Persado Inc., a leader in AI-powered content generation for marketing, has strengthened its leadership with the appointment of Somesh Khanna and Steve Mugford to its Board of Directors. These additions follow the company’s success in driving $2.5 billion in new revenue for financial services organizations over the past five years. The new appointments signal a strategic move to enhance Persado's innovations and broaden its impact with global financial institutions.

Why These Appointments Matter

• Expanding Expertise in Financial Services

  • Somesh Khanna brings over two decades of experience leading digital transformations for top banks, card issuers, and insurers. His extensive network and deep industry knowledge will be key in advancing Persado’s Motivation AI innovations, which help financial institutions acquire, engage, and retain customers more effectively.

• Accelerating AI Disruption in Financial Services

  • Steve Mugford, with 30 years of experience in financial services, data, and analytics, has a proven track record in driving growth. His strategic insight from leading Capital One’s expansion will help Persado continue its disruption of the AI market, particularly in financial services.

Key Insights on the New Board Members

• Somesh Khanna’s Expertise

  • Khanna co-led McKinsey & Company’s Global Banking and Securities practice and spearheaded digital transformations for financial services clients. He also played a crucial role in establishing McKinsey Digital, a specialized unit focused on serving the financial sector. Additionally, Somesh is the co-executive Chairman of Apexon and an advisor to ASAPP, a leader in GenAI customer experience technologies.

• Steve Mugford’s Strategic Vision

  • Mugford is the CEO and founder of Visceral AI, a market research platform powered by GenAI. With his background in driving transformative growth at Capital One, he helped expand the company from a niche credit card issuer to the 7th largest diversified bank in the U.S. He also brings a unique perspective as an investor and board member in multiple ventures.

Quotes from the CEO

• Alex Vratskides, CEO of Persado
  • “Somesh’s leadership in financial services and Steve’s strategic experience will be instrumental as we continue to evolve our AI-driven solutions and transform customer engagement for the world’s largest financial institutions.”

The strategic appointments of Somesh Khanna and Steve Mugford to Persado’s Board reflect the company’s commitment to driving innovation in AI for financial services. With their expertise, Persado is well-positioned to further its leadership in transforming how financial institutions engage with customers and grow their businesses.

OpenDrives, Inc., a leader in software-defined data storage and media workflows, has introduced the latest version of its Atlas software, version 2.9, along with a new feature bundle, Atlas Professional. Positioned between the Atlas Essentials starter bundle and the flagship Atlas Comprehensive, Atlas Professional offers high-performance, enterprise-scale storage and data management, tailored for fast-growing, mid-sized media organizations with evolving workflow needs.

Key Features of Atlas Professional

• Target Audience

  • Designed for mid-sized media companies with moderately complex workflows.
  • Enables cost-effective data management and scalability for dispersed creative teams.

• Advanced Features for Optimal Workflow

  • Active/Passive High Availability (HA): Ensures system uptime and reliability.
  • Containerization: Enhances flexibility for data and application management.
  • NFS over RDMA (NFSoRDMA): Provides fast data transfer speeds.
  • Single Pane of Glass (SPOG) Admin View: Simplifies workflow management from a unified interface.

• Efficient Platform Compatibility

  • Available on OpenDrives’ Ultra hardware platform.
  • Offers smooth upgradeability to Atlas Comprehensive for expanded scaling and integration.

Innovative Data Management with Composability

• Atlas’ Composable Software Architecture

  • Introduced with Atlas 2.8, this architecture eliminates the traditional per-capacity licensing model.
  • Allows mid-sized organizations to access enterprise-level storage capabilities affordably.
  • Users can selectively add features as needed, preventing "feature bloat."

• Benefits of Composability for Creative Industries

  • Supports flexibility to adapt to both planned and unexpected projects.
  • Provides a blend of cost predictability and feature scalability.
  • Attracts major industry players, including Hollywood studios and media networks.

CEO Insights on Composability and User-Centric Solutions

Sean Lee, CEO of OpenDrives, highlights the value of composability in storage solutions:

“Composability revolutionizes data storage by allowing us to offer targeted solutions for specific workflows. Our focus is on creating value-packed feature bundles that can scale seamlessly with user needs, replacing outdated models with a flexible, user-centered approach that grows with our customers’ evolving demands.”

OpenDrives’ Atlas Professional bundle empowers mid-sized media organizations to achieve cost-effective, scalable data management tailored to creative workflows. With high availability, advanced connectivity, and composability, Atlas Professional bridges the gap between essential and comprehensive storage solutions, offering media organizations a reliable platform to manage their most critical workflows efficiently.

