1. Given the longer B2B buying cycles, what role does ABM play in your go-to market strategy today?

B2B buying cycles are complex and delicate and often involve a lot of stakeholders in the buying committee and often include additional influencers outside of the formal buying group. One of the biggest challenges organizations face is that many inmarket accounts and personas, those actively researching or showing intent, aren’t even present in CRM or organizational records and remain hidden from demand generation and marketing teams.

A go-to-market (GTM) strategy needs these data points to help define who to target, how you’ll reach them, and what message or value to deliver across acquisition, expansion, and retention. ABM aligns perfectly with this by operationalizing GTM plans at the account level. It turns high-level GTM strategy into executable workflows by using data to prioritize the right accounts (based on fit, intent, and engagement), tailor messaging by segment or stage, and activate personalized campaigns across channels.

For GTM execution to work, you need a foundation of unified data, from firmographics, technographics, contact data, to behavioural and intent signals, you need a bridge to connect this data to intelligence to understand TAM and ICP fit. Then, this intelligence must link to execution tools that allow real-time targeting, measurement, and feedback. In short, ABM makes GTM strategies actionable, measurable, and accountcentric.

ABM, especially when powered by intent data, helps surface these previously unknown or overlooked accounts, bringing new opportunities into view based on their intent and fit. At the same time, ABM enables us to monitor familiar accounts for renewed engagement signals which is crucial for upsell or expansion motions. With platforms becoming more integrated and user-friendly, we’re now able to combine first-party signals with third-party intent and engagement data to prioritize efforts in real time. This helps marketing and sales stay aligned, act faster, and tailor outreach to where actual buying activity is happening whether that’s net-new acquisition, cross-sell, or retention.

2. Which ABM platform vendors do you currently evaluate or partner with, and what key differentiators drive your decision?

QKS Group is a leading global advisory and research firm, dedicated to empowering technology innovators to accelerate their growth journeys. We do this by covering market needs both from a technology vendors’ and end-users’ perspective. A major role we play is through our proprietary SPARK vendor assessment tool. Offering key insights into market dynamics and trends, it helps businesses gain a competitive edge, assess strengths and weaknesses, and make informed strategic decisions for growth and success. 

One of our SPARK titles is the Account Based Marketing Platform, going live in Q3, a market we’ve been tracking for 5 years now. We look for technology, service and customer impact differentiators that ABM platform vendors provide for a comprehensive assessment on where the market is headed, and which players are emerging as ace performers, and innovators in their market.

The research for our SPARK study Account Based Marketing Platform, Q3, 2025 has the following vendors- 6sense, Demandbase, Dun & Bradstreet, Informa TechTarget, Jabmo by Expandi Group, Leadspace, Madison Logic, N.Rich, Rollworks by NextRoll, Salesforce, Terminus by DemandScience and Zoominfo.

We analyse vendors at the granularity of each capability, and evaluation criteria. These criteria may change as the technology evolves to accommodate a fresher, more up-to-date set of evaluation criteria, and this year, vendors are being evaluated on the following parameters:

• Audience Data Management: This is critical in ABM because it ensures users of the platform are targeting the right accounts and maximising relevant engagement. ABM platforms unify and enrich first- and third-party data, from publisher networks, intent data partners, sales data partners, data co-ops and other proprietary and commercial databases into accurate, complete profiles crucial for precise segmentation and personalization. By consolidating disparate sources, validating quality, and layering on firmographic, technographic, and intent data, the platform sits on a strong foundation for dynamic audience creation and activation. ABM vendors should also ensure regulatory compliance and explore newer sources to supplement cookiebased tracking meanwhile keeping data actionable, forming the backbone of all successful ABM strategies. 
• Account Intelligence: The next step to effectively collecting and managing vast account and intent data, is to convert the same into precise account insights, essential in ABM because it informs who to target, how to engage them, and when. It combines firmographic, technographic, intent, and engagement data to build a rich, real-time view of each account. With predictive analytics, it helps identify high-value opportunities, prioritize accounts by conversion likelihood, and recommend optimal engagement strategies.
• Account Journey Management: This is an outcome of the shift from static outreach to dynamic, account-centric experiences. This capability represents the use of account-specific data to orchestrate personalized campaigns across the entire lifecycle prioritizing activation over planning. With ABM increasingly driven by real-time engagement, strong native and integrated activation channels especially in advertising, social, and web personalization are key to delivering scalable, relevant touchpoints. Platforms that support emerging channels and allow marketers to manage these journeys natively (without relying on external tools) enable more agile, CX-led account strategies. Evaluating this shows how well ABM platforms can keep pace with how accounts move and engage. 
• Account Analytics and Optimization: For making ABM accountable to real business outcomes, especially pipeline impact, reporting across web, ads, and sales to identify which actions influence opportunity creation and progression is crucial. With attribution modeling and AI-driven insights, analytical insights reveal which channels, content, and touchpoints actually move accounts through the funnel. This enables continuous refinement of campaigns and tighter sales-marketing alignment. Evaluating this capability shows how effectively the data-intelligence-activation complex of the ABM platform is driving engagement, pipeline and revenue. 
• Account based Sales Intelligence: Account-Based Sales Intelligence in ABM uses data and AI to enable sales teams prioritize and engage high-value accounts. The capability delivers sales alerts and AI-powered next best action recommendations in real-time, helping sales teams focus on priority accounts and take informed actions based on intent signals and engagement activity. This enables more efficient, targeted outreach to the most promising opportunities.

