Newsletter - Martech Therapy

Ten reasons to bring in outside expertise for your CDP RFP

...and why your team will thank you.

I’ll be honest, I usually dislike “top ten” style articles. They tend to oversimplify complex decisions and make it sound like ticking boxes will magically solve everything. But after publishing my last three pieces, on dating vendors, reference calls, and surviving the RFP process, I kept hearing the same question: why bring in outside help at all?

So, against my better instincts, here’s a list. Not because every company will face all ten of these issues, but because most will recognize at least a few of them. And if even one sounds true to you, it might be

Why skipping the RFP isn’t always an option and how to avoid the biggest traps

Four practical steps that help teams protect themselves when the process can’t be avoided

If you have been following my latest articles, The CDP RFP Dating Game and The Reference Call That Changed Everything, you will understand this article even more. This article, a follow-up in a sense, eventhough my goal was not to make a series, was partly inspired by Tealium’s Jay Calavas comment on my LinkedIn post, stating:

“Skip the RFP and focus on use cases and measurable outcomes!”

And I’ll be frank, Jay is right: use cases should lead. I’ve even worked on projects where we skipped the RFP entirely and validated tools

The reference call that changed everything

A reminder, based on a true story, that even when teams do their homework, the CDP market still stacks the deck, and what to do about it.

Last week, after publishing The CDP Dating Game, my LinkedIn inbox lit up, and the number of subscribers to this Substack jumped. Marketers on the brand side reached out privately with a mix of relief and frustration. Heck, I even spoke to a few at the Martech World Forum who reacted in the same manner. Relief that someone had finally put words to what they’d been experiencing. Frustration that they’re stuck in a market where even defining what a CDP is has become an impossible task.

One marketer admitted in confidence that they no longer bother correcting their

Martech World Forum, London, looking back

AI was everyone's "mot du jour" but it's losing ground to calls for stronger foundations and more collaboration

When I fly into London, I always do four things.

I make sure to take a flight from my nearby airport, Rotterdam.
Once on board, I’ll have a gin & tonic (no, not in the morning, you animals!).
I listen to the entire album of Breakbeat Era’s Ultra Obscene, an album I bought back in London when it was released in 1999, a true classic.
When the tires hit the tarmac, I’ll jump on the DLR and head into town.

Hold your horses, don’t go shouting “classic OCD”! It’s a ritual I picked when working

The CDP RFP Dating Game

How agencies, vendors, analysts, and executives hide behind the smiles

On paper, a Request for Proposal (RFP) looks like the fairest way to choose a Customer Data Platform, or anything else for that matter. I am sure if my wife had known about RFPs when we met, I would have been on the receiving side of one. Good thing she didn’t. An RFP is an attempt to make sense of vastly complex and different products through structure, neutrality, and vendor A vs vendor B data in neat columns. But if, like myself, you’ve been in this business for a while, you know the truth 👇🏻

Most RFPs are wired

When the customers speak, even Gartner listens

Hightouch’s Strong Performer nod shows how Voice of the Customer reshapes the CDP debate

Gartner released its 2025 Voice of the Customer report for CDPs at the end of August, and, well, I don’t want to say I told you so, “this was identified early on as a likely outcome”.

Memedroid on X: "I told you so #memes #professional #learning #itoldyouso #funny https://t.co/IRPCi2lj1x" / X

As I suggested in my earlier pieces on Gartner and the CDP market, where, based on Peer Insights, I generated a ‘review-driven’ alternative quadant, Hightouch scored a ‘Leader’ position compared to being completely excluded from the original report.

Based on the newly published official ‘review-driven’ quadrant, Hightouch has now earned a Strong Performer recognition. It’s always interesting when predictions line up with

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