Escalated.io Partners with TAG to Strengthen Ad Fraud Defense

Escalated.io, a rising player in the ad fraud detection space, has officially joined TAG’s (Trustworthy Accountability Group) Data Center IP (DCIP) program as a Qualified Data Contributor (QDC)—a move that bolsters both the company’s credibility and the broader industry's arsenal against invalid traffic (IVT).

The DCIP list, published monthly by TAG, aggregates high-risk IP addresses associated with invalid traffic across the digital advertising ecosystem. Companies in the supply chain—from DSPs to ad networks—can use the list to audit transactions and block fraudulent impressions before damage is done.

As a QDC, Escalated.io will contribute verified IP data each month, feeding into one of the most critical shared resources in the digital ad world.

“We’re excited to be contributing and giving back to the community in this manner,” said Kyle Smith, CEO of Escalated.io. “This partnership helps ensure that the intelligence shared across the ecosystem remains accurate and actionable.”

Why This Matters: Fighting Ad Fraud Needs Collective Action

Invalid traffic is more than a line item—it's a multi-billion-dollar leak in the digital ad economy. Fraudulent traffic inflates campaign metrics, skews performance insights, and robs publishers and platforms of legitimate revenue. Worse, it undermines trust between advertisers, agencies, and supply-side platforms.

While many vendors offer proprietary detection tools, TAG’s DCIP list functions as a neutral, industry-vetted defense layer, regularly updated with contributions from vetted players like Escalated.io.

“The effectiveness of shared tools like the DCIP list depends on the support of companies like Escalated.io,” said Lisa Gansky, Director of Product Management at TAG. “Their role as a QDC highlights leadership and a genuine commitment to protecting the digital advertising ecosystem.”

Escalated.io’s Growing Role in Ad Integrity

This move marks a significant step for Escalated.io, a company gaining traction for its ability to detect sophisticated, evasive forms of IVT across channels and platforms. Unlike generalized fraud blockers, Escalated.io emphasizes granular detection and real-time insights, helping both buy-side and sell-side players safeguard campaigns without sacrificing scale.

Becoming a QDC gives Escalated.io a stronger voice in industry standard-setting, and positions the company as a trusted partner for brands, agencies, and platforms seeking transparency in an increasingly complex digital landscape.

The Bigger Picture: Shared Data, Shared Defense

As ad fraud grows in complexity—spanning spoofed traffic, data center IP abuse, and evolving bot networks—shared intelligence becomes not just helpful, but essential. With TAG’s DCIP list acting as a shared firewall and companies like Escalated.io contributing to its upkeep, the industry moves a step closer to real-time threat mitigation.

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Sendbird Names Charles Studt as CMO to Supercharge Growth in AI-Driven Customer Experience

As the race to redefine customer engagement with AI accelerates, Sendbird has brought in a heavy-hitter to lead the charge. The company today announced that Charles Studt, a former marketing exec at Qualtrics, has joined as Chief Marketing Officer to spearhead its global strategy and help position the company as a definitive leader in agentic AI-powered CX.

Studt steps into the role at a pivotal moment for Sendbird, which recently launched Omnipresent AI—its flagship AI agent designed to transform customer support from reactive ticket resolution into proactive, omnichannel engagement. With over two decades of experience scaling SaaS brands, Studt is tasked with elevating Sendbird’s brand in a crowded AI market and expanding adoption of its conversation-centric platform.

“Charles joins Sendbird at a critical moment as we accelerate our vision for agentic AI in customer engagement,” said John S. Kim, CEO and Co-founder of Sendbird. “He brings the experience and strategic clarity needed to cut through the AI hype and build a brand that resonates with real business impact.”

From CX Growth at Qualtrics to AI-Powered CX at Sendbird

At Qualtrics, Studt served as VP of Marketing and GM of Product-Led Growth, where he drove 100%+ pipeline growth for CX product lines in under two years. He’s also held senior marketing roles at IntelePeer, QuanticMind, and Redbooth, building scalable marketing engines and customer-centric narratives across high-growth tech sectors.

