The Financial Times has launched an app for Microsoft Teams, the first major news organisation to do so. It will allow users to discover, save and share FT content all within the Teams environment, which has over 270 million monthly active users. The shift towards remote working and the widespread use of online collaboration tools, accelerated by the pandemic, has changed the way people consume information and communicate while working or studying. The FT app will help subscribers save time finding relevant content and share FT stories more easily with colleagues or classmates.
Qlik® announced that it has helped SEGA Corporation to become more data-driven. The gaming company streamlined its mobile game business with Qlik Sense®, generating faster and deeper gamer insights to better engage with mobile phone gamers. SEGA introduced Qlik’s solutions, including Qlik Sense, to bring in multiple data sources and automate the creation of routine reports. With Qlik, analysts can independently collect, process, and analyze the required data. They are also able to incorporate data from external sources without writing complex algorithms.
Index has announced its first-ever business acquisition of Rivr Technologies, a Berlin-based company specialising in machine learning-based curation capabilities. The acquisition of Rivr means they can accelerate their efforts to address one of the industry’s biggest technical challenges: optimising and curating the tens of billions of bid requests sent to DSPs each and every day. Index will integrate Rivr’s core traffic-shaping solution with their recently rebuilt exchange, operating as a single machine learning and optimisation team and platform. Index has also announced the opening of its first engineering hub outside of North America, in Bengaluru, India to further accelerate that transformation.
Getty Images, a preeminent global visual content creator and marketplace, has launched VisualGPS Insights, a new interactive tool designed to help businesses develop content strategies backed up with data and visual guidance. For the first time, users can view and analyse over 2.5 billion annual searches and download queries from Getty Images, as well as from iStock, its e-commerce platform focused on SMBs, SMEs and creatives.
CreativeX, provider of an industry-first creative data platform to the world’s leading brands, has announced $25 million in funding from Guggenheim Investments, on behalf of certain clients, with participation from Beringea, the Brandtech group, and Conviction.
Playable Factory, an intelligent marketing platform for mobile games, is announcing the launch of H5 Games, a creative service that recreates successful mobile games in HTML5, for use on platforms such as TikTok and Snap. The new service is a natural progression for Playable Factory, which has already produced more than 1,000 HTML5 playable ads for over 500 mobile games studios, coding faithful representations of the full games to drive user acquisition.
In a thrilling next step from the meta-band that is rocking the metaverse, The Meta Daisies have partnered with global metaverse pioneers Avakin Life and utility-focussed NFT platform Tell.ie to stake their claim to entertain and engage millions of users in this new virtual world. In a world-first, the band will host a virtual listening party for its recently released single, ‘Radiance’ and also unveil its Community Token NFT plan. June 2022 marks the moment when The Meta Daisies commences its metaverse tour around all virtual worlds, starting with one of the World’s most established metaverses, Avakin Life that has a staggering 220MIllion users. The Meta Daisies is the digital offspring of rock collective The Dead Daisies – a global rock supergroup comprised of rock legends from Deep Purple, Whitesnake and Dio. The Dead Daisies have constantly stayed ahead of the curve and with their label and management Spitfire Music, they used the global lockdown to develop new innovative strategies that will bring their music to generations to come. Launching The Meta Daisies is the band’s first step in the world of Web3.0, to build its legacy while connecting fans of past, present and future with the music and iconography of The Dead Daisies, reborn on the virtual stage.
Tech Mahindra, a provider of digital transformation, consulting and business re-engineering services and solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (IOH) – one of the most preferred digital telco in Indonesia. Tech Mahindra and IOH will jointly explore and implement innovative, enterprise-grade digital solutions across Industry 4.0 in manufacturing, cloud adoption, data analysis, and 5G networks. With Indonesia’s internet penetration rate standing at 73.7% of the total population at the start of 2022, both businesses have signed an MoU to drive digital transformation in the country and further bolstering the country’s digital economy.
Togetherr™, a new platform for building world-class creative teams and connecting them with leading global brands and agencies, has launched. The platform, designed and built by Fiverr (NYSE: FVRR), and backed by industry-leading visionaries, uses proprietary technology, the Creative Genome, to construct award-winning teams, from an exclusive group of creative talent. These teams will be curated and matched to support brands and agencies on specific projects and campaigns.
