Case Study
Making Bluecore Synonymous with AI in Retail
At a Glance
- Client
-
Bluecore
- Company Type
- Enterprise Software / SaaS
- Headquarters
-
USA - Campaign Period
-
6Months
of a 7 year program
The Outcome
- Use Cases
- Market Repositioning
The Value We Created
-
0
The share of voice Bluecore had in Agentic AI before this campaign
-
30
AI-themed placements secured in six months
-
4 Campaigns
From the alby acquisition to its Shopify launch
-
71M+ UVM
Total reach across AI-tagged coverage
-
5 Live Demos
Forbes and others got first-hand product access
-
New Category
Positioned Bluecore inside the agentic commerce conversation
The Challenge
Bluecore is a retail marketing technology company working with more than 400 brands, including Tapestry, Express, Lenovo and Alo Yoga. The company’s acquisition of alby, a generative AI shopping agent, marked a strategic pivot into AI-powered commerce. But Bluecore was still largely perceived as an email and retention platform.
And the retail tech AI conversation was already crowded and dominated by Amazon, Salesforce and a wave of AI-native startups. Bluecore needed to credibly own a piece of the agentic commerce narrative.
Where CVM Came In
We built a precision AI narrative from scratch, careful not to position Bluecore simply as a vendor adding AI features, but as a company defining what AI shopping agents should look like for retailers. Starting with the alby acquisition announcement, we layered in customer-led proof points, live product demos with top retail and AI press and a product launch tied to Bluecore’s expansion onto Shopify. All of this systematically shifted Bluecore’s media footprint from enterprise marketing to mainstream agentic commerce.
Here’s How We Did It
Alby wasn’t ‘just another AI agent,’ it was the key to ‘conversational commerce.’
With a vast number of AI agents emerging daily, we needed a narrative that would transcend alby beyond the rest. We accomplished this by positioning alby as instrumental to retailers’ adoption of ‘conversational commerce,’ and piquing their interest in the never-before-available data set created by shoppers using alby to ask questions–such as “Is this snowboard suitable for powder jumps?” or “Are these jeans 100% cotton?”–across their thousands of SKUs.
We anchored Bluecore’s AI identity in a concrete product, not just expertise.
Rather than generic ‘AI for retail’ messaging, we built every story around alby and the future it was already delivering to retailers. We leveraged the AI shopping agent’s real customers, existing and future use cases and real-world outcomes to paint a picture of a new retail experience for retailers and their shoppers.
We invited reporters and analysts to see the live product.
We set up live alby demos during eTail and Shoptalk. Showing the product in action turned skeptical tech reporters who get pitched AI products hundreds of times a week into informed commentators, who were able to experience alby through both the lens of the customer and the retailer.
Bluecore
We expanded the story from enterprise to every retailer.
We leverage Bluecore’s long history working for some of the world’s largest brands to position alby’s launch on Shopify as a democratization story: “enterprise-grade AI shopping agents, now available to any retailer.” We secured six initial launch placements that not only reinforced Bluecore’s role in the agentic commerce category, but anchored its foray into the SMB retail arena.
We built an ongoing thought leadership engine around agentic commerce.
We positioned Bluecore’s CEO and CMO as commentators on the future of AI in retail, in Forbes, Chief Marketer, RetailWire, Talk Commerce and others. This work created a forward pipeline of articles and podcast appearances that would extend the AI narrative beyond any single announcement.
We turned an enterprise success story into a larger AI positioning moment.
Bluecore’s AI story was long in the making, beginning years before alby, and we wanted to show its scale all the way to the enterprise. So, when DXL consolidated its marketing technology on Bluecore, we used the moment to reframe Bluecore as the AI-powered personalization backbone for major retailers, securing nine placements across WWD, Chain Store Age, Sourcing Journal, Retail Insight Network and others, all reinforcing its larger AI narrative.
Where Bluecore Showed Up
Tier 1/Business Press
Retail & Marketing Trade
AI & Tech Trade
Related Case Studies
Bluecore
Transforming a Vendor into a Visionary
CVM repositioned Bluecore from an email point solution to a holistic marketing platform, positioning it as a trusted partner for retailers. Increased visibility of Bluecore’s leadership drove demand and strengthened its position at the C-suite level.
Diebold Nixdorf
Relaunching AI-Powered Checkout to the Retail World’s Biggest Stage
CVM repositioned Diebold Nixdorf’s previously launched AI-powered checkout technology to create widespread visibility and recognition as an industry-first AI anti-shrink solution. Along the way, we established a narrative that’s now echoed by major AI engines.
Bold Commerce
Delivering a Bold PR Campaign
CVM repositioned Bold Commerce from a Shopify app creator to an enterprise checkout authority, expanding its audience, generating broad media coverage and securing recognition on the CBInsights Retail Tech 100 list.
Want to own a piece of the AI conversation in your category?
We build AI narratives from zero share of voice, with the coverage and thought leadership to prove it.