Now, he’ll turn his attention to positioning Sendbird as a category-defining player in agentic AI—an emerging space where AI agents aren’t just reactive assistants but proactive participants in customer journeys.

“This is Sendbird’s moment to set a new standard,” said Studt. “We’re here to show that AI isn’t about replacing humans—it’s about making the customer experience more human by being more proactive, predictive, and persistent.”

AI With a Human Touch

Unlike traditional support bots, Sendbird’s Omnipresent AI enables brands to anticipate customer needs, initiate autonomous conversations across channels, and resolve issues before users even know they exist. It’s a fundamental shift in philosophy: from support-as-a-service to engagement-as-a-strategy.

Studt plans to amplify this differentiation through:

• Human-first brand storytelling

• Case studies that showcase ROI in real CX environments

• Market expansion for Omnipresent AI

• High-velocity, AI-powered marketing operations

Internally, he also aims to build a marketing culture powered by the very AI principles the product embodies—agility, responsiveness, and user-centricity.

Sendbird’s move comes as the AI-powered CX space becomes increasingly competitive, with players like Intercom, Ada, and Drift evolving their own AI capabilities. What sets Sendbird apart is its developer-first DNA, proven messaging infrastructure, and focus on agentic AI—an emerging frontier in which bots act as autonomous agents, not scripted responders.

With Studt on board and momentum building around Omnipresent AI, Sendbird is clearly betting that the future of customer experience isn't just smart—it’s self-starting.

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Weave and Neo Team Up to Bring Smart Automation to Veterinary Clinics

Weave, the customer experience platform built for small and medium-sized healthcare businesses, has launched a new integration with Neo, the cloud-based veterinary practice management system from IDEXX. The collaboration aims to modernize veterinary clinic operations by automating repetitive tasks, enhancing communication, and improving the overall client experience.

In an increasingly competitive veterinary services market, operational efficiency and personalized care aren’t just nice to have—they’re business imperatives. This integration delivers on both, offering practices a smarter, more seamless way to stay connected with clients and their pets.

“This integration allows veterinarians to focus more on care and less on admin,” said a Weave spokesperson. “It’s about making every touchpoint count.”

What the Integration Unlocks

Here’s what veterinary practices get when they connect Weave with Neo:

• Appointment Reminders with Confirmation Writebacks: Automatically send reminders to clients and sync their responses in both Weave and Neo—helping reduce no-shows and manual follow-up.

• Automated Data Sync: Keep client contact details and appointment data consistently updated across platforms.

• Call Pop with Phones: When a client calls, their profile instantly appears, giving staff instant access to relevant information for more personalized service.

• Vaccination Reminders: Send automated texts so pet owners don’t miss important vaccination dates.

• Weave Reviews: Make it easy for clinics to collect and manage reviews on Google and Facebook—key for reputation management and new client acquisition.

• Missed-Call Texting: Respond automatically via SMS when a call is missed, helping practices convert more opportunities even when lines are busy.

• Text Writebacks: Seamlessly log SMS conversations into the Neo system, ensuring all communication is captured for continuity of care.

Veterinary clinics are often juggling tight schedules, emotional clients, and complex care plans—all while navigating outdated admin systems. This integration streamlines communications and ensures important updates don’t slip through the cracks, helping practices deliver care with confidence and convenience.

It also supports better payment experiences through Weave’s flexible billing tools, including text-to-pay, online payments, and patient-friendly payment plans—improving collection rates and reducing administrative overhead.

In short: Weave’s integration with Neo empowers veterinarians to spend more time treating pets and less time chasing down appointments, payments, or paperwork.