Headless ecommerce solution Instant Commerce has secured a €2 million Pre-Seed Round led by firstminute capital. The founders of Storyblok, Wandera, Snyk and Supercell also contributed to the round. Instant Commerce will use the funding to double the team, further develop its platform and build brand awareness throughout Europe. Instant Commerce is the next-gen frontend as a service platform for eCommerce companies. The platform enables brands to quickly build a highly functional and engaging headless webshop without the need for technical expertise or a costly development team thanks to its no-code approach.
Vodafone has announced it will be the official Technology Partner for the Rugby League World Cup 2021 (RLWC2021). The tournament, which was postponed due to the pandemic, is set to take place in England later this year and will be the first time the RLWC encompasses the men’s, women’s and wheelchair competitions, within a singular event, across 61 games and 21 venues. This new partnership with the RLWC2021 further expands Vodafone’s commitment to support sport in the UK, post pandemic. The partnership builds on Vodafone’s new multi-year partnership with Wimbledon and the AELTC as Official Connectivity Partner, its role as Lead Partner for the British and Irish Lions 2021 Tour of South Africa, Lead Partner of Wasps Rugby and Netball, and Rugby Union Player Associations the Rugby Players Association (RPA), Rugby Players Scotland (RPS) and The Wales Rugby Players Association (WRPA).
Movable Ink, the content personalization provider, has unveiled Da Vinci, an innovative AI marketing technology. Da Vinci is an AI-driven content personalization engine that creates a more meaningful approach to individualized content and helps brands achieve higher customer lifetime value. Da Vinci, unveiled at Movable Ink’s annual Think Summit conference, leverages the power of AI to build, balance, and navigate a map of a brand’s catalog through editorial and promotional content across marketing programs and over the customer relationship.
Tipalti, the global payables solution, has announced Bill Talk and Bill Docs, two new enhancements to its accounts payable automation solution, which will further modernize the invoice approval process. The latest innovations make it effortless for buyers and approvers to collaborate, while improving audit readiness and accelerating approval cycle times.
The Ozone Project, the digital advertising platform built for brands by publishers, has announced a new partnership with Asian Media Group. This new relationship will see the group’s consumer websites become part of Ozone’s media portfolio, while at the same time utilising Ozone’s unique publisher-built technology and expertise to grow total digital revenues for Asian Media Group. The inclusion of Asian Media Group’s highly-regarded consumer brands within the premium publisher alliance reinforces Ozone’s positioning as an easy way for advertisers to reach scaled, diverse audiences across the UK’s online population. With well-known and loved websites including Eastern Eye, Garavi Gujarat and Asian Times, the group offers an additional breadth of audience to the Ozone proposition, particularly from multi-generation households, Asian women, NextGen readers and graduates. In addition to joining the media alliance, Asian Media Group has also engaged Ozone’s Publisher Services to optimise the group’s advertising technology in a way that makes it easier for premium publishers to maximise their digital revenues.
Mace & Menter, the Bristol-based user research and service design consultancy, today launched its academy for recent graduates taking their first step into the user-centred design (UCD) industry. The academy is a paid, 12-week programme, beginning in early September. It will give young people seeking a career in UCD the skills and experience to work in a user-centred design consultancy. They’ll receive training, work directly with Mace & Menter’s expert consultants, and deliver a full research and design project during the 12-week programme.
M-Cube, the In-Store Digital Engagement solutions company, has worked on Dolce&Gabbana Casa’s latest project, with the opening of its first boutique dedicated to interior design at Corso Venezia 7 and at Via Durini 23 in Milan. M-Cube has collaborated on the store’s design at the Corso Venezia 7 location by designing and installing the immersive room. The room recreates the fashion house’s four emblematic and iconic themes: Leopard, the Sicilian Cart, Zebra, and Mediterranean Blue. Using animated images, expressive videos, scenic element transformations, interactivity, worlds built with a surreal mix of settings and performers, and visual characteristics inspired by the fashion collections, the Corso Venezia 7 boutique immersive room creates an innovative experience for the consumer, allowing them to completely immerse themselves in the world of Dolce&Gabbana.
