Toss the Coin’s AI marketing platform, RayAI, has been selected for VibeCode30 2026, YourStory’s showcase of 30 AI-native builders, unveiled at TechSparks 2026 in Bengaluru. The recognition highlights a growing category of marketing technology designed to connect artificial intelligence with brand context and day-to-day campaign workflows. RayAI aims to bring brand information, marketing tasks and AI tools into a unified workspace, addressing a common challenge for enterprise and agency teams: using AI to accelerate execution without losing the context that makes marketing relevant to individual brands.

The inclusion places RayAI among a group of builders developing products around AI-first workflows rather than adding generative AI as an isolated feature. VibeCode30 is part of YourStory’s TechSparks 2026, held in Bengaluru from October 13 to 15, and spotlights teams using AI-native tools and processes to turn ideas into working products.

For Toss the Coin, RayAI emerged from a practical problem encountered in marketing operations. AI tools can generate copy, campaign ideas and other marketing assets, but their usefulness depends on whether they understand a brand’s positioning, audience, tone and existing workflows. When teams use disconnected tools for individual tasks, that context can become fragmented, leaving marketers to repeatedly supply instructions and manually coordinate outputs.

RayAI is designed to address this gap by bringing brand context, marketing workflows and AI tools together in a shared workspace. The platform aims to support a connected process spanning task understanding, decision-making, work coordination, content creation and learning from completed work.

Swetha Sree Kannan, AI director at Toss the Coin, said the product was developed from the company’s experience working with brands and the need to make AI more useful in everyday marketing. She described the goal as moving beyond isolated outputs toward connected, context-driven execution.

Moving Beyond AI Content Generation

The distinction matters as marketing departments experiment with generative AI for copywriting, campaign planning, research and creative production. Producing an individual asset is often straightforward; maintaining consistency across a campaign, multiple channels and different stages of execution is more complex.

A context-aware workspace could help teams reduce repetitive prompting and keep brand requirements connected to ongoing work. It could also provide a common environment for marketers coordinating tasks across strategy, content and execution.

However, the announcement does not specify which foundation models RayAI uses, how it integrates with existing marketing platforms, or what controls are available for permissions, approvals and brand governance. It also provides no quantified evidence of productivity improvements or campaign performance. Those details will be important for businesses evaluating the platform for production use.

What the Recognition Signals for MarTech

RayAI’s selection reflects interest in AI-native applications built around specific business processes. Instead of treating AI as a general-purpose assistant, these products seek to embed intelligence into workflows where context, coordination and repeatability matter.

For marketing teams, that approach could be relevant to campaign operations, content production and brand management. It also puts RayAI in a competitive landscape that includes general-purpose AI assistants, marketing automation platforms and enterprise content tools that are adding AI capabilities.

The central question is how deeply a platform connects AI to the systems marketers already use. A unified interface can simplify work, but enterprise adoption also depends on integration, security, output quality, approval controls and measurable business value.

RayAI’s VibeCode30 feature provides visibility for Toss the Coin as it develops its AI marketing offering. The next test will be whether the platform can demonstrate tangible advantages over teams assembling similar workflows from existing AI and marketing software.

Market Landscape

AI marketing technology is shifting from standalone content generation toward platforms that connect AI assistance with campaign planning, brand information and operational workflows. Established vendors such as Salesforce and Adobe are incorporating AI into broader marketing ecosystems, while general-purpose assistants offer flexible tools for research, drafting and analysis.

RayAI’s stated positioning centres on contextual continuity: keeping brand knowledge and workflow requirements connected throughout marketing execution. This is a meaningful product direction, but its differentiation will depend on implementation details, integrations and demonstrated results rather than the promise of a unified workspace alone.

For enterprise buyers, the key evaluation criteria include data governance, brand consistency, human approval processes, interoperability and the ability to measure time savings or improvements in campaign performance.

Strategic Outlook

The VibeCode30 recognition gives RayAI additional exposure within India’s AI startup ecosystem. For Toss the Coin, the opportunity is to translate its experience working with brands into a repeatable software offering that serves marketing teams beyond its existing client relationships.

As AI-native marketing platforms mature, buyers are likely to distinguish between tools that generate individual assets and systems that coordinate larger parts of the marketing process. Platforms that preserve context, integrate with existing systems and demonstrate reliable business outcomes could become valuable additions to enterprise MarTech stacks.

RayAI’s longer-term prospects will depend on how effectively it delivers those capabilities in real-world marketing environments.

Top Insights

• AI-native marketing gains visibility: RayAI’s inclusion in VibeCode30 highlights growing interest in AI-first products designed around practical business workflows rather than isolated content generation.

• Brand context is a core challenge: RayAI aims to keep brand information connected to marketing tasks, potentially reducing repetitive prompting and inconsistencies across campaign execution.

• Workflow integration will determine value: Marketing teams will need evidence of interoperability, governance controls and measurable productivity gains before adopting RayAI at enterprise scale.

• Competition extends beyond AI startups: RayAI operates in a market that includes general-purpose AI assistants and established marketing platforms embedding AI into campaign and content workflows.

