What you need to know:

• Sitecore will buy Dublin-based Boxever and Minneapolis-based Four51.
• Firm rasied $1.2bn in January and is plotting major expansion.
• CEO acknowledges "skepticism" from brands around martech following poor integrations.
• Aims to reverse that trend.

Sitecore has made a double martech swoop, agreeing to acquire AI-powered customer data platform (CDP) provider Boxever and ecommerce specialist Four51.

Sitecore, which in January raised $1.2bn, the largest martech fundraise to date, is plotting massive expansion over the next 12 months as it bids to take on Adobe and “disrupt the digital experience market”, per CEO Steve Tzikakis.

Setting out the firm’s roadmap, Tzikakis, a former SAP EMEA President, offered a forthright assessment of the martech industry.

“It is worth acknowledging that enterprise CMOs and CDOs often read about consolidation in the marketing technology space with a healthy degree of skepticism,” he wrote in a blogpost.

“Many have been promised integrations and are left waiting or disappointed, forced to continue trying to glean actionable insights from a sea of disparately-connected platforms. Some analysts even predict that a majority of marketers who invested in personalisation will abandon their efforts.”

Tzikakis said Sitecore’s mission is to win over the skeptics with better tech – which he thinks brands badly need.

“It’s a difficult time for experience-minded brands. Procurement pressure, precarious brand loyalty, newly-reset consumer expectations, upended business models and an explosion in screens and media have all been amplified in the wake of Covid-19,” added Tzikakis.

“The result is a perfect storm for enterprises trying to deliver great customer experiences in a distracted and stressed out world.”