Beyond core capabilities, our SPARK ABM platform evaluation also depends on Integration and Interoperability with existing tech stack, and parallel technologies such as engagement and MAP platforms, Competitive Differentiation through unique features like proprietary data or AI-driven orchestration, and a strong Vision and Roadmap that aligns with future trends such as omnichannel activation and privacy-first strategies.

Our research also evaluates vendors based on service and strategic differentiators, focusing on criteria like Product Strategy & Performance, Market Presence, Proven Track Record, Ease of Deployment & Use, Customer Service Excellence, and a clear Unique Value Proposition. These factors help ensure the solution is not only functionally strong but also reliable, scalable, and aligned with business needs.

3. How do you assess ROI on your ABM investments across different regions or business units?

Account-Based Marketing (ABM) is a strategic B2B approach that focuses on identifying and engaging high-value accounts with personalized, coordinated marketing and sales efforts. Unlike traditional lead-based marketing, which prioritizes volume, ABM emphasizes depth of engagement and long-term relationship-building. It’s particularly effective for complex, high-consideration purchases where influence is built over extended sales cycles. By aligning go-tomarket teams around shared account goals, ABM enables more relevant messaging, better timing, and tighter orchestration. 

This targeted nature also makes it inherently more measurable success isn't based on lead quantity but on meaningful account engagement and revenue impact. As a result, ABM strategies rely heavily on platforms with strong analytics capabilities tools that can track engagement across channels, tie efforts to pipeline movement, and help teams course-correct in real time to focus on the accounts that matter most.

Modern ABM platforms offer advanced advertising capabilities, allowing for optimized budgeting. They also provide dashboarding features that offer users a clear, real-time view of how their campaigns are performing across the entire account journey. These dashboards unify marketing and sales data such as ad engagement, content interactions, email performance, outreach activities, and pipeline progression into a single, cohesive view.

This level of visibility helps teams not only track ROI with precision but also uncover critical insights into what's working and what’s not. Gaps in engagement, content redundancies, or inconsistent messaging become easier to identify and resolve. Performance reports on the campaigns can also be segmented by geographies.

By linking all activity directly to pipeline outcomes, ABM platforms provide a consolidated view of how ABM strategies are impacting revenue — offering transparency and ROI justification to businesses.

4. Are there industry-specific trends or regulatory considerations influencing how you deploy ABM strategies globally?  

The time from awareness to purchase in B2B can vary significantly depending on the product and industry. For complex solutions like enterprise software, it can take 6 to 18 months, as buyers go through research, demos, trials, and internal approvals. Simpler or already-approved purchases, like hardware tools, may take just 1 to 3 months. Regulated industries often have longer cycles, while startups or fast-moving teams may decide much faster for lower-risk buys.

ABM platforms allow full customization of their predictive models based on industryspecific indicators, region-specific factors, or custom criteria aligned to client needs. There are also service differentiators offered by ABM platform vendors that include service components. These aim to cater to industry-specific nuances through teams of diverse experts who understand the buying cycle and behaviors of their clients’ target accounts. This ties closely to the regulatory landscape.

Data privacy regulations and the end of third-party cookies are reshaping how ABM strategies are built and executed. ABM platform vendors are adhering to security standards like SOC 2, GDPR, CCPA, and CASL to protect sensitive data. Further, vendors can no longer rely on broad, anonymous tracking. Instead, they are shifting to alternative sources of data, collected with clear consent, either by themselves or their data partners.

This shift is also shaping the growth strategies of ABM platforms. We’re seeing a rise in mergers and acquisitions, as companies join forces with intent data or lead generation providers, event tech platforms, or vendors of proprietary, industryspecific market data. These moves aim to enhance targeting precision, expand addressable markets, improve conversion efficiency, and capture more first-party signals. There is also a growing collaboration between ABM vendors and regional or industry-specific data and service partners those with a deep understanding of regulatory compliance and localized intelligence to further boost data accuracy and campaign effectiveness.

From a data perspective, these consolidations help keep data within one ecosystem, making it easier to manage and activate. They also help organizations rely more on consented, first-party data instead of third-party cookies and ensure compliance with privacy rules that vary by region.

5. How does your organization plan to respond to the projected growth and competitive landscape outlined in recent ABM market analyses?

Our firm will continue to closely monitor intent data providers, ABM platforms, and B2B marketing technologies while expanding our coverage into adjacent Martech and SalesTech markets. These areas, once focused on specific team functionalities, are now evolving to support entire Revenue Operations (RevOps) teams. We anticipate rapid evolution in these spaces, fundamentally reshaping how organizations approach data-driven marketing and sales. By staying at the forefront of these developments, we aim to deliver timely insights, lead with thought leadership to shape industry understanding, and guide strategic decisions. This will enable vendors and end-users to navigate the shifting landscape and strategize effectively with clarity and confidence.  

6. What platform capabilities such as cross-channel orchestration or real-time data access are most essential for your ABM success?

As noted earlier, ABM platforms have broadened their scope beyond marketing to encompass sales and customer success teams. This expansion allows the platform’s capabilities to support larger marketing groups beyond just account and demand generation functions.

