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Financial Services
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Creative Spotlight: Max's Mood Messaging Campaign 🔮
1 MIN READ In this edition of our Creative Collective, we’re excited to highlight Max's innovative "Mood Messaging" campaign. Spotted while watching White Lotus S3 👀 As the streaming landscape continues to expand, viewers are faced with an overwhelming array of choices, making it increasingly difficult to decide what to watch. In fact, the Nielsen Streaming Content Consumer Survey revealed that 20% of viewers often don’t know what to watch beforehand and end up doing something else instead. 🤯 Max has recognized this challenge and has taken a creative approach to enhance the viewing experience. Their in-app message survey asks users what they are in the mood to watch—options include Action, Mystery, Drama, Reality, and more. Based on the selected mood, Max recommends a show that users can stream immediately or allows them to go back and pick a new mood if they’re not satisfied with the initial suggestion. This campaign taps into a crucial piece of metadata: mood. Did you know comfort streaming is at a high? Cynopsis finds 66% of viewers say they are enjoying discovering content that was originally released 10+ years ago. That explains why Katherine Heigl still gets recognized by teens today for her role as Izzie Stevens. What creative campaigns have you spotted recently? Share your insights and let’s continue to inspire each other in our journey of innovation!Forbes: 6 Research Findings That Prove 1st-Party Data Is Reshaping Personalized Shopping
Hello y'all! I'm back to share a recent Forbes piece that I thought you’d find interesting! It dives into the importance of 1st-party data as brands navigate the ever-evolving expectations of shoppers. The article includes interesting insights from our Braze team on how retailers can better leverage their own data while maintaining consumer trust–something I know is top of mind for many of you. Curious to hear your thoughts! How is your data strategy evolving to better enable personalized shopper journeys?🎉 Meet our new retail industry lead, Meredith Mitchell!! 🎉
Hello retail community! I'm so excited to introduce Meredith Mitchell, who recently joined Braze to lead our retail industry practice. Meredith brings a wealth of experience leading eCommerce and marketing at Disney, Biltmore & Altar'd State. You'll be hearing from Meredith more soon, but please help me give her a warm welcome. And please let us know if there's anything you'd like to learn or discuss in this group!Espresso, Energy Drinks, and Cottage Cheese: The Fun Side of On-Demand Data!
