Merkle UK One Ltd

Customer Data Platform (CDP)

Merkle provides CDP implementation and management services. These services are often taken up alongside our fully managed service offering, which allows clients to outsource the production of omnichannel marketing campaigns. We are agnostic on partners and have experience with Adobe, Salesforce, Bloomreach, Braze, TreasureData, Tealium, and others.

Features

• Unified customer view
• Enhanced personalisation for marketing campaigns
• Data compliance and governance
• Omni-channel orchestration
• Revenue growth
• Operational efficiency
• Actionable insights and ROI reporting
• Customer acquisition, loyalty, and retention
• Scalability - Our solutions are designed to grow with clients
• Agility - Quickly adapt to new trends and market conditions

Benefits

• Quickly access real time data
• Report on performance in real time
• Improved marketing performance
• Improved ROI
• Better understand your customer
• Improved operational efficiencies through a single portal for all marketing

£850 to £1,950 a unit a day

• Education pricing available

Service documents

• Pricing document

  ODT

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  ODT

• Service definition document

  ODT

• Terms and conditions

  ODT

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at david.spencer@merkle.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 14

Service ID

857818698673131

Contact

David Spencer
+44 (0) 330 060 1813
david.spencer@merkle.com

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: Yes, but can also be used as a standalone service
• What software services is the service an extension to: CDP implementation can suport the full marketing solution, from driving the best creative to media campaign management, and ultimately reporting on the effectiveness of a full marketing campaign or programme.
• Cloud deployment model:
  • Private cloud
  • Hybrid cloud
• Service constraints: We work closely with our clients to work around any constraints that are identified during the discover phase of a project.
• System requirements: Our solution offers managed service and software licenses via Merkle.

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support response times: Response times vary from client to client and based on the impact it has to our clients. Critical tickets are normally reviewed within an hour and support is available 24/7.
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: Yes
• Online ticketing support accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 24 hours, 7 days a week
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: No
• Support levels: Support levels are agreed on a client-by-client basis and are subject to requirements. Some clients need 24/7 support for their solutions, as they are running critical business solutions at any point.
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Merkle will provide full face to face training on the solution and offer user documentation from the chosen CDP. We often train super users, allowing them to become the internal expert and provide training to the other users in their team, allowing them to flex their team accordingly to cope up with the peaks in demand.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • ODF
  • PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: Offboarding is a critical consideration in a solution like this, and it is often defined by a new supplier as to how they would like the data to be supplied. However, we build a plan to extract all data, ingest it into a new platform, fully test if it has been loaded correctly and then delete from our solution.
• End-of-contract process: This varies from client to client, but the extraction of data and its supply to a new partner is covered under a change request at additional costs, depending on the requirements. We are flexible and allow the new supplier to take the lead on the data supply requirements to ensure a smooth handover.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Internet Explorer 11
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
  • Safari
  • Opera
• Application to install: No
• Designed for use on mobile devices: No
• Service interface: Yes
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Description of service interface: We work with a whole suite of CDPs to provide this service, and each of them have their own interface that users interact with. These are often configurable by role to ensure that the correct level of access is granted to each user.
• Accessibility standards: WCAG 2.1 AAA
• Accessibility testing: The service interface is dependent on the CDP chosen, but all have done varying levels of SI testing.
• API: No
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: Each CDP has different cusomisable elements to it. This can be as simple as customising the interface based on user role or as complicated as customising the way records are matched together to identify a single customer. In our experience, every CDP needs to be customised to meet our individual client needs.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: Every installation of a CDP is implemented in a dedicated cloud environment, ensuring that each solution is protected from demand of other clients.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: Yes
• Metrics types: Metrics within our solutions are client-specific, but range from campaign results (opens, clicks, form completions, and view-throughs) to complex analytics models (churn, next best action, etc.).
• Reporting types:
  • API access
  • Real-time dashboards
  • Regular reports
  • Reports on request

Resellers

• Supplier type: Reseller providing extra features and support
• Organisation whose services are being resold: Adobe, Braze, Bloomreach, Salesforce, Tealium, Treasure Data, ActionIQ

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: Up to Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations:
  • United Kingdom
  • European Economic Area (EEA)
  • Other locations
• User control over data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Datacentre security standards: Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 3.0)
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: Another external penetration testing organisation
• Protecting data at rest: Physical access control, complying with another standard
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type: Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v.30, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: This is normally managed by the devleopment team due to the complex nature of the solution and the volume of data that is normally stored in a solution like this, alongside the GDPR risks that data extracts pose.
• Data export formats:
  • CSV
  • ODF
  • Other
• Other data export formats: Configurable to extract data in various client-required formats efficiently.
• Data import formats:
  • CSV
  • ODF
  • Other
• Other data import formats: Configurable