At present, vendors place significant emphasis on data partnerships and advancing data management capabilities, as these form the foundational backbone for successful orchestration. Effective data management includes the ability to aggregate, cleanse, and unify data from multiple sources such as CRM systems, marketing automation platforms, third-party data providers, and engagement channels.

Vendors that lead in integrating diverse datasets and providing real-time data access tend to be favoured because strong data management directly impacts the effectiveness of cross-channel orchestration and intelligence.

Further, as end-users increasingly seek to break down silos across different teams, we anticipate a growing focus on ABM vendors offering native channel activation, enhanced by powerful playbooks for fast, scenario-based cross-channel activation. This enables vast amounts of data from these channels to be seamlessly fed back into the intelligence layer, enhancing insights and driving smarter orchestration tying back to the fact that vendors are relying more heavily on first-party, proprietary, and consent-based data.

So, with evolving client expectations, ABM platforms are evolving as well. And the market, although mature, is seeing some seismic shifts making it more interesting than ever to track. 

Get in touch with our MarTech Experts. 

1. How is the shift toward creator-owned platforms influencing traditional content distribution models in the media industry?

The rise of creator owned platforms is fundamentally disrupting legacy distribution models by removing traditional gatekeepers like studios, networks, and agencies from the equation. These platforms empower creators to own their IP, control their monetization, and directly engage audiences. This shift is forcing traditional distributors to either adapt with more creator centric deals or risk irrelevance. We’re witnessing a migration of talent and audiences to ecosystems where transparency, ownership, and revenue share are more favorable.

2. In what ways are emerging platforms enabling diversified monetization options, such as subscriptions, pay-per-view, and sponsorships, for content creators?

Emerging platforms are developing multifaceted monetization ecosystems. Subscription based models (like Patreon or Substack), pay-per-view and transactional video-on-demand (TVOD), tipping, affiliate commerce, and brand sponsorships are all being integrated natively. Some platforms are even tokenizing content using blockchain to allow fractional ownership or resale. This diversification empowers creators to build hybrid revenue stacks tailored to their audience and content type, reducing dependence on ad revenue or traditional deals.

3. How is the demand for authentic and uncensored storytelling shaping content development strategies?

Audiences, especially Gen Z and younger millennials, gravitate toward raw, unfiltered content that challenges narratives pushed by mainstream media. This cultural pivot is pushing platforms and creators to embrace vulnerability, diverse perspectives, and investigative storytelling. For development, it means investing in docuseries, creator-led journalism, and narrative formats that trust the audience to engage critically rather than be passively entertained. Authenticity is no longer a stylistic choice, it’s a strategic imperative.

4. How are platforms adapting to incorporate interactive and live media experiences to enhance user engagement?

Platforms are rapidly evolving to meet the demand for interactivity. Features like real-time chats, polls, choose your own path narratives, and live Q&A are becoming standard. Technologies such as low latency streaming, AR/VR integration, and gamification are redefining what it means to “watch” content. In platforms like Identifi, these tools can be leveraged not just for engagement, but for data feedback loops that inform future content decisions and community growth strategies.

5. What challenges do organizations face in balancing creative freedom with regulatory compliance in content distribution?

The line between expression and compliance is increasingly complex. Global platforms must navigate a patchwork of local regulations ranging from content restrictions to data privacy laws, while supporting creator autonomy. Content flagged for misinformation, hate speech, or cultural insensitivity can trigger platform penalties or legal actions. Successful companies are implementing transparent content moderation systems, AI-assisted filtering, and community guidelines that uphold both creative freedom and legal accountability.

6. How do you envision the media and entertainment landscape evolving with the rise of creatorfirst platforms?

The future is decentralized and audience-driven. Creator first platforms will become cultural powerhouses, not just for entertainment, but also for education, politics, and activism. Studios will evolve into collaborators and incubators rather than controllers. Traditional models will adapt by integrating with these ecosystems via partnerships, funding, or technology. Ultimately, we’re heading toward a landscape where community is the new currency, trust is the new brand, and content is co-created, not just consumed.

Get in touch with our MarTech Experts. 

1. How can PR firms effectively communicate their new brand identity to stakeholders and clients?

There are numerous channels that PR firms can leverage to communicate a new identity. These include a revamped website, a news release, dedicated e-blasts, a series of videos and social media posts. Teams should also bundle news about their rebrand into communications with both existing and potential clients. At Violet PR, we issued an e-blast and linked back to our new website and blog post. We have a bold, new logo and tagline: ‘We Write the Future,’ which effectively encapsulates our unique ability to help clients shape their futures, economies and skylines. The rebrand has been an important step for us as leaders in the economic development public relations space, and we’ve already garnered some incredibly positive feedback.

2. What challenges do companies face when transitioning to a new brand identity, and how can they navigate them?

I can certainly speak to our experience: prior to this year, we didn’t emphasize the Violet PR brand in a big way. In fact, we’d been using the same logo since I started the company 15 years ago and didn’t have a tagline. I saw an opportunity to create a new brand that was bold and exciting, and what we landed on was exponentially “bigger” and more memorable. But, with these overhauls comes related challenges, including the complexities of fully relaunching a website. While it ended up only taking six months from start to finish, we still had to rework our site copy and visuals, shoot a new video, and migrate our blog – plus 30+ case studies – in a new format. It’s straightforward but can be extremely time-consuming. Now that we’re on the other side of our launch – with new features on our back-end – everything has become easier to manage. So, while the site migration was a heavy lift, it’s much more efficient and effective now.