2 MIN READ Hey Creative Collective! Let’s talk about something hotter than your morning espresso: the On-Demand market! On Demand is in demand, but the battlefield for customer loyalty is fierce. Here’s the 🔥🔥🔥 hot take: On-Demand has the most fun customer data! Social media, streaming, and cultural trends are driving customer behavior, and the impact is almost instant. Just look at some of my favorite data points from Grubhub’s 2024 Delivered Trend Report and Gopuff’s 2024 Consumer Trends Report that show how our cravings and interests are shaping the market: ☕ People couldn’t stop thinkin’ about me espresso Americans were buzzing with their love for espresso—whether sipping it in their drinks or blasting it on repeat in their playlists. So much so that Grubhub espresso orders spiked the week of June 22nd, right as the hit song Espresso topped the charts. 🧀 Cottage cheese everything TikTok has been flooded with recipes for cottage cheese everything—toast, mac and cheese, protein cookie dough, and much more. Cottage cheese captured consumers' hearts online so much that the high-protein, low-calorie food saw a whopping 166% increase in orders on Gopuff this year. Who knew cottage cheese could be so trendy? 🗳️ Nervous election night As customers tuned into Election Night coverage on November 5, Gopuff sales rose nearly 20% compared to the average Tuesday. Nervous Americans glued to their TVs and phones ordered comfort food and medication for their heartburn. Sales of ice cream, alcohol, and pain relievers were all up more than 30%, with digestive aids like Tums seeing a 13% increase. 🍋 Most sour One customer had nearly 900 limes delivered to their door over the course of the year... Now that’s a zest for life! Often, we see customer engagement messaging doesn’t match this fun and excitement. 😒 This year, we aim to shift brands from a product-first, transactional messaging approach to a more holistic strategy that combines both transactional and emotional loyalty. To truly thrive, On Demand brands need to integrate real-time data, creative storytelling, and cultural relevance to deliver personalized experiences at lightning speed. How can you do this? What about taking inspiration from Dutch Bros Year-End Celebration? They launched Personalized Personas: Customers were grouped into personas like “Champions” and “Rookies,” with each unlocking unique app stickers that celebrated achievements. These personas, created with Braze segmentation, ensured every customer felt valued. McDonalds teased an iconic collab with a voice note of Stormzy ordering at the counter, before launching the meal and offering fans the chance to bag official merch and meet the man himself. The data showed that lots of fans had already ‘ordered like Stormzy’ in the past, so they sent a targeted email celebrating their great taste. What do you think? Which industry has the most fun data, and how are they using it? Let’s get the conversation rolling! 💬Love and Deepspace
