Loyalty360 releases new research report that includes insights on how marketers are defining, planning for, and managing next generation customer loyalty strategies.

Loyalty360 has released its Next Generation Customer Loyalty: 2024 Loyalty360 Brand Marketer Research, including insights from brand marketers who run leading customer loyalty programs, on how their organizations are defining, planning for, and managing next generation customer loyalty strategies.

In October 2023, Loyalty360 led qualitative discussions with Brand Members and surveyed over 90 brand marketers to gain deeper insights into their perceptions of next generation customer loyalty, the opportunities marketers are embracing, and the potential challenges hindering their progress. The results highlighted the importance of next generation customer loyalty and shed light on the obstacles marketers must overcome to improve and enhance their customer loyalty efforts.

Key findings and takeaways from the report include:

• Emerging and innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), as well as solutions for customer service/support, chatbots/virtual assistants, gamification, and augmented/virtual reality, are top of mind for marketers when it comes to next generation loyalty efforts.
• Personalization opportunities that can be delivered at scale and in a measurable manner are significant enhancements brands are looking to add to their loyalty strategies.
• Most brands believe there is a need to cultivate a better understanding of their customer loyalty efforts internally and externally.
• The primary obstacles for marketers in crafting a next generation customer loyalty strategy include challenges with resource allocation, organizational commitment, and technology. Meanwhile, many face difficulties due to the absence of a consistent definition of what precisely constitutes next generation customer loyalty.

"Our most recent research on next generation customer loyalty was driven by the eagerness of Loyalty360 Brand Members to gain a deeper understanding of the trends, technologies, and strategies poised to deliver significant value to their customer loyalty programs," stated Mark Johnson, CEO of Loyalty360. "In this era of rapid change, pioneering the evolution of loyalty programs and customer experience strategies that align with the expectations of consumers is not merely an option but a strategic imperative for marketers."

"Brands acknowledge that customer loyalty has transcended mere points and rewards; however, formulating a strategy for the next evolution of loyalty programs can be daunting," explained Carly Stemmer Ivory, Vice President and Research Analyst at Loyalty360. "Our latest report aims to provide valuable insights into how marketers can adeptly navigate this complex and ever-changing industry."

With 67% of UK marketers expecting email signatures to help generate leads this year and a third of US marketers using social media to communicate with customers, businesses can now use Exclaimer’s email signature solution to amplify their social content

Exclaimer, the leading email signature management platform, today launches its Social Feeds feature, enabling organizations to embed their social media posts directly into their email signatures.

Over half (52%) of US consumers prefer to communicate with a business through email and 75% of US marketers have indicated that they want to explore social media further. At the same time, almost half (48%) of UK marketers consider one-to-one emails their company's primary communication channel. Exclaimer’s new Social Feeds feature gives businesses the opportunity to align these channels further to create a more seamless customer experience and help businesses maximize their ROI whilst increasing brand engagement.

“While organizations are continuing to look for ways to increase engagement with customers and offer them a more human and personalized experience, it remains crucial to work smarter and do more with less. Business tools need to evolve and adapt to meet these needs, and email signature solutions are no exception,” comments Vicky Wills, Chief Technology Officer at Exclaimer.

“Our Social Feeds feature helps companies maximize every 1-2-1 engagement opportunity by giving them a way to marry up social and email communications. We’re thrilled to launch our Social Feeds feature with Facebook and look forward to including additional social media platforms in the future. This is just one example of how Exclaimer has listened to its customers and evaluated the market to enhance our solution.”

The new Social Feeds feature enables organizations to:

• Expand social media marketing reach for existing campaigns by automatically inserting social media posts within email signatures to increase exposure and engagement with a wider audience.
• Create more interactive and visually appealing email signatures to increase engagement and click-throughs to websites and social pages.
• Measure performance by analyzing how effectively email signatures convert recipients to click-through and read posts. With these insights, customers can discover what performs well and tailor future content for the greatest effect.

Exclaimer will also roll out further additional product features to empower organisations to boost and streamline their marketing efforts. These include Salesforce integration to more accurately target content in email signatures based on buying or customer journey stage. A new Campaign Management feature will enable brands to more easily and rapidly align email signature messaging with other promotional campaigns for optimal performance.

Further recently launched features to enhance personal communications between organizations and their customers, prospects and partners include:

• QR Codes for users to add hyperlinks as scannable QR codes to their signatures to increase engagement, improve lead generation, and provide an easier method to interact through mobile devices.
• vCards (similar to a traditional business card) that allow customers to add centrally controlled employee contact information to signatures that recipients can scan to save directly to their device contacts.
• Photo Sync to automatically synchronize employee photos from a user directory and add them to signatures to help build personal connections by putting a face to a name.