3. How does a refined brand strategy enhance a company’s ability to drive innovation and thought leadership?

An effective brand will help a company look innovative and current, enabling it to more easily market itself and its services, and it can give the business more confidence as a market leader. For Violet PR specifically, the brand essentially followed our growth: In recent years, we’ve won several big industry awards – including 2024’s ‘Best Boutique Agency’ from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA), our largest industry group. So, if you combine that with all the exciting clients we work with – nearly a dozen cities and regions, four U.S. states and the country of Switzerland – we suddenly had national name recognition as a top economic development public relations firm, and badly needed a bolder brand that could represent that strength.

4. What are the best practices for maintaining brand consistency across digital and traditional marketing channels?

First and foremost: use the brand everywhere. Make it “circular” – with related copy, logo and the new color scheme appearing in employee email signatures, press release boilerplates, employee handbooks, business cards, banners, office walls—everywhere. This also means across social media pages, on new merchandise, sweatshirts, notebooks, pens and event ‘swag.’ This helps to ensure immediate engagement with the new brand, which can drive new business activity and ultimately ROI.

5. How does rebranding help a company realign with evolving market demands and industry trends?

In a fast-moving world, and even faster news cycles, it’s vital to have a brand that is both accessible and current. For companies with dated visuals or logos that do not necessarily communicate your strengths, it may be time to consider a change. For my agency, when our old logo was displayed alongside others, especially on a more crowded backdrop, it was difficult to read because of its horizontal design. We can now use a simplified but recognizable ‘V’ version of the logo – marked by a distinct single quotation mark – in those instances, whether it’s at conferences, in pitches, or on business cards. A logo can truly speak volumes, and ours has already helped elevate us in the economic development and public relations worlds.

6. How can businesses leverage PR and marketing to amplify the success of their rebrand?

Teams should do several things: a news release to officially launch the brand, e-blasts and social media posts, and even print pieces and signage. I strongly believe in the power of earned media. For instance, after we launched our brand this year, we generated favorable stories in both New Jersey and industry publications, and these have generated buzz among our clients and several prospects.

Have a clear strategy to tell people about the brand. Don’t just update a logo and leave it; make sure you share the narrative behind it. As Adam Taylor, founder and CEO of Splendor – which partnered with us on the rebrand work – said: “This project became a strong step in the evolution of Violet PR. It helps the agency retain its boutique feel, but also puts its world-class results front and center.”

1. What are the key misconceptions about PR that startups should rethink when building brand awareness?

That PR is about puff pieces and getting your name “out there” by hiring someone with media contacts to blast press releases. It’s not. That’s the old-school model—and it doesn’t work anymore, especially not for startups trying to cut through a saturated, attention-deficit marketplace. Startups tend to confuse visibility with credibility. But visibility without strategy is like shouting in a crowded room. Nobody listens.

PR—when done with the right strategy—is about building trust through earned media, not paid spin. With Anti-PR®, we help startups pinpoint what the industry isn’t saying, then position them as the truth-teller in that space. When you consistently bring real insight to the table — and stop parroting corporate-speak—you earn a level of credibility that no press blast or ad spend can buy. That’s when PR stops being a cost center and starts driving real business value.

2. How can startups compete with well-funded competitors using innovative brand positioning tactics?

You don’t beat Goliath by playing Goliath’s game. You win by being the voice of truth in an industry that’s starved for it. Anti-PR® arms startups with strategy—not just visibility. You identify what’s broken in your industry, then take a stand. If you're the only one saying what needs to be said, congratulations you own the narrative. You just became unignorable.

Startups can move faster, speak bolder, and take positions on things that their legacy competitors can’t touch. With Anti-PR®, we help startups uncover the uncomfortable truths in their industry—and then say what no one else is willing to say. That’s how you dominate a conversation without dominating ad spend. It’s not about being louder — it’s about being clearer. Own the uncomfortable. Be the company that calls out what’s broken and offers a better way. That’s how you stand out and get taken seriously, even without a Super Bowl budget.

3. What role does community-building play in amplifying a startup’s presence without mainstream media backing?

Media validation is important but it’s not the only game in town anymore. In a world where trust is decentralized, the most powerful form of credibility is community. And I’m not talking about “likes” or followers. I mean actual humans who care about your mission and are willing to evangelize it.

For startups, community-building is a superpower. When people feel like they’re part of something bigger — something that challenges the status quo — they don’t just buy your product. They share it. They defend it. They grow it.

4. How should startups balance controversial marketing stunts vs. sustainable brand trust?

There’s a fine line between being provocative and being performative and most stunts cross it. If you’re only trying to go viral, you’re playing a short-term game with a long-term reputation. And trust me, the court of public opinion has a very long memory.

That said, startups should be bold. They should take risks. But those risks need to be grounded in truth. When we work with clients through the Anti-PR lens, we help them take strategic stands—ones that reflect their mission and expose the real problems in their market. That’s how you get attention and build credibility.

If a marketing move doesn’t educate, provoke meaningful dialogue, or lead with value, it’s not disruptive — it’s just noise. When you disrupt with purpose, you build trust even while ruffling feathers. And that’s what keeps a brand top of mind and top of trust.

