Sojern, a leading digital marketing platform for travel, has released its "State of Destination Marketing 2025" report in collaboration with Benchmark Research Partners. Supported by Brand USA, Destination Canada, the European Travel Commission, and the Caribbean Tourism Organization, the report builds on last year’s findings, analyzing trends shaping the future of destination marketing organizations (DMOs).

Findings from the 2025 Report

1. Digital Advertising Budgets Are Growing

• 85% of DMOs are maintaining or increasing their digital ad spend compared to last year.
• A shift toward data-driven strategies is helping DMOs maximize ROI and engage travelers throughout the funnel.

2. Campaign Complexity and ROI Challenges

• DMOs are launching multichannel campaigns but struggle with tracking results.
• Top metrics used:
  • 60% measure performance by clicks.
  • 54% struggle to prove ROI.
  • 37% cite tracking and attribution as major challenges.
• Programmatic advertising (83%) remains a preferred strategy due to its precision and cost-effectiveness.

3. AI Adoption in Destination Marketing

• 63% of DMOs leverage AI for content creation, but only 28% use AI for data analysis.
• This highlights a huge opportunity for DMOs to use AI in performance measurement and campaign optimization.

4. The Shift to Always-On Campaigns

• 52% of DMOs now prefer always-on marketing over traditional seasonal campaigns (40%) to maintain continuous engagement.
• 42% of DMOs report that always-on strategies improve brand awareness.

5. Personalization & Audience Targeting

• 66% of DMOs create tailored campaigns for specific travel audiences (e.g., outdoor enthusiasts).
• However, only 15% use real-time personalization, revealing a missed opportunity for deeper audience engagement.

6. A New Focus on Brand Awareness

• Post-pandemic, DMOs are shifting from short-term bookings to long-term brand-building.
• Campaigns are now evenly split (50/50) between full-funnel and stage-specific strategies.
• This is a shift from 2024, where full-funnel dominated at 70%.

7. Data: A Powerful Yet Underutilized Tool

• 51% of DMOs cite data analysis as a major challenge.
• 45% struggle to turn insights into action.
• Despite challenges, most DMOs use data for:
  • 84%: Digital marketing insights.
  • 75%: Visitor tracking.
  • 69%: Market research.

8. Co-op Marketing Gains Momentum

• European DMOs saw a 16% YoY increase in co-op marketing, partnering with airlines, hotels, and attractions to amplify reach.

9. Social Media & Video Dominate

• 91% of DMOs use social media for marketing.
• Facebook & Instagram (99%) remain top channels.
• CTV and short-form video are emerging as powerful storytelling tools for destination marketing.

Sojern’s 2025 Destination Marketing Report confirms the increasing digitalization of DMOs, the rise of AI-driven marketing, and the shift to always-on strategies. While challenges around data, ROI measurement, and personalization remain, programmatic advertising, co-op marketing, and video adoption offer new growth opportunities for travel marketers.

Contracts are a necessary part of business and personal transactions, but they are often complex and difficult to navigate. Adobe's new intelligent contract capabilities in Acrobat AI Assistant leverage generative AI to simplify contract management, making it easier for users to understand, compare, and manage contracts faster than ever.

Features and Benefits of Adobe Acrobat AI Assistant

1. Contract Intelligence

• AI Assistant automatically recognizes contracts, even scanned documents.
• Generates a comprehensive overview of the contract, surfacing key terms in one click.
• Summarizes contract content and recommends relevant questions.

2. Straightforward Explanations and Verified Responses

• AI generates summaries with clear, simple language.
• Clickable citations allow users to verify the responses for accuracy.
• Helps avoid misunderstandings and improves the efficiency of contract reviews.

3. Compare and Contrast Multiple Contracts

• Instantly see differences and discrepancies between up to 10 contracts.
• Compare various versions of documents to ensure consistency.
• Quick identification of changes, discrepancies, or updates across documents.

4. Secure Sharing and E-signing

• Share contracts securely with stakeholders.
• Request e-signatures directly within the app.
• Ensures a streamlined and secure signing process for all involved parties.

