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To survive in todays market, enterprises must deliver experiences that feel instant and intelligent. Customers expect brands to anticipate their needs and guide them through interactions that are seamless and personal. Its the promise of having the right conversation at exactly the right moment. But heres the reality check: While real time dominates boardroom conversations, most data ecosystems are anything but. MOVING BEYOND NEXT BEST ACTION For years, the next best action model has been the playbook for customer engagement. It takes available data, analyzes it, and delivers a single, data-driven response, like recommending a product or sending an offer. The problem is this approach operates in isolation. It focuses on the moment, but not the journey. The next best experience takes this much further. Instead of one-off actions, it orchestrates the entire customer journey in real time, across every channel and touchpoint. It doesnt just react; it anticipates. Imagine a customer browsing a product on your website. Within seconds, that behavior could update their profile across your entire tech stack; informing a proactive support chat if intent signals show frustration, triggering a perfectly timed in-store notification if theyre nearby, or refining the next AI-driven recommendation at checkout. This isn’t a campaign running on static segments. It’s a living, adaptive experience that learns and optimizes as more customer data is collected, powered by data that moves as fast as your customers do. REAL-TIME PROFILE SYNDICATION: THE MISSING PIECE Heres where technology matters. Modern data warehouses excel at storage, analytics, and batch processing, and theyve become the center of gravity for many enterprises data strategies. But they werent built for the low-latency demands of real-time customer engagement. Data often moves through a series of handoffs: warehouse to CDP, CDP to marketing automation, marketing automation to personalization engine. Each hop adds friction. By the time the data lands where its needed, the moment to act has already passed. Real-time profile syndication solves this by treating the customer profile as a single, continuously updated asset, not a file copied across systems in batches. Every time a customer clicks, browses, or buys, their profile is enriched and made available instantly across the tech stack. No waiting for overnight processes. No discrepancies between tools. Just one unified, real-time version of the truth powering every decision. Think of it as the heartbeat of your data infrastructure by pumping fresh signals into every system, every second, without delay. WHY THIS MATTERS FOR AI AI models are only as good as the data they consume. If your model runs on profiles that are even an hour old, your so-called real-time decisions are already outdated. Instead of guessing what customers might want, AI-powered experiences adapt in real time, learning and evolving with every interaction. This is only possible when brands collect and control their data at the edge, which is the critical moment when customers engage. By having this real-time, first-hand data, companies can ensure their AI models are fueled by the freshest, most trustworthy information available, which turns predictive analytics into prescriptive actions. The result? Enterprises move from static campaigns to living, learning systems that deliver truly personalized experiences at scale. I believe every interaction is a moment of truth. By transforming disconnected tools into a single, real-time experience engine, enterprises can turn those moments into meaningful, AI-powered journeys. And in a world where milliseconds can make or break customer loyalty, the companies that master this will define the next era of customer engagement. Mike Anderson is CTO of Tealium.
Category:
E-Commerce
When we first started Little Spoon, our mission was clear: Make fresh, healthy food accessible at every age and stage of early childhood. But we quickly realized checking the proverbial boxes alone (nutritious: check, convenient: check) wasnt enough. After all, parents are inundated with optionsthe decision fatigue surrounding parenting choices is overwhelming. What makes a brand stand apart isnt utility; its the ability to understand and affirm who your customer is (and hopes to be). Parents want to feel emotionally supported, seen, and confident in their decisions, particularly within the vast excess of parenting advice in 2025: chock full of dated narratives. So for my brand, its critical for us to show, not tell, our customers that were a partner in this complex and dynamic life stage. This lesson isnt specific to parenting brands, either. Look at Olipop, which bucked an influencer-first approach early and sent product PR mailers to their customers rather than to recognizable faces. Or rhode skin, which innovates by simplifying via a streamlined product collection that makes complex skincare nonintimidating. Or Athletic Brewing Company, which sponsors events (runs, meetups) to deepen its ties to their customers, who crave alcohol-free social engagement. Its not about flooding the market; its about creating trust and showingnot tellingcustomers that you understand their acute emotional-need states. BUILD AN INNOVATIVE BRAND Here are four things Ive learned