What’s Fueling the Next Automotive Revolution: Software, Data and Salesforce
New Automotive Cloud features announced today help automotive companies increase productivity, revenue, and customer loyalty. With Automotive Cloud, automotive companies can deliver immersive, in-car experiences powered by real-time personalization and build truly connected experiences at every customer touch point, whether they are driving, buying, or servicing their vehicle.
Significance: Sixty-eight percent of consumers report plans to reassess their spending with automotive brands over the coming year amid a tightening economy and high inflation. Delivering connected car experiences will be key for automotive brands, as 72% of consumers report that digitization has increased their satisfaction with the car buying process and 37% of consumers worldwide reported they would switch car brands for better connectivity.
Context: Automotive Cloud uses the full power of the Customer 360 to pair best-in-class apps with out-of-the-box solutions containing industry-specific data models and processes. Now, automotive companies can create a single view of the entire customer and vehicle lifecycle with intelligent, automated, and real-time technology.
Now automotive companies can create a single view of the entire customer and vehicle lifecycle with intelligent, automated, and real-time technology.
What’s new: New capabilities coming to Automotive Cloud include:
Soundbites:
What’s coming next:
Learn more:
Any unreleased services or features referenced in this or other press releases or public statements are not currently available and may not be delivered on time or at all. Customers who purchase Salesforce applications should make their purchase decisions based upon features that are currently available. Salesforce has headquarters in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia, and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “CRM.” For more information please visit https://www.salesforce.com, or call 1-800-NO-SOFTWARE.
One of 15 solutions accredited globally by the Carbon Disclosure Project, Net Zero Cloud helps organizations track, measure, and report on climate goals
Net Zero Cloud includes Automate ESG Reporting and other ‘out-of-the-box’ solutions to help companies accelerate to net zero
Salesforce and sustainability and ESG consultancy ERM team up to offer clients decarbonization services expertise with Net Zero Cloud
Today, Salesforce announced that its carbon accounting solution, Net Zero Cloud, has gained gold accreditation from the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and will be a part of the organization’s global network of climate change consultancy partners.
CDP is a global non-profit that supports organizations in disclosing their climate risks and opportunities. Its widely-adopted standard for voluntary reporting is used by 18,000+ companies and over 1,100 cities, states, and regions globally.
Accredited providers help companies disclosing to CDP to identify the gaps in their environmental performance, address these gaps, and identify further opportunities for becoming leaders in the corporate environmental action space.
“As regulators, investors, and key stakeholders demand more climate accountability, organizations need solutions to track progress on goals and report their impact in an accurate and timely manner,” said Ari Alexander, GM of Net Zero Cloud, Salesforce. “Net Zero Cloud brings the power of Salesforce’s thriving ecosystem to help organizations of all sizes and across industries reach their climate goals faster and more reliably.”
Net Zero Cloud brings the power of Salesforce’s thriving ecosystem to help organizations of all sizes and across industries reach their climate goals faster and more reliably.
Ari Alexander, GM of Net Zero Cloud, Salesforce
“I’m thrilled to welcome Net Zero Cloud as a CDP gold accredited solutions provider,” said Paul Robins, Global Head of Partnerships at CDP. “The addition of Net Zero Cloud will bring highly valued expertise to companies using CDP to disclose their environmental data, and support them to implement leading actions to reduce their carbon footprint. We are confident that Salesforce’s decade-long leadership in voluntary climate reporting will be valuable to companies responding to CDP.”
Net Zero Cloud, which provides environmental data management as part of its overall offerings, recently announced Automate ESG Reporting, a solution to help organizations meet growing stakeholder demand for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) transparency.
Automate ESG Reporting enables companies to manage ESG data in real time and easily generate reports according to the CDP and Global Reporting Initiative frameworks.
Salesforce is partnering up with ERM, a leading sustainability and ESG consultancy, to help organizations accelerate their sustainability goals.
ERM is providing sustainability and ESG consulting expertise that complements Salesforce’s Net Zero Cloud. By coming together, ERM and Salesforce can offer a full suite of solutions to help organizations track and report on their ESG goals.
“Businesses today face the urgent challenge of accelerating their sustainability progress while driving profitable revenue growth,” said Matt Klein, Global Corporate Sustainability & Climate Change Co-Head at ERM. “By combining Net Zero Cloud’s insights on sustainability performance with ERM’s end-to-end sustainability services and expertise, together we will help organizations achieve the transformation needed to meet their ESG goals.”
