Tech industry veteran joins Thrive to expand brand, culture, and influence

Thrive, a premier provider of Cybersecurity and Digital Transformation Managed Services, proudly announced today that tech industry veteran Kristina O’Connell has been appointed as the new Executive Vice President, Global Marketing. O’Connell is a pivotal force in driving Thrive's commitment to global expansion and fortifying the company’s dominant position in the US, Europe, and Canada.

With a proven track record spanning over three decades in the tech industry, O’Connell brings to Thrive an unparalleled wealth of knowledge and expertise in brand development, creative innovation, and marketing strategy. Her unique insights and extensive experience have previously driven success in marketing leadership roles across diverse technology domains, including networking, storage, enterprise software, SaaS, and AI-powered software.

“We look forward to leveraging Kristina’s experience across all verticals with her strong track record of establishing and amplifying brands,” said Rob Stephenson, CEO at Thrive. “Thrive has a tremendous breadth of technology services, a comprehensive, world renown cybersecurity practice, a leading ServiceNow & Microsoft Digital Transformation platform and the best employees in the business, so we are excited Kristina is here to amplify that message to the market.”

Before joining Thrive, Kristina managed marketing at WiTricity, where she helped build and develop the market for electric vehicle wireless charging (B2B2C) from an MIT spin-out to commercialization. O’Connell served ExaGrid for a decade, defining brand and creative strategy in the Tiered Backup Storage enterprise market. At F5 Networks, she led the company’s worldwide marketing and was instrumental in helping F5 pioneer the load-balancing market from startup through IPO to #1 in global market share.

“I’m honored to be part of the Thrive team,” said O’Connell. “Thrive’s growth and reputation have earned high marks in the industry. Our customer’s experience is our priority, so the confidence they have in us, and our technology is where everything begins.”

Bright Data, the industry-leading web data platform is partnered with Statista, one of the world's leading data and business intelligence platforms. This new partnership creates limitless opportunities for businesses, governments, academics and other entities to discover insights into their industry and make fact-based decisions. Together we are able to deliver more data and analyze a variety of topics that impact the decisions both businesses and consumers make.

"Adding public web data to Statista platform allows businesses to see a complete data picture from numerous sources. Bright Data is keen on delivering impactful data that can be analyzed to tell a story about any given question," said Or Lenchner, Bright Data CEO. "We are looking forward to seeing what our partnership will produce with several insightful datasets already published."

"Bright Data enhances the data landscape for us by providing access to public web data sets, which we have few suppliers for. Through our partnership, we aim to expand our ability to meet the evolving needs of our customers," said Agnete Lange Lundetrae, Director Strategic Data Partnerships at Statista.

Bright Data x Statista has already published more than a dozen statistics with many more soon available. Two recent examples include data on beauty/personal care and furniture sales. Here are insights from our joint work:

Beauty/ personal care on Amazon.com in 2023 (in U.S. dollars)

• CeraVe is the best-selling beauty and personal care brand.
• Hyaluronic acid was the #1 best-selling ingredient.
• Snail mucin saw a 105% increase in sales.

Furniture sales on Wayfair.com of First Quarter 2022 compared to First Quarter 2023

• U.S. dollar sales dropped drastically in 16 categories.
• Category sales of bed bases and frames sales dropped the most by 87%.
• The category with the most units sold by far is rugs.
• The category with the most fluctuation in sales prices is sectionals.

Highlighting America’s backbone, the nationwide campaign spotlights unique stories of local bars, restaurants, and gyms to lead up to Small Business Saturday

Atmosphere, the premier CTV FAST platform tailored exclusively for businesses, is unveiling a dedicated campaign that grants $1 million in advertising inventory to local establishments within Atmosphere’s vast network of small business venues. This immense support amounts to over 60 million estimated viewer impressions, shining a light on the stories of select local businesses. As Small Business Saturday approaches on November 25, Atmosphere’s initiative stands as a testament to its commitment in giving back to its network of small businesses. Through this campaign, Atmosphere strongly promotes the message for everyone to eat, drink, and shop locally, supporting the community pillars that have always been the heartbeat of American neighborhoods.

“At Atmosphere, small business is our business. We activate screens in these small business venues as a platform for premium content and strategic marketing opportunities. In essence, we empower small businesses with enhanced engagement tools, making their growth and success intrinsically linked to ours,” said Blake Sabatinelli, CEO at Atmosphere. “We're proud to showcase the outstanding establishments within our customer network—the visionaries, the achievers, and the daring individuals who fearlessly take risks. Our goal is to shed light on their extraordinary stories, amplifying the relentless dedication, heartfelt commitment, and community-centered initiatives that touch the lives of countless individuals.”

