GroupM Shakes Up Leadership Team; Firefox Deals Cookies Another Blow

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Benioff Hearts MuleSoft

Marc Benioff was effusive on the subject of MuleSoft Tuesday during Salesforce’s first quarter earnings call for its 2020 fiscal year. Benioff waxed lyrical about how the systems integrator – which Salesforce purchased for $6.5 billion last year – is helping accelerate Salesforce’s Customer 360 vision to create connections and manage customer data across its cloud product suites. Much of the momentum Salesforce has experienced over the last year “is because of MuleSoft,” Benioff declared. Companies can’t create next-gen customer experiences if their data is trapped in legacy systems, said Bret Taylor, Salesforce president and chief product officer. “MuleSoft isn’t just a technology, it creates the velocity of digital transformation,” he said. MuleSoft contributed $170 million to overall revenue, which totaled $3.74 billion for the quarter. This is the last quarter that Salesforce will break out revenue numbers for MuleSoft, although the company says it plans to share “additional color going forward as appropriate.”

The Check Is In The Email

Square, the swipe-to-pay retail technology company, sends hundreds of millions of digital receipts every year. The company has always done so, but only in the past couple of years has it started to monetize its email receipts by targeting and attributing sales from coupons or other marketing promotions, with a monthly fee for merchants to use the data. “With something as simple and fundamental as a digital receipt, we can create a valuable customer directory and a suite of tools that take advantage of it,” said Square exec Jesse Dorogusker in 2017 at an investor event. But Square has at times overstepped as it increased email data collection, The Wall Street Journal reports. Some shop owners have tried to shut down Square’s data gathering, because regulars are barraged by marketing and messages. “It was clear that in his mind I had dropped from the ranks of friend to salesperson, scheming to get his information to market to him,” said one store owner about a particularly peeved customer. More.

GroupM Chess Moves

GroupM announced Tuesday a shakeup of its US leadership team. Matt Sweeney, formerly CEO of Xaxis in North America, is now GroupM’s chief investment officer; the former investment leader, Lyle Schwartz, will become chief integration officer; Beth LeTendre, who was CEO of Catalyst, is now CEO of GroupM Performance, where she will lead Xaxis and other performance marketing practices; and Jill Kelly is joining the agency as CMO of GroupM US. The idea is to simplify client access to different functions, particularly to integrate linear and digital investments, and add more automation to the workflow to free up staff to work on more strategic client issues. “Our objective is single-minded and clear: to help our clients grow,” says GroupM North America CEO Tim Castree in a statement. “We can do this by innovating, reducing complexity, applying technology to improve process and outcomes, and being faster to market. Our leadership team is energized and ready to take this on.” More.

The Cookie Crumbles

Firefox will automatically block third-party cookies by default as browsers crack down on online tracking. The enhanced privacy protection feature was turned on Tuesday for first-time users who download the browser, and Firefox will update the tech for current users over the next few months, MediaPost reports. Firefox previously blocked third-party cookies in private browsing mode. The decision marks another step in Firefox’s six-year evolution toward heavier restrictions on third-party tracking. “This past year, we’ve seen tech companies talk a big game about privacy as they’re realizing that, after several global scandals, people feel increasingly vulnerable,” writes Dave Camp, SVP of Firefox, in a blog post. “With this new, increased awareness for privacy, we feel that the time is right for the next step in stronger online protections for everyone.” Read it.

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