The MarTech Minute: The latest acquisitions by Infosys, Brainlabs and Upland and new Adobe Spark features

MarTech Minute briefs always appear first in our daily newsletter throughout the week. Click here to subscribe. The following is our compilation of the past week’s briefs from those newsletters.

Former Salesforce execs launch marketing data operating system. Habu recently closed a Series A funding round with $15 million from super{set}. The company seeks to help marketers build a strong level of foundational data while delivering cross-channel personalization and automated privacy control. Habu was founded by the founders of Krux and former Salesforce executives. The platform prioritizes compliance while helping marketers address common challenges, including automated insights, first-party data growth, interoperable tech and omnichannel orchestration.

Signals Analytics expands vertical support. Advanced analytics platform Signals Analytics has announced plans to expand its coverage within the food and beverage verticals by merging industry expertise with smart contextual engines. “By giving companies the ability to understand the relationships between different categories and trends, and how consumer sentiment shapes them, we are strengthening the solutions we offer our clients,” said Signals Analytics CEO Gil Sadeh.

ENGINE and Clickagy announce partnership. Global media and marketing services company ENGINE has partnered with data intelligence Clickagy to launch “Attitude Based Audience.” The new capability uses survey data and research to help marketers reach their intended audience more effectively. “The capability alleviates the frustration many agency and marketing leaders face when trying to target prospective and existing customers,” said Andy Davidson, who leads data strategy and analytics for ENGINE Insights, the research and analytics division of ENGINE.

Infosys buys Simplus for $250 million. The digital experience and consulting firm Infosys has announced it is purchasing Simplus, a Salesforce integration consultancy, for $250 million. The deal follows Infosys’ acquisition of Fluido, also a Salesforce consultancy, in 2018 — pointing to the company’s focus on its Salesforce initiatives.

Yotpo brings SMSBump on board. The ecommerce marketing platform Yotpo is buying SMSBump, an SMS marketing solution for ecommerce brands. The acquisition will help expand Yotpo’s offerings, combining review solutions, visual UGC features, loyalty and referral programs and now SMS marketing capabilities. As part of the deal, Yotpo is launching a complete integration between SMSBump and a number of its solutions, including Reviews & Ratings, Visual UGC and Loyalty & Referrals.

Brainlabs continues its buying spree. The digital marketing agency Brainlabs has acquired Hanapin Marketing, an agency that focuses on paid search, paid social and programmatic ads. The company says the Hanapin brand will strategically integrate into Brainlabs over the coming weeks, and that Hanapin’s Hero Conf event — and its PPC Hero blog — will continue to run independently from the agency side of the business. This is the second acquisition announced by Brainlabs in a matter of days — the company confirmed last week it was buying the SEO agency Distilled.

Upland acquires mobile app platform Localytics for $67.7 million. Upland, a cloud-based enterprise work management solution has paid $67.7 million for the mobile app personalization and analytics platform Localytics. Jude McColgan, Localytics CEO, said the combination of Upland and Localytics brings together data, personalization and omni-channel engagement capabilities, allowing brands to create meaningful customer experiences.

ironSource’s new ad-based mobile game studio. Mobile marketing agency ironSource has launched Supersonic Games, a publishing and development studio focused on ad-based games. “This new offering strengthens our connection to the game industry and is a natural evolution of our current mission to turn great games into successful businesses,” said CRO Omer Kaplan. Supersonic Games clients already working with ironSource will be able to access the company’s game network.

Adobe Spark’s latest features. Adobe Spark, the suite of media creation solutions from Adobe, has added a new feature that makes it possible to add and manage multiple brands, each with their own distinct assets, within the same Spark editor account. “Whether you’re a freelancer creating content for a variety of clients, an agency needing to organize multiple campaigns, or a marketer managing multiple products or sub-brands, you now have one convenient content creation dashboard where you can manage all your brand assets,” said the company.

On the Move

SugarCRM announced the additions of Jason Rushforth as GM, Americas, and Clare Dorrian, as chief marketing officer. Rushforth and Dorrian bring joint experience in CX and CRM that will support the company’s focus on customers. “Having years of knowledge in building out both martech and CRM stacks, and being devoted to the discipline of customer service, I’m passionate about education and thought leadership,” said Rushforth, “I see great things in the company’s future, particularly with the Sugar Discover and Market products.”

Indicators

When it comes to personalization, consumers favor tactics based on their interests and preferences, according to a survey by Localytics. While 32% of the 1,000 consumers surveyed preferred personalization based on their interests, only 4% said they preferred personalization tactics based on their physical location. In other words, brands that target people based on where they are may be crossing a line for many consumers — delivering ads that feel a bit too creepy on the receiving end.