• Recognition is not product validation: The VibeCode30 feature increases visibility for Toss the Coin, but independent performance benchmarks and customer outcomes will be important indicators of commercial traction.

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The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business will introduce a one-year Master of Science in Marketing (MSM) program in fall 2027, combining core marketing disciplines with practical applications of artificial intelligence. The 30-credit degree is designed for early-career professionals seeking skills in brand strategy, consumer insights, client management and AI-enabled campaign execution. The launch reflects a broader shift in marketing education as generative AI and agentic systems reshape how businesses approach customer engagement, marketing operations and strategic decision-making.

The University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business is developing a marketing degree around a question facing business schools and employers alike: how should marketing professionals use AI without surrendering human judgment?

The new Master of Science in Marketing program will run over two semesters, with coursework spanning marketing and brand strategy, consumer insights, and account and client management. Students will also work on consulting projects, executive presentations and cross-functional team assignments designed to connect classroom learning with business practice.

The curriculum will address generative AI and agentic AI alongside established marketing disciplines. Generative AI can help produce and analyse content, while agentic AI systems are designed to carry out multistep tasks with varying degrees of autonomy. For marketing teams, these capabilities can support campaign development, customer research and workflow automation, but they also introduce questions about accuracy, oversight and brand consistency.

AI Skills Meet Traditional Marketing Strategy

Judy Frels, the program’s academic director and a clinical professor of marketing, said the curriculum combines marketing fundamentals with practical AI applications. She described the program’s approach as human-centred, with professionals expected to assess AI outputs critically rather than simply accept automated recommendations.

That distinction is important as companies integrate AI into marketing operations. Familiar responsibilities such as positioning, customer segmentation and campaign planning increasingly intersect with AI-assisted analysis and content production. Marketing professionals must understand both the technology and the commercial objectives it is intended to support.

The Smith School’s program is structured for early-career professionals seeking to build those combined capabilities. Its emphasis on experiential projects also gives students opportunities to apply their learning to business problems rather than focus exclusively on theoretical AI concepts.

Graduates may pursue roles in brand development, marketing strategy, digital engagement and campaign management. The school cites employment data from its Office of Career Services showing that 81.2% of its business master’s graduates secured employment within six months of graduation. That figure provides institutional context, although it is not a program-specific employment forecast for the new marketing degree.

A Response to Changing Employer Needs

The launch comes as business schools reconsider how they prepare students for technology-driven marketing roles. AI tools are becoming part of a broader enterprise technology environment that includes customer data platforms, marketing automation software, analytics systems and customer relationship management platforms.

Professionals working with ecosystems such as Salesforce, Adobe and Google’s marketing tools increasingly need to interpret data, evaluate automated outputs and connect technology decisions to customer and business outcomes. An AI-focused marketing degree can help develop these skills, but the value of such training will depend on the depth of practical instruction and its relevance to employer requirements.

The Smith School’s two-semester format offers a concentrated alternative to longer graduate programs. Its success will depend in part on how effectively the curriculum keeps pace with changing AI capabilities and whether experiential learning translates into demonstrable workplace skills.

Market Landscape

Marketing education is moving beyond teaching digital tools as isolated capabilities. AI-assisted content creation, predictive analytics, personalisation and automated campaign workflows are increasingly connected parts of the modern marketing stack.

Universities introducing AI-focused programs face a challenge: software changes faster than conventional curricula. Students need durable skills in research, strategy, ethics and measurement alongside practical experience with emerging tools.

The Smith School’s emphasis on human-led assessment addresses one of the central concerns surrounding AI adoption: automation can accelerate execution, but marketers remain responsible for accuracy, customer trust and business outcomes.

Strategic Outlook

The new MSM program positions the Smith School to address demand for marketers who can combine strategic thinking with technical fluency. Its one-year structure and applied projects may appeal to early-career professionals looking to enter a changing field without committing to a longer degree.

The longer-term test will be whether graduates can demonstrate measurable marketing skills, adapt to new AI systems and apply sound judgment when automated recommendations conflict with business context. Those capabilities are likely to matter more than familiarity with any single platform.

Top Insights

• AI-focused marketing education: UMD’s new master’s degree combines marketing fundamentals and AI applications, preparing early-career professionals for evolving enterprise marketing responsibilities.

• Human oversight remains central: The curriculum emphasises critical assessment of AI outputs, an important capability as marketing teams adopt generative and agentic AI systems.

• Experiential learning supports application: Consulting projects and cross-functional assignments give students opportunities to apply marketing concepts to practical business challenges.

• Employment figures need context: The school reports 81.2% employment within six months for business master’s graduates, but this is not a program-specific placement forecast.

• Enterprise marketing skills are converging: Brand strategy, customer insights, analytics and AI proficiency increasingly intersect, changing the capabilities employers seek from marketing professionals.

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Nicely Network has been recognised by Better Business Advice as the Best AI SEO Agency for Brand Mentions in ChatGPT for 2026, reflecting growing interest in how brands appear in AI-generated recommendations. The agency combines Reddit marketing, editorial placements and AI search visibility tracking to help businesses measure brand mentions, citations, search exposure and attributed commercial outcomes. Its reported campaign results offer a look at how generative engine optimisation (GEO) is evolving beyond conventional keyword rankings.