5. What role does thought leadership play in building credibility and market influence?

Everyone’s trying to be a “thought leader”, but they’re just recycling the same jargon, stats, and predictions. That’s not leadership — that’s regurgitation.

Real thought leadership is about insight. It’s about being the first to say what everyone else is still whispering or too afraid to admit. When startups tap into their founders’ unique lens and connect it to broader market truths, that’s when people start listening.

Through Anti-PR®, we coach startups to stop selling and start teaching. Every piece of content, every media appearance, every quote should do one of two things: challenge an assumption or solve a problem. That’s how you position your brand not just as relevant, but as essential.

6. How can a well-crafted data-driven Anti-PR® strategy improve a startup’s chances of overcoming funding challenges and scaling sustainably?

Investors aren’t just looking at your product or your deck anymore—they’re watching your traction, your message, and your influence. If you can’t tell a compelling story backed by third-party credibility, you’re just another risky bet.

This is where Anti-PR® shines. We use data — market data, competitor data, earned media performance — to craft narratives that aren’t just interesting, they’re investable. We show startups how to create momentum that’s visible to VCs, partners, and the public.

We’ve seen startups land funding because of the credibility our campaigns helped them earn. One media hit in the right outlet, supported by the right positioning and market timing, can do more for funding prospects than six months of cold outreach. When you’ve got third-party validation echoing your value proposition, the conversation shifts. You’re not just telling investors you’re ready to scale — you’re showing them that the market already agrees.

1. What measures are in place to ensure that your brand's messaging remains consistent and resonates across diverse channels and audiences?

In 2024, Beyond Trending underwent a thorough rebranding process where we analyzed our company values, vision, voice, and overall messaging. It was a big project with plenty of exploration to truly uncover who we are as a company, the types of clients we serve, and what makes us stand out in the crowded PR industry. Thankfully, when we emerged from that process, we felt crystal clear in who we are – and who we are not. We are the opposite of a big-city agency as we move fast and get stuff done. We are strategists who are confident enough to question our clients instead of just saying ‘yes.’ And we never follow a copy and paste model as we know that PR success is dependent on thoughtful and creative storytelling tactics. 

Just as we say to our clients, consistency in your messaging is critical – so we of course must practice what we preach! We don’t try to shift to fit a customer prospect that doesn’t align with our strengths, or offer services that don’t fall within our wheelhouse. We remain consistent across all marketing channels and have messaging guidelines and best practices to further enforce that approach. Because we work with three main categories of clients – tech companies, startups & VCs, and nonprofits – we use those sectors as a benchmark for the content we produce to keep our core audiences engaged. 

2. What technologies are currently employed to monitor and analyze media coverage, and how do they inform your PR strategies? 

In terms of monitoring to ensure we don’t miss any client coverage, we use a broad range of tools – from basic to more complex, as every monitoring service is a bit different. We have Google and TalkWalker alerts as well as more robust tools like Muck Rack and TVeyes. This helps us ensure nothing falls through the cracks. 

By utilizing the analytics capabilities within Muck Rack, for example, we can compare quarter-over-quarter or year-over-year results, conduct competitive analyses, and even see the top publications or writers who cover our clients. This provides us with a picture of where we have strong visibility and as well as areas of improvement.   

3. How does your organization track and measure the effectiveness of PR campaigns in achieving business objectives?

The big question for any company looking to hire a PR agency is ROI and that’s something we’re always seeking to measure in new ways. Some are basic measurements that are standard across all kinds of clients, whereas others are measured in more unique ways based on the specific KPIs that a client wants to achieve. At the start of every engagement, and with a review on a quarterly or half-year basis, we discuss those goals and KPIs with our clients to ensure we’re on track, and if the targets have shifted at all for the business, we can adapt accordingly. 

Then analyzing the effectiveness of a campaign and the media results, we’re tracking the number of media placements, potential reach (UVM), social shares, and advertising value equivalency (AVE). We also often analyze and track competitive share of voice (SOV) as well as review engagement and comments on article placements. 

The real magic happens when we sit down with our clients to learn of the uptick in website traffic, general visibility, and/or secured customers in response to one of our media campaigns. We’ve had many clients share feedback from an investor, partner, or customer who read or heard about them in ‘X’ media outlet and then engagement with the company. 

4. What strategies are being implemented to foster innovation and agility in your PR practices? 

Everyone’s leveraging AI and tools like ChatGPDT in some capacity – and it would be silly not to bolster your team with the ability to save time and accomplish more. But we’re selective in how we use these AI-supported tools. They serve as a great launching off point for brainstorming as well as outlining things like press releases, pitches, or byline articles. But we never use AI to draft full articles, for example, as the content is cookie-cutter and lacks tone; the human touch is 100% still necessary. 

We also use email tracking tools like Mix Max to determine the most opportune time to reach a reporter’s inbox or have visibility into how often they’re looking at our pitches. This helps us tailor and maximize our media relations efforts and ensure we’re giving reporters what they want. 

5. How is your organization adapting its PR strategies to align with evolving media landscapes and consumer expectations? 

The media landscape has changed dramatically not only over the last decade but even the last year, so in order to stay relevant, you must continuously adapt and evolve. On a granular level, we continue to get more targeted and tailored with key journalists we want to build relationships with, and are straightforward and succinct in our outreach to them. We know reporters are time and bandwidth strapped so we’ve learned to get right to it – no fluff. 

