivaled consulting, design, and development services, companies can deliver the best omnichannel, real-time personalization yet, making a real impact on revenue. This alliance has also aligned our Google Tag Manager resources by “industry” and “region,” for greater traction in the market to better serve our customers.”
How can businesses reach a customer-centric approach to digital transformation?
“Sitecore and IBM iX have a shared set of customer-focused ethics and are committed to building any product or service offerings around those principles. They include:
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Excellent data governance: collecting data should be purposeful, capturing only the information necessary for creating contextually relevant digital experiences collected, and no more.
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Scalable content management: we create the necessary foundation to help our customers’ digital presence grow at the same pace as their business.
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Human-centered design: we believe any platform, from the web to social to commerce, should be intuitive and easy to use for the customer.”
Your press release mentions Bluewolf, also an IBM Company that creates experiences for Salesforce and has a strategic alliance with Sitecore. Can you go in detail on how Bluewolf and Sitecore are aligned?
“Bluewolf is the global Salesforce consulting agency, an important pillar of the IBM company that creates customer and employee experiences focused on innovation. A key element of the new partnership, Bluewolf gives those companies utilizing the Salesforce component with Sitecore a triple punch of capturing and unifying targeted data across multiple channels AND providing relevant customized content.”
Sitecore Plugin for Stylelabs DAM™ Now Available
It’s been almost three months since Sitecore closed the acquisition of Stylelabs. In early January 2019, the Sitecore Plugin for Stylelabs DAM (digital asset management) was announced and is now available immediately.
The partnership is said to help “marketing teams own the entire content life cycle, and understand the impact of specific content assets on individual customer's behavior.” Stylelabs' digital asset management (DAM), marketing resource management (MRM), and product information management (PIM) applications enable Sitecore Experience Cloud marketing departments to create and optimize the volume of assets needed to treat customers as individuals. In turn, businesses can provide the right information, products, and services right when the customer needs them by building engagement, trust, loyalty, and lifetime value.
As stated in the press release: “the Sitecore Plugin for Stylelabs DAM™ is compatible with Sitecore Experience Manager™ and Sitecore® Experience Platform™ versions 8.2.7, 9.0.2, and 9.1, as well as Sitecore Experience Commerce™ version 9.0 Update 2. Customers can download the installation package and guide from Sitecore.” Additional information regarding Stylelabs DAM and the complete Stylelabs Marketing Content Hub can be found here.
Ending Notes
For the thirteenth year in a row, Sitecore announced its 2019 Sitecore Most Valuable Professionals (MVPs) program that recognizes 315 exceptional professionals from Sitecore’s global community of more than 12,000 certified developers, and over 20,000 active community participants.
Paige O’Neill, Chief Marketing Officer at Sitecore recognizes these MVPs and says: “MVPs are outstanding leaders whose exceptional enthusiasm for the Sitecore platform extends beyond their own achievements. They inspire others throughout the Sitecore community to realize their full potential. It is with great pleasure that we thank MVPs for their commitment to the Sitecore community by sharing their knowledge and experiences, which plays an integral role in the success of our customers as well as provides invaluable feedback to the development and improvement of Sitecore’s technologies.”
To kick off 2019, Sitecore recognized “186 Technology MVPs, 37 Strategy MVPs, 18 Commerce MVPs, and 74 Ambassador MVPs who collectively embody the rich diversity of skills, experiences, and backgrounds in the Sitecore Community.” Click here to see a full list of Sitecore’s 2019 MVPs.
I really appreciate how Sitecore—and other companies—recognize their leaders. As Paige mentions, it's a highly beneficial way to contribute thoughts, to inspire, and share experiences with those who subscribe to the same commitments in the community.
Gabriella Pirrone
Gabriella is the Digital Marketing Assistant for CMSC Media. She brings a wealth of knowledge from not only a CMS perspective but also content, SEO and eCommerce. She enjoys everything social media and staying ontop of the latest trends in the digital marketing world.