From coast to coast, eight distinguished small businesses are set to shine in Atmosphere’s spotlighted campaign. These entrepreneurs will be showcased in a prime 30-second ad slot on Atmosphere’s screens, resonating both in their local communities and across the nation. In addition, they will be featured across Atmosphere’s social media channel for added visibility. Timed perfectly, these spotlighted features will air in the days leading up to Small Business Saturday, with the goal of helping these small businesses drive additional awareness and foot traffic.

“We were absolutely thrilled to learn that Atmosphere had chosen to spotlight us, elevating our visibility not just locally, but on a national stage,” said Shelby Rist-Gutierrez, co-founder of Downshift Brewing Company. “As a small and newer business, opportunities of this magnitude are rare for us. This is more than just exposure; it’s a chance to share the heart and soul behind our hard work. We’re eager to welcome new guests, locals and visitors, to share the distinct flavors of craft beer right here in Ruidoso, New Mexico.”

In addition to Downshift Brewery Company of Ruidoso, New Mexico, the lineup of small business champions also includes: Cali BBQ of Spring Valley, California; Coa Cantina of Breckenridge, Colorado; Living The Dream Brewing of Littleton, Colorado; The Lantern of Naperville, Illinois; Burger 25 of Ship Bottom and Toms River, New Jersey; Madtown Fitness of Madras, Oregon, and Mission Burger Co. of Austin, Texas. Each of these remarkable establishments was meticulously chosen based on a stringent set of criteria. This includes being anchors in their communities with just one or two locations, thriving independently or under family ownership, and possessing a compelling narrative about their business genesis and its ensuing journey. Their stories of community impact, unyielding perseverance, and unparalleled dedication further set them apart, as does their unique positioning in their local market.

Atmosphere has breathed new life into TV screens in public settings, transforming what was once an overlooked entertainment and marketing avenue, such as bars, restaurants, gyms, and doctors’ offices. By introducing dynamic, relevant content coupled with innovative marketing possibilities, the platform offers both expansive reach and precision targeting. Remarkably, Atmosphere’s ad-supported, audio-optional content now captivates over half of U.S. adults over 18 across its more than 60,000 venues, tallying up to approximately 131.5 million unique viewers — surpassing any rival FAST platform in viewership.

Highlighting its industry acclaim, Atmosphere was recently honored as a 2023 Deloitte Technology Fast 500 winner, a prestigious accolade recognizing North America’s most pioneering and rapidly expanding technology enterprises.

“Buying Premium Video: A Definitive Checklist” offers guidance and insights to buyers and sellers to advocate for the value of premium TV.

The FreeWheel Council for Premium Video (FWC) and the Video Advertising Bureau (VAB) announced a new initiative to provide guidance around buying premium video advertising as the medium grows and content proliferates across screens.

With this announcement, the FWC, an industry group comprised of over 30 publishers convened by FreeWheel, and the VAB are rolling out a document entitled “Buying Premium Video: A Definitive Checklist” that clearly outlines the factors that buyers and sellers should consider when engaging in video transactions.

“The urgency for greater accountability and transparency in the video advertising industry has never been more important. Yet too often, marketers are forced to settle for opaque environments, handing their hard-earned investment to a black box,” said Danielle DeLauro, Executive Vice President, VAB. “We are proud to partner with the FreeWheel Council for Premium Video to illustrate the higher standard of trust and capability delivered by premium video platforms, encouraging marketers to maximize brand growth and apply this checklist to all their video partners.”

The checklist sets forth three key factors that buyers should consider when buying premium video. These include:

• Quality Environment: Upholding audience trust and standards with trusted programmatic delivery, less clutter and an optimal viewing experience.
• Brand Safety: Holding partners accountable for brand requirements and avoiding objectionable content, with legitimate verification processes.
• Transparency & Legitimacy: Knowing exactly what you are buying, ensuring viewable ads are running in appropriate content, and seen by real people.

“We know that ads airing in premium video create positive experiences for viewers and fuel positive brand associations,” said Mark McKee, General Manager, FreeWheel. “But the industry lacks a clear definition of what ‘premium’ means. By partnering with the VAB and undertaking research to define premium video, we can advocate for transparency, quality and brand safety in video ad buying. This will help both buyers and sellers make more informed choices as the TV advertising industry continues to expand and evolve.”