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Fresha Upgrades from SMS to RCS with Twilio, Sees Major Gains in Customer Engagement and Revenue

Fresha, the global booking platform for salons and wellness professionals, is proving that messaging innovation can drive real business results. By upgrading from traditional SMS to Rich Communication Services (RCS)—powered by Twilio and Google—Fresha has significantly boosted engagement, deepened customer trust, and increased partner revenue.

Handling over 700,000 daily appointments for 130,000 partners in 120 countries, Fresha needed more than just a messaging tool—it needed a verified, interactive, and high-performing communication channel that could scale globally without losing trust. The company found its answer in RCS.

“When messages come from a verified, recognisable Fresha brand, people engage more because they know it’s genuine,” said Jeremy Miller, Head of Product at Fresha. “That trust leads to stronger relationships and better outcomes.”

RCS vs. SMS: A Clear Performance Gap

RCS—often dubbed the next-gen SMS—offers verified sender IDs, rich media, and interactive buttons, giving brands more control over their messaging identity. For Fresha, RCS meant:

• 41.3% read rate on appointment-related messages

• 6% lift in appointment confirmations

• 7.1% jump in customer reviews

• 5.3% increase in tipping

• 99.2% message delivery rate

Those are not just better metrics—they’re measurable revenue drivers for Fresha’s salon and wellness partners.

“RCS stands out because it’s trustworthy,” said Stephen Brough, Global GTM Head – RCS for Business at Google. “Trust makes all the difference.”

No Code, No Friction: Deployment with Twilio’s API

Thanks to Twilio’s API, Fresha rolled out RCS messaging without any code changes. And because the company was already using Twilio’s infrastructure—including SMS, WhatsApp, voice, chat, and email—adding RCS was a natural extension of its omnichannel strategy.

With Twilio Flex, deployed through partner Zing, Fresha now manages all its customer communication channels in a single interface—tailoring engagement by geography, channel preference, and compliance requirements.

“Twilio lets us launch in new countries with complete confidence that our messages will be delivered,” added Miller. “We’re protected and trusted, wherever we go.”

Messaging That Builds Relationships, Not Just Reminders

In an era where 61% of consumers don’t believe brands use their data in their best interest (according to Twilio’s latest SOCER report), RCS gives businesses a way to stand out by showing up with transparency and intent. With this move, Fresha isn’t just chasing higher open rates—it’s turning everyday touchpoints into branded trust-builders.

“They’ve transformed messaging into a secure, branded space their customers recognise,” said Peter Bell, EMEA VP of Marketing at Twilio. “From the first booking to the final thank you and beyond.”

As more companies explore ways to differentiate in an AI-driven, privacy-conscious era, Fresha’s pivot to RCS messaging offers a compelling blueprint: Don’t just reach your customers—reassure them.

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Creating a marketing business plan isn’t just a box to check—it’s the blueprint for how your brand grows, engages, and competes. Whether you're launching a new campaign or overhauling your strategy, five foundational elements are essential for building a high-impact, data-driven marketing plan.

1. Executive Summary: Your Strategic Hook

The executive summary is your first—and perhaps only—chance to make an impression. Though it's written last, it appears first in your plan, offering a concise snapshot of your product, pricing, promotion, and placement strategies.

More than a table of contents, this section should capture stakeholder attention by clearly presenting:

• The business opportunity

• Market position

• Value proposition

• Core marketing objectives

A compelling narrative that reflects your brand’s philosophy and market ambitions sets the tone for what follows.

2. Situation Analysis: Know Your Terrain

A situation analysis evaluates both internal and external factors shaping your marketing environment. This is where SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis comes into play.

Key components:

• Macro trends: Economic, social, regulatory, and technological factors

• Micro insights: Competitor benchmarking and customer behavior patterns

• Performance review: Past marketing KPIs, lead conversions, sales trends

Understanding where you stand today informs where you can go tomorrow. Collaborating with cross-functional teams—especially sales and finance—ensures your insights are grounded in reality, not assumptions.

