At ASOTU CON 2025, the CDP conversation with our friends Steve White , Jason Mahoney, and Ashley Cavazos was refreshingly plainspoken: a CDP cannot rescue messy data. It just organizes the mess faster.
A year later, with more AI in every stack and more pressure on performance, that theme has only gotten sharper.
Claim 1: “Clean inputs” is still the real competitive advantage
We said: If your inputs are messy, your insights will be messy.
A year later, the question is: With better tools everywhere, does data quality still decide outcomes?
2026 proof: IBM’s Institute for Business Value reports that over a quarter of organizations estimate losses greater than $5M annually due to poor data quality, with some reporting far more.
Why it holds up: More automation does not reduce the need for disciplined data. It raises the cost of skipping it.
Claim 2: If you only market to form fills, you are still missing the real audience
We said: “97% of your site visitors aren’t being marketed to.”
A year later, the question is: Has privacy disruption made identity resolution less useful, or more?
2026 proof: eMarketer notes that even with Chrome keeping third-party cookies (for now), a meaningful share of browsers block them by default, and privacy laws continue to expand. Their bottom line: identity resolution remains essential for cross-channel measurement and personalization.
Why it holds up: Website identity resolution is still the fastest way to capture intent early, before the hand raise.
Claim 3: Loyalty is shifting, and fixed marketing cannot keep up
We said: Dealer loyalty must rise because brand loyalty is not guaranteed.
A year later, the question is: Where is loyalty breaking first?
2026 proof: Cox Automotive reported dealerships have lost 12% of service visits to competition since 2018, and only 54% of owners with vehicles two years old or newer returned to the dealership for service in 2025 (down from 72%).
Why it holds up: Retention is now a data problem and an experience problem. Behavior-based segments beat “one-message-to-everybody” blasts.
Claim 4: “Suppress before you spend” is still the easiest win
We said: Cleaning and suppressing records prevents waste.
A year later, the question is: Why do so many teams still fail here?
2026 proof: Gartner says 59% of organizations do not measure data quality.
Why it holds up: If you do not measure quality, you do not see the waste. If you do not see it, you keep paying for it.
