SproutLoud, the leading provider of distributed marketing solutions, today announced that it has expanded its support for multi-tier distribution channels. This new set of features allow brands to extend their marketing and sales enablement tools to more parties at different levels of the distribution chain, giving them greater control over their marketing efforts and enabling them to build stronger relationships with their end customers.

“Nothing exists on the market today that allows brands to jointly collaborate with multi-tiered partners, who often have their own networks of dealers, contractors and employees, in order to extend channel partner marketing efforts. Legacy distributed marketing systems often treat each brand and their channel partners as two-party siloed relationships, when in reality a distribution ecosystem may be multi-tiered and far more complex, requiring joint go-to-market collaboration with far more than just two parties,” said SproutLoud CEO Jared Shusterman. “SproutLoud’s focus on the vertical integration of multi-tier distribution models means extending marketing and sales enablement tools holistically through the channel. And SproutLoud is the first and only distributed marketing platform to recognize and build for this.”

SproutLoud’s multi-tier distribution support includes features that make it easy for brands to manage marketing efforts across multiple channels. These features provide the following benefits:

• Multi-tier support for distributed marketing means brands can expose their tools to more parties at different levels of the distribution chain.
• With multi-tier support, brands can build relationships with the frontline employees and channel partners, who otherwise may not be known to them, and influence the actions of the parties who are closest to servicing the consumer.
• Multi-tier support gives brands more control over funding, branding and messaging workflows allowing all parties to synchronize and integrate their message to the end consumer.

• NielsenIQ and GfK together offer the Full View™, the world’s most complete and clear view of consumer buying behavior combined with unparalleled omnichannel coverage, data platforms, and predictive analytics

• Combined company has over $4 billion in sales and 30,000+ clients covering 100+ countries

• Complementary and unmatched global reach and investments in coverage and technology will enable further strategic growth

NielsenIQ and GfK SE today announced the successful completion of their strategic combination, culminating in forming the world's leading consumer intelligence company. This transaction combines two industry leaders, consolidating their strengths and complementary capabilities to provide clients with an unmatched suite of comprehensive and innovative solutions.

Accessing the most complete and clear understanding of consumer buying behavior, delivered through best-in-class technology platforms, will enable the world’s top retailers and brands to uncover new pathways to sustainable growth.

The strategic combination of NIQ and GfK brings together two companies that have independently made significant investments in omnichannel coverage, business intelligence tools, and predictive analytics. With unmatched global reach and industry expertise, the company is positioned to accelerate its growth by offering The Full View™ of consumer behavior around the globe.

The combined company unites complementary areas of expertise, fusing NIQ’s leading insights in fast-moving consumer goods and GfK’s deep understanding of consumer technology and durable goods. Together, thousands of existing and potential customers will have newfound access to actionable insights across the total store.

“We are incredibly excited as we combine the strengths of these two great companies to create the future of consumer intelligence,” said Jim Peck, CEO. “Together, we are powered by more—more global reach, more omnichannel coverage, more granular data, more consumer-sourced insights, and more predictive analytics, which add up to more actionable insights and growth for our customers. Most importantly, we are bringing together innovative industry experts and complementary cultures driven by integrity and the relentless pursuit of delivering the highest quality at all times.”

“GfK and NIQ share an unyielding dedication to our clients. Existing and future clients can trust that our nearly 200 years of combined experience in the industry, underpinned by state-of-the art technology and a commitment to new coverage, will provide an unrivaled view that empowers them to make critical decisions with confidence and drive their business forward,” said Lars Nordmark, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer of GfK.

The NIQ-GfK combination is the largest part of the company’s strategic efforts to deliver the Full View™. It follows a series of significant performance-enhancing investments that drive sustainable growth not only for the industries we serve, but for the combined NIQ-GfK company. The new entity is positioned to move measurement forward through a global cloud-native platform. Drawing from even more comprehensive data assets, intuitive business intelligence tools deliver granular market reads and predictive analytics powered by generative AI and authoritative data science. These technology advancements enable speed-to-insight across trends from an expanded set of industries, channels, and products.

