“Welcome to the new Cheetah Digital.” With those words to officially open Signals 19, Chief Product Officer Bill Ingram changed our view of everything. From revolutionary products to learning how to embrace the uncomfortable, the first full day of programming at Signals 19 brought us everything we wanted and more.
Here’s a recap of the day’s events.
Cheetah Digital does its part
We kicked the day off by focusing on one of our important initiatives — giving back. Representatives from Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago and Codeverse joined us to share their missions, and we introduced the Codeverse challenge at Signals 19. For every review an attendee submits to G2 Crowd, Cheetah Digital will contribute $100 to Big Brothers Big Sisters to help kids learn how to code on the Codeverse platform. Thank you to everyone who submitted a review!
Taking the unknown to the known
CEO Sameer Kazi started off a day of huge announcements by sharing his vision for what marketing will look like — specifically how data management + real-time action can turn “the unknown into the known.” After setting us up for greatness, Sameer introduced CPO Bill Ingram and his exciting news.
“We’re announcing identity-defining innovation in the form of a new platform. A true lifecycle set of data for the first party marketer. Real software, available now.” — CEO Sameer Kazi
More impact than ever before
Little did we know that by the end of CPO Bill Ingram’s keynote, marketing clouds and ESPs would be left in the dust as the Cheetah Digital Customer Engagement Suite arrived. Managing and presenting data in a way that’s actually accessible to non-technical marketers, the Customer Engagement Suite allows brands to put data to work in real-time, across all channels. It’s packed with three essential components: Cheetah Experiences, Cheetah Messaging, and Cheetah Loyalty. There is so much to cover in this product announcement that we wrote a whole blog about the new products.
“We will build smartly, we will make you better at marketing, and we will build fast and iterate quickly to help you create that competitive advantage you need in your market.” — CPO Bill Ingram
Every product announcement was interspersed with stories from clients who’ve used Cheetah Digital products to engage millions of customers globally. We got to hear from Bloomin’ Brands Chief Customer Officer Michael Stutts about the data-related challenge he faces with his global brand. Maria Reyes, the Marketing Director for Bauer Media, shared her company’s three-year success story with Cheetah Experiences and zero-party data. We welcomed Israel Garcia, Head of Digital Channels and Data for Real Madrid, who uses Cheetah Messaging to engage their devoted fan base of over 600 million fans. Finally, Ben Cooke, VP of Retail Operations for Fleet Feet shared how they have doubled profits and store locations in an era of retail decline by creating true loyalty among runners by offering a truly customized platform — featuring Cheetah Digital’s mobile wallet — and meeting customers where they’re at.
“I want to see our brands win. I want to see our customers reengage with our brands. I want them to see the messaging at the right time. I want them to like us again.” — Bloomin’ Brands Chief Customer Officer Michael Stutt
Through it all, our continent-spanning, quick-clicking Demo DJs who brought the product announcements to life with live — yes, LIVE — demos of every new product.
Jumping in with two feet
Speaker, author, and CEO Ron Tite followed up that immense product release announcement with a reminder of what it’s really all about. Marketing can be about gimmicks and tricks, but it doesn’t have to be. Truly good marketing is about authenticity and we all have to be brave enough to be real with our audiences.
“It’s on you to believe in something that’s more important than what you sell. There’s an exciting world ahead of you; make sure you jump in with two feet.” — Ron Tite
Reshaping how we think about change
After a series of breakout sessions featuring our Cheetah Digital experts, clients, and wonderful partners, we went back to Mainstage to hear from the change-maker herself. Beth Comstock, the first female Vice Chair of GE, was there to shake things up and change our perspectives. She urged us to think of so many things we thought would exist forever — taxi cabs, paying with cash, getting energy from fossil fuels — and just how quickly they were replaced with something new and innovative (that we all laughed at, at first) like Uber, mobile wallets or cash apps, and solar energy.
Her advice: don’t hold on too long to those old ways because change is inevitable. And it’s our job to make space for that change.
“Optimize today, build for tomorrow.” — Beth Comstock
How the sausage gets made at Netflix
As the creator of the show Patriot Act, Hasan Minhaj knows a thing or two about what it takes to run a successful and at times controversial show on Netflix. More goes into a show on political commentary than we would even think and Hasan was on Mainstage to tell us all about it.
What makes a great show? To Hasan, it’s about not just reporting and commenting on a headline, but getting the “take,” which is Hasan’s term for the underlying message that each of his shows is focused around. In order for a story to make it to Patriot Act, it must be one of two things: either something that we care about or something that we should care about. From there, Hasan is able to create a show that accomplishes multiple objectives: it makes us laugh, it makes us think and, maybe, helps to change the world.
One L of a Town
Evening came and we were whisked off to a historic building for an evening celebrating the best of Chicago. The ABC Building was transformed into scenes from Chicago — cocktails from Fulton Market; a VR batting cage and mini Chicago dogs at Wrigleyville; tacos and empanadas in Pilsen; and dim sum treats in Chinatown. We hopped from neighborhood to neighborhood, trying out the cocktails, craft beers, and foods that make Chicago memorable. And last, but not least, celebrity DJ Pete Wentz manned the decks to provide the evening’s soundtrack.
It was an incredible day! Want to share your experiences and memories with us? Tag us in your social posts using the #Signals19 tag. And don’t forget, you can demo all the new products released today, just give us a shout.