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks: Other
• Other protection between networks: Private Network VPC Peering
• Data protection within supplier network: IPsec or TLS VPN gateway

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: Our solutions are normally available 99.9% of the time without prior warning for updates and patches. They are all cloud-hosted and so, they have inbuilt resilience for unexpected demands. We are happy to agree to service level credits that reflect the impact on the customer for failure to hit these expected levels.
• Approach to resilience: The cloud services we deploy support resiliency using:; Regions and Availability zone: When provisioning a service can be split across regions and availability zones within a region. An individual region has separate availability zones to avoid hardware issues by having separate power, cooling, and networking. This can be extended to regional replication which provides greater fault tolerance but comes with higher latency and cost.; Failover and fault tolerance: Resiliency can be provided for compute with failover nodes. In this instance, we mirror applications and data so that should a component become available then another slave component takes its place.; Load balancing: One of the more common issues that necessitates resiliency is load and performance management. In order to address this, we use elastic compute and storage, implementation of PaaS solutions to permit scaling and as part of delivery also include performance testing as an optional component.; Backups: Geo-replicated backups to allow system restoration. It is also critical to ensure that backups are fit for purpose and can be used to restore the entire system.; Each layer of resiliency buys risks and, therefore, adds costs, it is therefore essential to ensure that the requirements match the business needs.
• Outage reporting: The solution will be designed to report outages automatically to all users. This will be configrured based on client needs, and in the past we have built email alerts that go to users to inform them and subsequently keep users up to date with the service being reinstated. We have also integrated this solution with APIs to link to client dashboards and SMS providers.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Username or password
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Roles are configured during the set up and functionality is limited based on the role of individuals.
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least every 6 months
• Management access authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Username or password

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: User-defined
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users contact the support team to get audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: User-defined
• How long system logs are stored for: User-defined

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: DNV
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 28/04/2024
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: There are no scope exclusions on the certificate, however the only control not on the scope is the outsourcing of development as everything is built in house.
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: Yes
• Who accredited the PCI DSS certification: Online Enterprises, dba Online Business Systems
• PCI DSS accreditation date: 20/11/2023
• What the PCI DSS doesn’t cover: 2.1.1 – Not Applicable - There are no wireless environments in scope for assessment; 2.6 – Not Applicable – Dentsu is not a shared hosting provider; 3.6 – Not Applicable - Dentsu does not share keys with its customers; 4.1.1 – Not Applicable - There are no wireless technologies in scope for assessment; 6.4.6 – Not Applicable – No significant change occurred within the past 12 months; 8.1.5 - There are no vendors providing remote management services to Dentsu; 8.5.1 - Dentsu does not have remote access to its customers’ premises
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: No
• Other security certifications: No

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards: ISO/IEC 27001
• Information security policies and processes: Dentsu maintains a group-wide Security Policy, aligned to ISO27001 framework, that is approved, published, and reviewed by senior management. The purpose of our policy is to provide a framework, based on industry standards and best practice, for assessing security risk and deploying appropriate security measures. Dentsu expectations, requirements, and control objectives are defined in this policy and helps ensure Dentsu meets these. The scope of our Security Policy encompasses all Technology (IT) assets, data, and services that are owned, controlled, or used to conduct Dentsu business.

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Configuration and change management approach: Our service platforms fall under a standard set of IT protocols we operate under inclusive of a formal, documented change management process to assess any system level changes for both security and performance impacts.
• Vulnerability management type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Vulnerability management approach: Merkle Security maintains a threat intelligence function. On a daily basis, the Cyber Security Team reviews the threat landscape and manages security tools that protect our estate. They monitor intel and vulnerability data from multiple sources, including vendors, public domains, national organizations, and managed security service providers (MSSP).
• Protective monitoring type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Protective monitoring approach: Merkle consolidates and assesses significant system events using a managed security information and event management (SIEM) solution. The system is tuned to provide event correlation across multiple system layers and provide alerts when unexpected activities are detected.
• Incident management type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example, CSA CCM v3.0 or ISO/IEC 27035:2011 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Incident management approach: Merkle has established procedures for managing security incidents (including data breaches) using a structured framework that is aligned to the National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST 800-61).The Security and Data Incident Management Policy establishes notification targets associated with incident severity. As a general rule, any affected client or external party will be notified without undue delay, and where feasible, not later than 72 hours.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Conforms to a recognised standard, but self-assessed