Nicely Network’s recognition comes as marketing teams reassess how they measure search visibility when consumers increasingly use conversational AI to research products and compare vendors. Instead of focusing exclusively on website rankings, marketers are beginning to track whether their brands appear in AI-generated answers and which external sources support those recommendations.

The award is a recognition announced by Better Business Advice, rather than an independent performance benchmark. Nicely Network’s campaign figures are company-reported results, and the available announcement does not provide an independently audited methodology for validating them.

How Nicely Network Measures AI Search Visibility

Nicely Network combines Reddit marketing and editorial article placements to increase the likelihood that brands appear in online discussions and search results relevant to prospective buyers. Its reporting covers AI citations, brand mentions, share of voice, organic search visibility, audience engagement and attributed sales.

These metrics measure different outcomes. A brand mention records when a company appears in an answer or discussion; a citation identifies a source referenced by an AI system. Share of voice estimates a brand’s visibility relative to competitors within a defined set of queries. Clicks and attributed revenue help establish whether visibility translates into commercial activity.

The agency’s Q4 2026 media kit reports more than 15,000 AI citations, over $150 million in tracked sales revenue, more than 300 brands served and over 160 million views across ranked discussions. These figures have not been independently verified for this article.

Its published case studies illustrate the range of metrics used. In cybersecurity, the agency reports that a campaign involving 10 Reddit discussions increased an antivirus brand’s ChatGPT share of voice from 6% to 17%, alongside more than 250 citations. An outdoor-products campaign reportedly reached 60,000 AI mentions per month and 48 million monthly AI impressions across seven platforms.

A furniture campaign, meanwhile, reportedly generated $150,000 in tracked sales and 21,190 website clicks. The case study also recorded substantial increases in mentions across Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT. These examples suggest that AI visibility campaigns can be evaluated against both discovery metrics and business outcomes, although attribution methods and campaign conditions matter when comparing results.

Why Reddit and Editorial Placements Matter

Reddit discussions and editorial articles serve different purposes in an AI SEO strategy. Community conversations can capture real-world questions, product comparisons and user experiences, while editorial coverage can provide structured information about a company, its products and its place in a market.

Nicely Network combines these channels to target discovery opportunities beyond a brand’s own website. The approach is relevant to categories in which prospective customers consult reviews, community discussions and third-party comparisons before making purchasing decisions.

However, visibility is not guaranteed. Search rankings, content quality, source relevance and the retrieval systems used by individual AI products all influence which material appears in responses. Google's published guidance says established SEO fundamentals—including accessible pages, useful content and effective internal linking—remain relevant to its AI search features. Google Search Central’s AI features guidance also makes clear that eligibility does not guarantee inclusion.

For enterprise marketing teams, the practical implication is to treat Reddit marketing and editorial placements as complementary channels rather than replacements for technical SEO, original research or first-party content.

Market Landscape

Generative engine optimisation is emerging as an extension of search engine optimisation, not a universally established replacement for it. Agencies are developing services to monitor brand representation across ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity, while marketing analytics platforms are expanding the ways teams assess search performance.

The market also presents a measurement challenge: AI responses can vary across queries, sessions and platforms. A rise in citations does not automatically demonstrate increased customer trust, qualified traffic or revenue. Enterprise buyers should examine how agencies define their metrics, select test queries and attribute conversions.

Research from Gartner adds context. A September 2025 survey found that 53% of surveyed consumers distrusted or lacked confidence in AI-powered search results. That finding reinforces the importance of credible, accurate content and transparent evidence when brands seek visibility in AI-generated recommendations.

Strategic Outlook

Nicely Network’s approach reflects a broader shift toward measuring brand discoverability across multiple digital environments. Its combination of community marketing, editorial placements and visibility reporting gives marketing teams a framework for assessing where their brands appear beyond conventional search rankings.

The next challenge for agencies will be demonstrating that these visibility gains are repeatable, attributable and commercially meaningful. Buyers should ask for baseline measurements, competitor comparisons, query-level evidence and documented attribution methods before treating citation growth as proof of marketing effectiveness.

For enterprise teams, the strongest strategy is likely to combine AI visibility monitoring with technical SEO, high-quality first-party content, credible third-party coverage and conversion analytics.

Top Insights

• AI SEO measurement is expanding: Nicely Network tracks citations, mentions and share of voice, giving enterprise marketers additional ways to assess brand discovery across conversational AI platforms.

• Reddit is a discovery channel: Community discussions can influence product research and comparison journeys, making Reddit marketing relevant to brands targeting buyers beyond traditional search results.

• Commercial attribution remains essential: Reported campaign sales and website clicks provide business context, but marketers should validate attribution methods before comparing performance across campaigns.

• Editorial placements support broader visibility: Third-party articles can complement owned content and community discussions, although publication authority alone does not guarantee citations in AI-generated answers.