2 MIN READ Ever heard of someone taking an AI boyfriend on vacation? 🤖 🌴 That's exactly what one woman did after her divorce, dropping $70 for a virtual companion to join her on what would've been her anniversary trip. Her verdict? "Worth every penny." This got me thinking about where digital romance is headed. I believe we're on the cusp of something fascinating - dating apps might soon blend AI avatars into their mix, and here's the kicker: it could actually make online dating better, not worse. Need proof? Look no further than Love and Deepspace, 2024's breakout mobile game that's taking the romance gaming world by storm. This sci-fi dating sim has pulled in a whopping $400 million and 50 million players in just one year. On New Year's Eve 2024, players spent $10.5 million in a single day. Let that sink in. Why It's Working Love and Deepspace isn't just another game - it's cracked the code on digital connection. Players aren't just tapping screens; they're forming genuine emotional bonds through: Personalized boyfriends with custom storylines that adapt to player choices Cross-channel interaction (texts, calls, social posts) Regular special events that keep things fresh A gacha gaming system that has some players happily spending thousands What This Means for Customer Engagement The success of Love and Deepspace isn't just about gaming - it's a masterclass in emotional engagement. The game proves that virtual connections can be meaningful, profitable, and surprisingly powerful. As the lines between digital and physical relationships continue to blur, businesses that understand this evolution will have a serious advantage. Remember that $70 AI vacation date? Soon, that might seem quaint compared to what's coming next in the world of digital relationships. 🤖 💘 With $400 million in revenue, Love and Deepspace isn't just winning hearts - it's showing us that in the digital age, emotional connection might be the most valuable currency of all.Braze Learning 日本語訳 - Set Up a New Feature Flag
新しいフィーチャーフラグを設定する ユーザーに対してフィーチャーフラグを有効にするには、以下3つの方法があります。 Feature Flagを直接制御する（ロールアウト / カナリヤリリース） キャンペーンでA/Bテストを実施する キャンバスで制御・A/Bテストする Feature Flagを直接制御する（ロールアウト / カナリヤリリース） ターゲット ユーザーを指定し、ロールアウト トラフィック スライダーを使用して、新しい機能を受け取るターゲット ユーザー ベースのランダムな割合を定義します。 この方法は、時間をかけて徐々に多くのユーザーに新機能をロールアウトし、問題が見つかった場合に簡単にロールバックすることで、新機能のバグをテストする場合に適しています。 [Messaging] > [Feature Flag] で、フィーチャーフラグのロールアウトを設定できます。 キャンペーンでA/Bテストを実施する キャンペーンのFeature Flag Experimentを使用して、新しい機能に対して A/B テストを実行します。 この方法は、新しい機能がコンバージョン率にプラスまたはマイナスの影響を与えるかどうか、またはどのFeature Flag プロパティのセットが最も最適であるかを判断するのに役立ちます。 この方法を使用するには、開発者チームと協力してインプレッションを記録し、ユーザーがいつ新しい機能を操作したかを追跡する必要があります。 新しいキャンペーンを作成し、[Feature Flag Experiment] を選択することで、Feature Flag Experimentを設定できます。 キャンバスで制御・A/Bテストする Canvas を使用して、機能リリースとクロスチャネル メッセージングの取り組みを調整します。ユーザーがユーザー ジャーニー中に実行したアクションに基づいてフィーチャーフラグの対象となることを許可し、機能のエンゲージメントを深めるためにメッセージをフォローアップします。 Canvas で実験パスを使用して、機能のメッセージまたはカスタム プロパティのさまざまな組み合わせを A/B テストします。 フィーチャーフラグ コンポーネントを使用して、任意の Canvas ジャーニーでフィーチャーフラグを有効にします 新しいフィーチャーフラグを作成する ユーザーに対してフィーチャーフラグを有効にするために使用する方法を決定したら、次のステップは Braze ダッシュボードで新しい機能フラグを作成することです。新しいフィーチャーフラグを作成するには、[メッセージング] > [フィーチャーフラグ] に移動し、[フィーチャーフラグの作成] をクリックします。新しい機能フラグの設定の詳細については、下の画像のホットスポットをクリックしてください。 ①名前 フィーチャーフラグの目的をチームに伝える、わかりやすいタイトルを選択してください。 ②ID これは、開発者のコードで参照されるフィーチャーフラグの名前です。 ID は作成後に変更できないため、このフィールドに情報を入力する前に開発者に問い合わせてください。 