Samsung has announced a groundbreaking partnership with Cielo, a leader in AI-powered franchise solutions, aimed at transforming retail advertising and franchise operations. By combining Samsung’s VXT display technology with Cielo’s AI-driven platform, this collaboration introduces cutting-edge tools to improve digital marketing and enhance operational efficiency in franchise ecosystems.

Through this strategic alliance, Cielo is launching SmartSigns™, a Digital Signage as a Service (DaaS) solution that integrates Samsung’s VXT technology to deliver highly targeted, dynamic messaging to the right audience at the right time. By leveraging CieloVision’s KYAI™ (Know Your Audience Intelligence) for real-time analytics and AI-driven advertising, businesses can now gain deeper insights into consumer engagement.

SmartSigns™: A Game-Changing Solution for Digital Signage

SmartSigns™ is designed to make digital signage more intelligent, enabling businesses to deploy content that is not only visually appealing but also effective in driving engagement. The solution incorporates AI cameras, VXT Pro licenses, AI tasks, marketing credits, and CieloEssentials remote support, providing a comprehensive plug-and-play system for businesses in retail and franchise sectors. Starting at just $199/month per display, SmartSigns™ simplifies the management and deployment of digital signage ecosystems, with no upfront expenses.

“We’re thrilled to bring our SmartSigns™ vision to life with Samsung,” said Imre Szenttornyay, CEO of Cielo. “By combining Samsung’s leading-edge VXT platform with Cielo’s AI and analytics, we’re delivering a fully integrated solution that helps businesses meet modern consumer demands. Our mission is to make AI-driven insights accessible to every franchise operator, fueling growth and innovation across retail sectors.”

CieloVision™ KYAI™: AI-Driven Analytics for Smarter Advertising

The heart of this partnership lies in CieloVision™’s KYAI™, an AI-powered platform designed to provide businesses with real-time analytics on consumer sentiment, dwell time, and behavior patterns. This allows businesses to create highly targeted, measurable advertising campaigns that engage consumers more effectively while improving ROI. In addition to boosting consumer engagement, these tools also help mitigate risks and ensure compliance in franchise operations.

How This Partnership Enhances Retail and Franchise Operations

“Samsung is proud to welcome Cielo to the DaaS partnership, enhancing the ecosystem with innovative tools for business growth and efficiency,” said Alex Lee, Executive Vice President of Visual Display Business at Samsung Electronics. “Through this partnership, VXT users across industries like retail, hospitality, and quick-service restaurants can access Cielo’s AI-driven solutions, allowing them to effortlessly create and deploy industry-specific content that drives impactful engagement and streamlines operations.”

This collaboration is built on Cielo’s SmartFranchise™ framework, which serves managed service providers (MSPs) and franchise operators in industries such as quick-service restaurants, family entertainment, and retail. The solutions help reduce operational costs, improve efficiency, and deliver impactful marketing outcomes, ultimately driving business growth and transformation.

Through this strategic partnership, Samsung and Cielo are setting new standards in digital signage and AI-driven advertising, offering businesses the tools they need to meet modern consumer demands while improving operational efficiency. With solutions like SmartSigns™ and CieloVision™ KYAI™, businesses can leverage powerful AI insights to create smarter, more effective advertising campaigns, revolutionizing franchise operations across multiple sectors.

Fluent, Inc., a leader in commerce media solutions, has released the results of a new survey highlighting the effectiveness of post-purchase ads in enhancing the shopping experience, driving product discovery, and encouraging repeat purchases. These targeted ads, which appear on ecommerce confirmation pages, are designed to keep consumers engaged by offering personalized deals and promotions after the checkout. The survey, which gathered insights from over 1,000 US adults, sheds light on how these ads influence consumer behavior, build loyalty, and create value for both shoppers and retailers.

Enhancing the Customer Journey

One of the key findings of the survey is that post-purchase ads significantly enhance the customer journey. 57% of shoppers who converted on a post-purchase offer discovered a new product or service they love, while 63% said these ads enhanced their shopping experience after each online purchase. By offering timely, relevant content, post-purchase ads extend the value of the purchase process, deepening the connection between shoppers and brands.

Delivering Added Value

In terms of value delivered to shoppers, 54% of respondents indicated that post-purchase ads improve their shopping experience by offering useful discounts and promotions. Additionally, 62% of shoppers say deals and discounts motivate them to click on post-purchase offers. These findings underscore the importance of delivering targeted, value-driven content that resonates with consumers at the right time.

