As Brand Metrics’ CTV (Connected TV) measurement solutions continue to enjoy good traction in the marketplace, the global ad tech company has announced the addition of Alysha Dino to its rapidly expanding team.

Brand Metrics, a leading global ad tech company, has announced a key leadership addition as it continues to expand its connected TV (CTV) measurement solutions. Alysha Dino, a seasoned technology sales leader, has joined the team as VP of CTV & Enterprise Sales, bringing her extensive experience to support Brand Metrics’ growth in the CTV space.

Key Leadership Appointment and Experience

• Alysha Dino's Background: With two decades of technology sales experience, Alysha has spent the last 10 years focused on CTV.
• Past Roles:
  • Worked for AOL during its acquisition by Verizon and the subsequent purchase of Yahoo.
  • Transitioned to startup roles in ad tech, building products for connected TV.
  • Most recently, served as Global Publisher Partnerships Director for Publica, a CTV ad server owned by Integral Ad Science (IAS).
• Publica's Achievements: Publica was the first CTV ad server to introduce a unified auction process for streaming publishers, solidifying its leadership in the space.

Role at Brand Metrics

• Alysha will work with Robby Kraai, Brand Metrics' Head of CTV, to develop innovative solutions.
• The focus will be on enhancing Brand Metrics' measurement products, providing industry-leading insights to CTV customers.
• Her expertise will help customers understand the effectiveness of campaigns on their platforms.

Key Comments from Leadership

• Alysha Dino: Expressed excitement about joining Brand Metrics, emphasizing the value of providing real user insights to drive revenue and improve user experience in the CTV ecosystem.
• Elwin Gastelaars, CRO of Brand Metrics: Welcomed Alysha to the team, noting her strong background in CTV from her time at Publica/IAS. He emphasized the importance of her addition for global CTV growth and product development.

The addition of Alysha Dino marks a significant step in Brand Metrics' growth strategy, positioning the company to further enhance its CTV measurement offerings and strengthen its leadership in the ad tech industry. With Alysha’s expertise, Brand Metrics is well-placed to deliver cutting-edge solutions that provide actionable insights for CTV advertisers.

UserTesting, a leading SaaS provider in experience research and insights, has appointed Baran Erkel as Chief Strategy Officer. With over two decades of expertise in corporate strategy, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), and strategic partnerships, Erkel is set to guide the company’s growth and innovation trajectory.

Baran Erkel’s Role and Strategic Focus

• Chief Strategy Officer Responsibilities:
  • Shaping UserTesting’s long-term strategy.
  • Leading the development and execution of initiatives that drive market expansion and accelerate innovation.
  • Focusing on acquisitions and strategic partnerships to strengthen market positioning.
• Key Leadership Priorities:
  • Identifying and pursuing growth opportunities through M&A.
  • Enhancing UserTesting’s role as a leading human insight platform for improving customer experiences.

Leadership Experience

• Previous Role: Senior Vice President of Corporate Development and Strategy at Nintex.
  • Led the execution and integration of five acquisitions crucial to Nintex’s success.
  • Built strategic relationships with key partners and contributed to investor relations.
• Other Key Roles:
  • Held leadership positions at Citrix in corporate development.
  • Began his career in technology and management consulting at Accenture.
• Educational Background:
  • B.S. in Computer Science and M.S. in Computer Networks from North Carolina State University.

Leadership Endorsements

• Eric Johnson, CEO of UserTesting: Welcomed Baran Erkel to the team, emphasizing the importance of his expertise in corporate development, particularly his successful track record in acquisitions and partnerships.

• Baran Erkel: Expressed enthusiasm for joining UserTesting, highlighting his focus on both organic and inorganic growth. He looks forward to driving strategic initiatives that will propel the company toward continued success.

The appointment of Baran Erkel as Chief Strategy Officer underscores UserTesting’s commitment to accelerating growth through strategic acquisitions and partnerships. With Erkel’s leadership, the company is poised to strengthen its market presence and drive innovation in the experience research space.

Captello, a leader in event engagement solutions, announces Aaron Karpaty as Senior Director of Strategic Growth. With over 20 years in the tech industry, Aaron brings a wealth of experience in sales and business development, having driven growth at companies like Jifflenow and Tech Events.

Captello, a leader in event engagement and lead capture solutions, has appointed Aaron Karpaty as Senior Director of Strategic Growth. Aaron brings over 20 years of experience in the tech industry, with expertise in sales, business development, and strategic partnerships. His leadership is set to drive Captello’s continued growth and innovation.