The past few years have put a strain on women. They often bear the brunt of disproportionate responsibilities at home. Women leaders are switching roles at higher rates than ever. And men significantly outnumber women at the manager level.
Salesforce is focused on building an inclusive workplace that reflects society. To get there, the company focuses on increasing representation, which includes the experience employees have after they’ve joined Salesforce.
To create a more gender-inclusive environment where women and non-binary employees can thrive, Salesforce is focused on key initiatives and dedicated resources that target specific challenges like equal pay, gender affirming care, robust leaves for parents, and access to critical healthcare. It’s important that women are not only well represented, but that they are empowered to have a voice in the room.
For Women’s History Month, and at a pivotal moment for women in the workplace, leaders from Salesforce, Slack, Boston Consulting Group, and MassMutual shared three strategies for women to navigate challenges they face in the workplace.
Eighty-one percent of women believe they put more pressure on themselves not to fail when compared with men. For women, imposter syndrome can stem from self-doubt and a lack of trust in their abilities, even when they’re invited to a space as a subject matter expert. On top of this, women continue to have a worse day-to-day experience at work. Women are more likely than men to have their competence questioned and their authority undermined, and women of color and other women with traditionally marginalized identities are especially likely to face disrespectful and “othering” behavior, according to McKinsey’s 2022 Women in the Workplace report.
Saadia Khilji, Head of End User Technology and Services at MassMutual, used to struggle with imposter syndrome but learned to trust in herself with a simple mantra. “Whenever I am in a space where I start to feel a lack of self-trust, I look around the room and remind myself that I am there for a reason,” she said.
Whenever I am in a space where I start to feel a lack of self-trust, I look around the room and remind myself that I am there for a reason.
Saadia Khilji, Head of End User Technology and Services, MassMutual
More often than not, fear of failure leads women to be more self-critical than their male counterparts, even with rightfully-earned job opportunities and what they deem fair pay. Meghan Gendelman, SVP, Americas and Global Strategic Marketing at Salesforce, recognizes that it’s ok to have a fear of failure as long as it serves as a reminder that it brings growth and innovation. Gendelman encourages women to be aware of “the story they’re telling themselves” versus “the story being heard by others.”
Women are still underrepresented at the leadership level – only one in four C-suite leaders is a woman. But many women are actively seeking to close this gap and prioritize both personal and professional development.
According to Necole Jackson-DeJoie, Global Executive Director & Tribe Lead, Boston Consulting Group, women should establish a clear end goal and core values for when new opportunities arise. “I aspire to be a CIO one day, and when I think about any opportunity that presents itself, I ask myself: Why this role and why now?” she said. The focus, she explained, shouldn’t be to lay out a five-year plan, but to benchmark each opportunity against the end goal.
Gendelman also recommends organizing a personal board of directors. This is a group of diverse, trusted voices that can offer an outside perspective and help establish non-negotiable criteria for personal and professional opportunities.
While everyone receives feedback, women tend to be more self-critical about their feedback. More so, different groups of people do get different kinds of feedback at work — with women, Black people, Latinx people, and older workers receiving the lowest-quality feedback.
Jackson-DeJoie encourages women to remember that feedback is a gift and to spot trends in the feedback they receive. If it’s a trend, it’s likely something that needs to be fixed. She notes that “feedback should be addressed to mitigate misunderstanding” and then, women should simply move forward, without too much self-criticism.
Gendelman also notes that it’s courageous to offer feedback. “The easiest thing to do is not to say anything. However, this person is actively invested in your relationship and career, and offering that feedback shows they want to help,” she said. “In receiving and giving feedback, ensure it is specific and actionable.”
In receiving and giving feedback, ensure it is accurate and actionable
Meghan Gendelman, SVP, Americas and Global Strategic Marketing at Salesforce
As women continue to navigate challenges in the workplace, they should work to build self trust, plan for growth, and view feedback as a gift. Allies can support women in the workplace by taking an inclusive approach to leadership and constant learning, ensure feedback given to women in grounded in their work, and looking for opportunities to bring more women into their networks. While there is still more work to do, joining together as a community and supporting one another helps women move toward a more equitable future for all.
“I can’t help but feel incredibly proud of the strides that women have made over the last several decades to fight for equity in the workforce. The unique combination of experiences and perspective that we bring gives us an invaluable seat at every table,” said Lidiane Jones, Slack CEO.