about building a brand with emotional resonance and true product innovation: Design products that acknowledge emotion. Products should not just solve a logical problem, but an emotional one. For Little Spoon, that means removing stress and adding joy, a combination parents desperately crave. Take our Lunchers. They echo the nostalgic ritual of lunch kits from our own childhoods, but with fresh, nutritious ingredients todays parents can feel good about. That stark contrast evokes the fun and familiarity kids want, while eliminating the guilt and decision fatigue parents often feel. It provide a visceral sense of relief. The product doesnt just solve the whats for lunch problem; it affirms parents as the capable, caring, and present people they are. Zoom out beyond your category. Whoever your customer, their life is multi-faceted. At Little Spoon, we know parenting is a key part of a parents identity, but not all of it. Thats why its essential to borrow cues from outside your core category. For me, that means lifestyle, wellness, and home. These days, youre never just selling a product; youre affirming who your customer is and who they want to be. Thats why we lean into collaborations with a variety of brands that matter to the parent, like Dusen Dusen, Rachel Antonoff, Siete, Sauz, and Graza. That cross-brand synergy sparks excitement and reminds parents were part of their lifestyle, not just their grocery list. Prioritize consumer feedback. From onboarding to pricing, packaging, and new product launches, every Little Spoon touchpoint is a chance for us to listen and learn. We dont shy away from feedbackwe lean into it. That transparency and responsiveness not only drive fast iteration, but also show families theyre true cocreators of our brand. In a category long dominated by legacy players, this sense of agency builds trust, loyalty, and lasting community. And perhaps most importantly Build a culture, not just a product. Customers might come for a specific product, but they stay because they feel heard, connected, and part of something bigger. That sense of belonging is what creates loyalty in a crowded market, and what turns a brand into a trusted partner in someones life. We dont think of ourselves as a transactional business; we think of ourselves as an entire ecosystem. When a product goes beyond solving a problem and starts affirming identity, it transcends utility; it becomes indispensable. Thats the opportunity for every founder today: Stop designing only for function, and start designing for feeling. Angela Vranich is cofounder and chief producer officer of Little Spoon.
Category:
E-Commerce
The teaching profession requires a certain degree of patience. Particularly when students discover a new trend to latch onto and repeat at every given opportunity. The latest so-called brain rot phrase to flood the classroom: 6-7. If you dont have any Gen Alphas in your life and have no idea what Im talking about, count yourself lucky. Some teachers have taken to social media to share their exasperation with the trend that has recently overrun classrooms, with schools outright banning it in some instances. “Say ‘6-7’ one more time,” one teacher posted on TikTok, pretending to address a student in her class. “Were gonna call your mom in about 6-7 minutes, let her know how you interrupt my class 6-7 times a day, and then maybe shell take your phone away for 6-7 days.” Teachers are going to extreme lengths to avoid saying the numberson the pages of textbooks or in answers to math equationsfor fear of triggering a commotion in the classroom. Meanwhile, some have adopted an if you cant beat em, join em” approach, turning the trend into a classroom management strategy or a learning tool. Others have taken a simpler line of attack. I choose 6 and 7 and 67 every time I need random numbers right now, which also seems to be killing the joke for the kidsbut I think its very funny, one teacher responded to a Reddit thread on r/Teachers. “I did it with a class earlier this week, and they didnt do it again, another one suggested. Nothing like a teacher doing a trend to make something uncool. Like much of Generation Alpha slang, the 6-7 trend originated on TikTok, spawning over a million related videos, before making its way into schools, basketball courts, and sports interviews. So what does “6-7” actually mean? To many parents, confusion. The numbers can be traced back to a song called Doot Doot, released by hip-hop artist Skrilla in late 2024, in which he raps: 6-7, I just bipped right on the highway (bip, bip). From there, a video of a boy yelling “6-7” into the camera at a basketball game went viral; thus was born a new meme. Its important to note that the “6-7” meme is pronounced “six, seven”not “sixty-seven or “six to seven,” as some may assume, having only seen it in writing. Its often accompanied by the hand gesture you would use to tell someone that youre weighing two options (both palms facing up, hands moving slightly up and down). Searches for Gen Alpha translator have surged 790% in the past year, making it the fastest-growing translator query, Jenny Lee, lead data analyst at Google Trends, told Axios. Meanwhile, 6-7 has emerged as the most popular search for both how to use [slang] and why do middle schools say in 2025.
Category:
E-Commerce
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