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Social Value

• Social Value:

  Social Value

  • Fighting climate change
  • Equal opportunity
  • Wellbeing

  Fighting climate change

  Accelerating climate change and natural resource constraints, digital transformation and the continued rise of inequality are transforming the environment in which we live and work. By using the power of digital communications and marketing, we can address inequality, create opportunities and uncover solutions to society’s greatest challenges. We do this through our work with stakeholders and by sharing our knowledge and talent with the communities in which we operate. Our aim is to drive the delivery of the UN Sustainable Development Goals and to deliver social impact across the globe.; Dentsu’s Environmental Policy requires that suppliers comply with applicable environmental legislation, identify and manage environmental impacts to achieve best in class environmental performance, and ensure staff are aware of the environmental impacts of their work activities.; We have an Environmental strategy centered around three pillars: Sustainable World, Fair and Open Society and Digital for Good. These represent areas where dentsu’s uniquely positioned to drive change, leveraging our capability in data and technology, creativity and innovation. Our strategy is fuelled by our people, and success will depend on multi-stakeholder collaboration as well as innovating our own operating model. Our Social Impact Report reflects on the progress made against our 2020 targets and goals, and also sets out the biggest opportunities for growth from good as we look at the next ten years and pivot our focus to our new 2030 strategy.; We know that for business growth to be truly sustainable, we must accelerate the transition to a low carbon future, and therefore we have committed to becoming a Net Zero emissions business by 2030. The radical decarbonisation of our business and value chain is only the first step – by raising awareness through our powerful work, we have also committed to helping 1 billion people make better, more sustainable choices.

  Equal opportunity

  Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) is firmly embedded in our company vision. Our global DEI principles outline our unwavering commitment to a diverse workforce that represents wider society and fostering inclusion and has been defined as a key competency for our employees in our behavioural framework. We want to foster an environment of growth, where ideas and contributions are actively encouraged. We need this culture of courage to continue to thrive in our fast-paced industry.; Our people have created our seven DEI pillars (Gender, Ethnicity, Mental Health, Religion, Parent and Carer, Disability and LGBTQ+). Each group is made up of individuals from Merkle and each programme is sponsored by a member of the Merkle Executive Team. We are proud to have been recognised as industry leaders by the likes of Microsoft who named us the winner of Global Inclusive Marketing and Culture Partner Award in 2020.; We believe everyone has the right to feel included in their place of work, and able to be their authentic selves. We know that diversity and inclusion in the workplace – that is, diversity of thought, background and experience – is what drives creativity and innovation, which in turn lets us produce truly great work. Our goal is to make Merkle an inclusive, equitable workplace that is representative of the markets in which we operate, and where our differences are celebrated. We seek to educate and empower our colleagues and effect positive change within the wider industry – because the benefits of diversity in the workforce are too strong to ignore.

  Wellbeing

  Mental health has never been spoken about more candidly or frequently. Taboo still surrounds the topic, however, and many people feel unable or unwilling to talk about struggles with mental health in any setting, let alone a professional one. Work is a place where you spend a huge proportion of your week, and we believe it shouldn’t be somewhere that mental wellbeing is forgotten or put away in a box to be dealt with at another time. In fact, we believe quite the opposite. We seek to make Merkle a workplace with a formal support network for those struggling with, or affected by, mental health conditions, plus provide easy access to work mental health resources whenever they’re needed. By actively encouraging our senior leadership to speak openly about how mental health issues have affected them or those they love, we have seen an uptake in use of resources like our mental health first aiders. We raise awareness and educate the Merkle community on all conditions and their potential circumstances and aim to become a leading voice for change within corporate policy.; Dentsu has committed to three key areas of focus: flexibility and time off, upskilling and empowering managers, and support for home schoolers. All employees can access an array of support tools, including counselling, mental health first aiders, mindfulness platforms (inc. Headspace), three wellness days per year and a sickness policy that includes mental health leave.

Pricing

• Price: £850 to £1,950 a unit a day
• Discount for educational organisations: Yes
• Free trial available: No

Service documents

• Pricing document

  ODT

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  ODT

• Service definition document

  ODT

• Terms and conditions

  ODT

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at david.spencer@merkle.com. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.