Musings on the Human Condition

As we head into 2023, there are three key pillars that ought to be part of every client's digital marketing strategy, described here in the context of the Adobe stack.  In other words, these are the most likely three initiatives Adobe clients are likely to be embarking on 2023. First-Party (1P) Data As browsers and devices begin to restrict third-party data, companies need to ramp up their 1P data collection.  This is accomplished by incentivizing users to provide their data (for example their email address ) by registering on a website or to download a PDF, etc. Adobe's Real-Time Customer Data Platform (RT-CDP), which is part of the Adobe Experience Platform (AEP) is a key component of Adobe's martech stack for enabling efficient 1P data collection  Personalization 1P data enables companies to attach web analytics data (captured via Adobe Analytics or a similar product) to the user. And products like Adobe Target, Customer Journey Analytics (CJA), Customer Journey Optim...

  I've been attending Adobe Summit every year for years and it never fails to disappoint. This year was no exception. Whether your cup of tea is shorter 30-minute sessions or longer 2-hour training workshop-style immersion sessions (my personal favorites) or the not-to-be-missed Summit Sneaks  (cutting-edge innovations) hosted this year by the entertaining Kristen Bell, there's something for everyone. In the following paragraphs I'll highlight the key takeaways I came away with and point you to some of the must-watch sessions. Adobe Experience Platform (AEP) is clearly the future and was at the center of a bulk of the sessions. AEP is much more than the Real-Time Customer Data Platform (RT-CDP) you see in the typical sandbox. This is where most of Adobe's next-generation products are being incubated. Although the CDP is foundational, several products sit atop the CDP and leverage it's near-real-time 360 view of the customer to deliver their magic. Customer Journey...

I recently came across a post that highlights a disturbing trend. Some white-collar workers are working from home and holding down two full-time jobs without explicit consent from their employers.  As it turns out, I know someone who has had first-hand experience of this unethical practice with not one but two colleagues in recent weeks. In other words, it is real. Some unscrupulous defenders of this practice have suggested that this is a practice to be admired. They say that if you hire someone to build a shed at $100/hr for 20 hours ($2,000) and they complete it in 10 hours, you still owe them $2,000.  That may be true if you're being paid by the job. But a full-time job is precisely not that. When you're done with your assigned tasks, you're expected to look around and see how you can make yourself useful by mentoring and helping colleagues, picking up stories from the backlog, refactoring your own code, resolving technical debt, getting to know your team members, etc....