Tiger Pistol, a leader in local advertising solutions, recently launched a crucial resource for franchises facing inflationary challenges. Their new playbook, "Overcoming Inflation: A Playbook for Maximizing Franchise Profitability Through Local Advertising," provides actionable strategies to counter rising costs and sustain profitability. This guide enables franchises to leverage cost-effective local advertising across popular digital platforms to manage expenses and increase engagement.

Key Insights from the Playbook

• Inflation Pressures on Franchises
  According to the 2024 IFA Annual Franchise Report:

  • Nearly 90% of franchisees are impacted by inflation.
  • 80% report reduced earnings due to rising costs.
  • The playbook offers methods to address these issues with local advertising strategies.

• Cost-Efficient Campaign Management

  • Learn automation techniques for streamlined campaign creation.
  • Minimize time and resources spent on advertising.
  • Free up franchisees to focus on core business functions.

• Flexible Budgeting Across Digital Platforms

  • Budget strategies tailored for each platform (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Amazon Ads).
  • Reach local audiences effectively without overspending.
  • Balance advertising investments based on platform performance.

• Targeted Local Engagement for Increased Foot Traffic

  • Utilize advanced targeting to connect with local consumers.
  • Drive customer loyalty with personalized community-focused ads.
  • Enhance brand presence within specific locales.

• Empowerment and Transparency for Franchisees

  • Equip franchisees with user-friendly tools and transparent reports.
  • Foster trust and participation in local advertising efforts.
  • Strengthen brand cohesion across multiple franchise locations.

Expert Insights

Sarah Cucchiara, VP of Business Development at Tiger Pistol, emphasizes the necessity of cost-efficient advertising:

"With inflation driving up expenses, franchises need effective yet affordable advertising strategies. Our playbook shows how automated, data-driven local advertising can maintain profitability by reaching the right audience at minimal cost."

Tiger Pistol’s playbook is designed to equip franchise brands with practical tools to navigate economic challenges. By implementing localized advertising strategies, franchises can strengthen their community connections, manage costs effectively, and convert inflation-related challenges into growth opportunities. This valuable playbook is available for free download and is recommended for all franchise marketers looking to enhance profitability and resilience.

Starfish, a pioneering mobile app marketplace connecting brands with influencers, has recently closed a seed funding round that has elevated its valuation to multi-million dollars. This investment fuels Starfish's mission to transform influencer marketing by streamlining brand-influencer collaborations, making it easier and more effective for brands to reach impactful social media audiences.

Key Milestones and Impact of Seed Funding

• Funding Objectives

  • Accelerate platform development and expand capabilities.
  • Enhance ease of transactions and collaboration between brands and influencers.
  • Strengthen technological infrastructure to support growing user needs.

• Leadership Perspective on Investment

  • CEO and Co-Founder, Thomas Rodberg, views this investment as pivotal:
    • "This funding validates our vision to revolutionize influencer marketing through simpler, transparent, and impactful partnerships."
  • With these funds, Starfish aims to build trust-driven collaborations that emphasize measurable outcomes.

The Leadership Team Behind Starfish’s Growth

• Thomas Rodberg, CEO and Co-Founder

  • Strategic leader driving Starfish’s transformative goals.

• Jack Roberts, Chief Operations Officer and Co-Founder

  • Oversees operational excellence and scalability.

• Jack Jarrett, Vice President of Business Development

  • Focuses on brand partnerships and market expansion.

• Xavier Driscoll, Vice President of Sales

  • Enhances client engagement and revenue growth.

• Phil Kaplan, Vice President of Marketing

  • Leads marketing efforts, expanding Starfish’s influence in the market.

Strategic Partnerships and Platform Expansion

• New Partnership with Leading Talent Agency

  • Starfish’s alliance with a top talent agency brings a diverse group of influencers, significantly increasing platform reach.
  • Provides brands with access to influencers with millions of followers, enhancing authenticity and engagement.

• Expanding Starfish’s Influence in Influencer Marketing

  • This partnership solidifies Starfish’s standing as a leading marketplace for brands looking to forge genuine connections with influencers.

With its recent funding and strategic partnerships, Starfish is positioned to redefine the influencer marketing landscape. By creating a platform that prioritizes trust, simplicity, and measurable impact, Starfish offers a seamless way for brands to connect with high-impact social media influencers, shaping a new era of effective brand-influencer collaborations.

