Nice / NiceInContact Acquires Brand Embassy
Today Nice announced that they have acquired a company by the name of Brand Embassy. Until 2015 I had never heard of Brand Embassy, but a colleague of mine introduced me to them when we at VesuvITas were searching for some new chat and co-browsing vendors to include in an RFI for a client. Once I saw their demo I was very impressed. Since then Brand Embassy has added many digital customer service features to their integrated omnichannel platform. Today they boast customer service tools for Social Media and Messaging to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Google+, YouTube, Vkontakte, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, SMS, Twitter Messaging, Line, Telegram, Vkontakte Messenger, Viber, Apple Business Chat and there are many more. Additionally their omni-channel solution supports E-mail, LiveChat, VideoChat, Co-browsing, Discussion Forums, RSS Feeds, Amazon Reviews, Google Play and Blog. Did I mention yet that they also have a chatbot builder to script automated interactions for mundane and repetitive functions that agents should be bothered with addressing anyway? Brand Embassy has it. And you can automate to your heart’s delight for Facebook Messenger, LiveChat, In-App Chat (Android), In-App Chat (iOS), and WhatsApp. Just don’t get too carried away with your digital automation…. as Marcus Tullius Cicero said “Never go to excess, but let moderation be your guide” …I digress.
The Brand Embassy acquisition is clearly impressive enough on its own merits. It is a great product that I am already a fan of. It is a smart purchase for Nice because Brand Embassy’s software was already inter-operating within the NiceInContact tech stack and currently in use by its customers. What we should be paying attention to here as industry analysts, however, are what ripples this will have throughout the contact center industry. This is clearly a very tactical purchase. NiceInContact needed this product suite, and by doing so they also get the benefit of denying their competitors access to Brand Embassy’s solutions. In this ~35 Billion dollar untapped cloud contact center solutions market, they are further positioning themselves to stay leaders within the industry. The cloud contact center industry is becoming more and more competitive, with clear differentiation becoming required more and more to avoid the prospect of commoditization as happened to the Unified Communications industry.
This acquisition is also clearly very strategic. Not only does Nice now own a great omnichannel product, but by denying their competitors that same product suite, Nice is ensuring longer-term sales opportunities and future head-to-head wins versus their competitors who were dependent on Brand Embassy’s solution. Competitors will now need to look for another software company to purchase or be forced to build a software replacement which will take time, money, and resources; all precious commodities in a competitive marketplace. It is imperative to understand that the experience economy is now here and is here to stay. Forbes Magazine stated in July 2018 that “90% of companies compete primarily on the basis of Customer Experience.” The Brand Embassy purchase was a smart investment in providing a seamless Customer Experience to NiceInContact customers with improved analytics across the customer journey. Well played, Nice. Nicely played.
Sebastian Anthony Corriere KMP is the Chief Contact Center and CX Strategist of VesuvITas. VesuvITas is a Contact Center Solutions and Customer Experience Consulting firm. Their vision is to Listen, Lead, and Design Optimized Customer Experiences.