Perhaps most important are our efforts to approach communications strategy holistically. What we continue to do is bolster our services through strong partnerships. PR can’t work with a siloed approach, so if our clients are looking for social media, branding, growth marketing, etc., we can pull in the right partners to ensure we’re not only reaching a broad range of media targets, but also incorporating the various ways people consume and digest information. 

6. How are you ensuring that your PR approaches remain adaptable to changes in media consumption and public sentiment?

We continuously analyze traditional as well as non-traditional mediums to ensure our clients are being seen by their core audiences, the ones that drive revenue and growth. That means being familiar with all the ways people consume their news beyond just online, print and television – newsletters, podcasts, social media, and more. 

1. What measures are in place to ensure that voice-of-customer data from various channels (e.g., reviews, social media, surveys) is effectively utilized to inform business decisions?

Brands today are inundated with Voice of Customer data from every direction. To turn this chaos into clarity, data quality must come first. It is the foundation, the building blocks, that drive informed decisions across every industry. At our core, we are focused on delivering the highest-quality insights to brands.

We started with review data, a post-purchase source making it highly credible but often challenged by duplication due to syndication. Once we perfected that, expanding our AI engine to handle social media and survey data was a natural next step.

Revuze does not stop at analysis. Our AI goes further by offering data-backed recommendations and activities that help brands move confidently from insight to action.

2. What technologies are currently employed to process and analyze large volumes of unstructured consumer feedback, and how do they integrate with your existing systems? 

Since 2011, Revuze has been investing and optimizing its own proprietary Generative AI and LLMs, well before ChatGPT took the spotlight. Over the years, we've focused on refining and optimizing our large language models to deliver unmatched precision in analyzing VoC data.

Our GenAI engine detects tone and context with remarkable accuracy. Take battery life, for example. It's important across many industries, but context matters. A one-hour battery life is unacceptable for a smartphone, yet impressive for a drone. Our AI is trained to understand these nuances based on the product category, ensuring insights are both relevant and accurate to support brands’ decision-making.

This deep expertise powers best-in-class topic extraction and sentiment analysis across more than 1,500 product categories. In addition, Revuze integrates advanced "off-the-shelf" LLMs, such as Anthropic’s Sonnet, for specific tasks like generating review summaries, further enhancing our platform's capabilities.

3. In what ways are you streamlining cross-functional collaboration between departments (e.g., marketing, product development, customer service) to act on AI-driven recommendations?

One of the core challenges many companies face is siloed data, where different teams rely on separate sources. This often results in inconsistent insights and misaligned decisions. ActionHub addresses this by bringing all teams together, marketing, product, eCommerce, and consumer insights, on a shared foundation. While each team has a customized hub tailored to their needs, everyone works from the same unified data set. This includes review and rating data, social media, and survey responses, all accessible in one place.

The platform combines quantitative and qualitative data in a visual format, making it easier to uncover not just what consumers are saying, but why they are saying it. Regardless of role, users can explore the drivers behind consumer behavior in a way that is both intuitive and consistent.

To encourage collaboration, we have developed cross-functional use cases that help teams align on opportunities and next steps. For instance, product teams can use insights from the ProductHub to identify purchase motivators and align them with product strengths, guiding marketing on which messages are most likely to resonate. Similarly, marketing can collaborate with eCommerce teams to refine product detail page (PDP) content based on consumer feedback, improving online performance.

We have also prioritized integration with enterprise tools such as Microsoft Copilot and Claude. This allows organizations to combine VoC insights with internal sales data, enabling a more holistic view of the customer and supporting advanced querying.

4. How does your organization track and analyze the effectiveness of AI-generated insights in improving product features, marketing campaigns, and eCommerce performance?

At the core of the Revuze platform is a recommendation engine powered by proprietary large language models, which is also supported by external LLMs for tasks such as summarization and validation. The system is designed to turn VoC data into practical, tailored recommendations across a wide range of use cases.

In the MarketingHub, this includes support for content creation, whether it’s creating social media posts that resonate, enriching product detail pages, or creating influencer kits and data-backed video scripts - all based on the VoC data. On the product side, the ProductHub offers data-driven suggestions, ranging from addressing specific product pain points to effective innovation planning.

A key focus of the platform is helping teams explore new ideas. For example, product managers can begin with addressing unmet needs that are based on consumer review data, and the AI engine surfaces relevant trends from social media, drawing inspiration from entirely different industries. A concept in footwear might emerge from patterns identified in automotive or electronics. The data sets are being used in different ways, ways that always leverage their strengths.

These examples illustrate how the platform is built to support cross-functional teams in turning consumer feedback into actionable insights and creative exploration.

5. How is your organization preparing for emerging trends in consumer behavior analysis, such as the use of large language models (LLMs) and advanced AI in deriving insights?

Our organization is closely engaged in the advancement of AI and LLMs, with a focus on how they enhance consumer behavior analysis. We see LLMs as tools that complement traditional research methods by automating tasks like sentiment analysis, theme detection, and text summarization. This speeds up the research process and allows teams to access deeper insights with agility.

We use a combination of proprietary and third-party models, applying each where it adds the most value. Internal models help with contextual understanding in specific product categories, while external models support tasks like content summarization.

Our approach remains flexible and research-driven, allowing us to adapt quickly to new technologies while maintaining accuracy, relevance, and responsible AI use. As consumer data sources evolve, we are committed to evolving with them to support timely, data-informed decision-making.