The media and entertainment industry is constantly changing. The rise of streaming, social media, and subscription models over the past decade have turned the industry on its head and fundamentally reshaped customer expectations.
But as the macro economy enters uncharted waters and consumers reevaluate what’s valuable, the industry is under a new level of pressure — and companies will need to fight for every dollar.
To offer insight into this changing landscape, Salesforce conducted a survey of 350 media and entertainment decision makers across seven countries for its new Media and Entertainment Industry Insights Report. Here’s a sample of key findings.
Customer experience is paramount to any business strategy, with 86% of consumers now saying experience is equally important to product quality. And, with offerings spanning streaming services, broadcasters, gaming platforms, esports, and more — customer experience is a critical differentiator for the media and entertainment industry.
In fact, media and entertainment industry professionals surveyed by Salesforce cite increasing competition as their top challenge — outranking factors such as third-party cookie depreciation, decreasing subscriber values, and the increasing costs from inflationary pressures. As such, improving customer satisfaction (CSAT) is the industry’s top priority. Case in point: A recent Salesforce consumer survey found that while 65% of consumers subscribe to at least one video service, 39% of them felt they weren’t worth the cost. Satisfaction with value was even lower for audio, digital publication, and gaming subscriptions.
As a result, media and entertainment companies report significant annual customer churn rates — 17% on average — with higher figures reported among streaming service providers and cable/satellite TV operators.
In addition to providing differentiated experiences that keep customers happy, media and entertainment companies must support a strong bottom line. Advertising remains the leading source of revenue for media and entertainment companies, both in terms of the share of companies that collect advertising revenue, as well as the average revenue per user (ARPU). Yet the outlook on advertising spend is far from positive, with a mere 15% of respondents expecting an increase over the coming 18 months.
Seeking to buck a downturn in advertising spending and capitalize on new technologies and consumer behaviors, media and entertainment companies are actively seeking to diversify their business strategies.
73% of media and entertainment professionals say their companies have added a new revenue stream within the past year.
Influencer marketing is an example of this trend, with 65% of media and entertainment professionals reporting that their companies partner with influencers to promote products and services, attract users to platforms, and more.
Web3 is also getting serious consideration from an array of media and entertainment companies for its ability to drive revenue and offer differentiated experiences. Web3 use cases related to loyalty programs, real-world asset management, and content monetization are seen as having the most promise for the industry.
38% of media and entertainment professionals say their companies have fully defined and implemented Web3 strategies.
While the overall macroeconomic outlook remains decidedly mixed, the media industry is already experiencing a downturn that’s driving caution in spending. This is reflected in budget outlooks — 64% of survey respondents expect a net increase in overall operating budgets over the coming 18 months, however resources like marketing budgets and headcounts are less likely to see a boost.
Facing the need to do more with less at the same time they seek to win discerning audiences against fierce competition, media and entertainment companies are focusing in large part on efficiency initiatives.
99% of media and entertainment professionals say their companies are investing in operational efficiency.
Workflow and process automation is a large part of this equation, yet much work remains to be done. For example, no more than 37% of survey respondents say a given process at their company is completely automated, with tasks like churn prediction and content production particularly likely to be completely or mostly manual.
“A saturated media market giving consumers endless new options to choose from, combined with challenging economic conditions, requires media and entertainment companies to differentiate themselves while also finding ways to reduce costs,” said Christopher Dean, SVP and GM of Communications, Media & Entertainment at Salesforce. “Technology, like automation, real-time data, and generative AI, that can drive efficiencies and better customer experiences, will be critical when it comes to remaining nimble and standing out in a crowded marketplace.”
Unless cited otherwise, data is from a double-anonymous survey of 350 media and entertainment industry professionals with a title of director or higher in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The survey was live from December 14 through December 29, 2022. All respondents are third-party panelists. Additional information can be found in the report.
Built on Salesforce, recently-launched digital subscription platform Santander Navigator delivers personalized growth strategies to small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) looking to expand internationally.
Why it’s important: SMEs are crucial to the UK economy, but they face numerous challenges when seeking to expand their services abroad, including:
Driving the news: Zahra Bahrololoumi, CEO of Salesforce UKI, spoke to John Carroll, Head of International and Transactional Banking at Santander UK, to unpack how Salesforce technology helps Santander support UK SMEs make the leap to international sales. Companies don’t have to bank with Santander to access the support of Santander Navigator.