Use Cases Across Various Industries

• Business Owners: Quickly spot key dates and important terms in vendor agreements or partnership contracts.
• Finance Teams: Accelerate the review of financial documents, including sales contracts.
• Marketers: Identify changes in advertising agreements or partnerships.
• Consumers: Easily compare lease agreements, mobile plans, or venue options.

Commitment to Data Security

Adobe prioritizes data privacy and security in AI development. Acrobat AI Assistant is governed by strict data security protocols, ensuring customer data is never used for training AI models. Additionally, third-party AI tools are prohibited from accessing Adobe customer data, ensuring complete confidentiality.

Adobe's Acrobat AI Assistant revolutionizes the way businesses and consumers manage contracts, transforming a traditionally tedious process into a fast, secure, and user-friendly experience. With cutting-edge AI and machine learning technology, users can now navigate, compare, and verify contracts with ease, driving efficiency and confidence in their decision-making.

Smarsh, a global leader in communications data and intelligence, has acquired CallCabinet, a pioneer in cloud-native compliance call recording and analytics. This acquisition enhances Smarsh's ability to offer an advanced, scalable, and AI-powered voice recording solution that meets the growing regulatory compliance demands across industries.

Features and Benefits of the Acquisition

1. AI-Powered Voice Analytics

• Smarsh integrates CallCabinet’s AI-powered voice analytics into its compliance platform.
• Enables advanced voice capture, surveillance, and insights to enhance compliance and business intelligence.

2. End-to-End Digital Communications Platform

• Smarsh now offers a comprehensive platform that includes voice, email, social media, and messaging channels for compliance and communications intelligence.
• Supports over 100 communications channels like WhatsApp, LinkedIn, Zoom, and more.

3. Enhanced Compliance for Regulated Industries

• The acquisition is timely, with growing regulatory pressure on industries such as finance, healthcare, and government to retain voice call data.
• Helps businesses mitigate compliance risks and avoid hefty fines like those seen from GDPR and CFTC violations.

4. Global Reach and Channel Expansion

• CallCabinet's global presence in markets like Australia, Germany, South Africa, and the UK strengthens Smarsh’s international footprint.
• Offers a robust partner ecosystem with certified integrations, including Avaya, Cisco, Microsoft, Webex, Zoom, and 8x8.

Why This Acquisition Matters

• For Businesses: Smarsh’s acquisition allows companies to integrate a scalable, modern solution for compliance call recording and analytics, without relying on outdated, expensive technologies.
• For Industries: The acquisition gives heavily regulated sectors the tools they need to comply with evolving regulations while maintaining operational efficiency.
• For Smarsh: This strengthens Smarsh’s leadership in the communications compliance space by providing an even more powerful, integrated platform for global customers.

By acquiring CallCabinet, Smarsh continues to lead in compliance innovation, extending its capabilities in voice capture and analytics to provide an all-in-one platform for businesses looking to manage, protect, and accelerate their communications. As regulatory pressure increases, this acquisition ensures that Smarsh's customers are equipped to navigate complex compliance landscapes more effectively.

Particular Audience has officially launched the third phase of its innovative Retail Media platform, designed to revolutionize the future of eCommerce. Available to existing clients on DiscoveryOS, this release brings advanced AI-driven features that enhance ad placement precision, streamline campaign management, and provide unparalleled targeting capabilities. This marks a significant shift from legacy systems that rely on outdated keyword targeting to an AI-first model that predicts customer intent with remarkable accuracy.

Highlights of the Launch

1. AI-Powered Automation for Ad Campaigns

• AI-Powered Sponsored Search: Now out of beta, this feature automates sponsored placements across 99% of search results, eliminating manual keyword bidding and driving up click-through and conversion rates.
• Fixed Tenancy Scheduler: Enables retailers to sell premium, fixed-tenancy ad placements automatically, with zero manual effort.
• Dynamic Collections: Fully automated, real-time attribute-based product collections that adapt dynamically to catalog changes.