3. Target Audience: Profile with Precision

Identifying your ideal customer is essential for message-market fit. The more specific you get with demographics and psychographics, the more personalized and effective your campaigns will be.

Start with:

• Demographics: Age, gender, income, education, geography, and job title

• Psychographics: Values, lifestyle, buying motivations, interests

• Behavioral insights: Purchase habits, content preferences, channel usage

Developing detailed audience personas based on this data ensures your team crafts content, offers, and experiences that resonate—turning awareness into action.

4. Goals & Objectives: Align and Aim Smart

Set marketing goals that are ambitious yet attainable, and always aligned with your broader business strategy. Use the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) to define objectives such as:

• Increasing monthly inbound leads by 20% in Q3

• Growing email list by 10K subscribers in six months

• Improving conversion rate on product pages by 15% by year-end

Clear goals give your team direction and accountability—and make it easier to justify budget allocations or channel investments.

5. Evaluation & KPIs: Measure What Matters

A business plan without an evaluation strategy is like sailing without a compass. Define your key performance indicators (KPIs) early to track progress and adjust tactics as needed.

Depending on your strategy, your KPIs may include:

• Website traffic and bounce rate

• Social media engagement and follower growth

• Cost per lead (CPL) and return on ad spend (ROAS)

• Email open and click-through rates

• Customer acquisition cost (CAC) and customer lifetime value (CLTV)

Regular performance reviews—monthly or quarterly—ensure you stay agile and adaptive in a changing market.

A strong marketing business plan doesn’t just document your ideas—it validates them. By combining strategic thinking with data-driven insights across these five areas, you set your marketing function up for smarter execution and scalable success.

Whether you're a startup refining your GTM strategy or a growing brand seeking operational alignment, these five elements aren’t optional—they’re foundational.

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 RainFocus™, provider of the next-generation event marketing platform, today announced the RainFocus and Adobe Workfront Fusion integration. The solution seamlessly connects Adobe Workfront directly to RainFocus via Workfront Fusion. This enables event marketing teams to streamline event creation workflows by automatically creating events in RainFocus using approved Workfront requests. 

Meeting and event request forms often sit within event technologies, creating a disconnect between approved events and marketing workflows. The new integration simplifies event setup through fully templated experiences. By automating the process for event requests, approval, and creation from within Workfront, organizations can eliminate repetitive data entry, manual event setup processes, and time-consuming coordination between project management, event platforms, and marketing automation systems.

Teams can also leverage RainFocus’ Marketo integration to automatically clone specified Marketo Program Templates upon event creation in RainFocus for a complete field marketing events lifecycle.

“Organizations are increasingly investing in micro-events to deliver highly personalized experiences that strengthen their customer relationships, underscoring a need for automated event lifecycle management,” said JR Sherman, CEO of RainFocus. “This solution is another step in our partnership with Adobe to further align event teams and sales and marketing teams for strategic event planning and execution.”

“B2B companies are transforming events into a strategic marketing channel, reinforcing the need for innovative solutions that drive measurable results,” said Stephen Ratpojanakul, Senior Director, Digital Strategy Group at Adobe. “The RainFocus and Adobe Workfront Fusion integration has powerful use cases for field marketing events that eliminate manual processes for requesting meetings, enhance data accuracy, improve operational efficiency, and accelerate time to market.”

In early 2025, RainFocus was recognized as the B2B Technology Partner of the Year for the second consecutive year. As an Adobe Technology Partner, RainFocus has launched additional data integration solutions with Adobe, including the Destination Connector and the Source Connector.

Click here for more information about the new integration and RainFocus’ partnership with Adobe.

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In a move that redefines the phrase “out-of-this-world marketing,” legal marketing innovator ADSQUIRE has become the first in its industry to send its brand into space.

Launched on July 16, 2025, this cosmic stunt isn’t just a flashy PR play—it’s a calculated signal that the company is willing to go where no legal marketer has gone before, literally. For an industry often weighed down by tradition and regulation, ADSQUIRE's orbital branding moment speaks volumes about its appetite for bold, attention-commanding innovation.