The signing of the agreement to divest GfK’s European Consumer Panel business to YouGov marked another important milestone towards the planned combination of GfK and NIQ. The complementarity of GfK’s offering to NIQ’s portfolio - which adds comprehensive market intelligence and analytics on technology and durable consumer goods, together with cross-industry brand, marketing and consumer insights - is what makes this transaction so attractive for both companies, our clients and employees. The divestment of GfK CP, a business which generated about 15% of GfK’s annual revenue, does not materially change the overall attractiveness of our combination.

The executive leadership team for the company has been carefully selected from both NIQ and GfK. NIQ CEO, Jim Peck, will lead the combined company, supported by the industry's most experienced, capable leadership team.

The combined company will maintain key operational footholds in Chicago, USA, Nuremberg, Germany, and Geneva, Switzerland.

Pega honored for the second consecutive year for its dedication to disability inclusion and equality in the workplace

Pegasystems, the low-code platform provider empowering the world's leading enterprises to Build for Change®, today announced it has been recognized as a Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion in the Disability Equality Index (DEI), which is considered one of the most comprehensive benchmarking tools to measure workplace inclusion.

Pega's people are at the center of its growth and innovation, and Pega is committed to maintaining a culture that enables employees to feel united in community, connected in mission, and supported in life. With this people-focused approach to technology and business, Pega continues to invest in creating accessible, inclusive user experiences. Since being named a Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion in the DEI last year, Pega has increased its efforts to become a more accessible and inclusive organization, including:

• Increasing the impact of the Persons with Disabilities (PwD@Pega) employee resource group, which focuses on recruitment, education, retention, career advancement, and social impact, including building partnerships with global and local charitable organizations that support people with disabilities. In the past year, the group has focused on:
• Driving accessibility training for employees in partnership with Pega's accessibility team.
• Hosting internal and external conversations on topics such as supporting colleagues with disabilities, awareness around invisible disabilities, allyship, and common misconceptions, which provides safe spaces for people to discuss disabilities.
• Partnering with nonprofits, including sponsoring events such as The Carroll Center for the Blind's Walk for Independence and hosting sessions featuring disability-focused nonprofit organizations such as Waypoint Adventure.
• Expanding inclusive recruiting efforts, which prioritize recruiting from disability-focused organizations. Pega posts jobs on more than one dozen disability-focused job boards, as well as participates in job fairs for people with disabilities. Additional efforts include:
• External candidate programs that focus on skill development and job placement for people with disabilities.
• Pega's 2022 summer internship project, sponsored by PwD@Pega, which focused on creating strategic plans for improving accessibility at Pega. 
• Adopting additional usability testing and accessibility best practices. Starting in the design phase, Pega discusses and builds prototypes of optimal solutions for features so they meet — and, ideally, exceed — expectations of all users, including those needing assistive technologies. Pega tests with native users of assisted technologies throughout the development process and follows internationally recognized standards from the World Wide Web Consortium's Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.

The DEI is a joint initiative of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the nation's largest disability rights organization, and Disability:IN, the global business disability inclusion network, to collectively advance the inclusion of people with disabilities. The tool was developed by the DEI Advisory Committee, a diverse group of business leaders, policy experts, and disability advocates. Each company receives a score, on a scale of zero (0) to 100, with those earning 80 and above recognized as a "Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion."

Lightspeed publishes its Fiscal 2023 Sustainability Report and renews its commitment to building stronger and more inclusive communities around the world through accessible, industry-leading technology

Lightspeed Commerce Inc. is proud to announce its second annual Sustainability Report is now live. Powering the world’s best businesses, Lightspeed is the unified POS and payments platform for ambitious entrepreneurs to accelerate growth, provide the best customer experiences and become a go-to destination in their space.

