Mike O'Brien

A former ClickZ editor, Mike O'Brien couldn't stay away and now contributes to the site in addition to working as a content marketer at Sailthru, the world's largest sender of personalized email. He primarily writes about the innovative ways brands use technology now and the ways they might in the future.

Four cool ecommerce offerings from Pinterest and how brands use them

Ecommerce & Sales Four cool ecommerce offerings from Pinterest and how brands use them

5y Mike O'Brien

Four cool ecommerce offerings from Pinterest and h...

From visual search to personalized catalogs, Pinterest has far more to offer brands than its boards. See examples from Target, Home Depot, Etsy and IK...

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How Walgreens is differentiating and personalizing its customer experience

Retail How Walgreens is differentiating and personalizing its customer experience

5y Mike O'Brien

How Walgreens is differentiating and personalizing...

“The world is moving and it’s moving fast. It’s going to be about personalized value," says Walgreens' Group VP of Beauty and Personal Care. In 2019, ...

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Personalization is powerful, but still not a priority for many marketers

Data & Analytics Personalization is powerful, but still not a priority for many marketers

5y Mike O'Brien

Personalization is powerful, but still not a prior...

40% of executives agree that personalization drives business results, yet 46% aren't where they'd like to be on implementation, finds new research fro...

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You know what AR is. But do you understand how it works?

AR & VR You know what AR is. But do you understand how it works?

5y Mike O'Brien

You know what AR is. But do you understand how it ...

AR is one of today's hottest technologies, allowing consumers to virtually try on makeup and turn themselves into dogs on Snapchat. Here's how it work...

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Brands are excited about chatbots. Why aren't consumers?

Chatbots Brands are excited about chatbots. Why aren't consumers?

5y Mike O'Brien

Brands are excited about chatbots. Why aren't cons...

Though chatbots continue to explode in popularity for marketers, they have downsides that result in consumers preferring human interaction. Read More...

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Personalization, segmentation, testing: How email marketers can use AI

AI & Automation Personalization, segmentation, testing: How email marketers can use AI

5y Mike O'Brien

Personalization, segmentation, testing: How email ...

While everyone recognizes the impact of AI, not every company has figured out how to make the most of it. Here are three suggestions for email markete...

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Three retailers going above and beyond with personalization

Retail Three retailers going above and beyond with personalization

5y Mike O'Brien

Three retailers going above and beyond with person...

Personalization is important for any retailer and some - like Nike, L'Oréal and Stitch Fix - are using innovative technology to do it better than othe...

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What makes Airbnb an exceptional email marketer

Email & Automation What makes Airbnb an exceptional email marketer

5y Mike O'Brien

What makes Airbnb an exceptional email marketer

Marketing emails from Airbnb are generally aesthetically-pleasing and personalized. But the cadence and subtle upselling help make them excellent. Rea...

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Smart Kroger stores, click-and-collect: The state of grocery retail, part 2

Retail Smart Kroger stores, click-and-collect: The state of grocery retail, part 2

5y Mike O'Brien

Smart Kroger stores, click-and-collect: The state ...

Curbside pickup and technologically-advanced stores could help traditional grocery retailers like Walmart and Kroger fend off Amazon. Read More...

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What's Saks Fifth Avenue's top tech investment? Its salespeople

Retail What's Saks Fifth Avenue's top tech investment? Its salespeople

5y Mike O'Brien

What's Saks Fifth Avenue's top tech investment? It...

While retailers increasingly trick their stores out, Saks Fifth Avenue focuses on making sure salespeople have every digital tool at their disposal. R...

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6 examples of perfect proactive triggered emails from Amazon, Airbnb and Stitch Fix

Email & Automation 6 examples of perfect proactive triggered emails from Amazon, Airbnb and Stitch Fix

5y Mike O'Brien

6 examples of perfect proactive triggered emails f...

Triggered messages generate 77% of revenue from emails. Brands like Amazon, Aibnb and Sephora (and hopefully Saucony) show they can also be proactive....

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Amazon is aggressively entering entertainment -- with two big advantages

Content Amazon is aggressively entering entertainment -- with two big advantages

5y Mike O'Brien

Amazon is aggressively entering entertainment -- w...

As Amazon aggressively embraces entertainment, the company has two distinct advantages over competitors like Netflix: Data and diverse offerings. Read...

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What makes retail mobile apps rock solid, according to Forrester Research

Mobile What makes retail mobile apps rock solid, according to Forrester Research

5y Mike O'Brien

What makes retail mobile apps rock solid, accordin...

Consumers are selective about the mobile apps where they spend the majority of their smartphone time. Forrester determined what makes a great retail o...

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What does blockchain mean for the diamond industry?

Blockchain What does blockchain mean for the diamond industry?

5y Mike O'Brien

What does blockchain mean for the diamond industry...