• Traditional SEO still matters: Google says its existing SEO fundamentals remain relevant to AI search, making technical accessibility and useful content important alongside generative engine optimisation.

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TELUS Digital is partnering with Parloa to help enterprises implement and manage AI agents that can complete customer service interactions across authentication, bookings, payments and order inquiries, escalating to human representatives when needed. Announced on October 14, 2026, the agreement combines Parloa's agentic customer experience platform with TELUS Digital's implementation, integration, consulting and managed services capabilities. The partnership reflects a broader shift in enterprise customer experience technology: from chatbots that answer questions toward AI systems designed to carry service requests through to resolution.

TELUS Digital Adds Parloa to Its Enterprise AI Customer Experience Portfolio

TELUS Digital is expanding its AI-powered customer experience offering through a partnership with Parloa, a Germany-founded provider of enterprise AI agents. Under the arrangement, TELUS Digital will act as an implementation partner, helping existing and prospective clients deploy Parloa's platform and integrate it into their customer service operations.

The commercial structure separates platform access from implementation services. Enterprises can contract directly with Parloa for the AI agent platform and engage TELUS Digital for integration, change management, professional services and ongoing managed support. This gives customers a route to adopt the technology while drawing on a services provider to connect it with existing contact center, customer relationship management (CRM) and backend systems.

The distinction matters because deploying enterprise AI agents involves more than configuring a conversational interface. Systems need access to appropriate business data, clear rules for completing transactions, safeguards for sensitive information and reliable escalation paths when automation cannot resolve an issue. Integration and operational management can therefore be as important as the underlying AI model.

From Conversational Responses to End-to-End Resolution

Parloa's agents are designed to handle service tasks such as customer authentication, booking changes, payments and order inquiries. When an interaction requires empathy, judgment or more specialized assistance, the system can escalate it to a human representative.

This approach aims to address a persistent weakness in customer service automation: a bot may understand a request or provide information without actually completing the task. A more capable agentic system is intended to execute permitted actions across connected systems, with the goal of reducing the need for customers to repeat information or restart a service request with another channel.

Parloa cites its own research evaluating 10,000 enterprise websites and 4,000 chat interactions, which found that fewer than 9% of chatbot conversations reached resolution and only about 10% of escalation attempts reached a human agent. These findings are vendor-produced research, not an independently established industry-wide benchmark, but they illustrate the problem the partnership is intended to address.

Consumer Expectations Put Pressure on Automation Design

The partnership arrives as customer expectations for automated support become more demanding. Parloa's 2026 Consumer Patience Index, based on an online survey of 1,001 U.S. adults who had contacted customer service in the previous 12 months, found that nearly one-third would switch brands rather than be put on hold. The study was commissioned by Parloa and conducted by Propeller Insights, so its findings should be read in the context of that survey's sample and methodology.

Access to human support remains central to customer acceptance. In an August 2026 survey of 3,566 B2B and B2C customers, Gartner found that 87% considered access to a human agent essential when companies use generative AI for customer service. The result underscores why a successful automated experience must combine task completion with a clear path to human assistance.

For enterprises, the objective is not necessarily to automate every interaction. Routine, high-volume requests may be suitable for autonomous handling, while sensitive complaints, complex financial matters and emotionally charged situations may require human judgment. Effective deployment depends on identifying which tasks can be automated safely and defining when control should pass to a person.

Compliance and Enterprise Integration Are Key to Adoption

Parloa says its platform runs on Microsoft Azure and supports multiple AI models, including OpenAI's GPT series. The company also cites compliance and security credentials including GDPR alignment, ISO 27001 and SOC 2, as well as a recent SAP-endorsed app premium certification.

These elements may be relevant to enterprises evaluating AI systems for regulated or data-sensitive operations. However, certification and platform-level controls do not automatically make every deployment compliant. Organizations still need to assess their own data flows, access controls, retention policies, model configuration and applicable regulatory obligations.

Parloa brings enterprise experience across sectors including banking and financial services, insurance, utilities, telecommunications, retail, logistics, travel and healthcare. TELUS Digital adds delivery operations and regulated-industry expertise across North America and Europe. Together, the companies aim to help enterprises move from platform selection to production deployment and ongoing optimization..TELUS Digital Combines Automation With Human-Agent Support.

The agreement complements TELUS Digital's existing AI capabilities. Its Fuel iX Agent Assist product provides real-time information and suggested answers to human agents, while Fuel iX Agent Trainer uses AI-generated voice and chat simulations to help employees practice customer conversations before handling live interactions.

These tools serve a different purpose from autonomous agents. Agent Assist supports a person during a live conversation; Agent Trainer helps prepare people for customer-facing work; Parloa's platform is designed to complete eligible interactions independently. In combination, such capabilities can support a mixed operating model in which automation handles appropriate routine tasks and human agents focus on requests requiring greater judgment or care.

TELUS Digital also offers CX consulting, contact center management and integration services. Its role is therefore broader than introducing a software platform: it can help clients decide where automation fits, connect it to operational systems and manage the transition to AI-assisted service delivery.