6. How are you ensuring that your approach to consumer insights remains adaptable to evolving technologies and competitive pressures?

We stay informed about technological developments and evolving industry trends, continuously exploring new tools and methodologies. By maintaining an open and collaborative approach with partners and actively testing emerging technologies, we strive to remain adaptable to a wide range of research needs.

Our platform is designed to support both quantitative and qualitative data analysis and to accommodate various research approaches and needs. This flexibility allows us to work effectively with organizations across different sectors, helping them access and interpret the insights most relevant to their goals.

1. What are the biggest challenges in market research today, and how are you adapting to them?

The challenges depend on whether you're looking at survey research or qualitative research. For surveys, the big one is data integrity. Artificial intelligence and bots have introduced ways for respondents to cheat, so quality control has become more important than ever. We’ve implemented very rigorous quality control protocols, including safeguards like disabling copy/paste functions in our surveys and flagging suspicious behavior. Even if someone uses AI to generate responses, we make it harder for them to directly plug that into the survey.

On the qualitative side, recruiting knowledgeable respondents is getting tougher. There are so many third-party recruiters out there now that the audiences we used to rely on are fatigued they’ve become somewhat blind to outreach and more difficult to recruit. Cold calling is nearly obsolete. Nobody answers a call from a phone number they don’t recognize anymore.

To adapt, we’ve embraced smarter targeting and leaned into select third-party recruiting platforms. We’re also meeting a new challenge: client expectations have become more sophisticated. That’s a good challenge—it forces us to get sharper and deliver more precise insights.

Of course, incentives are more important than they were a decade or so ago. In the past, we conducted thousands of interviews with no incentives—just cold calls and a clear explanation of what we were doing. That doesn’t work anymore. Time is our most valuable commodity, and we now compensate nearly every type of participant, whether it’s a survey respondent or an interviewee. But incentives come with their own challenges. When money is involved, there’s a stronger motivation to game the system. That’s why we’ve evolved not only how we recruit but also how we verify participants and their responses. Data quality and incentive strategy are now tightly intertwined.

2. What role does innovation play in market intelligence, and how do you plan to stay ahead?

Innovation is everything. We’re using methods today that perhaps didn’t exist even five years ago. Take willingness to pay research—it’s becoming more common, and we’re also seeing a resurgence in conjoint analysis, which had gone quiet for a while.

Sometimes we have to invent new methodologies altogether. One example is our “Benefit-Value Analysis” methodology, which we created to help a client to get information about a proposed product iteration without revealing what the product actually was. We essentially devised a way to survey the market to determine the value customers placed on various product benefits, honing in on an actionable calculation of market value and, therefore, pricing strategy. It worked incredibly well, and now it’s part of our toolkit to apply to other research projects..

We’re also investing in an area we pioneered known as “Emotional iIntelligence”—understanding how emotions drive buying decisions, both for consumers and B2B audiences. Our linguistic-based emotion analysis can be applied to any survey or even retroactively to existing research. Proprietary to our firm, we developed this methodology in partnership with Dr. Tom Snyder, a noted psychiatrist with a PhD in neuroscience, who had become fascinated with the human expression of experienced emotions. The tool is AI-assisted, but always human-guided—we never rely on AI alone to interpret emotions. Context is everything. We are fond of saying, Artificial Intelligence + Human Intelligence = Augmented Intelligence.

3. What industries are seeing the most disruption in consumer behavior, and how does research help brands stay agile?

Honestly, it’s easier to ask which industries aren’t seeing disruption. That said, automotive is a great example of an industry in which consumer preferences and market adoption has undergone significant disruption in recent years. Specifically, the EV surge hit hard initially and then eventually pulled back. As a result, many of our clients in that supplier space—especially those tied to battery production—are over-capacitized. That’s created a lot of uncertainty. As consumer demand has shifted, so too have their manufacturing and supply chain strategies. Understanding how disruption is moving markets is key to innovation and planning.

Inflation has also had a major effect across industries. Food service, consumer electronics—pretty much any industry that touches consumers—are seeing shifts. Political and global economic factors add even more variability.

This is where market sizing research plays a huge role. We help clients see where their markets are going, not just where they’ve been. For one industrial manufacturer, we’ve done global market sizing to understand how their opportunities have shifted due to macro changes. Businesses need to know “where the hockey puck is going” (not just where it is today)—and we help them see that so they can make informed decisions about where, when and how to pivot, if appropriate.

4. In the era of privacy, how can companies ensure ethical data collection while still gaining valuable insights?

Ethical data collection is a huge priority, especially with privacy concerns growing. We use multiple layers of quality control—some are traditional, like attention checks within surveys, but we also use tools to detect bots and AI-generated responses. We track time-on-task and look for patterns in the data to make sure it's human and thoughtful.

Because we use third-party panel providers, there’s a built-in layer of anonymity. We don’t know who the respondent is, and neither does our client. That’s why our QC has to be rock-solid—we can’t go back and ask someone to clarify. It also means our respondents participate voluntarily and with full awareness. Multiple levels of isolation between client and respondent and researcher and respondent help to ensure that responses are authentic and complete, with no influence by those conducting the survey or commissioning the project.