2. Next-Generation Display Features

• Accessibility-Ready Banners: Ensures compliance with the European Accessibility Act 2025, making advertising inclusive for all audiences, especially in the EU.
• Enhanced Creative Control: Retailers can now configure over 30 fields across five component types for cross-format HTML5 creative.
• Video & Rich Media Ads: Incorporates engaging formats combining video, interactive elements, and product carousels.
• Creative & Asset Management Studio: A fully integrated suite for managing and optimizing ad creatives.

3. Data-Driven Ad Operations

• Approval Workflows & Notification Centre: Full control over ad approvals with real-time status updates for retailers and brands.
• Zero PII Customer Data Tools: DiscoveryOS Segment Builder and Open CDP Integration provide privacy-compliant targeting without requiring personally identifiable information (PII).
• New Cost Model: CPA (Cost per Acquisition): Along with traditional CPM and CPC, offering advertisers more performance-based options.

The AI-Driven Advantage

James Taylor, Founder & CEO of Particular Audience, emphasized that the future of retail media lies in AI-driven, personalized eCommerce. "In three years, manual targeting in Retail Media will be obsolete, just as Meta’s Advantage+ and Google’s PMAX have replaced outdated manual workflows," he stated. The company’s dedication to R&D since 2020 has led to the creation of the only AI-first retail media platform, capable of predicting shopper intent before they even express it.

By replacing keyword-based models with Adaptive Transformer Search, Particular Audience has significantly increased sponsored product fill rates, showcasing the powerful potential of AI in driving ad revenue and campaign performance.

The Competitive Edge in Retail Media

Particular Audience’s AI-first approach enables retailers to generate more revenue with less manual work. Brands see higher engagement and improved ad performance as a result of the automation and intelligent targeting now available on the platform. The shift from manual processes to AI-driven automation marks a turning point in the retail media landscape, ensuring advertisers stay ahead of the curve.

The European Accessibility Act & Retail Media

With millions of people in the EU living with disabilities, accessibility is becoming a critical aspect of advertising and eCommerce. The European Accessibility Act (EAA), effective by June 28, 2025, requires all retailers and advertisers engaging with European consumers to ensure accessibility compliance. Particular Audience is proactive in ensuring its platform meets these standards, helping retailers not only avoid legal penalties but also improve SEO, enhance user experience, and increase engagement from underserved audiences.

Particular Audience’s latest platform update sets a new benchmark in AI-driven retail media, offering retailers and brands the tools to drive higher ad performance, greater engagement, and more revenue. By embracing AI-first strategies and accessibility standards now, businesses can position themselves for success in the future of eCommerce.

BlueConic, a leader in customer data platforms, has achieved a major milestone with the launch of a real-time connection between Jebbit's Experiences and its CDP. This groundbreaking integration allows marketers to continuously enrich customer profiles with high-quality, consented data collected through Jebbit’s Experiences, facilitating deeper insights and faster, more relevant personalization. This advancement empowers marketers to update profiles instantly, trigger personalized offers, and engage customers without the delays of manual workflows or batch processing.

Benefits of the Integration

1. Richer Insights in Real-Time

• Data collected through Jebbit Experiences is instantly merged into customer profiles within BlueConic, providing marketers with deeper, more actionable insights. With immediate access to enriched data, teams can understand customer preferences and behaviors more clearly.

2. Smarter, Timely Personalization

• The real-time connection ensures marketers can leverage the latest data to create hyper-targeted offers and campaigns immediately after a Jebbit Experience is completed. This leads to more relevant and impactful customer interactions.

3. Faster Execution and Campaign Activation

• With the self-service connection, marketers can eliminate bottlenecks and manual processes, enabling faster campaign execution. Real-time segmentation and activation capabilities allow teams to react to changing customer preferences swiftly and efficiently.

BlueConic's Vision for Enhanced Customer Engagement

"Marketing success comes down to getting better data into the hands of people who can act on it," said Leonardo Carbonara, VP Product at BlueConic. This integration delivers richer data, sharper insights, and the agility to act when it matters most—making it easier for marketers to build meaningful connections with customers and deliver timely, relevant offers.