Market Landscape

Enterprise customer service is moving from rules-based chatbots and interactive voice response systems toward AI agents capable of interpreting requests, accessing enterprise systems and taking action. But greater autonomy also raises the stakes for accuracy, security and operational control.

Gartner predicted in March 2025 that agentic AI could autonomously resolve 80% of common customer service issues by 2029, potentially reducing operational costs by 30%. These figures are forecasts, not current adoption or performance results, and actual outcomes will depend on deployment quality and the types of service tasks involved.

TELUS Digital and Parloa are positioning their partnership around the implementation challenge: enterprises need both an AI platform and the expertise to integrate, govern and operate it. That model competes for attention in a crowded market where contact center platforms, cloud providers, specialist AI vendors and systems integrators are all developing automation capabilities.

The differentiator will be execution rather than the use of agentic AI alone. Enterprises will need evidence of successful resolution rates, lower repeat-contact volumes, reliable handoffs, customer satisfaction and total cost of service. They will also need to verify that automation does not create new friction by trapping customers in loops or making human assistance harder to reach.

Strategic Outlook

The partnership gives TELUS Digital another option for clients seeking to scale AI-driven customer service without treating automation as a standalone software installation. For Parloa, it adds a services partner with experience integrating technology into enterprise customer operations.

Three factors will determine the partnership's practical impact:

• Resolution quality: AI agents must complete tasks accurately, not merely keep customers engaged in a conversation.

• Human escalation: Transfers should preserve context and give representatives the information needed to continue without forcing customers to repeat themselves.

• Governance and measurement: Enterprises need clear permissions, auditability, privacy safeguards and metrics that track customer outcomes alongside cost savings.

The broader opportunity is to build customer service around the appropriate mix of AI and human expertise. If deployments can reliably resolve routine requests while making human help available when needed, enterprises may improve service efficiency without sacrificing the trust that customer relationships depend on. The partnership announcement does not yet provide joint customer results or independently verified performance improvements, so the impact remains to be demonstrated.

Top Insights

• TELUS Digital will implement and integrate Parloa's enterprise AI agent platform, while customers can contract directly with Parloa for the software.

• Parloa's agents are designed to complete eligible customer service tasks, including authentication, bookings, payments and order inquiries, with human escalation when needed.

• Gartner found that 87% of surveyed customers consider access to a human agent essential when companies use generative AI for customer service.

• TELUS Digital's Fuel iX tools complement autonomous agents by providing live assistance to human representatives and AI-based training simulations.

• The partnership's success will depend on verified resolution rates, integration quality, privacy safeguards and reliable escalation—not simply the number of interactions automated.

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Gift cards are taking on a broader role in consumer spending, functioning not only as presents but also as tools for budgeting, rewards redemption and brand discovery, according to new research from Tillo. Its 2026 report, The Gift Card Opportunity, surveyed 3,081 consumers in the United States and United Kingdom and found that 18% of adults in each market had purchased a gift card specifically to control spending. The findings point to opportunities for retailers, loyalty providers and marketers to use gift cards as part of customer acquisition, retention and rewards strategies.

Tillo Report Highlights Gift Cards' Expanding Role in Consumer Spending

Gift cards are increasingly being used to manage everyday purchases and access incentives, according to Tillo's latest consumer research. The findings suggest that brands may need to rethink gift cards as more than seasonal products, particularly as consumers seek ways to manage household spending and make rewards go further.

The report, The Gift Card Opportunity, examines gift card purchasing and usage among 3,081 consumers across the U.S. and U.K. Tillo, which provides gift card, rewards and incentives infrastructure, says consumers are buying gift cards for themselves, using them to influence purchasing decisions and showing interest in accessing them through a wider range of channels.

The research found that 18% of respondents in both countries had bought a gift card specifically to control spending. Meanwhile, 42% in each market said redeeming a reward or incentive, such as cashback or a promotion, was a reason for buying a gift card for personal use.

These findings suggest that gift cards can serve two purposes: a way to pre-allocate spending and a vehicle for redeeming rewards. For consumers, a gift card with a fixed value may make it easier to establish a spending limit for a particular retailer. For brands and loyalty providers, gift cards can connect incentives with purchases while potentially directing spending toward participating merchants.

Rewards and Brand Discovery Create Marketing Opportunities

Consumer preferences around incentives are another key finding. When offered a reward, 53% of U.S. respondents and 58% of U.K. respondents said they would choose a gift card for immediate or future use rather than cashback paid later or a coupon for a subsequent purchase.

The report also found that 89% of American respondents and 92% of British respondents said receiving a gift card would make them more likely to try a new brand. In addition, 73% in the U.S. and 76% in the U.K. said a brand offering gift cards affects their opinion of it. Around one in five respondents in each market said the availability of gift cards makes a brand feel more trustworthy.

For marketers, these results point to potential uses for gift cards in customer acquisition and loyalty programs. A gift card can provide a defined incentive to try a new retailer, product or service, while branded rewards can give consumers a reason to engage with a participating merchant.