Exclaimer has been providing advanced email signature solutions to a global customer base of over 60,000 businesses since 2001, including big players like Sony, Mattel, NBC, the NFL’s Indianapolis Colts, and the BBC. These latest product updates are intended to reinforce email signatures as a marketing tool to prospects and add value to existing customers in a world where getting your message across in a cost-effective way is more challenging than ever.

Seasoned enterprise software and customer experience leader joins leading conversational AI company

LivePerson, Inc., the global leader in enterprise conversations, today announced that its Board of Directors has appointed John Sabino as CEO, effective January 10, 2024. Sabino will also become a member of the LivePerson Board on that date. Sabino's appointment was unanimously approved by the Board following a thorough and deliberate search process conducted by a committee composed of independent directors.

Sabino is a seasoned and highly successful business leader with deep domain experience in enterprise software, SaaS, call center operations and technology, and digital business with an extensive track record of building high-performing organizations, scaling operations, and delivering rapid growth and transformation. He most recently served as Chief Customer Officer of VMware (recently acquired by Broadcom) from October 2021 through January 8, 2024, where he led the company's 7,000-person global Customer Experience and Success organization, growing revenue to $1.3 billion and overseeing customer experience for VMware's over 350,000 customers, while improving consumption and SaaS license conversions by over 50%. 

Previously, Sabino served as Chief Customer Officer of Splunk, a leading provider of cybersecurity and observability technology, where he oversaw customer experience for Splunk's more than 18,000 customers and a revenue stream of over $950 million, and as Chief Operating Officer of GE Digital, a $1 billion provider of IoT and infrastructure software, where he led operations and oversaw strategy, go-to-market, and technology infrastructure. He has also held executive roles leading commercial operations and strategic initiatives at GE Capital and NBC Universal, and started his career as a captain in the United States Army.

"With his proven track record delivering growth and operational excellence at scale, passion for customer centricity, and extensive experience leading and inspiring global teams, John is the ideal leader to advance LivePerson's growth and profitability initiatives," said Jill Layfield, Chair of the LivePerson Board of Directors. "The Board worked diligently to find the right candidate to lead the company forward, including robust evaluation of key elements critical to unlocking value for our shareholders, customers, and stakeholders. We are confident John is that person."

"LivePerson has long been a category leader in conversational AI, delivering digital transformation at scale to many of the world's largest and best-known brands," said John Sabino, LivePerson's incoming CEO. "I am thrilled to have the opportunity to join the company at this exciting time of growth for conversational AI and customer engagement technologies. I look forward to working with the exceptional team at LivePerson, and partnering with Jill and the Board to build on the company's sophisticated platform capabilities, capture the market opportunity, and deliver enhanced value for our clients, partners, shareholders, and employees."

John Collins, who has served as LivePerson's Interim CEO and CFO since August 2023, will continue with the company in an expanded leadership role as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. 

"On behalf of the Board, I also want to thank John Collins for his outstanding leadership during this transition," said Layfield. "John delivered significant progress in a short period of time, refocusing the company on its core strengths and establishing a strong and data-centric foundation to support execution. We look forward to his continued positive impact in the expanded role of CFO and COO, and to partnering with John Sabino and the entire leadership team to fulfill LivePerson's potential as one of the world's leading platforms for conversational AI, customer engagement, and digital transformation."

Comcast announced today that Mike McArdle has been named Senior Vice President of the Company’s South Region, which includes Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and Tennessee. In this newly appointed role, McArdle will lead a multi-functional team across the business of more than 3,500 members, including operations, customer experience, business strategy and development, sales, marketing, finance, human resources, government relations and community investment.

“Mike has a proven track record as an innovative and agile leader who is committed to delivering an exceptional customer experience,” said Comcast Central Division president Christine Whitaker. “His understanding of our business and customer priorities, coupled with his people-first leadership approach positions him, our team, and the business well for future growth and success.”

Under McArdle’s leadership, Comcast will continue to accelerate the nation’s largest and fastest multi-gig deployment across the South Region. As a result, customers throughout Comcast’s current service footprint, as well as those in new markets, will be able to access the Xfinity 10G Network being built to power the rapid rise in Internet consumption that is happening today and will continue well into the future.

“I am truly honored to serve as the leader of Comcast’s South Region,” McArdle said. “I look forward to working with a fantastic team of professionals who are passionate about providing excellent service to our customers across the south. I also am excited to continue our longstanding commitment to bridging the digital divide in the communities we serve, and our employees live and work.”

McArdle started his career at Comcast in 1996 as a customer account executive and progressed into positions with increasing levels of responsibility. Prior to his current position, McCardle’s roles included Senior Vice President of National Customer Care for Customer Experience Strategy and Operations (CXSO) and Senior Vice President of Customer Care and CX for Comcast’s Central Division.