Infosys Knowledge Institute, the research division of Infosys, has released the CMO Radar 2024 report, which highlights the growing impact of AI in marketing. This report underscores the influence of CMO AI fluency on business value, revealing how Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs) are leveraging AI to drive results and increase their influence within corporate strategy.

Key Insights from CMO Radar 2024

• AI Adoption Across Marketing Functions

  • 96% of marketing leaders have implemented AI in at least one activity.
  • However, nearly half of AI initiatives (48%) face challenges in delivering measurable business value.
  • CMOs fall into three categories based on AI fluency: Leaders (13%), Learners (60%), and Laggards (27%).

• AI-Driven Business Value

  • Predictive AI for Customer Insights: Allows CMOs to personalize campaigns, meet customer expectations, and improve ROI.
  • Generative AI: Integrates data, creativity, and expertise, enhancing team capabilities and internal AI proficiency.

• Strategic Importance of AI Fluency for CMOs

  • CMOs fluent in AI see a 62% rise in their strategic influence within the C-suite.
  • Over the next 18 months, AI-driven initiatives are expected to deliver up to 15% productivity gains, 13% cost savings, and 11% faster speed to market.

Four Tactics for AI Success in Marketing

1. Embed AI into Processes

   • AI solutions are integrated directly into business workflows, allowing for real-time data-driven decisions.
   • Clear governance and communication align stakeholders with AI's goals and KPIs.

2. Align AI and Business Strategy

   • Responsive AI strategies are closely linked to both marketing and business objectives.
   • Successful CMOs build AI capabilities across the entire marketing lifecycle based on value and feasibility.

3. Implement AI Risk Management

   • Although 43% of organizations rely on ad hoc risk management, leaders use systematic risk strategies.
   • Dedicated risk protocols increase compliance, brand trust, and foster responsible AI adoption.

4. Optimize the MarTech Stack for AI

   • AI-optimized MarTech stacks, including Customer Data Platforms (CDPs), are crucial for scalability and real-time personalization.
   • Advanced cloud-native tools enable brands to leverage AI fully, creating competitive advantages in engagement and innovation.

CMO and Industry Leaders on the Future of AI in Marketing

• Satish H C, EVP and Chief Delivery Officer, Infosys

  • Highlights AI’s transformative role, encouraging businesses to embrace agility and disintermediation for competitive advantage.
  • Mentions Infosys Aster as a tool to enable CMO-led digital marketing innovations.

• Sumit Virmani, EVP and Global CMO, Infosys

  • Acknowledges CMOs’ dual role in short-term growth and long-term brand impact.
  • Affirms AI, particularly generative AI, as a key lever to enhance marketing's effectiveness and influence.

The CMO Radar 2024 report provides essential guidance for marketing leaders aiming to harness AI for growth, innovation, and strategic influence. With actionable tactics for embedding AI across marketing operations, CMOs can lead effective transformations and drive measurable business outcomes, positioning themselves as essential strategic players.

PartnerCentric, a leader in performance-driven affiliate marketing, has announced significant upgrades to its FUSE suite, introducing two powerful features: Adobe Experience Cloud compatibility and an advanced Placement Success Analyzer. These enhancements aim to streamline data alignment, improve partner insights, and optimize commission structures for global marketers.

Key Enhancements in the FUSE Suite

• Adobe Experience Cloud Compatibility

  • FUSE now seamlessly integrates with Adobe Experience Cloud, enabling global marketers to connect FUSE Incrementality™ insights and FUSE Precision’s automated commission optimizations with Adobe's robust attribution data.
  • This compatibility eliminates common data reconciliation issues, providing marketers with a unified view of affiliate and in-house data for more accurate performance tracking.

• Enhanced Placement Success Analyzer with Lift Analysis

  • The Placement Success Analyzer now includes advanced statistical lift analysis, allowing marketers to measure the incremental impact of each partner and placement in real-time.
  • This feature goes beyond traditional A/B testing, leveraging natural performance variations to pinpoint the most impactful partnerships and placements.

Benefits of the Enhanced FUSE Suite

1. Aligned Attribution and Commission Optimization

   • By aligning FUSE Precision’s commission optimizations with Adobe Experience Cloud, marketers can optimize partner commissions effectively, ensuring payouts correlate with performance metrics.
   • This integration enables marketers to manage affiliate campaigns based on real-time attribution data, reducing guesswork and maximizing ROI.