However, stated willingness to try a brand does not necessarily translate into completed purchases or long-term loyalty. Brands will need to measure redemption, incremental sales, repeat purchases and customer lifetime value to determine whether gift card incentives generate profitable growth rather than simply subsidizing purchases customers would have made anyway.

Gift Cards Can Shape Purchase Timing and Basket Decisions

Tillo's research suggests that gift cards can influence not only which brands consumers consider but also when and how they shop. Around one-third of U.K. respondents (33%) and 29% of U.S. respondents said having a gift card prompted them to make a purchase sooner than they otherwise would have.

The spending effects vary by consumer. One-quarter of respondents in both markets said they typically spend only the value of the gift card, treating it as a spending limit. At the same time, Tillo found that one-quarter in each country had used gift cards to buy from new brands or select premium items instead of their usual choices.

That distinction matters for retail strategy. A fixed-value card may help some shoppers control spending, while others may use it to explore a new merchant or trade up to a more expensive product. Brands should therefore evaluate gift-card programs against different objectives—such as incremental purchases, new-customer acquisition and average order value—rather than treating redemption volume as the sole measure of success.

The report also points to a distribution challenge. Consumers said they wanted to buy gift cards through an average of three channels, including physical stores, brand websites, marketplaces and loyalty platforms. Brands that offer gift cards through only one channel may be missing opportunities to reach shoppers where they prefer to browse and purchase.

For gift card providers and retailers, this creates a case for broader distribution and more connected rewards infrastructure. Integration with loyalty programs, employee incentives, digital marketplaces and customer engagement platforms can help make gift cards available across more touchpoints. The business case, however, depends on distribution costs, partner economics, fraud controls and the ability to measure incremental value.

Market Landscape

Gift cards already occupy a substantial place in retail and loyalty strategies. The U.S. National Retail Federation estimated that consumers would spend $29 billion on gift cards during the 2025 winter holiday season, making them one of the most popular holiday gift categories. That seasonal demand provides context for Tillo's findings that consumers also use gift cards for personal spending and rewards redemption.

The broader opportunity is to connect gift cards with customer relationship management, loyalty programs and digital commerce. For retailers, a gift card can function as a prepaid purchase, a reward for a qualifying action or an incentive to try a new brand. For loyalty providers, it can offer a recognizable redemption option across participating merchants.

However, the Tillo findings should be interpreted in context. The research was conducted online by The Harris Poll on Tillo's behalf, with 2,059 U.S. adults surveyed June 2–4, 2026, and 1,022 U.K. adults surveyed May 11–14, 2026. Tillo reports sampling precision of ±2.7 percentage points for the U.S. survey and ±3.7 points for the U.K. survey at a 95% confidence level, with wider uncertainty for subgroups. The findings represent consumer responses, not audited purchase records or proof that gift cards cause higher sales.

Strategic Outlook

Tillo's research suggests that gift cards can serve as a bridge between consumer rewards and everyday commerce. The opportunity for marketers is to make them easier to purchase, redeem and discover across channels while matching incentives to specific business goals.

Three priorities stand out:

• Expand distribution: Make gift cards accessible through the channels customers already use, including e-commerce sites, physical retail, marketplaces and loyalty platforms.

• Measure incremental impact: Track new-customer conversion, repeat purchases, average order value and redemption behavior to distinguish genuine growth from spending that would have happened anyway.

• Connect rewards to customer data: Use appropriate CRM and loyalty integrations to understand which offers attract new buyers and which encourage existing customers to spend more.

The central question for brands is no longer simply whether to sell gift cards. It is how to integrate them into customer acquisition, retention and rewards programs without eroding margins or confusing consumers about the value of an incentive.

Top Insights

• Tillo found that 18% of U.S. and U.K. adults had purchased gift cards specifically to control their spending, indicating a role beyond traditional gifting.

• More than two in five respondents in both markets cited rewards or incentives as a reason for buying gift cards for personal use.

• Most respondents said gift cards could encourage trial of a new brand, creating potential applications in acquisition campaigns and loyalty programs.

• Consumer interest spans multiple purchasing channels, suggesting that limited gift-card distribution could constrain reach and convenience.

• Brands should measure incremental sales, customer acquisition and repeat purchases rather than relying on redemption volume alone.

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VisitIQ is expanding its audience intelligence platform with new advertising, CRM, email and messaging integrations while introducing MOS Studio, a suite of AI-powered applications for marketing and sales workflows. Announced on October 13, 2026, the developments advance the company's plan to connect audience insights, activation and everyday execution through a shared Marketing Operating System (MOS). VisitIQ also reported 60% year-over-year growth in revenue and annual recurring revenue (ARR), alongside a 20% margin expansion, though the company did not specify the margin measure in its announcement.

VisitIQ Connects Audience Intelligence With More Marketing Workflows

VisitIQ is extending its marketing technology platform beyond audience development by broadening the channels where brands and agencies can activate audience data and introducing AI-powered tools for proposal development and prospect outreach.

The expansion addresses a familiar problem for marketing teams: customer and prospect insights can be distributed across data platforms, advertising accounts, CRM systems and communication tools. Even when teams understand which audiences they want to reach, translating those insights into coordinated campaigns and sales activity can require multiple integrations and manual steps.