チームでは、フィーチャーフラグを有効にすることで何が行われるかを明確にするために、このフィールドに {verb}_{product}_{feature} という命名規則を使用するのが一般的です。 ③プロパティ Feature Flagの呼び出し時に任意のプロパティ（Key Value Pair）を定義することができます。 キャンペーンのフィーチャーフラグ実験やキャンバスでプロパティを設定するとここで指定したデフォルト値は上書きされます。（ここで設定されたプロパティは反映されません。） ④ターゲティング セグメントやオーディエンス フィルターを使用して、どのユーザーが機能の対象となるかを定義します。キャンペーンのフィーチャーフラグ実験やキャンバスでターゲットを設定するとここで指定した値は上書きされます。（ここで設定されたターゲットは反映されません。） ⑤ロールアウトトラフィック ロールアウト スライダーは、対象となるユーザーの何パーセントがアプリで機能を有効にするかを決定します。新しい機能を公開する準備が整うまで、ロールアウト トラフィックを 0% に設定したままにしておきます。いつでもこのページに戻って、機能のロールアウト トラフィックを増減できます。 キャンペーンのフィーチャーフラグ実験やキャンバスで利用する場合は、ロールアウトの割合は常に 0% に保つ必要があります。 ⑥コードサンプル 開発者チームにここで、アプリケーションのフィーチャーフラグの統合を開始するために使用できるサンプル コードを案内してください。 フィーチャーフラグの使用例 使用例 1: 動的なホームページ バナーを実装する 課題 QSR ブランドの Sandwichemperor は、地元のスポーツ団体と提携しています。試合日には、試合日のセールを宣伝するために、そのエリア内のユーザー向けに Web サイトのホームページのエクスペリエンスを更新する方法が必要です。 解決策 Sandwichemperor は、Braze フィーチャーフラグを使用して、ローカル ユーザーのみが閲覧できるバナーをホームページにすばやく追加したり、バナーの内容をその日の試合に関連するものに変更したりできます。彼らは、特定のバナー コピーがより多くのエンゲージメントを促進するかどうかをテストするために、フィーチャーフラグの実験を実行します。 実装手順 ステップ 1: フィーチャーフラグを設定する 新しいフィーチャーフラグの設定で、チームはホームページのバナー コピーのプロパティを定義し、その日の試合に固有の詳細を交換できます。 キャンペーンのフィーチャーフラグ実験を利用するため、ロールアウトの割合は 0% に設定されたままにします。 ステップ 2: 実験キャンペーンを作成する 2 つのバリエーションを使用してフィーチャーフラグの実験を作成します。 各バリアントでは、banner_textのカスタム プロパティをオーバーライドして、2つの異なるバージョンをテストします。 ステップ 3: 適切な視聴者をターゲットにする 実験の対象は、ローカル ゲームと同じ地域に住むユーザーのみとなります。 ステップ 4: 結果を分析する キャンペーン分析を使用して、チームはフィーチャー フラグのインプレッションを分析し、どのバリアントが最も高いバナー エンゲージメントをもたらしたかを判断します。 使用例 2: Gate プレミアム アプリの機能 課題 衣料品小売サービスである Flash & Thread には、ベーシック ユーザーとプレミアム ユーザーによる段階的なメンバーシップ システムがあります。プレミアム メンバーだけがアクセスできる衣装スタイリングのチュートリアル機能を有効にする方法が必要です。また、機能のエンゲージメントを促進するメッセージングと連携して、新しい加入者をプレミアム アプリの機能にオンボーディングする方法も必要です。 解決策 チームは、キャンバスのフィーチャーフラグを使用して、新規加入者にプレミアム機能へのアクセスを許可し、この新しい機能を使ってもらうためのクロスチャネル メッセージングを実施します。 実装手順 ステップ 1: フィーチャーフラグを設定する 開発者チームは協力して、アプリケーション コードに一致するフィーチャーフラグのIDを設定します。 キャンバスでFeature Flagを利用するため、ロールアウト パーセンテージが 0% に設定されたままになるようにします。 ステップ 2: オンボーディング キャンバスを作成する Canvasのエントリ設定で、ユーザーがプレミアム メンバーシップに登録するとジャーニーに参加できるようにジャーニーを構成します。 ステップ 3: キャンバスの旅を構築する まずは、Feature Flagの機能を有効にするFeature Flagコンポーネントを設定します。 その後、ユーザーにプレミアム機能を紹介するためのアプリ内メッセージを連結させます。 ステップ 4: 機能のエンゲージメントを高める アクション パスを使用して、ユーザーが数日間の間に、該当機能を利用したかどうかを追跡します。 また、該当機能を利用していないユーザーにはContent Cardsでフォローアップします。 ユースケース 3: 新しいアプリ機能を展開する 課題 旅行予約サービスの UponVoyage は、ロイヤルティ メンバー向けに新しい期間限定プレゼント機能を導入したいと考えています。開発者チームはこの機能を構築しましたが、その機能にバグがないかテストする方法と、ロイヤルティ メンバーのみがアプリケーションでその機能にアクセスできるように機能を制限する方法が必要です。 解決策 機能フラグを使用すると、少数のロイヤルティ メンバーに新機能を展開し、機能のバグをテストできます。機能のパフォーマンスに自信を持ったら、ロイヤルティ メンバー ベース全体に機能へのアクセスを簡単に許可できます。 実装手順 ステップ 1: 機能フラグを設定する Feature Flag ID を設定するだけでなく、機能の外観とコピーを制御するカスタム プロパティを設定して、後で機能の外観を簡単に変更できるようにします。 ステップ 2: 適切な視聴者をターゲットにする 機能ロールアウトの対象となるユーザーとしてロイヤルティ メンバー セグメントを選択します。 ステップ 3: ロールアウト トラフィックを調整する チームがユーザーベースで機能のテストを開始する準備ができたら、ロールアウト スライダーを小さいパーセンテージに設定してロールアウトを開始します。 ステップ 4: パフォーマンスを監視する 初期ロールアウト中に機能のパフォーマンスにバグがないか監視します。新機能が期待どおりに機能していると確信したら、チームは Braze ダッシュボードに戻り、ロールアウトの割合を増やしてロイヤルティ メンバー ベース全体に機能を完全にリリースします。 参考資料 Braze Learning Set Up a New Feature Flag
Super Bowl LIX Ads: Are They Even Ads Anymore?