Komprise the leader in analytics-driven unstructured data management and mobility, today announced that Craig Gomulka has joined the company as CFO. Gomulka has more than 20 years of experience spanning finance, operations, business development, partnerships, and investment transactions in the healthcare, technology and financial sectors.

Komprise is working with Fortune 500 companies across critical sectors including healthcare, life sciences, manufacturing, services and public sector, helping customers save upwards of 70% on annual storage and backup costs and create streamlined processes for finding and providing unstructured data to AI and cloud services.

Gomulka’s hire comes at a time of increased enterprise demand for storage-agnostic unstructured data management amid rising costs and the need for AI-ready infrastructure. Most recently, Gomulka served as CFO at AI-powered recruiting software company, Visage. Prior to Visage, Gomulka was CFO at both Flowhub and Health Fidelity, a healthcare-focused natural language processing (NLP) company now owned by Edifecs. He has also held senior finance roles at large healthcare systems and was a partner for 12 years in venture capital.

“As Komprise continues its strong growth and execution, Craig’s rich experience at large enterprises, in SaaS finance as well as in AI-focused businesses, is a great fit for Komprise,” says Kumar Goswami, CEO and co-founder of Komprise.

“Komprise was a compelling opportunity for me because of the company’s impressive top-line growth combined with its focus in data and AI,” Gomulka says. “Enterprises need to tap into their unstructured data and manage it better to take advantage of AI and Komprise is right at the intersection of these trends.”

 SAP SE today announced two changes to its Executive Board to build on the company's success ensuring customers benefit from the cloud in the era of AI. SAP's dynamic cloud growth over the past three years, coupled with the development of an industry-leading modular cloud suite, has set the stage for the next phase of innovation and impact.

Starting April 1, 2024, a new Board area will be created to accelerate cloud growth and adoption. This Board area, led by Thomas Saueressig, will be focused on ensuring customers' ability to embrace continuous innovation in the cloud. At the same time, Muhammad Alam will join the company's Executive Board, succeeding Thomas Saueressig and assuming responsibility for SAP's product engineering.

"I am excited that Thomas Saueressig has agreed to take on a critically important new role focused on maximizing potential for our customers in the cloud," said Professor Hasso Plattner, chairman of the Supervisory Board of SAP SE. "Thomas' demonstrated leadership, expertise and customer focus will be key as he works to build a team responsible for comprehensive value delivery. Muhammad Alam is a visionary leader and a passionate engineer who shares SAP's commitment to excellence and innovation, and he is well suited to continue driving the success of our product engineering teams. On behalf of the entire Supervisory Board, I wish him a successful start."

New Board Area Will Focus on Innovation Adoption in the Cloud

Effective April 1, 2024, SAP will put the power of a new dedicated Board area called Customer Services & Delivery behind the company's drive to support customers in their cloud transformation journey, accelerate innovation adoption and further increase customer satisfaction. The new Board area will help ensure that customers are able to swiftly adopt and consume innovation, maximize the benefits of the cloud and realize the value of SAP's integrated portfolio. Saueressig, who joined the Executive Board in 2019, will head the new Board area, building on his success in transforming the SAP Product Engineering organization, re-focusing the portfolio and delivering continuous innovation over the past five years.

"Everything we do at SAP, we do for our customers," said Saueressig. "With Customer Services & Delivery, we establish a new level of attention to our customers' success. I could not be more humbled to lead this new Board area and this incredible team. Customer Services & Delivery is the place where deep product expertise and strong customer relationships are united as one. Together we will drive innovation adoption and customer satisfaction to new heights." 

Engineering and Innovation Are the Priorities for New Board Member 

Succeeding Saueressig and assuming responsibility for SAP's product engineering, Alam will join the company's Executive Board, effective April 1, 2024.

Alam joined SAP on January 31, 2022, as president and chief product officer for the Intelligent Spend and Business Network. In this role, he leads the engineering and design teams focused on procurement, travel and expense, external workforce management and SAP Business Network. Prior to SAP, Alam worked for 17 years at Microsoft, most recently as corporate vice president of product and engineering for Microsoft Dynamics 365 business applications.

"Since I joined SAP, I have been amazed by the breadth and depth of our product portfolio, our engineering excellence and the tremendous value our engineers create for SAP's customers," said Alam. "I am truly honored to have been appointed to the Executive Board and thank the Supervisory Board for their trust. Together with the best product and engineering team in the world, we will continue our transformation journey and bring incredible innovation to life across and beyond our solutions for customers."

Drazen Dodig steps up as CEO, Edward Fitzgerald takes the helm as VP of Sales, and Yariv Bachar is appointed as VP of Engineering.

CacheFly, a pioneering content delivery network (CDN) service provider, today announced significant changes to its executive leadership team, marking a new chapter in the company's journey toward innovation and market leadership.