As part of the Checklist, the FWC and the VAB are proposing a new, clear definition for premium video, based on research conducted by Comcast Advertising: Premium video is content delivered transparently, in a trusted, brand-safe environment, seen by real people within a high-quality viewing experience.

“Providing an exceptional viewing experience anchored by our premium content offerings across every screen and platform is one of Paramount’s core objectives in serving our advertising partners and audiences alike,” said Jarred Wilichinsky, SVP, Ad Operations, Paramount. “As more and more premium video inventory feeds into the marketplace, we are thrilled that the VAB has partnered with the FWC to equip buyers with the information they need to make the best buying decisions, ensuring that buyers’ dollars go farther in attracting and engaging viewers in truly premium environments.”

Marketers continue to navigate a turbulent marketing landscape with budgets dropping 20% in 2023 due to economic challenges and privacy restrictions

AppsFlyer released the 16th edition of its Performance Index, ranking the top media sources in mobile advertising across 11 regions and 22 app categories. The latest version of the Index, which originated in 2015, found the economic downturn had a significant impact on the mobile app media space throughout 2023 as nearly all top media sources saw declines and app install ad spend budgets reduced by 20% in the third quarter of 2023 when compared to Q3 in 2022.

“As the world continues to bounce back following bouts of economic uncertainty, marketers and media owners cannot afford to make the wrong decisions – especially when it comes to media source budget allocation,” said Shani Rosenfelder, Director of Content and Market Insights at AppsFlyer. “Only four of the top 20 media source players saw budget increases this year, costs of media continue to fluctuate and channels like CTV are leading ecosystem players to quickly adapt and think outside of the box to reach consumers. For marketers, selecting the best media partners is particularly important on iOS because of its high quality audience. However, privacy-driven fragmentation in measurement has only created more uncertainty, increasing the need for accurate performance rankings for the platform.”

Apple Search Ads and Meta Lead the Way Across iOS Gaming and Non-gaming

The best way to properly depict the state of the iOS media market is by looking at a single source of truth (SSOT). AppsFlyer’s first ever SSOT iOS index combines SKAdNetwork and traditional attribution, and accurately deduplicates between the two data sources.

Apple Search Ads (ASA) is the #1 media source for iOS gaming apps and non-gaming categories, coming in at #1 in almost all the rankings across every region and every category with high quality and unmatched scale, particularly in non-gaming. The dominance of ASA in non-gaming is even more pronounced than it is in gaming, coming in at #1 in all the rankings across every category and every region except for Latin America with unmatched scale and high quality.

Although still far from its dominant iOS position before iOS 14.5, Meta ads continues to adapt in the post iOS 14.5 era, coming in at #2 in the power and volume rankings (power rankings combine quality and quantity metrics while volume only covers quantity). The social network’s performance is mostly fueled by non-gaming apps on SKAdNetwork, Apple’s privacy-centric attribution interface, where it drives the highest number of installs, well above the competition.

Google Ads came in at #3 in the rankings thanks to its scale among non-gaming apps. It should be noted that for Google, iOS is secondary compared to Android, especially when compared to its web business.

For gaming apps, Applovin ranked fifth in the global power ranking, driven by success in casual and hypercasual games, followed by Unity Ads in sixth place, thanks to a #4 rank in casual and hypercasual games. ironSource ranked second globally in social casino, and second in hypercasual games in Western Europe, Indian subcontinent, Latin America, and the Middle East.

For non-gaming, Meta ads ranked second in the global power ranking, driven by its performance in Life & Culture where it ranked second, while Google reached fifth place (third in the volume ranking) thanks to a #2 power ranking in finance. Snapchat and Moloco ranked third and fourth, respectively thanks to top-notch quality.

Google and Meta Dominate in Android Gaming and Non-gaming

Google Ads continues to dominate Android gaming and non-gaming, further extending its power ranking gap from second place Unity. In fact, it holds the top power and volume ranking in every single category within Android gaming, with the exception of hypercasual where it is ranked second.

Unity Ads held its #2 global power ranking position, but dropped one spot in the volume ranking to #5. Its success can mostly be attributed to Match genre games, where it ranked second, as well as in Puzzle, Shooting, and Tabletop game apps where it ranked third globally. ironSource surged in the global rankings, coming in at #3 in the power and volume rankings — up an impressive three slots, compared to the previous edition of the Index.