In-depth: Previously, Santander’s manually built ecosystems offering industry-specific content and solutions would serve between 300 and 400 companies each year.
With Salesforce, we’re reimagining how we understand, serve, and engage with our UK SMEs. Our relationship directors are getting insights generated by the platform onto their dashboard on a Thursday before they see their clients on the Friday, to have transformational conversations which other banks can’t have. All of this enables our customers to grow faster, and for us to grow with them.
John Carroll, Head of International and Transactional Banking, Santander UK
The Salesforce perspective: “Supported by Salesforce technology, Santander is accelerating its transformation into a digital bank focused as much on the future as its customers,” said Bahrololoumi.
What’s next: Santander plans to roll out its Navigator platform across other countries later this year.
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Ahead of Shoptalk, Salesforce announced new Commerce Cloud innovations that will help companies in any industry connect to their customers with personalized experiences powered by real-time data – all on one unified platform.
Significance: Eighty-one percent of consumers plan to reassess their budget over the next 12 months, shifting spending toward more personalized experiences. Retailers who don’t focus on increased personalization while also increasing efficiency will find their business at risk.
Technology context: Commerce Cloud leverages the full power of the Customer 360 to deliver personalized experiences at scale that are intelligent, automated, and real time, while driving efficiency, productivity, and time to value.
Go deeper: Two new Commerce Cloud innovations will help merchants build seamless, personalized experiences — on any commerce platform.
Quotes:
“Commerce Cloud gives us the opportunity to minimize our total cost of ownership while maximizing flexibility, with options to build a storefront that’s templated, composable, or a hybrid of the two. Now we can drive efficient growth and faster time to value — all on one platform.” – Frank De Maria, Vice President of Digital Engineering & Platforms Technology, MillerKnoll
Now we can drive efficient growth and faster time to value — all on one platform.
Frank De Maria, Vice President of Digital Engineering & Platforms Technology, MillerKnoll
“Composable Storefront has been the key to unlocking a more agile and customer experience focused approach to product development. It allows us to focus energy and effort on the biggest problems to solve without the overhead and wasted effort of working full stack. Enabling quicker speed to market and site speed, we’ve seen positive outcomes for both our customers and teams.” – Helen Martin, Lead Digital Product Manager, Sweaty Betty
Fast facts:
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Ahead of Shoptalk, Salesforce announced an integration with Google Merchant Center to help merchants show consumers the product they have available in local stores.
Why it’s important: Local stores are integral to how people shop today. According to a Google survey, online search was used before 95% of in-store holiday shopping occasions in the U.S. in 2022.
Go deeper: The Google integration with Commerce Cloud will help merchants reach new audiences across free and paid Google surfaces by streamlining how they share local inventory with Google Merchant Center.
Soundbites:
“Commerce Cloud helps sellers connect with their customers in intelligent, automated, and personalized ways — across every channel. Salesforce’s integration with Google extends this power, helping merchants reach new customers and unlock new revenue by showing them the precise products they’re looking for in real time. With Google and Commerce Cloud, they are driving awareness of new store locations, diverting foot traffic from competitors, and increasing store visits.” – Michael Affronti, GM, Commerce Cloud
Salesforce’s integration with Google extends this power, helping merchants reach new customers and unlock new revenue by showing them the precise products they’re looking for in real time.
Michael Affronti, GM, Commerce Cloud
“People shop with Google more than a billion times per day. This integration is a meaningful update in the way Google merchants using Commerce Cloud are able to show shoppers what they have in store. It’s no secret that shoppers today do their shopping research in many new, personal ways. Being able to see what’s in store — whether because you need something same-day or because you want to touch and feel a product — can be the difference between a merchant making a sale or not.” – Matt Madrigal, VP/GM of Merchant Shopping, Google
This integration is a meaningful update in the way Google merchants using Commerce Cloud are able to show shoppers what they have in store.
Matt Madrigal, VP/GM of Merchant Shopping, Google
“With Salesforce Commerce Cloud, Under Armour has seamlessly enabled Google’s local inventory ads for all of our stores, which is helping us promote our omnichannel buying experience to customers on Google. This integration has helped make setup seamless and has already started to show business impact.” – Dimitrija Georgiev, Senior Director Americas Marketing, Under Armour
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Kraft Sports and Entertainment (KSE), which oversees marketing, sales, content development, and event operations for the New England Patriots, New England Revolution, and Gillette Stadium, is using Salesforce to break down data silos, foster collaboration, and create more personalized sales and service experiences.