This latest Sustainability Report is a continuation of Lightspeed’s mission to strengthen communities and empower businesses around the world. The report outlines Lightspeed’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) initiatives and highlights for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2023 ("Fiscal 2023").

“When I founded Lightspeed in 2005, we were a small group of four employees. Now Lightspeed has teams in over 10 countries across three continents,” said Dax Dasilva, Founder and Executive Chair of Lightspeed. “While a lot has changed, our commitment to building strong, diverse and sustainable communities remains the same.”

Some highlights of Lightspeed's sustainability initiatives include:

• Lightspeed continues to partner with Sustainably Run to offer a Carbon Free Dining program. Through this partnership, Lightspeed customers can offset carbon emissions associated with their diners by planting trees. As a result of this partnership, over 1.4 million trees have been planted at the date of this publication.

• Lightspeed is proud to support non-profit organizations like TupuToa, Fondation Émergence and Fondation KANPE, which empower underrepresented groups.

• According to Lightspeed’s annual diversity, equity and inclusion and engagement survey, 86% of its employees feel that they can be their authentic self at work.

• Lightspeed’s employee base includes 10% LGBTQ2S+, 5% persons with disabilities and 30% BIPOC representation.

In addition to partnerships and internal initiatives, the report highlights businesses using Lightspeed to transform our world for the better and build vibrant, diverse communities. One such business is Electric Movement, a retailer that sells, rents and repairs electric bikes and scooters in Old Town Chicago. The shop and its staff are on a mission to reduce carbon emissions by enabling locals to use micro mobility vehicles. Atticus Conway, a Manager at Electric Movement, notes that Lightspeed’s embedded payments solution “makes stuff a lot easier on my end. With us only having to run one batch at the end of the day, it gives me more face-to-face interaction with our customers.” Those conversations with customers make all the difference as Electric Movement becomes the go-to space for electric micro mobility solutions in the city.

“This second edition of our Sustainability Report showcases how amazing our customers are,” adds JP Chauvet, Lightspeed’s Chief Executive Officer. “They’re exceptional. They’re running stores and restaurants that make a huge difference in their communities. I’m incredibly proud of each and every one of them.”

Leading digital advertising platform delivers innovative ad units that increase monetization and optimize audience engagement potential

MobileFuse, one of the largest in-app, CTV, and DOOH advertising platforms, today announced Flex Ad Units, its new ad unit suite comprised of rich media ad formats powered by the MobileFuse SDK. Additionally, it is announcing the first available Flex Ad, Flex-Transparent Interstitial.

Flex-Transparent Interstitial is an industry-first offering, bringing immersive full-screen experiences to apps. Unlike traditional in-app full screen ads, which oftentimes take over a user's screen all at once, Flex-Transparent Interstitials animate into view over an app's content. It is designed to provide a more immersive and positive user experience. These units enable publishers and advertisers to seamlessly interact with both in-app content and advertising creative. This product innovation demonstrates MobileFuse's commitment to delivering unique tools that drive results.

"For the longest time, the in-app side of advertising has relied on the same few ad units. While they absolutely deliver results, we realized the need to provide increasingly advanced ways of engaging consumers. Our new roll-out of Flex Ad Units truly changes the in-app space, as it unlocks tools that were previously only available on the open-web," said Ken Harlan, Founder and CEO of MobileFuse. "MobileFuse's suite of solutions give advertisers and publishers more options for monetization, backed by industry leading brand safety and climate impact standards." 

Amplifying momentum with innovative solutions: Emplifi CX Cloud utilizes AI and additional capabilities to equip brands for today's modern consumer engagement

Emplifi, a leading unified customer engagement platform, today announced its Summer ‘23 highlights. The solution delivers advanced automation, expanded generative AI support, commerce innovation, integrated social customer care and other capabilities to enable brands to connect with, convert and care for the modern consumer across digital and social channels.