Ah, Super Bowl Sunday—the one night a year where people pretend to care about commercials. Brands drop millions for 30 seconds of attention, and in return, we get a mix of celebrity cameos, nostalgia bait, and the occasional heartwarming moment that makes us forget we’re being sold something. But let’s be real: Are these even ads anymore, or just really expensive short films with logos at the end? The Same Playbook, Every Year This year’s lineup? Some hits, some flops, and a whole lot of déjà vu. Budweiser gave us another sentimental Clydesdale story. Michelob Ultra made pickleball look cooler than it is. Google Pixel went for the heartfelt tech angle. Meanwhile, Coffee Mate traumatized us with dancing tongues. And of course, celebrities everywhere—Martha Stewart, Matthew McConaughey, Brad Pitt. Half these ads could swap logos and you’d never notice. Are These Ads Even Selling Anything? Think about the last Super Bowl ad that actually made you want to buy something. Hard, right? That’s because these commercials aren’t about selling anymore—they’re about entertainment. We remember the moment, not the message. If your $7 million ad doesn’t make people remember your brand, what’s the point? Is a Super Bowl Ad Even Worth It? For the cost of one Super Bowl spot, brands could run months of digital campaigns with actual data on whether people engage or buy. Instead, they burn cash on a one-time spectacle and hope it “goes viral.” At this point, Super Bowl ads aren’t really about ROI. They’re a status symbol. A victory lap for brands that can afford to flex.January 2025: Introduction to SQL in Braze
Hey folks, In place of a live session this month, we have recorded an interactive session - Introduction to SQL in Braze. Have you ever wondered about how you can use SQL in Braze to enhance your segmentation and user targeting, as well as your message engagement analytics? Platform CSMs, Alex and Octavian have got you covered! In this quick yet comprehensive video, they present applications for SQL in Braze, go over basic and advanced SQL concepts and look at a direct use case you can apply in your own Braze instance. You’ll likely find this session to be useful if you are in the early stages of using SQL both generally and in Braze and you wish to understand more about the applications of its use in some of our features such as Query Builder or Segment Extensions. If you’re already an SQL whizz, you might find the content more elementary. The session is structured as follows: Intro to SQL as a database query language Basic SQL concepts General applications of SQL in Braze The 2 types of SQL Segment Extensions Advanced SQL topics Real Query Builder SQL use case The session is under 15 minutes long and can be viewed here. You can also take a look at the slides here which include additional resources on SQL. All of the best, Small But Mighty Team
From Skeptic to Believer: Crossing the Crypto Barrier in 2025
Last week, Motley Fool published the results of its 2025 Cryptocurrency Investor Trends Survey. The survey of 2,000 U.S based respondents provides a sense of what the outlook on crypto is heading into 2025. Within this investing focused population, sentiment on the industry is mixed. While 50% think the market will perform positively in 2025 due to the new administration, only 42% said they're likely to buy cryptocurrency this year, in line with last year's findings during a less bullish environment. Additionally, making that first purchase into crypto may take some convincing as 84% of respondents who have never owned it said they're unlikely to buy it this year. As for why they're not purchasing crypto, 31% of respondents cited security concerns, but the most cited answers were not knowing what to do with it (36%) and not understanding how to buy it (33%). So why does this matter? Well as the survey shows, it's clear there is still a lot of confusion and uncertainty around the crypto Industry even from people who are interested in investing. If you overlay this with concerns of trust in the broader Financial Services Industry where 50% of consumers cite trustworthiness as the most important factor in choosing a bank - crypto brands are going to have to work that much harder to build trust and engage a population of users who may be struggling to get past the clear barrier of entry into this space. Creating an engaging welcome experience while tailoring messaging to user preferences, whether it's education, or additional product offerings is critical for crypto brands. While this may require multiple layers of segmentation and personalization the juice seems to be worth the squeeze. As the article highlights, once people adopt crypto they tend to continue to purchase more and are open to additional products and services. 66% of those surveyed who already own crypto said they're very likely to buy more in the coming year, while 86% of that same population would consider using a credit card with crypto rewards. Whether you're bullish or bearish on crypto, 2025 promises to be potentially the biggest year for the industry yet.
