From data to engagement: Complete architecture of a CDP

Clever Age Group and Infinitum Digital have carried out several projects related to the Customer Data Lifecycle, and this article presents a concrete implementation developed for one of them, in the video game sector. 

Our client aims to collect, unify, and leverage as much player information as possible from the greatest number of data sources specific to their activity, with the goal of enriching each player's profile, gaining deeper knowledge to develop their own community without relying on major platforms, and improving the user experienceand the services they offer. 

The main challenge therefore lies in obtaining and consolidating a better understanding of players and their expectations, in order to improve the offer and differentiate themselves in an especially competitive market. 

When implementing a “classic” CDP, data usually comes from commercial or transactional activities: online purchases, customer service interactions, clicks on newsletter CTAs, website visits... In this project, the data sources are different. 

In the context of this project, the CDP is enriched primarily with data from gaming platforms and from a dedicated community platform owned by the publisher.  

The data sources 

We have two main data sources: 

• First-party data: Owned by the company itself, whose use depends on the customer’s direct consent. 

• Third-party data: Coming from gaming platforms, and their collection depends on the consent given by the customer on each of these platforms. 

The data to be integrated is classified into different categories, depending on the intended use for each type of data.  

Implemented technical components 

The implementation is structured around SAP components dedicated to customer experience: 

• Identity and consent management (CIAM): SAP CDC 

• Customer data management and enrichment: SAP CDP 

• Marketing activation and customer journey implementation: SAP Emarsys 

Account and consent management 

Customer accounts are initially created in CIAM (Customer Identity and Access Management). 

Each customer account can be created from: 

• An email address 

• A social network account 

• A gaming platform account 

It is then complemented with a minimum set of first-party data: 

• Email address 

• Date of birth (adjusted according to local regulations on age of majority) 

• First and last name 

• Public nickname 

• Consents (mandatory and optional) 

The player can then complete this dataset from their customer area, including: 

• Zero-party data: 

• Hardware configuration (computer) 

• Player preferences: solo or multiplayer mode, favourite game genre, etc. 

• Third-party data: 

• Additional authentication on other platforms, based on OAuth 2.0 and OpenID Connect 

• Linking with a gaming platform to consolidate the available data 

When the initial customer account is created, a unique “technical” identifier generated in CIAM is assigned. 

This identifier will accompany the player’s account throughout their relationship with the company, as it is used as a unique key to link it with external data sources.  

Collection of player activity 

Data from the gaming platforms is collected through a pipeline specifically developed for the project, hosted in Azure, to enrich the player profile within the CDP. Since the data provided by the platforms is highly heterogeneous in type and format, it had to be transformed into a standardised format before being integrated into the CDP. This operation is performed in the Azure pipeline. 

Collection of community data

The client’s proprietary community platform allows direct interaction with the player and generates engagement: each player can ask community questions, vote on development proposals, select their game worlds, among other actions. All these actions are consolidated in the CDP through a series of specific events. 

Like gaming platforms, the messages (events) sent by the community platform are formatted through an intermediate layer developed specifically for the project and hosted on Azure infrastructure. 

Some examples: 

• The customer has played a platform game for 20 hours and selected the “Platform Game” universe on the community site → Their profile is included in the eligible customer segment for the “Platform Game” scenario. 

• The customer has played several FPS-type games on different platforms → Their profile is included in the customer segment that will receive specific communications when the next FPS is launched. 

Platform evolutions and future 

Once this initial foundational step was completed, our client had already planned several platform evolutions to strengthen player-base engagement: 

• Integration of the Twitch platform 

• Authentication and account creation through Twitch 

• Activation of item drops during a live stream via the CDP 

Integration of telemetry data 

Telemetry data generated during a gaming session is first-party data. The sending and consolidation of this data already exists, but it is anonymised and connected solely for statistical purposes. The next evolution of the platform will integrate this data into the CDP to link it with each player. 

In conclusion, the implementation of this Customer Data Platform demonstrates the strategic value of unifying identities, consents, and data from multiple sources to build real and actionable 360º profiles. Thanks to a solid architecture, it is possible to transform scattered information into an integrated system that drives personalisation, engagement, and competitive advantage in sectors as demanding as gaming. 

At Infinitum Digital, we have the experience, technical expertise, and capability to design, develop, and implement complete CDP solutions like this one. 
If your organisation needs to centralise its data, improve customer experience, or activate advanced strategies based on real behaviour, our team can support you throughout the entire process: from architecture definition to data integration, normalisation, and activation.