VisitIQ's approach is to make audience intelligence usable across more of that workflow without tying customers to a single advertising platform or media owner. Its expanded activation catalog includes Microsoft Advertising, TikTok, Reddit, Pinterest and Snapchat, alongside CRM systems such as HubSpot, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, Close and Insightly.

The company is also extending audience activation into email and messaging tools, including Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign, Brevo, Customer.io, SendGrid and Twilio SMS. Segment, RudderStack, n8n, custom integrations and webhooks provide additional ways to connect VisitIQ with existing marketing and data infrastructure.

For subscribers, VisitIQ says the platform supports unlimited activations. An updated interface organizes destinations by category and adds search functionality to make integrations easier to locate. The practical value will depend on the specific destinations a customer uses, the quality of its audience data and the reliability of the connections between systems.

AI Insights Aims to Shorten the Path From Question to Audience

VisitIQ's AI Insights feature allows users to explore audience characteristics, investigate targeting opportunities and create intent-based audiences using natural-language prompts. Those audiences can then be connected to supported activation destinations through the platform.

The workflow is intended to reduce the steps between a marketing question and an actionable audience. Instead of translating every business question into a sequence of manual filters and platform-specific operations, marketers can use conversational AI to explore potential segments before activating them.

However, natural-language audience creation does not eliminate the need for data validation. Teams still need to understand the signals used to define a segment, assess whether the audience matches campaign objectives and monitor performance after activation. The announcement does not provide independent performance benchmarks or quantify time savings from the feature.

MOS Studio Extends the Platform Into Sales Execution

The second major announcement is MOS Studio, which extends VisitIQ's audience intelligence foundation into additional marketing and sales tasks through separate AI-powered modules.

Its initial applications are Proposal Builder and Outreach. As their names indicate, the modules are designed to support proposal development and prospect engagement, using the intelligence and audience data available through the core VisitIQ platform. A VisitIQ license is required to access MOS Studio modules, and the company says more modules are planned.

This licensing model makes MOS Studio an extension of VisitIQ's existing platform rather than a standalone suite for customers without a VisitIQ subscription. For existing users, the potential benefit is continuity: audience intelligence developed in the core platform can inform additional tasks instead of remaining confined to segmentation and activation.

For agencies, the combination could be relevant to client prospecting, campaign proposals and multichannel activation across different technology environments. For brands, it could help connect audience strategy with customer acquisition and engagement. The extent of those benefits will depend on the depth of each module's capabilities, how it incorporates customer context and how well it fits into existing workflows.

Market Landscape

Marketing technology providers are increasingly working to reduce fragmentation between data, AI, campaign execution and measurement. Customer data platforms, advertising activation tools, CRM systems and AI assistants often address different parts of the workflow, leaving businesses to integrate the pieces themselves.

Industry research highlights the implementation challenge. In its State of Data 2025 report, the Interactive Advertising Bureau found that only 30% of surveyed agencies, brands and publishers had fully integrated AI across the media campaign lifecycle. The research also identified data quality, data protection and fragmented tools as major barriers to adoption.

VisitIQ's strategy addresses that gap by connecting audience intelligence to a wider set of activation destinations and extending it into proposal development and outreach. Its emphasis on platform independence may appeal to businesses that want to use audience data across multiple channels rather than organize their marketing strategy around one media ecosystem.

That positioning does not, by itself, establish an advantage over competing platforms. Integration depth, data governance, audience accuracy, measurement capabilities and the cost of maintaining a connected stack will determine how useful the approach is in practice.

Strategic Outlook

VisitIQ's latest developments point toward a broader role for audience intelligence: not just identifying whom to target, but helping marketers carry those insights into campaign execution and sales activity.

The company's reported 60% year-over-year revenue and ARR growth provides a positive business signal, while its stated 20% margin expansion suggests improving profitability under its own reporting. Because VisitIQ has not disclosed the underlying financial figures, margin definition or independent verification in the announcement, the figures should be treated as company-reported metrics rather than independently established financial results.

The next test is whether the expanded integrations and MOS Studio generate sustained customer adoption. Relevant indicators would include usage of the new activation destinations, adoption of Proposal Builder and Outreach, customer retention, measurable workflow improvements and evidence that connected audience data improves marketing or sales outcomes.

For marketing leaders evaluating the platform, key questions include how audience data is sourced and refreshed, what controls govern AI-generated segments and outreach, how activation performance is measured, and whether the required VisitIQ subscription fits existing technology budgets.

Top Insights

• VisitIQ is expanding audience activation across advertising, CRM, email, messaging and data workflows, giving brands and agencies more options for using audience intelligence.

• MOS Studio introduces Proposal Builder and Outreach, extending VisitIQ's platform into AI-supported marketing and sales tasks.

• Conversational AI helps users explore audiences and create intent segments, but data quality and validation remain important to targeting accuracy.

• The IAB found that just 30% of surveyed organizations had fully integrated AI across the media campaign lifecycle in its 2025 research.

• VisitIQ reported 60% year-over-year revenue and ARR growth, but detailed financial disclosures are not included in the announcement.