Why it’s important: The implications of an integrated customer experience aren’t trivial. Research shows that 83% of customers say they’re more loyal to companies and brands that provide consistency across departments.
The Salesforce solution: KSE’s sales and service teams lacked a single, shared view of their more than 15 sources of customer data across multiple divisions and departments. This hindered their ability to provide the memorable experiences that MVP fans expect.
In-depth:
What’s the impact:
The customer perspective:
I am looking to Salesforce to help me stay close to my customers.
Robert Kraft, Chairman and CEO, The Kraft Group
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Earlier today, Salesforce announced a new, multi-year partnership with McLaren Racing to help the Formula 1 team deepen its relationship with its global fan base and connect with audiences in new markets.
Formula 1 has exploded in popularity and now counts over 500 million fans globally. But with fewer than 1% actually attending a Grand Prix in a year, racing teams must complement exceptional real-world performance with exceptional digital fan experiences.
Ed Green, Head of Commercial Technology for McLaren Racing, explains how the partnership is empowering McLaren to get a 360-degree view of fans to personalize both digital and in-person experiences.
Marketing Cloud means we can do things like target groups of users… and make sure we send that communication to them at the right time based on their local market.
Ed Green, McLaren Racing
MuleSoft for us has been a bit of a game changer.
Ed Green, McLaren Racing
I love seeing the team getting empowered.
Ed Green, McLaren Racing
Technological advances are really only effective if they improve on experiences or create an entirely new kind of experience that manages to break through the inertia barrier and reach broad adoption. Does it do something that I can’t currently do? Does it do something novel or better? Will it create new opportunities and markets?
With Web3 — the next generation of the internet — we are still in the midst of answering those questions. For those who might think the current version of the internet (Web2) checks all the boxes, there are others like Adam Caplan, Salesforce’s SVP of Emerging Technology, who think that the next chapter of the internet is less about links and clicks as it is “about building community and creating personalized digital experiences in this Web3 world.”
In this interview, Caplan gets into the nitty-gritty of Web3 technology — or more specifically NFTs — as well as what the company is doing to help brands deploy and manage Web3 campaigns in a sustainable and trusted way.
While still in its early years, the mission behind Web3 is to create a decentralized web that creates new types of ownership, new ways of building trust and collaboration, and offers exciting new opportunities for brands to engage with customers.
NFTs and Crypto live in Web3, which is the next generation of the internet built on blockchain. It allows people to read, write, and own their data and digital identity. And, it’s a decentralized network, meaning there is no centralized control point. Everyone in the network has the exact same copy of the data in the form of a distributed ledger. If someone’s ledger is altered or corrupted in any way, the majority of the people in the network will reject it.
Crypto – Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, etc. – are ‘fungible tokens.’ ‘Fungible’ basically means they’re all the same, they’re not unique, and one can be swapped for another.
Non-fungible tokens – NFTs – are unique. They have unique properties and different rarity levels.
Non-fungible tokens – NFTs – are unique. They have unique properties and different rarity levels. They give their owners an opportunity to harness the IP to create value and a sense of community in terms of ownership. As an example, if I buy an NFT of a digital shoe, I can exclusively use it on my avatar in a virtual world. I also can get access to an exclusive new community of sneaker enthusiasts.
Each time an asset, like my digital shoe, is purchased or transferred, a ‘stamp,’ much like a physical stamp, is added to the blockchain. Think of blockchain as a ledger that stores information, like purchases, in a digital format. Blockchain helps verify every step of the NFT purchase, from being stamped as owned by one person, to being sold, transferred, traded, and so on. It also helps verify ownership so holders know their NFT is authentic and unique.
We’ve seen a lot of interest from customers who want to understand and tap into this new world of Web3 and NFTs. Unique digital assets like NFTs present new avenues for brands to tap into first-party data to build digital communities, create digital twins, and drive loyalty programs.
Unique digital assets like NFTs present new avenues for brands to tap into first-party data to build digital communities, create digital twins, and drive loyalty programs.
A sports team, for example, can offer NFTs that accompany a loyal customer’s ticket, and the NFT unlocks early access to exclusive brand experiences. In this case, NFTs help drive loyalty with a brand’s super-community.