The BlueConic and Jebbit Partnership

In 2024, BlueConic acquired Jebbit, a leader in first-party data capture and experience creation software. This integration is the first in a series of planned upgrades aimed at enhancing BlueConic’s Customer Data Operating System (CDOS). The combination of BlueConic’s real-time customer data platform with Jebbit’s powerful experience software enables marketers to move faster, deepen customer relationships, and achieve more impactful marketing outcomes.

The new real-time connection between Jebbit Experiences and BlueConic’s CDP marks a significant advancement in customer data management and personalization. By enabling faster, smarter, and more relevant marketing campaigns, this integration helps marketers improve their ability to engage with customers in real-time, driving better business outcomes.

Data443 Risk Mitigation, Inc., a leader in data security and privacy software, has acquired the intellectual property and operational assets of Breezemail.ai. This acquisition marks a significant advancement in Data443's capabilities in intelligent threat detection and enhances its leadership in the rapidly evolving AI security landscape. Breezemail.ai provides innovative AI-powered email management technology, offering a unique solution that enables users to privately manage their email organization, detection, and visibility.

Highlights of the Acquisition

1. AI-Driven Email Privacy and Management

Breezemail.ai’s machine-learning algorithms allow end users to manage their email inboxes privately for Microsoft Office365 and Google GSuite Gmail. This groundbreaking technology is the first of its kind in the industry, ensuring that end users can organize and detect critical information without email providers having access to their custom rulesets.

2. Ultimate Control for Users

The acquisition gives end users full control over their inboxes, including the ability to change mailbox organization rules at will through an easy-to-use interface. Most importantly, users can manage their rules privately, without service providers seeing or interfering with their decisions.

3. Expanding Data443's Market Reach

Integrating Breezemail.ai’s technology into Data443’s existing product suites expands its capabilities across sectors like healthcare, national defense, and government organizations. This strategic move is aligned with the growing demand for AI-driven email security solutions in the enterprise space.

Strategic Market Positioning

This acquisition positions Data443 at the forefront of the rapidly expanding email security market, which is experiencing accelerated growth due to the increasing sophistication of cyber threats. With Abnormal Security's anticipated IPO and heightened enterprise demand for intelligent security platforms, Data443 is well-positioned to capture a larger share of the market.

Customer Benefits of the Integration

1. Seamless Integration with Cyren by Data443

Data443’s Cyren product suite will seamlessly integrate with Breezemail.ai’s technology, ensuring enhanced protection against advanced social engineering attacks.

2. Real-Time Threat Intelligence

The integration provides real-time threat intelligence sharing across Data443’s customer base, enabling faster responses to emerging security threats.

3. User-Driven Decision Making

With Breezemail.ai’s technology, end users can make selective decisions without the need for IT assistance, ensuring greater independence and efficiency.

4. Complete Privacy

Users’ privacy is protected as their internal decision-making processes are kept confidential, without sharing any data with service providers.

Data443's Vision for the Future of Email Privacy

"Combining Breezemail.ai's innovative AI implementations with our existing security capabilities, we're building on our compounding advantages in the email and threat intelligence space," said Jason Remillard, CEO and Founder of Data443. "This integration will provide our customers with unparalleled privacy protection while significantly simplifying email management tools."

This acquisition goes beyond just technological expansion—it marks a pivotal shift in email privacy protection. As AI continues to automate digital processes, Data443 is leading the charge to safeguard user privacy, giving millions of users the ability to self-manage their data while maintaining complete control.

Mural, the leading visual work platform designed to foster creativity and collaboration, has announced that Bill Dwoinen will be stepping in as the company’s new Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). In his new role, Bill will oversee Mural's global revenue and sales strategy, including managing Sales, Professional Services, and go-to-market initiatives. His appointment comes as the company continues to grow and innovate across industries.

Bill Dwoinen's Vision and Expertise

“I’m excited to join this incredibly talented team at such a pivotal moment in the company’s growth, as we continue to redefine what’s possible in how teams work and innovate,” said Bill Dwoinen. His leadership at Mural is expected to help drive alignment across various departments and scale the company’s global revenue operations.