Driving Retention & Loyalty

Post-purchase ads also play a critical role in driving customer retention and loyalty. The survey revealed that 88% of shoppers who experienced personalized suggestions through these ads were more likely to return. By offering tailored content based on previous purchases and preferences, retailers can increase the likelihood of repeat purchases, creating long-term relationships with customers.

Retailers’ Perspective on Post-Purchase Ads

“Retailers tell us that post-purchase ads don’t disrupt the shopping journey—they enhance it," said Jessica Batty, SVP of Marketing at Fluent. "Consumers are looking for relevant, personalized offers, and this survey confirms that post-purchase ads drive not only product discovery but also repeat purchases and long-term loyalty. Our marketing expertise and consumer-centric approach help us work with our partners to design relevant and meaningful ads powered by Fluent’s identity graph and advanced AI-driven algorithms.”

Fluent’s innovative algorithms, backed by over 14 years of first-party data, determine the optimal content and timing for each customer throughout their shopping journey, ensuring that ads are meaningful and engaging.

The Role of Post-Purchase Ads in the Commerce Media Ecosystem

As a vital component of the broader commerce media ecosystem, post-purchase advertising offers retailers an additional revenue stream that integrates smoothly into the customer journey. These ads provide high-impact opportunities for advertisers while delivering relevant offers to consumers at a time when they are still in a buying mindset. Beyond boosting retailer monetization, post-purchase ads continue to serve as a powerful tool for creating value for both consumers and businesses.

The survey findings clearly illustrate the growing importance of post-purchase ads in the modern shopping landscape. By enhancing the customer journey, delivering added value, and driving loyalty, these ads create opportunities for businesses to engage with consumers and foster long-term relationships. For retailers and advertisers alike, post-purchase advertising represents a critical strategy for driving sustained growth and success in today’s competitive market.

SPIRRA is excited to introduce its advanced influencer marketing intelligence platform, powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI). Designed for brands and agencies, this innovative platform enhances campaign execution with precision, efficiency, and scalability.

According to Jeremy Davis, VP of Product, SPIRRA is set to revolutionize how brands cultivate and manage long-term influencer relationships, ensuring a strong return on investment.

How SPIRRA Transforms Influencer Marketing

Unlike traditional influencer marketing tools that rely on surface-level metrics (e.g., follower counts), SPIRRA leverages audience intelligence to ensure brands reach highly engaged and relevant audiences.

Tim Gerstmyer, President of SPIRRA, highlights the platform’s role in tackling industry challenges by providing transparency, precision, and AI-powered insights to optimize influencer partnerships.

Features of SPIRRA

1. Influencer Discovery & Analytics

• Verified Network – Access to 100% verified in-network influencers and 18M+ discoverable U.S. influencers.
• AI-Powered Influencer Analytics – Proprietary scoring system for brand alignment:
  • Brand Alignment Score™ – Identifies influencers relevant to a brand based on historical data.
  • Content Alignment Score™ – Ensures influencers' content aligns with brand values and style.
  • Audience Alignment Score™ – Confirms influencer followers match the brand's target audience.
  • True Follower™ – Filters out fake followers for accurate reach measurement.

2. Data Lab™ (Advanced Analytics Suite)

• Campaign performance insights
• Audience behavior tracking
• Social listening & competitor analysis
• ROI measurement tools

3. Cora-IQ™ (AI Strategy Agent)

• Provides predictive analytics to optimize campaigns.
• Recommends data-driven influencer partnerships.

4. End-to-End Campaign Management

• Campaign Creation – Media brief development & distribution.
• Content Development – In-platform collaboration & editing.
• Content Approval System – Pre-deployment approvals & release management.
• Contract Management – Influencer agreement execution & negotiation.
• Influencer Payments – Transaction monitoring for multiple campaigns.
• Brand Safety & Compliance – Automated verification of influencer authenticity.
• Influencer Communications – In-platform chat & collaboration tools.
• Performance Benchmarking & Tracking – Real-time analytics dashboard.

SPIRRA’s AI-powered intelligence platform is transforming the influencer marketing landscape by enhancing brand-influencer alignment, improving campaign transparency, and streamlining operations. With its advanced features, brands and agencies can now execute data-driven, scalable, and high-impact influencer campaigns like never before.

Prague-based AdTech company R2B2, majority-owned by Genesis Capital Growth, has acquired Caroda, a leading video advertising SaaS company. This strategic acquisition strengthens R2B2’s capabilities and positions both companies for growth in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region and international markets.