Brands can also leverage an NFT within a digital experience, which is really popular among clothing and fashion brands. There’s a pretty amazing amount of clothing changes that are made to people’s avatars in the metaverse — it happens daily, if not more. We see this in gaming too. So, we’re seeing a lot of excitement about this use case, and with rewards delivered in the real world, such as exclusive, in-store opportunities or discounts.
We knew that this emerging space had risks. We partnered with our Office of Ethical and Humane Use and Sustainability teams to make an easy-to-use technology that enables organizations to ‘mint’ (create, in NFT-speak), manage, and sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in a trusted, sustainable, and easily managed way, the same way they sell their physical products on the Salesforce platform but with an additional layer of trust and safety built in.
We’re creating a safe place with an amazing user experience where customers don’t have to understand the really complicated aspects of blockchain, like smart contracts. We also built industry-leading security and trust features into our Web3 product to protect the brands, as well as their end customers. This allows them to enter the Web3 and NFT space in a safe way, and buy directly from their trusted brand’s website as opposed to third-party marketplaces.
We make it very easy for Salesforce administrators to set up and implement an NFT offering through NFT Management. It uses drag and drop tools, which dramatically cuts down on traditionally lengthy development cycles. It’s all customizable and built to make the process simple and seamless – from setting up an NFT collection to selecting the most eco-friendly blockchain.
And, with our new Web3 Connect API integration, brands can sell or give away NFTs, and all that data comes back into Customer 360 to link customer activity across Web2 and Web3 — with consent from customers, of course – giving organizations a holistic view of each customer across both physical and digital environments. All of this enables brands to build deeper connections with their customers, and drives more value for their NFT holders.
At Salesforce, trust is our number one value. With Web3, we wanted to make sure we were building a product that people could trust. We want to protect a customer’s brand, and they want to protect their end customer.
To make sure these guiding principles were met, we consulted with experts inside and outside the company before launching a customer pilot. After more than 275,000 successful transactions in the pilot, we learned customers primarily see NFTs as a way to modernize loyalty programs and connect with new audiences in Web3.
One of these customers was Scotch & Soda, a fashion retailer, who came to us wanting to increase brand awareness and community engagement while building brand loyalty using Web3 and NFTs. With the help of Salesforce partner AE Studio, we were able to bring their vision to life by using Salesforce Web3 to create and securely deploy their Club Soda 3.0 NFT pilot program in less than two weeks.
This gave Scotch & Soda real-time insight into the 30% net new customers they were able to reach and powered more personalized marketing campaigns with unified data from across Web2 and Web3.
This gave Scotch & Soda real-time insight into the 30% net new customers they were able to reach and powered more personalized marketing campaigns with unified data from across Web2 and Web3.
If Web1 was about democratized access to information, and Web2 was about facilitating transactions and bi-directional communication, Web3 is about enabling more personalized digital experiences. The Web3 era has the power to change how we participate on the internet by enabling people to read, write, and own their data and digital identity. NFTs are one part of an individual’s digital identity.
Brands should be intentional in incorporating NFTs in the right way. They should be able to answer questions like: What is the roadmap we’re going to deliver to NFT holders? How do we manage our communities? What does the artwork communicate or inspire and how do we support the creator community? What royalty should we reward artists with to make sure this is fair and equitable? How do we think about sustainable chains? Do we want to engage in co-creation with our communities?
Another of Salesforce’s core values is sustainability, so that was an incredibly important consideration in our development process. We’ve partnered closely with our Sustainability Team, Ethical Use Advisory Council, external experts from academia and non-governmental organizations, and employees to ensure our strategy was progressive — to lead, and to really push the industry in the right direction when it comes to sustainability.
We’ve made a conscious decision that Salesforce will not support proof-of-work chains and will instead only support proof-of-stake chains, which result in 99% fewer carbon emissions. When brands create the rules and parameters for purchasing in Salesforce Web3, they have the option to select their blockchain based on their preferences, from a list of proof-of-stake chains.
Learn more:
Today, Salesforce announced the limited general availability of Salesforce Web3, which will enable companies to sustainably mint, manage, and sell non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on a trusted platform.
As businesses and brands explore emerging Web3 technologies, including NFTs, it’s imperative that everyone does so in a responsible, ethical way. Salesforce is no exception, which is why the company has centered its values as it developed, piloted, and launched this new product.