Aaron Karpaty’s Career Journey

• Early Career:
  • Began his career in 1999, focusing on hardware, test-repair, and supply chain management, particularly supporting HP products.
  • Built a business from scratch, reaching $10 million in revenue, which was later acquired by Cokeva.
• Tech Events Role:
  • Joined Tech Events in 2003, where he developed software for managing demo assets for events and trade shows.
  • Gained hands-on experience as a "road warrior," acquiring deep insights into the event industry.

Leadership Success at Jifflenow

• Joined Jifflenow in 2013 as employee number five, recognizing the startup’s potential.
• As the first dedicated sales professional, Aaron secured 30 new clients in his first year and doubled the company’s revenue.
• Led the expansion of the sales team and contributed to Jifflenow’s growth, which led to its acquisition by Cvent in 2023.

Vision for Captello’s Growth

• Ryan Schefke, CEO of Captello, expressed excitement about Aaron’s appointment, emphasizing his track record of driving growth and building client relationships.
• Aaron Karpaty shared his enthusiasm for joining Captello, praising the team’s dedication to event technology solutions and expressing his eagerness to contribute to the company’s vision of growth.

Aaron Karpaty’s appointment as Senior Director of Strategic Growth marks a pivotal moment for Captello. With his proven expertise in driving business success and deep understanding of the event technology landscape, Aaron is well-positioned to help Captello revolutionize revenue generation through event solutions.

Mobile shopping, accounting for 62% of all purchases, is driving growth of SMS and Email marketing with over 200 brands using Attentive for tailored customer communications

Attentive, an AI-powered mobile marketing platform, has achieved remarkable success in Australia, reporting 125% revenue growth and onboarding more than 200 brands. This surge highlights the growing demand for unified SMS and email marketing solutions that leverage AI-driven personalisation to improve customer retention and increase revenue.

Key Achievements in the Australian Market

• Revenue Growth: 125% revenue growth since entering the Australian market in 2023.

• Brand Adoption: Over 200 brands using Attentive's platform regionally.

• Market Opportunity: As ecommerce in Australia expands, the demand for personalised, one-to-one marketing experiences continues to grow.

• Zach Hotchkiss, Regional VP of APAC, on Market Growth:

  • Highlighted how Attentive’s AI tools empower marketers to gain a competitive edge by delivering highly personalised and interactive SMS marketing experiences.

Customer Testimonials and Success Stories

• July’s EOFY Campaign Success:
  • Achieved an 8.6% overall conversion rate with segmented, personalised SMS campaigns.
  • The high-intent shopper segment reached a conversion rate of 16.9%.
• Hey Bud’s Improved Revenue:
  • Attentive's FOMO campaign targeting recent purchasers resulted in a 36% revenue increase compared to previous SMS providers.
• Designstuff’s Conversational Approach:
  • Leveraged SMS to engage customers in a friendly, conversational way, with plans to explore more personalised AI-powered tools.
• Lounge Lovers' ROI:
  • Attentive’s SMS program generated 700 sofa sales during the EOFY sales, resulting in a 55x ROI over the past year.

AI Innovations and Multi-Product Offerings

• Unified Platform:
  • Brands in Australia can consolidate their SMS and email into a unified, cross-channel platform using Attentive’s AI-driven tools.
• Real-Time Personalisation:
  • Attentive’s AI builds a rich identity graph using real-time data to provide deep insights, enabling brands to deliver timely, personalised engagement.
• AI-Powered Automation:
  • Attentive AI automates audience, content, timing, and message delivery, creating a bespoke shopping journey for each subscriber.
  • Brands see an average revenue lift of 124% through this highly personalised marketing lifecycle.

Attentive's strong performance in Australia, powered by its unified cross-channel marketing platform and AI-driven personalisation, is setting a new standard in customer engagement. With its robust tools and successful customer outcomes, Attentive is helping brands create unique, real-time interactions that drive measurable growth.

The newly launched product of Mango Animate, Mango AI, featuring AI talking avatars with natural facial expressions and synchronized lip movements, opens up a new way to illustrate video information dynamically.

Mango AI, developed by Mango Animate, is an advanced AI video generator that enables users to create professional-looking AI videos from text in minutes. With lifelike AI talking avatars and natural-sounding voiceovers, the platform is designed for users of all skill levels, simplifying video creation for purposes like education, marketing, and sales.

Key Features of Mango AI

• AI-Powered Video Creation:

  • Users can generate videos simply by inputting text scripts, which are then transformed into engaging AI videos.
  • Videos include lifelike AI talking avatars with natural facial movements like blinking, head tilts, and lip-syncing, ensuring a human-like appearance.