New Leadership for a New Era

Drazen Dodig, with his extensive experience and a proven track record as the COO at CacheFly, is stepping up as the new CEO. Dodig's decisive leadership and deep understanding of the digital landscape guide CacheFly's mission to deliver high-performance and reliable CDN services to the most demanding customers in entertainment and gaming.

Edward Fitzgerald, an effective CDN industry veteran formerly with StackPath and Highwinds, Fitzgerald is known for his strategic sales expertise and customer-centric approach and has been appointed as the VP of Sales. Fitzgerald's role will be pivotal in expanding CacheFly's market share and strengthening relationships with its global clientele.

Yariv Bachar, a veteran in engineering and technology innovation, previously at enSilo, Microsoft, and R3, taking on the role of VP of Engineering. Bachar's expertise will be instrumental in advancing CacheFly's technological capabilities, ensuring that the company continues to offer cutting-edge CDN solutions to the demanding specifications of its industry-leading customers.

A Commitment to Continued Excellence

"The new changes in our executive team reflect CacheFly's commitment to excellence and growth," said Matt Levine, Founder and chairman at CacheFly. "We are poised to not only continue our legacy of being the fastest CDN built for throughput but also will push the boundaries of innovation and customer service in the digital content delivery space."

CacheFly is Forward-Looking into the Digital Future for 2024 and Beyond

As CacheFly embarks on this exciting new phase, the enhanced leadership team is dedicated to upholding the company's values of innovation, reliability, and customer-centricity. With these changes, CacheFly reinforces its position as a leader in the CDN industry, ready to meet the evolving demands of the digital age.

In the fast-paced digital landscape, the speed and efficiency of content delivery networks (CDNs) are crucial for distributing video content globally. This is particularly vital in the context of Over-the-Top TV (OTT TV), Online Video Platforms (OVP), Education Video Platforms (EdVP), and Enterprise Video Platforms (EVP), as well as gaming and VR platforms. These technologies, coupled with a fast CDN, are key to delivering high-quality video streaming and immersive VR experiences to diverse audiences, regardless of location.

The recognition from these esteemed platforms reinforces CacheFly's status as a leader in the CDN industry. Businesses looking for a CDN provider that outperforms the rest, irrespective of size, find their solution in CacheFly.

Magnite’s custom technology solutions will streamline access to the largest audio and podcast publisher in the U.S.

Magnite, the largest independent sell-side advertising company, and iHeartMedia, the number one audio company in the United States, today announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind marketplace that brings together iHeartMedia’s broadcast radio, streaming radio and podcast assets for inclusion in omnichannel programmatic media buys, providing the reach and efficiency that advertisers are seeking from audio.  

Built from a custom implementation of Magnite’s SpringServe ad serving technology, the marketplace enables advertisers to transact with a data-driven approach via real-time-bidding across iHeartMedia’s vast broadcast and digital audio inventory through a single activation channel. 

IHeartMedia reaches 90 percent of all US adults monthly with its broadcast stations alone and its streaming radio and podcasts reach 57 million consumers with high-quality ad-enabled content, the largest reach of any digital audio company. Its leadership position in audio extends across multiple platforms including more than 860 live local broadcast stations, its iHeartRadio digital service available across more than 250 platforms and 2,000 devices including smart speakers, smartphones, TVs and gaming consoles, and podcasts as the #1 podcast publisher in the world according to Podtrac. 
   
“With today’s consumers spending a third of their media time with audio, expanding programmatic’s access to iHeart’s audio assets is imperative for the industry,” said Brian Kaminsky, Chief Data Officer and President of Revenue Strategies for iHeartMedia. “Not only are we expanding what role programmatic can play for advertisers, we are also improving the efficacy of their campaigns by allowing them to use real-time data to message their audience in the most engaging way possible, in an environment of trust and interest. We’re excited to expand our partnership with Magnite because they have proven expertise in programmatic and the ability to build technology fit for the unique needs of audio advertising to take its place in omnichannel.” 

“Establishing more direct connections within the advertising supply chain benefits both publishers and buyers and we’re proud to build technology to facilitate this for the largest media owners in the world like iHeartMedia,” said Sean Buckley, Chief Revenue Officer at Magnite. “We’ve worked closely with iHeartMedia to develop bespoke and new-to-market solutions for podcast and audio. Consolidated paths will continue to gain momentum and we look forward to continuing to pave the way in this effort.” 

“The premium audio marketplace created by iHeart provides PMX clients with direct programmatic access to scaled, high-quality audio inventory,” said Jay Askinasi, CEO, PMX US and Chief Growth Officer, Publicis Groupe. “As we expand our PMX Lift solution to connect across platforms, including audio, it will be important to have this combination of broadcast and digital assets and data to achieve better efficiency, control and analytics and drive greater value and insights for our clients.”