The diamond industry is among the first to go all-in on blockchain, an emerging technology that mystifies many marketers. Read More...

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You have a cart abandonment strategy. What about browse abandonment?

Email & Automation You have a cart abandonment strategy. What about browse abandonment?

5y Mike O'Brien

You have a cart abandonment strategy. What about b...

The Internet is filled with best practices around cart abandonment. Browse abandonment, less so, even though the tactic is trickier to pull off. Read ...

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Relevance is the goal: Q+A with Dollar Shave Club VP of Customer Strategy Gloria Synn

Strategy & Leadership Relevance is the goal: Q+A with Dollar Shave Club VP of Customer Strategy Gloria Synn

5y Mike O'Brien

Relevance is the goal: Q+A with Dollar Shave Club ...

In this Q+A with Gloria Synn, we discuss the difference between personalization and relevance, and how that fuels loyalty for Dollar Shave Club. Read ...

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What artificial intelligence means for 1-800-Flowers this Valentine's Day

AI & Automation What artificial intelligence means for 1-800-Flowers this Valentine's Day

5y Mike O'Brien

What artificial intelligence means for 1-800-Flowe...

An early adopter with one of the first retail toll-free numbers, 1-800-Flowers is leaning in to AI for its version of the Super Bowl: Valentine's Day....

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Super Bowl ads cost millions of dollars. Are they worth it?

Strategy & Leadership Super Bowl ads cost millions of dollars. Are they worth it?

5y Mike O'Brien

Super Bowl ads cost millions of dollars. Are they ...

Though Super Bowl ads are guaranteed attention, they don't necessarily guarantee sales. But they can, particularly when emotion meets actionability. R...

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Super Bowl Sunday and SEO: The importance of search during the Big Game

Search Marketing Super Bowl Sunday and SEO: The importance of search during the Big Game

5y Mike O'Brien

Super Bowl Sunday and SEO: The importance of searc...

SEO is crucial during the Super Bowl, both for $5 million-dollar advertisers and companies hoping to appear in local search results. Read More...

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5 retail technology highlights from NRF 2019: Retail's Big Show

Retail 5 retail technology highlights from NRF 2019: Retail's Big Show

5y Mike O'Brien

5 retail technology highlights from NRF 2019: Reta...

There were plenty of amazing innovations in retail technology at NRF 2019: Retail's Big Show. Here are five of the highlights. Read More...

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How Mastercard is doing its part to revolutionize retail

Finance How Mastercard is doing its part to revolutionize retail

5y Mike O'Brien

How Mastercard is doing its part to revolutionize ...

Financial services companies have a stodgy reputation, but Mastercard has long been at the forefront of using technology to bridge on- and offline sho...

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How Walmart is going all in on artificial intelligence

AI & Automation How Walmart is going all in on artificial intelligence

5y Mike O'Brien

How Walmart is going all in on artificial intellig...

Walmart is experiencing its highest sales figures in nine years. Artificial intelligence is a huge part of the company's plan to keep them there. Read...

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"Cloud computing is the answer": Q+A with Google Cloud's Pravin Pillai

AI & Automation "Cloud computing is the answer": Q+A with Google Cloud's Pravin Pillai

5y Mike O'Brien

"Cloud computing is the answer": Q+A with Google C...

Cloud computing and AI are instrumental in helping marketers utilize their data, according to Google Cloud executive Pravin Pillai. Read More...

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Voice commerce 2019: Will this be the year it catches up to voice search?

Voice Voice commerce 2019: Will this be the year it catches up to voice search?

5y Mike O'Brien

Voice commerce 2019: Will this be the year it catc...

Amazon has sold more than 100 million Alexa devices, showing that voice search has never been hotter. Voice commerce isn't as popular; could that chan...

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Does Netflix's "Bandersnatch" foreshadow the future of video content?

Content Does Netflix's "Bandersnatch" foreshadow the future of video content?

5y Mike O'Brien

Does Netflix's "Bandersnatch" foreshadow the futur...

Black Mirror's "Bandersnatch" episode provides viewers with a unique experience and Netflix with a ton of data. Will more interactive content follow s...

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Brands as publishers: What makes Casper, Airbnb and Red Bull outstanding content marketers

Content Marketing Brands as publishers: What makes Casper, Airbnb and Red Bull outstanding content marketers

5y Mike O'Brien

Brands as publishers: What makes Casper, Airbnb an...

People would rather learn about a brand through content than ads. Creating their own publications, Airbnb, Barneys and Casper take that and run with i...

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What does the future hold for influencer marketing?

Social & Community What does the future hold for influencer marketing?

5y Mike O'Brien

What does the future hold for influencer marketing...

The influencer marketing landscape has changed tremendously over the past few years. Going into 2019, how will it continue to evolve? Read More...

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