• Diverse Video Types:

  • Mango AI offers options like text to animation, talking head videos, talking photo, and text & image to video.
  • Users can choose from a range of AI avatars spanning different genders, ages, and ethnicities, and even select cartoon avatars for kid-friendly content.

• Customisation Options:

  • Users can further personalise their videos by changing backgrounds or selecting a whiteboard to present information.
  • The platform allows users to upload a photo to create an AI avatar of themselves or use pre-recorded audio to pair with the avatar.

CEO Winston Zhang’s Vision

• Winston Zhang, CEO of Mango Animate, emphasizes the accessibility of Mango AI, stating, "We’ve designed it to make video creation accessible to everyone, regardless of technical skills."
  • The goal is to enable users to create personalised and engaging AI videos with ease, helping them deliver their messages more effectively.

Simplicity and Versatility

• Intuitive Interface:

  • Mango AI features an easy-to-use interface, guiding users step-by-step through the creation process.
  • Options to choose avatars, voiceovers, and backgrounds make it simple to create a polished final product.

• Photo Editor Integration:

  • Beyond video creation, Mango AI also includes a powerful photo editor that lets users enhance their images by removing backgrounds, improving photo quality, and even swapping faces within photos.

Mango AI is a game-changer in the video creation space, offering a seamless and accessible solution for users of all skill levels. With its ability to create professional, engaging AI videos with personalised avatars and voiceovers, Mango AI makes video production fast and efficient, revolutionising how content is created for education, marketing, and beyond.

New monetization resources and APIs support developers in building apps & integrations that bolster Canva’s AI platform and workplace offering

Canva, the all-in-one visual communication platform, recently unveiled major updates for its growing Developers community at the second annual Canva Extend conference. These updates, which include new APIs, monetization options, and tools for scaling, support Canva's vision of becoming the world's most pluggable design platform.

Key Announcements from Canva Extend

• Developer Community Growth:

  • Since launching in June 2023, the Canva Developer Program has grown to include developers from 122 countries, contributing over 300 apps to Canva’s marketplace, used over 1 billion times.
  • Canva's 190 million monthly users now have access to a variety of apps, enhancing their design capabilities.

• Monetization for Developers:

  • Canva introduced a Premium Apps Program that allows developers to monetize their apps by offering premium features and getting paid based on user engagement.

• Enhanced Global Reach:

  • Developers can leverage Canva's free translation services to make their apps accessible to users across different languages and regions.

New Developer Tools and APIs

• App Discovery Enhancements:
  • Canva has made it easier for users to discover apps, with new placements in the platform’s Text tab, Elements tab, and other tools.
• New APIs for Developers:
  • Content Query API: Enables apps to read and update text for features like translation or AI assistants.
  • Design Editing API (beta): Allows apps to automate design elements, such as adding or modifying components.
  • Tables API: Enables apps to add tables to designs.
  • Authentication API: Simplifies the integration of OAuth authentication.

Growing AI Ecosystem

• AI-Powered Apps:

  • More than half of the apps on the Canva Apps Marketplace are AI-powered.
  • Canva’s acquisition of Leonardo.Ai opens new opportunities for developers to integrate Leonardo's AI APIs into their apps.

• Success Stories:

  • Apps like DeepReel and Krikey 3D AI Animation have seen 10x and 23x increases in user sign-ups and site traffic, respectively, after launching on Canva.

Salesforce Integrations and Pluggable Workflows

• Canva for Salesforce:
  • New Salesforce integrations allow sales teams to generate custom presentations, charts, and pitch assets directly from Salesforce data using Canva templates.
• Connect API Integrations:
  • Canva's Connect APIs enable seamless integration with platforms like Workato, Zapier, and Make, allowing organizations to embed Canva into their workflows.
  • Canva is also being used by major platforms such as Amazon Ads, Meta, and Google Ads.

With the introduction of new APIs, monetization programs, and scaling tools, Canva continues to solidify its position as the go-to platform for developers and enterprises alike. As Canva expands its reach globally and integrates AI into its offerings, the future of design and visual communication looks more accessible and dynamic than ever.

Box Hubs Now Enables Instant Insights Across Multiple Folders with Box AI Powered Search & Summarization

Box, Inc. has announced the general availability of Box Hubs, customizable content portals designed to transform how teams curate and publish content. Box Hubs, combined with the power of Box AI, streamline collaboration and make it easier to find and manage critical information, helping enterprises boost efficiency and productivity.