2024 Financial Services Marketing Trends to Watch
3 MIN READ Financial services brands are making gains in employing marketing best practices to achieve impressive results. They’re leveraging advanced segmentation, using zero-party and first-party data for campaign planning, and, more than any other sector, they regularly collaborate across the organization on customer engagement initiatives. Here are a few of the top 2024 financial services marketing trends that surfaced from our fourth-annual Global Customer Engagement Review (CER). Let’s dive into the findings and review how FinServ marketers can get and stay ahead. The Top 5 Key Trends for Financial Services Marketers Financial services organizations need the right tools and skills to better leverage data for customer engagement. Financial services companies stand to benefit from sharing key marketing priorities with data scientists and business intelligence (BI) teams, as they’re in the best position to help marketers apply data for more effective customer engagement. At the same time, it’s important to upskill marketers so they can work more independently without having to rely on outside teams. Equipping marketers with tools capable of automating data analysis and the next best action helps close these skill and knowledge gaps across the organization. 2. Leveraging the right channels can help FinServ brands drive session engagement and retention. Braze data reveals that marketers using out-of-product channels like email and push notifications can see major uplift in session engagement and retention. Cross-channel campaigns that leverage multiple in-product and out-of-product channels are also highly effective for engaging and retaining FinServ customers. 3. Lacking the technology to bring their team’s ideas to life is the #1 challenge for FinServ marketers looking to be more creative and strategic. More than four in ten FinServ marketers say their current toolset stands in the way of executing creative ideas. Other top roadblocks include a focus on KPIs over creativity and an inability to demonstrate the ROI of creativity. 4. Financial services organizations are leading the way when it comes to dynamic, data-driven segmentation. Historically, financial service organizations haven’t led the way in customer engagement, but that’s changing. The industry is putting stronger strategies in place this year—and beyond. From a technology perspective, financial services brands excel at customer segmentation, particularly at leveraging real-time segmentation based on up-to-the-moment information about customer behavior, interests, transactions, and interactions—38% of surveyed marketers in this sector are operating at the top level for segmentation, a higher share than any other vertical. FinServ companies are also at the forefront of utilizing various data sources to strategize future campaigns. Marketers in this industry lead all other sectors by 13 percentage points when it comes to using zero- and first-party data for campaign planning. 5. Despite skepticism, there are big opportunities for FinServ brands to use AI. Our research shows that 25% of marketing executives in the FinServ industry have an unfavorable view of AI, making this sector less receptive to AI compared to most others. However, to stay competitive and innovative, many FinServ brands are still looking to invest in AI technologies. These brands are increasingly planning to use AI for real-time optimization, data insights, and creative ideation, recognizing the potential of these capabilities to enhance customer engagement and operational efficiency in a rapidly evolving market. Final Thoughts FinServ companies recognize the importance of customer engagement, to the tune of tremendous growth over the past year. Going forward, marketers must prioritize technology that provides deep insight and enables goals for personalization and cultivating deeper customer relationships. Want to learn about how FinServ brands can leverage customer engagement to drive success? Check out our Financial Services Mini-Guide for actionable strategies to drive growth. About the Study These findings are part of our broader fourth-annual Global Customer Engagement Report, which draws on the following sources: Market research featuring 1,900 VP+ marketing decision-makers across 14 countries in three global regions. An analysis of Braze proprietary data, including 9 billion global users and nearly 1,000 Braze customers in 50+ countries, via our leading customer engagement platform. In-depth interviews with marketing leaders from best-in-class brands in five industries across three regions.