Our most recent advancements incorporate a powerful blend of automation, foundational and generative AI, rule-based decision-making, intelligent routing, CX analytics, and integrated care within our suite of marketing, commerce, and service solutions”, said Emplifi Chief Technology Officer Todd McCaslin. “These innovations are designed to enhance operational efficiency, drive revenue growth, and ensure unparalleled customer experiences across dynamic digital and social platforms."

Emplifi's Summer ‘23 solution highlights include numerous new features, workflows and capabilities:

Social Marketing

• Emplifi Care helps organizations respond immediately and proactively to incoming customer requests, inquiries or feedback on social media. With brand reputation a mission-critical initiative across all companies, Emplifi Care helps provide integrated case management tools for social media and community managers to route, open, manage, track, analyze and escalate customer service and care inquiries. Specific capabilities in the Summer ‘23 highlights include:
  • Tailored SLA targets and real-time notifications help boost efficiency and ensure compliance by aligning service levels with case priorities.
  • Enhanced filtering options, including sentiment analysis, enable teams to pinpoint the inquiries, requests, and messages that could have a substantial or significant impact on the brand.
  • Cases within Emplifi Care Integrate with Salesforce Service Cloud for greater team efficiency and workflow while maximizing ROI across existing infrastructure.
• Emplifi Publisher helps teams keep pace with ongoing velocity of content creation and delivery, particularly as organizations turn to UGC to deliver authenticity at scale. The Summer ‘23 release now allows social media teams the ability to easily publish approved UGC assets across popular social platforms, including Facebook, LinkedIn, and TikTok within Emplifi’s award-winning User Interface. Also included in the release is a unified Calendar that helps streamline and schedule campaigns across a few or hundreds of channels for significant gains in ease, speed and productivity.

Commerce

• Emplifi Influencers has expanded capabilities to help brands better tell their story as well as drive increased conversion and revenue. As a result of Emplifi’s acquisition of Pixlee TurnTo, the influencer database provides access to more than 30 million macro-, micro- and nano-influencers. The innovative Product for Post feature helps brands build awareness, gain valuable reviews and move inventory while getting insights on influencer and product performance. Brands can also send influencers products, track costs, delivery status, and content from one place.
• Emplifi UGC harnesses authentic, customer-generated content for brand storytelling, enhancing relatability, engagement, and conversions. Our AI product tagging allows both brands and consumers to tag products, enabling customers to promote their favorite items and aiding brands in boosting product awareness, thereby closing the content-to-commerce gap.
• Emplifi Ratings and Reviews help brands showcase both as a means to influence purchasing decisions given that consumers today outrank ratings and reviews over price, return policy, and shipping costs. New features include syndicated review subdimensions, shopper profile attributes, rating-only reviews and review responses to provide brands with more insights into buyers and product success.

Service

• Emplifi Knowledge now supports generative AI, giving authors the ability to create topic-specific question variations to streamline knowledge base management while helping agents and consumers ask and receive answers on simple to complex questions with the greatest degree of accuracy.
• Emplifi Bot chatbots are proven to manage up to 40% of a service center’s incoming customer cases through the power of self-service. The Summer ‘23 release now includes self-service templates and ready-to-use conversation flows to help organizations get up and running with omni-channel bots quickly.
• Emplifi VoC’s UI has been refreshed to support Emplifi’s award-winning UI/UX framework. New scalable star ratings have been added to Emplifi VoC to give brands another user-friendly tool to receive feedback. Users can now create, visualize, and plan survey changes before publishing, ensuring a smooth and effective feedback collection process.

"Our Emplifi Summer '23 groundbreaking solutions are a true game-changer, introducing a variety of enhancements, integrations, and finely-tuned improvements. This potent release offers substantial value to our marketing, commerce, and service teams. As we charge forward towards Fall '23, rest assured, more revolutionary advancements are imminent,” said McCaslin.