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Retresco's 2023 Roundup

Photo by Janina Abou Al Ward

Janina Abou Al Ward

Product Marketing Manager, Retresco

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...or 6 reasons why 2023 was a special year to us.

The year is coming to an end, and we take a look back at the past months, which shone bright in the light of Generative AI.

2023 is the year in which Generative AI reached the peak of Gartner's Hype Cycle. ChatGPT has become an integral part of any content conversation, and both positive and negative headlines about OpenAI abound on the web.

At Retresco, we also celebrated many significant milestones this year. Let's review them once again.

Blog Post Retrescos 2023 Roundup.

We were able to acquire many new customers and expand our collaborations. This applies to both our Content Automation platform textengine.io and our Topic Management System, as well as our offerings in the generative AI field. We conducted several dozen AI workshops and designed and implemented numerous customised AI projects. Last but not least, we welcomed six new agency partners.

Reason #1: The OMR Masterclass – How AI Revolutionises Content Production!

Our highlight event: at this year's Online Marketing Rockstars, our masterclass "ChatGPT, Generative AI, and Co. – What’s in for you? How AI Revolutionises Content Production!" overshadowed all other topics. The audience utilised every square meter of the venue to learn more about the hype.

We were particularly pleased to have had to close reservations for our OMR Masterclass after just one day because we had reached the maximum number of possible reservations. Out of more than 100 masterclasses, we were thus at the top 1. 😉 We were also delighted that our international client, Lyreco, publicly presented their rollout in 20+ European and Asian markets for the first time at OMR.

Reason #2: ChatGPT vs. Retresco: Why our Large Scale Content Automation Approach is Superior to the Chatbot

For those who don't know how Retresco's comprehensive Large Scale Content Automation approach differs from ChatGPT, the answer can be found in our whitepaper (DE version), which we released in September. In short, creating texts based on the Large Scale Content Automation principle allows for generating an infinite number of data-driven, legally secure, and hallucination-free texts with just the push of a button.

Reason #3: "Texting without Texting" and Other Highlights from textengine.io

Retresco's Content Automation platform textengine.io made rapid leaps in development this year. In total, we released ten new features that simplify the creation of international content at scale. Among the highlights are:

Support for text creation in Asian languages

In addition to all common European languages, our text models can now be created or translated into Thai, traditional Chinese, and Korean. This convinced Lyreco to internationalise their entire product portfolio within a few days.

GPT enters text templates

The following features entered Retresco with GPT integration:

  • Texting without texting
    With the Textmodel Creator and Message Composer, we revolutionised how you create your text templates. With the Textmodel Creator, you do not require an initial idea of how your finished text should be structured, nor do you have to write it yourself – saving 80% of your time that you can invest in other topics. The Message Composer ensures that you retain full control over your text generation, providing 100% risk-free content without hallucinations.

  • Text variant suggestions in all common languages
    Automated text variant suggestions generate new text variations based on an original text, ensuring that every automatically generated content is unique, yet contains verified formulations without hallucinations. This year, we activated this functionality for 20 additional languages.

  • Rewrite functionality
    Upload a source text that you can adjust in style, tone, and length with just a click, and enrich it with SEO keywords. This allows you to recylce your texts and tailor them to a new audience.

  • Buying Intent Assistant
    To optimise the visibility and conversion rate of your (product) texts sustainably, you can query current search trends when creating a text template in the Textmodel Creator, manually adjust the keywords as needed, and incorporate them into the final text structure.

The best part: In textengine.io, you can leverage the creativity of text generation à la ChatGPT while closely controlling all statements and generate unique, verified content with the push of a button.

Reason #4: New Efficiency Boosters for Media Publishers in the Topic Management System

Our Topic Management System provides valuable support for editorial teams, content teams, and SEO teams through semantic content linking. It identifies and organises relevant articles and multimedia content quickly and summarises them on corresponding category pages. The Topic Management System enjoyed some exciting updates that significantly streamline the content work of digital media publishers:

  1. AI-based teaser generation for topic pages
    Our topic pages are now complemented by custom, automatically generated teaser texts that remain fully editable. This simplifies the entry for readers into the topics and increases the visibility and search engine relevance of the topic page.

  2. Automated categorisation of content by IAB Content Taxonomy
    Our clients’ online content can be scanned and analysed through semantic enrichment, then sorted into industry-standardised content categories defined by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), and tagged accordingly. This is relevant, among other things, for publishers who monetise through on-page advertising. With IAB’s tandard classifications, it is possible to provide advertisers with contextually accurate and brand-relevant content for advertising purposes without the use of third-party cookies.

  3. Transcription of videos and podcasts
    Fueled by the growing popularity of video material in journalism and content creation, we introduced a new feature that simplifies the content discovery of these media formats. Through automated transcription, themes and entities in multimedia content are automatically identified and can be integrated into relevant topic pages. And not only that: by transcribing the content, it becomes possible to list podcasts and videos in internal search masks, include them in further content recommendations, influence SEO rankings, and make content accessible without barriers.

Reason #5: We Simplify Your AI Journey

How often do you hear: “We need AI!”, without any idea how to integrate it into existing processes or where to start. These initial efforts are often a time- and resource-intensive process. By taking our AI Projects team's expertise in-house, we guide you from idea generation, to feasibility analysis, proof-of-concept development, and operational implementation. Our new AI Factories concept shows where we create value through AI expertise:

Retresco AI Factories - overview graphic

We were privileged to conduct over a dozen AI workshops this year and accompany exciting projects, like the implementation of in-house Question Answering Systems and other customised AI solutions. Schedule a meeting or invite us to an internal workshop to quickly and easily integrate AI processes successfully into your company.

Reason #6: And The Award Goes To:

Retresco wins big! This year, our Large Scale Content Automation solution was repeatedly awarded:

  • German Stevie Award in Gold for the category new products in the field of Artificial Intelligence and solutions for Machine Learning.

  • International Business Awards with Silver in the category "Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning Solution."

Winner of the Stevie Award 2023

In addition, Retresco ranked among the top 3 in the following awards:

  • Kress Pro: Retresco among the top providers for automation/AI in media houses, publishers, and publishers (2nd place with the most mentions).

  • Digital Communication Awards in the category "Data-Driven & Automated Communications."

  • dpr digital publishing awards in the category "Process/Technology."

  • E-Commerce Germany Awards in the category "Best Product Content Creation Tool."

We thank our grandmothers, mothers, and our coffee machine, which always support us tirelessly.

Last but not least, we were guests on 8 industry podcasts throughout the year and even made an appearance on television (specifically, on ARD):

An exciting year with Generative AI in the fast lane is coming to an end. However, with Google's Search Generative Experience Update and a plethora of new features simmering in our development kitchen, we can already see that 2024 will continue to be just as thrilling.

If you'd like to engage with us on Generative AI, ask questions, or optimise content processes sustainably, reach out to us. We look forward to your message!

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