Meta ads ranked fourth in the global power ranking — up one slot compared to 2022 — thanks to a #1 ranking in casino as well as #2 spots in midcore games (RPG, Shooting, Strategy genres), as well as in puzzle, and sports and racing games.

It should be noted that power ranking gaps between Unity, ironSource, and Meta are minor.

Meta Surpasses Google Atop Shopping Ranking for Remarketing Rankings

The Android remarketing ranking finds Google and Meta, and TikTok For Business to some extent, dominating market share. Google Ads, which is the #1 player across most remarketing rankings, came in second to Meta Ads in the most important category — shopping. Meta ads was able to close the gap with Google in the global power ranking because of its success in shopping, where it surpassed Google to come out on top.

TikTok For Business came in third in the global power ranking, driven by its significant scale, particularly for shopping apps. Liftoff ranked fourth thanks to great quality, while remarketing specialists Adikteev and Remerge followed with a #5 and #6 ranking, respectively. The former’s success was largely driven by Life & Culture apps, where it ranked third thanks to great quality, while the latter came in as the top player in casino games where it clinched the #1 power ranking.

Companies gain customized end-user experiences while continually managing risk with enhanced orchestration and integrations with Microsoft and Citrix

SecureAuth, a leader in access management and authentication, today unveiled the latest release of Arculix™, its next-gen access management and authentication platform. Today’s release includes an enhanced Orchestration Engine and expanded integrations with Citrix and Microsoft Entra ID, enabling organizations to seamlessly customize end-user experiences while enhancing the security posture of their technology platforms.

“To protect digital identities, organizations use a range of security tools—for identity proofing, fraud protection, bot management, authentication and access management, and more—but building and maintaining integrations between these systems has become increasingly complex, requiring large amounts of time and budget,” said Paul Trulove, CEO of SecureAuth. “With Arculix’s Orchestration Engine, customers can quickly integrate and adapt their tech stack to meet their organization’s needs, while ensuring risk is continually managed throughout the user’s journey. Additionally, the ability to create dynamic workflows will empower organizations to streamline a user’s journey based on their unique authentication requirements.”

According to recent research, 84% of IT and security professionals consider authentication and access management a top 5 security priority, demonstrating its importance in improving organizational security posture. Additionally, 65% are planning to implement passwordless technologies in the next 24 months. These results clearly illustrate not only the importance of identity management but also the frustration with traditional and ineffective MFA methods.

Arculix addresses today’s authentication and access management challenges by combining orchestration, leading-edge passwordless technology, and continuous authentication. Unlike competitive offerings, Arculix’s unique approach constantly re-evaluates a user’s level of assurance to step up authentication when the risk demands it, providing the most secure solution while achieving a frictionless experience for end-users. The new version ensures risk is continually managed along an organization’s digital user journey through advanced orchestration and out-of-the-box integrations with Microsoft and Citrix.

Arculix Orchestration Engine

Arculix’s enhanced Orchestration Engine streamlines the integration and deployment of identity services through a no-code experience, making it easier to design digital user journeys across multiple applications and heterogeneous environments. From an easy-to-use drag-and-drop user interface, administrators can easily create customized end-user digital journeys that span the entire identity lifecycle including registration, verification, authentication, authorization, and post-authorization.

Citrix Integration

Arculix’s Device Trust solution now integrates with Citrix to provide a frictionless login experience. Arculix enables passwordless login and authentication on login and lock screens to Citrix VDIs, as a credential provider to access the virtual machine.​ This enhancement supports non-persistent virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) use cases, which allows users to passwordlessly login into VDI instantiated from a golden image without having to go through a registration or pairing process again. Arculix officially supports the integration of Citrix Application Delivery Controller (ADC), Citrix Virtual Apps & Desktops, and Citrix Federated Authentication Service (FAS) as a Citrix Ready certified product. It is available on Citrix Marketplace.

Microsoft Entra ID

Arculix has enhanced support for Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Microsoft Azure). Arculix integration with Entra ID meets customers demand for passthrough authentication that avoids redirecting users to Microsoft by enabling Arculix to perform authentication directly against Entra ID.

“More than 80% of cyberattacks are occurring through digital identities. Arculix’s new release that includes an enhanced orchestration engine, integration with Citrix for VDIs, and other important features show SecureAuth’s commitment to continued innovation that includes risk analytics driven by AI/ML along with device trust is now an absolute necessity,” said Teri Saia, at RockITek, a SecureAuth Strategic Partner. “Arculix will enable customers to quickly integrate with various apps and streamline their processes to ensure risk is continually managed along their digital user journey.”