Branding Beyond Borders—Earth’s, That Is

The mission? To reflect the limitless potential of both legal tech and lead generation for law firms. By breaking through Earth's atmosphere, ADSQUIRE isn’t just elevating its logo—it’s elevating expectations for what modern B2B marketing can be.

"Sending our brand into space is more than a statement—it's a demonstration that we don't just follow trends; we launch them," said Anthony Higman, CEO of ADSQUIRE. That quote might sound like marketing hyperbole, but in this case, the pun is earned.

Why This Matters

Legal marketing is traditionally conservative, focusing on SEO tweaks, PPC campaigns, and LinkedIn ads. By launching its brand into orbit, ADSQUIRE signals a willingness to experiment beyond these digital boundaries. It's a metaphorical and literal moonshot—underscoring its role as a risk-taking leader in the sector.

The space launch also underscores a broader shift in B2B branding. As competition tightens and AI reshapes how firms engage clients, standing out takes more than keywords—it takes imagination. ADSQUIRE’s space gambit joins a growing list of companies adopting spectacle-driven brand moments to break through the noise.

ADSQUIRE’s Long Game

This isn’t a one-off stunt. It’s part of the company’s wider mission to empower law firms through a blend of data-driven strategy, creativity, and now, some serious altitude. The move complements ADSQUIRE’s ongoing efforts to modernize legal marketing and make law firms more visible in an increasingly competitive digital landscape.

As space tourism looms and private aerospace firms open the skies to new ventures, ADSQUIRE’s branding move could spark a trend in cross-industry stunts that blur the line between spectacle and strategy.

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As enterprises double down on digital transformation and data-first customer strategies, Salesforce continues to dominate the CRM landscape. Stepping in to meet surging global demand, Hyperlink InfoSystem has unveiled a competitively priced Salesforce development service—offering certified professionals starting at just $25 an hour.

It’s a savvy move. With Salesforce entrenched as the backbone of customer operations for businesses across industries, the need for agile, cost-effective implementation partners has never been higher. Hyperlink InfoSystem—already a recognized global IT services leader—aims to make CRM sophistication more accessible without compromising on quality.

The Right Talent, at the Right Price

Whether you're a lean startup or a sprawling enterprise, finding experienced Salesforce developers is often costly and complex. Hyperlink InfoSystem simplifies the process with a clear value proposition: certified developers, flexible hiring models, and no hidden fees. Options range from hourly to full-time engagements, making it easier for businesses to scale resources based on evolving project needs.

"Salesforce is at the core of digital transformation for many businesses today," said Harnil Oza, CEO of Hyperlink InfoSystem. "By offering scalable Salesforce development services at competitive rates, we're helping businesses of all sizes unlock the true potential of CRM-driven growth."

Beyond Implementation: Full-Stack Salesforce Expertise

What sets this initiative apart is the breadth of services wrapped into the offering. Hyperlink InfoSystem isn’t just supplying coders—they’re delivering end-to-end CRM solutions through a team of certified experts proficient in:

• Apex coding & Lightning components

• Workflow automation

• Custom app development

• Third-party integrations

• Salesforce administration

• Long-term platform support & maintenance

The company’s developers are well-versed in agile methodologies and rapid onboarding, ensuring that clients—whether in the US, UK, India, or the UAE—benefit from timely delivery and platform reliability.

A Growing Market for Scalable CRM Solutions

With Salesforce revenue continuing its upward climb and digital customer experience now central to competitive advantage, the global market for skilled Salesforce professionals is hotter than ever. Hyperlink InfoSystem’s aggressive pricing and global reach may offer a timely solution for businesses feeling the squeeze between demand and developer scarcity.

As the CRM gold rush continues, this offering positions Hyperlink InfoSystem not just as a services vendor, but as a strategic enabler of long-term customer success.

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