Key Features of Box Hubs

• Simple and Customizable Portals: Box Hubs allow users to create portals for different teams and departments, such as HR, Sales, and Marketing, helping everyone access up-to-date, relevant content.
  • Examples include HR Hubs for policies, Sales Hubs for enablement resources, and Marketing Hubs for digital assets.
• AI Integration: With Box AI, users can ask questions and quickly find accurate information from multiple documents in a Hub. AI can also summarize long documents and highlight key points, making content retrieval fast and efficient.

Real-World Applications

Several organizations have already embraced Box Hubs and Box AI across various sectors:

• Exact Sciences: Box Hubs enables employees to easily access job-relevant information, with Box AI summarizing documents and extracting critical insights.
• Municipality Organization: Created an HR Hub that consolidates policies, resources, and benefits information, helping employees quickly find answers to their questions.
• Professional Services Firm: Developed a Hub for customer stories and competitive analysis, helping business development teams find insights to enhance pitches.
• Hospitality Business: Uses Box Hubs to centralize legal documents, allowing teams to leverage AI insights for compliance management.
• Marketing Agency: Provides ready-to-use templates, images, and logos in a Hub for designers, streamlining content creation and delivery.

New Features of Box Hubs

Box Hubs introduces several new features, making it easier to share, organize, and manage content:

• External Sharing: Securely share content with partners, agencies, and vendors.
• Global Search: Use Box’s global search feature to locate files quickly.
• Customization Options: Link directly to a Hub, create vanity links, and add bookmarks.
• Compliance Support: Meet federal compliance standards like Section 508.

AI-Driven Collaboration

Box Hubs paired with Box AI provides powerful search and summarization features, making content more accessible and actionable. By leveraging AI, enterprises can save valuable time and optimize workflows across departments.

Box Hubs with Box AI is available now to Enterprise and Enterprise Plus users. By utilizing these tools, organizations can enhance collaboration, improve efficiency, and stay aligned with evolving business needs. To learn more, visit the Box Blog or register for BoxWorks on November 12.

New MarketCast Ad Effect Express solution combines human research with proprietary AI to better predict advertising performance

MarketCast has launched MarketCast Ad Effect Express, a cutting-edge advertising testing solution that merges human research with AI. This innovative platform aims to predict how ads will perform across TV, CTV, and digital channels, offering faster, more cost-effective results with a blend of human insights and AI-driven accuracy.

The Evolution of Ad Testing

Traditional ad testing often relies on either in-depth survey-driven research, where people watch ads and give feedback, or on AI models that predict responses with minimal human input. While human-driven research provides nuanced insights, it’s typically slow and expensive. On the other hand, AI solutions are quick but often limited by outdated data and broad audience assumptions.
MarketCast Ad Effect Express addresses these issues by combining the speed and scale of AI with the depth of human feedback, delivering more accurate results without sacrificing quality.

The Power of MarketCast Ad Effect Express

MarketCast’s new solution is powered by its proprietary Audience AI, which trains its models using fresh survey data to ensure that real human reactions are at the core of the predictions. By incorporating facial and eye tracking technology, the platform captures second-by-second emotional responses to ad creative, allowing advertisers to see how people truly feel at each moment of an ad.

Key Features

• AI-Powered Predictions with Human Feedback: Audience AI uses up-to-date human survey data to fine-tune its predictions, ensuring more accurate and insightful ad performance analysis.
• Fast Turnaround: The platform delivers results within 24-48 hours, providing brands with quick, actionable insights.
• Advanced Emotion Tracking: Through facial and eye tracking, advertisers can pinpoint moments in an ad that elicit the strongest emotional reactions from viewers.
• Open-Ended Responses: In addition to quantitative data, the platform captures qualitative insights from open-ended responses, offering brands a deeper understanding of why an ad might succeed or fail.

Benefits for Advertisers

By blending AI and human feedback, MarketCast Ad Effect Express offers advertisers several advantages:

• Speed and Efficiency: Results are delivered quickly without compromising on quality, making the ad testing process more agile.
• Cost-Effective Research: With reduced costs compared to traditional survey-based research, advertisers can access hard-to-reach audiences and still gain valuable insights.
• Nuanced Audience Insights: Combining AI with human inputs ensures subtle reactions and detailed feedback are captured, leading to more refined advertising strategies.

MarketCast Ad Effect Express offers a game-changing solution for advertisers, allowing them to test ad creative with both human insights and AI-driven efficiency. By leveraging the power of Audience AI and real-time emotion tracking, the platform ensures that brands can predict ad performance more accurately across diverse audiences and channels.