Salesforce has seen growing customer demand for NFTs as a way to build brand loyalty and consumer engagement. NFTs present an opportunity for companies to find new audiences and source zero-party data, and to unlock co-creation and co-ownership, token-gated communities, and personalized engagement using wallet data.
However, as with any early-stage technology, there are potential risks to safety, privacy, and trust. For example, in a recent survey conducted by Salesforce of 935 global respondents*, 59% reported experiencing or witnessing some type of fraud (the most common being fake accounts acting as a brand for the purposes of phishing). There was also a significant trust gap between those who have purchased an NFT in the past and those who have yet to do so. For these reasons, it was important that Salesforce provide customers with a trusted, sustainable platform to operate NFT campaigns and programs.
For these reasons, it was important that Salesforce provide customers with a trusted, sustainable platform to operate NFT campaigns and programs.
To develop Salesforce Web3, Salesforce engaged its Office of the Ethical and Humane Use, Technology (Product and Engineering), Sustainability, and Equality teams – as well as its Web3 Advisory Board – to understand the complex dynamics of Web3 and determine how to engage in this emerging space through a values-driven lens.
Together these teams developed five principles to guide their Web3 development efforts:
Salesforce put these principles to work by building Trust and Sustainability features directly into the product. To do so, the Web3 product team partnered closely with Salesforce’s Ethical Use Advisory Council, external experts from academia and non-governmental organizations, and employees.
Some of the many trust features and functionality include:
Salesforce Web3 also delivers sustainable experiences for customers by:
To ensure these principals were met, Salesforce undertook a deep research process that included a successful customer pilot with over 275,000 transactions on Polygon and Flow. No fraudulent activity of any impact was discovered. Furthermore, Salesforce found:
These are still the early days of a rapidly evolving technological landscape — and Salesforce will continue to evolve and innovate along with it.
For example, Salesforce is currently exploring additional features that push the boundaries on privacy approaches that don’t simply replicate a Web2 privacy paradigm (e.g. box-checking for opt-in, cookies) but that are unique to Web3 (e.g. consent tokens or use of verifiable credentials). The promise of these and other innovations will deliver more trust for customers and consumers.
The promise of these and other innovations will deliver more trust for customers and consumers.
Salesforce does not have all the answers, but knows that by leading with values, it can help guide Web3 in a positive direction.
*Data is from a double-blind survey of 935 consumers across 30 countries conducted by Salesforce Research November 7–28, 2022.
Salesforce Web3 helps companies create, manage, and deploy non-fungible tokens (NFTs) in a trusted, scalable, and sustainable way. With the limited release of Salesforce Web3, companies can connect with their customers in a whole new way by connecting their Customer 360 with Web3 data for a holistic view of how customers interact with their brand across traditional and emerging digital environments.
Significance: Web3, considered the next generation of the internet, includes emerging technologies like blockchain and NFTs, which offer brands creative opportunities to engage new audiences and tap into first-party data to deepen customer relationships and drive loyalty.
Go deeper:
Soundbites:
“Salesforce helped us reimagine and digitally scale Crown Royal’s Purple Bag Project by giving us a trusted partner to support our front-end commerce site and back-end data connector to support the #ThatDeservesACrown campaign. For every digital collectible claimed, we sent a care package to active duty U.S. military members around the world,” said Devin Nagy, Director, Technology and Emerging Platforms, Diageo North America.
“Salesforce Web3 enhances our NFT collections to help us connect with customers and bring our Web2 and Web3 systems together. Web3 Connect is powering invaluable insights into our audience and seamlessly bridging Web3 channels with the rest of our customer experience. We know we have a trusted partner with Salesforce, and are now able to provide an exciting user experience and gateway to Mattel’s iconic IP in a new way,” Sven Gerjets, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Mattel.
“We wanted to work with a trusted partner, and choosing Salesforce Web3 was an easy decision. What could have taken months — creating and securely deploying our Club Soda 3.0 NFT pilot program — took less than two weeks. The seamless data integration into our CRM gave us real-time insight into the 30% net new customers we were able to reach and powered our personalized campaigns via Marketing Cloud,” said Claire Boots, Global CRM Manager, Scotch & Soda.
Fast facts: 67% of consumers surveyed* said values are important to them when considering purchasing an NFT from a brand. And 65% say a brand’s environmental and sustainability practices are important when considering purchasing an NFT.
Learn more:
*Salesforce Consumer NFT Survey, June 2022