5. What new trends in market research are emerging, and how should businesses prepare for them?

Of course, AI is the obvious trend, but it’s not the silver bullet people might think. We use it cautiously and mostly for support, not for decision-making itself. Privacy issues prevent us from using generative AI tools like ChatGPT for client-specific questions—those can’t become part of the public domain, which would happen if we entered them into publicly accessible large language models.

The less obvious but equally important trend is the rise of strategic pricing research. Since COVID, we've done more pricing work than we did in the previous 20 years combined. Businesses are trying to figure out not just what the market will bear, but what’s a fair price based on the value they provide.

There’s been so much uncertainty—pandemic, supply chain chaos, inflation, tariffs—and now many organizations are creating new roles internally just to address pricing strategy. They want to know how they stack up against competitors and whether their value proposition matches the price. That’s where we come in with tools that go well beyond guesswork.

Final thought: As market research continues to shift in response to new technologies, economic forces, and evolving consumer behaviors, staying ahead requires a mix of innovation, adaptability, and rigor. Whether it’s navigating evolving technologies, tightening privacy regulations, or responding to the ripple effects of global economic shifts, market research today is as much about adaptation as it is about insight. Success will come in constantly refining the tools, asking smarter questions, and never settling for surface-level answers.

1. How are you leveraging insights from industry events like the Marketing Procurement iQ Conference to inform your agency management practices?

Our industry is in a transformative learning phase an era defined by partnership capital. We’re no longer operating in silos; strength now lies in how deeply we collaborate. That means forging tighter bonds not just between brands and agencies, but also between marketers and procurement teams. The energy is palpable at every industry event, where real-world practitioners take the stage to share bold ideas and hard-won lessons. Their insights are the compass points guiding us forward. Because in this business, if you’re not learning, you’re not evolving—and if you’re not evolving, you’re falling behind. Collaboration is the new currency. Growth is the reward for those willing to invest.

2. In what ways are you redefining success metrics in agency partnerships beyond cost and delivery timelines? 

Delivering work on time and on budget is table stakes a tactical necessity, not the finish line. It’s merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to measuring true success in client/agency partnerships. Today’s brands demand more. They look to agencies not just for execution, but for strategic firepower, bold ideas that cut through the noise, and breakthrough innovation that transforms how they engage their audiences.

With such a broad spectrum of agency contributions, the definition of performance is expanding—and so is the list of KPIs. From effectiveness and efficiency to creativity and collaboration, we must measure what we truly treasure. Because in modern partnerships, value isn't just delivered—it's demonstrated.

3. What innovations have you implemented that enable your brand to lead rather than follow in agency collaboration? 

In today’s fast-paced economic landscape, innovation isn’t optional it’s a mindset, a method, and a mandate. Brands and agencies alike are in constant pursuit of smarter, faster, and more impactful ways to operate. Whether it’s harnessing technology to streamline workflows, reimagining processes to unlock efficiency, or driving productivity through more structured and collaborative team dynamics—innovation is the fuel that powers progress. As a leading software platform provider, we don’t just follow innovation—we build it. Our solutions are designed to elevate partnerships by enhancing collaboration, sharpening communication, and simplifying reporting. Now, we’re going a step further—embedding AI to supercharge these tools for marketing, procurement, leadership, and agency teams alike. Because true innovation doesn’t just improve how we work it transforms what’s possible.

4. How are you balancing central oversight with regional autonomy in managing diverse agency ecosystems across geographies? 

Today’s brand advertisers navigate extraordinary complexity spanning multiple business units, brands, regions, and audiences. Some operate with a centralized command, others empower local markets with greater autonomy. This intricate landscape demands an equally sophisticated agency model one that flexes, adapts, and scales with precision. To succeed, the agency ecosystem must be carefully calibrated to reflect these diverse realities. Often, brand strategy is centralized for alignment, while execution is decentralized to honor regional nuance. In this model, a lead agency may serve as the strategic anchor coordinating across markets and agency partners to ensure a unified brand voice, wherever the message lands. Because in a world of complexity, clarity—and the right collaboration model is everything.

5. With the growth of agency relationships in Europe and other international markets, how are you tailoring your agency strategies regionally while maintaining global consistency? 

Every advertiser must architect an operating agency model that aligns global vision with regional realities and local ambition. It’s a delicate balance—where the global team sets strategic direction, while regions are empowered to adapt and execute within tailored guardrails. The degree of flexibility varies by market and mandate, but the goal remains the same: relevance without sacrificing consistency. In response, agencies must flex with purpose adapting their approach, structure, and team composition to mirror the client’s organization. By doing so, they ensure alignment, responsiveness, and impact at every level. Because true partnership isn’t one-size-fits-all it’s custom-built to serve global goals and local genius.

6. How is your organization ensuring continuous improvement in agency relationships to drive long-term marketing ROI?

Feedback is the heartbeat of every high-performing relationship. It fuels growth, fosters trust, and drives continuous improvement. The most effective partnerships embrace it—not just at the finish line, but throughout the journey. That’s why most leading brands conduct year-end client/agency performance reviews, with many adding mid-year check-ins to ensure alignment and avoid surprises. These touchpoints open the door for honest reflection on what’s working, what’s not, and how the partnership can evolve. But feedback doesn’t stop there. Quarterly business reviews offer a regular pulse check on performance, while post-mortem meetings provide space for candid conversations and lessons learned. Because when feedback flows, relationships grow—and great work follows.