With more than 20 years of experience in sales and leadership, Bill brings a wealth of expertise in driving revenue growth, scaling teams, and building strategic partnerships. He has a proven track record of aligning business strategies with customer needs, delivering long-term success.

Background and Achievements

Before joining Mural, Bill Dwoinen played a significant role in Slack’s growth, shaping its product-led growth (PLG) and product-led sales (PLS) strategies. He also led efforts during Slack’s acquisition by Salesforce, guiding the M&A integration and negotiating key deals that reshaped the Slack/Salesforce go-to-market strategy. Bill’s customer-first sales approach and knack for building strong relationships are key assets that Mural expects will greatly enhance its customer engagement and sales strategy moving forward.

Mural’s Commitment to Customer-Centric Growth

Mural is doubling down on its commitment to delivering exceptional customer experiences, emphasizing long-term relationships and customer-first sales strategies. With Bill’s leadership, Mural aims to continue evolving its approach to customer success, ensuring tailored solutions that address the unique needs of teams, industries, and organizations worldwide.

Leigh-Margaret Stull, a key leader at Mural, expressed, “Bill's customer-first mindset, combined with his strong growth strategy expertise, makes him a natural fit for this role.”

Looking Ahead: Strategic Goals

As Mural expands its global reach, Bill will lead efforts to create deeper alignment across sales, marketing, customer success, and partnerships. This integration aims to foster long-term, sustainable growth and deliver exceptional, lasting customer experiences that extend well beyond the initial sale.

Mural’s strategic appointment of Bill Dwoinen as Chief Revenue Officer signals the company’s commitment to its next phase of growth. By focusing on customer relationships, aligning business strategies with market demands, and delivering innovative solutions, Mural is poised for continued success in revolutionizing how teams collaborate and innovate.

OneTrust, a market-leading platform focused on responsible data and AI usage, has announced that Michael Schanker will be joining the executive team as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). Reporting to CEO Kabir Barday, Schanker will bring his extensive marketing and strategy expertise to accelerate awareness of OneTrust’s innovative solutions. He will oversee product marketing, demand generation, marketing operations, and brand communications, ensuring continued growth as OneTrust expands internationally.

Michael Schanker’s Extensive Experience

With nearly 25 years of experience in enterprise software, Schanker has a proven track record of leading companies to scale rapidly and establish market leadership. Before joining OneTrust, Schanker was EVP of Strategy at Coupa Software, where he played a key role in the company’s growth from $300 million to $1 billion in revenue, solidifying its position as a category leader in spend management.

“Michael has a proven track record of growth and impact at category-leading companies,” said Kabir Barday, CEO and Founder of OneTrust. “His passion for scaling software businesses and his leadership skills will be instrumental in expanding OneTrust's reach and delivering value to our customers and community.”

Schanker’s Vision for OneTrust

"I’m excited to join OneTrust and lead the marketing team at this pivotal moment," said Schanker. “OneTrust faces a generational opportunity to define trust in the era of AI. Focusing on our mission to enable the responsible use of data and AI is more critical than ever in shaping a positive future.”

Schanker’s experience spans various leadership roles in marketing, sales, strategy, and services at companies like Remix, OpenGov, Lithium, and ServiceSource. His leadership at OpenGov helped the company more than double its revenue, establishing it as a strong brand in the govtech market. At ServiceSource, Schanker led a global team that contributed to rapid growth and a successful IPO.

A Key Moment in OneTrust’s Growth

This appointment comes at a key moment in OneTrust’s continued growth and momentum. The company serves more than half of the Fortune 500 and has been named to the prestigious Forbes Cloud 100 list for six consecutive years. OneTrust’s solutions have garnered recognition from Fast Company, Cyber Defense Magazine, and the Cyber Excellence Awards.

With Schanker at the helm of marketing, OneTrust is poised to expand its global footprint and continue its mission of driving responsible data usage and AI practices.

Michael Schanker’s appointment as OneTrust’s CMO marks a significant milestone in the company’s growth journey. His extensive experience in scaling enterprise software companies, combined with his passion for shaping the future of AI, will be crucial in OneTrust’s next phase of innovation and global expansion.