New challenges require new tools in the pursuit of customer centricity

Faced with unique marketplace, technology and economic challenges, brands are realizing that traditional approaches to customer engagement are not going to be viable in the next three to five years. They are facing challenges brought by data deprecation, regulatory environments, consumer privacy concerns and ever-escalating customer expectations.

Artificial intelligence-based solutions are the only way that brands can meet and exceed both consumer needs and business demands. The reason is two-fold: artificial intelligence-backed technologies can deliver both empathy and scale in customer engagement programs by bring together data from across entire organizations and then activate that data in a customer-centric way.

At Pega, we call that “Humanization”. Humanization is connecting to a customer’s self-identity and personal values to create value for both customer and brand. We enable Humanization through our Customer Decision Hub which gives our clients a central brain powered by AI to connect all of the brand’s channels to their customers to deliver highly relevant engagements across any of those channels.

In our newest release of Customer Decision Hub, 8.8, we’re surfacing new features that will enable an agile approach to humanization, growth, and sustainability to meet challenges mentioned above head-on:

1. More sustainable data sources. Marketers and customer engagement practitioners are used to augmenting their owned data with external data sources to maximize lift, however, data deprecation by major marketing and advertising technology providers is going to mean that access to external data sources will be both limited and expensive. It’s why many organizations have raced to implement Customer Data Platforms that clean and organize their first party data sources. Recognizing this need, we’re delivering new Customer Data Connectors that provide out of the box integrations of real-time signals, behavior and segments from major platforms including Celebrus Digital Identity Platform, Adobe Experience Platform, and ZineOne Real-time Marketing Platform.


2. Agile change management tools. Every functional area of the business landscape is being asked to do more with less in an economic downturn. Especially in terms of Customer Experience. And not just more, but also faster to keep up with the pace of the consumer more specifically in digital channels. This may mean navigating complex business rules, hundreds of actions and treatments within a system. In 8.8 Customer Decision Hub will enable Fast Release Changes in 1:1 Operations Manager to expedite bug fixes, emergency release changes and offer management in a separate Fast Track that allows teams to rapidly adapt and make strategic changes when conditions change and problems arise which at the pace we are moving, are inevitable.


3. Program health. Not being able to connect programs to business results is a tale as old as time for brands. There aren’t standards for metrics and KPIs and they’re often left to devise their own measurement programs that prove value. With the Impact Analyzer feature, brands can monitor outcomes in real-time that impact customer lifetime value, weighing engagement against business levers to optimize for the healthiest program possible depending on business goals. And if something isn’t working, the software recommends modifications, so the brand can pivot immediately to a more optimized strategy.

These new features mean that brands using Customer Decision Hub will be able to better personalize customer experiences and accelerate outcomes with more dynamic offers, more streamlined operations and scale driven by artificial intelligence. This gives brands the ability to be more human and empathetic to their customer’s needs in every interaction and execute against the growth requirements for their business. With traditional marketing technologies, brands are often asked to sacrifice one for the other. The new features in 8.8, there’s no need to.

The learn more about how Pega’s Customer Decision Hub can help your brand meet the challenges of the moment check out this video of Pega executives Matt Nolan and Shoel Perlman exploring these new features.