Accelerating Growth Through Acquisition and Innovation

• Enhanced Offerings: The acquisition allows R2B2 to expand its programmatic demand solutions with Caroda’s advanced SaaS tools.
• Leadership Expansion: R2B2 CEO František Bauma will also take on the role of Managing Director at Caroda.
• Immediate Collaboration: A phased integration of services and technologies will take place over the coming months.
• Continued Client Support: Existing clients will continue to receive uninterrupted services.

A Unified Vision for Publishers

• Caroda’s Strengths: Known for its Multiformat Carousel technology, Caroda helps publishers maximize ad revenue even in declining traffic conditions.
• Leadership Continuity: Caroda CEO Roman Mura will retain his position while also becoming Chief Strategy Officer at R2B2.
• Strategic Growth: By joining forces, the companies aim to create one of the most effective monetization platforms in the online advertising market.

Supporting Regional and Global Expansion

• R2B2’s Market Reach: The company operates in 46 countries worldwide, with a strong presence in the CEE region.
• Caroda’s Expertise: Nearly a decade of experience in video advertising will enhance R2B2’s offerings for publishers.
• Future Outlook: The partnership enables both companies to address industry challenges and provide sustainable revenue growth for publishers globally.

The acquisition of Caroda marks a major milestone in R2B2’s expansion strategy. By combining expertise in video ad monetization and programmatic advertising, both companies are set to deliver innovative, scalable solutions for publishers worldwide.

Resonate, a leader in predictive consumer intelligence, has announced the launch of its revolutionary rAI-powered Audience Builder. This AI-driven tool redefines how marketers and data analysts create audience segments, making the process faster, more accurate, and highly intuitive.

Key Features of the rAI-Powered Audience Builder

• AI-Powered Precision: The tool leverages Resonate’s proprietary AI model, rAI, to analyze thousands of consumer attributes instantly.
• Natural Language Interface: Users can create audience segments by simply entering prompts, eliminating the need for manual searches.
• Time-Saving Technology: What previously took hours can now be accomplished in seconds, enhancing efficiency and productivity.

Revolutionizing Audience Targeting

• Enhanced Marketing Strategies: The tool empowers marketers to refine their targeting strategies with AI-driven insights.
• Democratizing Consumer Intelligence: The intuitive interface allows users of all expertise levels to build complex audience personas effortlessly.
• Boosting Customer Lifetime Value: By improving the relevance and quality of audience segments, brands can foster deeper customer relationships.

Industry Impact and Availability

• New Standard in Consumer Intelligence: Resonate continues to set benchmarks in AI-powered marketing solutions.
• Immediate Access: The rAI-powered Audience Builder is now available to all users of the Resonate Ignite platform.

Resonate’s rAI-powered Audience Builder marks a significant step in AI-driven consumer intelligence. By simplifying audience segmentation while enhancing accuracy, this tool empowers marketers to make data-backed decisions faster than ever before.

tvScientific, a leading performance advertising platform for connected TV (CTV), has secured $25.5 million in Series B funding. Led by NewRoad Capital Partners, the round includes investments from Roku, Second Alpha Partners, and existing backers like Norwest Venture Partners, S4S Ventures, and Progress Ventures.

Expanding the CTV Market

• CTV advertising, currently a $30 billion market, is expected to reach $42 billion by 2028.
• Most TV advertising today focuses on brand awareness, limiting access for performance-driven advertisers.
• tvScientific’s vision is to build Performance TV, enabling CTV advertising with the same targeting, measurement, and optimization capabilities found in search and social advertising.

Key Investor Insights

• Jason Fairchild, CEO & Co-founder, tvScientific: "We aim to transform CTV into a multi-hundred-billion-dollar category by making it performance-driven, just like search and social."
• John Sheehy, Operating Partner, NewRoad Capital Partners: "tvScientific is leading the shift to a results-oriented CTV advertising model, allowing brands to engage consumers with measurable outcomes."
• Miles Fisher, Senior Director, Roku: "Our investment in tvScientific aligns with our belief that TV advertising should be accessible to all advertisers, delivering performance-driven results."

How tvScientific is Changing CTV Advertising

• Patented Technologies: Six patents issued for identity resolution, outcome measurement, and AI-driven optimization.
• Scalable Go-to-Market Expansion: Plans to 10x its customer base in two years, positioning CTV as a true rival to search and social advertising.
• Proven Performance: Trusted by brands like Foot Locker, Rare Beauty, EA, Weight Watchers, and Britbox, achieving high ROAS and improved CPAs compared to crowded digital ad spaces.

With this funding, tvScientific is accelerating the adoption of Performance TV, making CTV advertising as accountable and results-driven as search and social. As the industry shifts toward performance-based models, tvScientific is leading the charge in reshaping how advertisers engage audiences through CTV.

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.