Introducing The Backbeat 🥁

New names and a new format

Hey there,

Welcome to The Backbeat.

A quick note before we get into today’s track:

Besides the fact that I’m obsessed with coming up with brand names, here’s why I’m giving this newsletter a distinct identity:

I firmly believe that successful brands tell compelling stories that resonate with their audiences.

As some of you know, I rebranded my prior efforts to data beats because I wanted to combine my love for music (and drums in particular) with my work in data. And data beats resonates because it has a story behind it – a story I’m now able to share more broadly.

So, in drumming, a backbeat is a 4/4 rhythm that emphasizes beats two and four – check it out:

Going forward, you’ll receive this newsletter every 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month, hence The Backbeat.

But this isn’t the only newsletter by data beats.

There’s also The Drumroll.

Unlike a Backbeat which contains multiple items, a Drumroll will cover a single topic – our existing format you might be familiar with. And until I find the right tempo, it will be sent out once a month.

Soon, you will be able to specify granular email preferences to only receive the content you really want – nothing more.

Moreover, as db has evolved from a personal project to a media company, I’m unable to keep up with the weekly cadence now that I have to split my brain between creating compelling content, growing a community, and running a business – none of it is easy, it’s a long and winding road, but it’s fun nonetheless.

And I’m grateful that you decided to ride along! 🥁 🥁

On to today’s track…

Data Minimization

What is data minimization? 

It’s not a buzzword – it’s a practice that organizations need to embrace if they’re serious about privacy-friendly personalization.

Don’t take my word for it, Instead, hear it from Siobhan Solberg, a Privacy Expert and Creator, who has taken it upon herself to educate marketing teams on how they can embrace privacy practices in their everyday workflows.

Data Minimization with Siobhan Solberg

This 13-minute episode covers a lot of ground and will hopefully equip you to embrace the critical practice of data minimization at your organization.

Siobhan also does a great job of marketing Privacy through her content so definitely check out her newsletter too, Marketing in the Age of Privacy.

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The Chorus

While very few people will openly say that data minimization is not important, too many people are talking about storing all the data in the warehouse and using it as a customer data platform.

In fact, it seems like the Modern Data Stack is being rebranded as the Composable CDP by the folks at a16z. They recently published a post that received a lot of strong reactions from a lot of people. As someone who is fiercely passionate about the space, I had to share a few words in the comments.

Another industry stalwart, Jonathan Mendez penned down a quick piece as a follow-up to the a16z post. I thought I disagreed with some of his points until we caught up and he helped me understand his point of view better.

We both are actually on the exact same page and believe that the definition of CDP is being stretched a little too much and there’s no end in sight to the confusion that has ensued.

The only sane way forward is for the industry to agree upon a new term altogether, one that accurately describes the data platform built on top of the cloud.

Moreover “services” or “apps” shouldn’t pose as “platforms”.

A composable customer data platform can only be assembled using various services or warehouse-native apps.

What remains debatable is whether the cloud data warehouse by itself is the customer data platform or does it only become a platform once multiple warehouse-native apps are layered on top of it.

Now, can a CDP be called a CDP without behavioral data?

A common argument is that you already have a data warehouse so you need not invest in yet another customer data platform. The argument has merit but holds true only if the warehouse actually has the data that non-data teams need to elevate the end-user experience.

And behavioral data or event data is key for GTM (go-to-market) teams to understand user behavior and nudge the user in the right direction via event-based emails and in-app messages.

So, what do you think?

Can a CDP (Composable or Packaged) be successful without behavioral data? An audience member had asked this question during the CDP Rapid Fire but this 4-minute clip wasn’t included in either of the published episodes.

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Do you like this format? Let me know on LinkedIn or in the comments below.

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