2. Advanced Lift Analysis for Smarter Budget Allocation

   • The Placement Success Analyzer’s statistical lift analysis provides accurate insights into which placements deliver the highest conversions, enabling marketers to make data-driven budgeting decisions.
   • Real-time tracking supports cross-campaign insights, empowering brands to dynamically adjust strategies and optimize budgets.

3. Improved Transparency and Data Integration for Global Brands

   • Trusted by a majority of Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies, Adobe Experience Cloud integration with FUSE ensures global brands benefit from a consolidated source of performance and attribution insights.
   • Enhanced placement-level transparency helps brands monitor partner performance with clarity and precision, supporting long-term partner relationships.

Executive Insight

• Stephanie Harris, CEO of PartnerCentric, emphasizes the importance of FUSE's compatibility with Adobe Experience Cloud:
  • “Marketers often struggle with aligning affiliate data with attribution platforms. Our FUSE enhancements provide seamless integration and actionable insights, ensuring commissions are effectively directed and overall campaign performance is maximized.”

The latest enhancements to PartnerCentric’s FUSE suite provide marketers with an integrated, data-driven approach to affiliate marketing. By merging commission optimizations with Adobe’s comprehensive attribution framework and introducing lift analysis for accurate partner assessment, PartnerCentric continues to empower global brands to elevate affiliate performance, achieve transparency, and drive ROI.

Choozle, a leading omnichannel digital advertising platform, has launched self-service Amazon DSP capabilities. This feature allows marketers direct access to Amazon’s extensive advertising inventory and advanced targeting options within Choozle, making campaign management more streamlined and effective.

Key Benefits of Choozle's Amazon DSP Capabilities

• Direct Access to Amazon DSP
  Choozle’s platform now enables marketers to manage campaigns directly on Amazon DSP, maximizing multi-channel reach and targeting diverse audiences with ease.

• Exclusive Premium Inventory Access
  With direct access to Amazon’s top-tier properties like Amazon Prime, Twitch, and Whole Foods, advertisers can engage customers in high-traffic spaces, increasing brand visibility and engagement.

• In-Depth Audience Insights
  Access to Amazon’s vast consumer data, including purchase and streaming behaviors, allows advertisers to create highly targeted campaigns that connect with the right audiences efficiently.

• User-Friendly Platform and Expert Support
  Choozle’s intuitive interface supports seamless navigation for campaign setup and management. Additionally, expert assistance is available to help advertisers maximize their Amazon DSP campaigns.

• Flexible Service Options
  Choozle provides both self-service and managed options. Brands can choose full control with self-service or opt for a managed service for hands-on expertise.

As digital advertising becomes more dynamic, Choozle’s self-service Amazon DSP capabilities offer advertisers the flexibility, control, and support needed to thrive in today’s advertising landscape. This innovation empowers brands to reach high-value audiences effectively while adapting their campaigns in real time.

InMarket, a leader in real-time marketing and measurement, has announced a preferred partnership with Reddit Inc. Through this partnership, Reddit advertisers in the U.S. can leverage InMarket’s Lift Conversion Index (LCI) to optimize campaigns in real-time and measure tangible outcomes, including visit and sales lift.

Key Benefits of the InMarket-Reddit Partnership

• Real-Time Campaign Optimization
  With InMarket’s LCI, Reddit advertisers can make data-driven adjustments to campaigns while they’re live, maximizing reach and engagement.

• Comprehensive Outcome Measurement
  The LCI provides detailed reports on campaign impact, covering Audience, Engagement, Visit and Sales Lift, and Incremental Visits. This closed-loop reporting measures both online and offline effects.

• Award-Winning Insights and Incremental Growth
  Following a successful pilot, Reddit achieved a 96% positive incremental lift in foot traffic for measured campaigns, demonstrating the platform’s capability to drive significant impact.

• Recognition of Reddit as a Lift Leader
  Reddit and Ryan Brendle, Reddit’s Global Head of Marketing Science, were honored with the 2024 Lift Leader Award by InMarket for their contributions to effective campaign measurement.

• Addressing the Challenges of Fragmented Marketing Measurement
  With real-time optimization, Reddit advertisers can enhance media efficiency, reduce waste, and improve return on ad spend, meeting modern marketing demands more effectively.

This partnership marks a significant advancement in marketing measurement and optimization. As the demand for inflight campaign insights grows, InMarket and Reddit’s collaboration offers advertisers the tools to drive effective campaigns and measure results across both digital and physical environments.