MicroStrategy® Incorporated, a pioneer in AI-powered business intelligence, today announced the appointment of Carla Fitzgerald as the company's new Chief Marketing Officer (CMO). A B2B and tech industry veteran with experience spanning three decades, Carla brings a wealth of expertise in go-to-market strategy, revenue growth, and thought-leader positioning to her role at MicroStrategy.

Before joining MicroStrategy, Carla served as the CMO of BigBear.ai, a provider of AI-powered decision intelligence solutions for global supply chain and logistics, cybersecurity, and autonomous systems. Her career in technology marketing also includes leadership roles as CMO for Spireon and Smith Micro Software. Her appointment as the new CMO comes at a pivotal time for the company with its recent launch of MicroStrategy AI, the industry’s first enterprise-grade, AI-powered business intelligence platform that helps organizations rapidly deploy generative AI applications using trusted data.

"Carla's broad experience launching ground-breaking technologies that redefine markets is perfectly matched with our strategy to transform the BI landscape using the power of AI,” said Phong Le, CEO of MicroStrategy. “Our new MicroStrategy AI solution is the first to combine the flexibility and accessibility of generative AI with the precision and reliability of enterprise-grade business intelligence. Carla’s go-to-market expertise will help us penetrate new markets and elevate our brand to new heights as we continue to innovate at the intersection of cloud, AI, and BI,” he added.

“Across enterprise applications, generative AI is a game-changer if you can make it both accessible and trustworthy, a combination MicroStrategy has unlocked with our new AI/BI platform to lead the business intelligence space once again,” said Fitzgerald. “Trusted data is the cornerstone of trusted AI, and MicroStrategy’s reputation for exceptional data governance offers a tremendous advantage to our customers who can now use the platform to deliver seamless, reliable AI experiences at scale. I could not be more excited to bring these new solutions to more markets and help the company fulfill its mission of Intelligence Everywhere.”

Accenture has invested in Vū Technologies, a technology company specialized in virtual production and filmmaking. Vū helps companies create immersive, engaging experiences through a combination of real-time computer-generated imagery and live-action filming.

Vū has established a vast network of virtual studios across North America, producing memorable immersive environments and stunning visual effects for companies including Amazon, CBS Sports and Disney. Using advanced technologies such as real-time rendering, motion capture and virtual reality to seamlessly blend live-action footage and computer-generated content, Vū helps companies visualize and transform creative production at pace and scale. Vū also uses a proprietary generative AI workflow tool called Vū.ai that augments pre-built virtual environments and designs workflows based on image and text prompting.

“Massive potential exists for companies to combine virtual production and state of the art technologies to create shared, immersive experiences for customers, employees, and other key stakeholders,” said David Treat, co-lead of Accenture’s Metaverse Continuum business group. “With technologies such as digital twin environment simulation, volumetric video capture and motion control robotics, Vū’s end-to-end capabilities can help our clients create powerful new experiences that attract and engage audiences.”

Virtual production offers more options and greater control of creative pre-production factors—more accurately forecasting shoot timelines, mitigating disruptive factors such as time of day, weather conditions, and alleviating a need for locations that are difficult or hazardous to access. Being able to depict multiple locations in one studio, including hard-to-access locations, can help enable faster content creation and reduce production costs.

Dan Garrison, Accenture Song’s chief technology officer, added: “We always look for new ways to fuse creativity and technology at scale, to help clients navigate and accomplish transformational change. We believe Vū Technologies’ immersive studio network can help our clients and our people reach new levels of creativity and multifaceted storytelling in their efforts to engage relevant audiences.”

“Accenture’s investment in Vū represents a significant milestone in our journey to democratize creative content production,” said Tim Moore, CEO of Vū. “We are excited to work with Accenture and leverage their global reach to bring the benefits of virtual production and large format simulation to their clients and partners. By combining cutting-edge technology with immersive creative techniques, we aim to empower Accenture’s clients to create engaging experiences while optimizing production costs and reducing environmental impact. This collaboration reinforces Vū’s dedication to exploring new horizons of creativity and innovation in an ever-evolving, competitive landscape.”

The investment was led by Accenture Ventures as part of its broader Project Spotlight initiative. Vū is the latest company to join Project Spotlight, an engagement and investment program focused on working with companies that create or apply disruptive enterprise technologies.

Terms of the investment were not disclosed.