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Ascot Media Group is expanding beyond public relations into a broader publishing and media services business, bringing together editorial support, audiobook production, author websites, digital marketing, podcast production and screenplay adaptation through partnerships with established U.S. industry providers. The move positions the Houston-based firm to offer authors and publishers a more consolidated route from manuscript preparation to audience development and potential screen adaptation.

Ascot Media Group Expands Author Services Across Publishing and Digital Marketing

Ascot Media Group, Inc. has expanded its service portfolio to cover more stages of the author and publishing lifecycle, adding capabilities in editorial development, publishing, multimedia production, digital marketing and film adaptation through strategic partnerships with established U.S. specialists.

The expansion builds on the company's public relations business, which has focused on publicity campaigns for debut authors and New York Times bestselling writers, as well as services delivered to publishers and other PR agencies. Founder and president Trish Stevens said the objective is to give authors access to a wider range of services through a single provider while maintaining an emphasis on affordability.

The expanded offering addresses a challenge for authors navigating a fragmented publishing ecosystem. Manuscript editing, book production, author branding, audience acquisition and publicity often require separate vendors, each with its own costs, timelines and coordination requirements. A consolidated service model can simplify that process, although results will depend on the quality of each specialist partner and how effectively the services are coordinated.

From manuscript development to multimedia production

Ascot Media Group's expanded portfolio includes five principal service areas.

• Editorial and pre-publication support: Manuscript editing, editorial consultation, and assistance securing early reader reviews and endorsements.

• Publishing and audio production: Publishing services alongside professional audiobook narration and production.

• Author branding and digital marketing: Website development, search engine optimization (SEO), and targeted email marketing to help authors build and reach an audience.

• Screenplay adaptation and Hollywood pitching: Adapting eligible literary works into screenplays and presenting projects to film producers, directors and studio executives.

• Multimedia and podcast production: Audio and video strategy intended to extend an author's visibility across broadcast and digital channels.

The breadth of these services reflects how author promotion increasingly extends beyond book launches and traditional media coverage. Websites, search visibility, email lists, podcasts and video content can help authors build direct relationships with readers and create additional discovery opportunities across digital channels.

SEO and email marketing are particularly relevant to long-term audience development. Search optimization can make an author's books, biography and subject expertise easier to discover, while permission-based email lists provide a channel for communicating with readers without relying entirely on third-party social platforms. However, outcomes depend on factors including content quality, audience fit, campaign execution and sustained engagement.

Why the audiobook opportunity matters

The inclusion of audiobook production is notable amid continued growth in audio publishing. The Audio Publishers Association reported that U.S. audiobook revenue reached $2.43 billion in 2025, up 9% year over year, with publishers reporting more than 750,000 active titles. That growth creates an opportunity for authors to make their work available in another format, though production costs, distribution choices and discoverability remain important considerations.

Screenplay adaptation adds a different potential revenue and visibility pathway. Ascot says it can adapt eligible literary works and pitch them to film-industry decision-makers. However, adaptation and pitching do not guarantee a sale, production deal or screen release; those outcomes depend on creative fit, rights availability, financing and industry interest.

Ascot's partnership-led model also differs from building every capability internally. It can broaden the company's service range without requiring it to develop each specialty itself. The announcement, however, does not identify the new partners, provide service-level details or disclose pricing for the expanded suite. Those details will matter to authors assessing the practical benefits of a single-provider arrangement.

Market Landscape

Author services operate across a fragmented market that includes independent editors, self-publishing providers, audiobook studios, book publicists, digital marketing agencies and literary adaptation specialists. Ascot's expansion places it at the intersection of these categories, with the potential to coordinate services that authors might otherwise procure separately.

The opportunity is not simply to offer more services. Authors need those services to work together: editorial positioning should inform publicity, the author's website should support search discovery, and podcast or video content should reinforce the book's subject matter and intended audience. Without coordination, a broad service menu can still leave clients managing disconnected projects.

Ascot already lists public relations, editing, web development and internet marketing among its existing capabilities. The newly announced expansion extends that broader positioning into publishing, audiobook production and screenplay pitching.

Strategic Outlook

The expansion gives Ascot Media Group an opportunity to compete on service integration rather than publicity alone. For authors, a coordinated offering could reduce vendor-management work and help align book launches with longer-term brand building.

The key questions for prospective clients are execution and transparency: which services are delivered directly and which by partners, who owns project coordination, what rights and deliverables are included, and how campaign outcomes are measured. Authors considering screenplay pitching should also clarify adaptation rights, submission terms and any additional costs before committing.

The announcement signals a broader service strategy, but it does not provide evidence yet of customer adoption, measurable campaign improvements or revenue impact. Those will be more useful indicators of the expansion's success than the number of services listed.

Top Insights

• Ascot Media Group is extending its author-focused PR business into publishing, audiobook production, digital marketing, multimedia and screenplay adaptation through industry partnerships.

• The expanded model could simplify vendor coordination for authors, although partner identities, pricing and service-delivery arrangements were not detailed in the announcement.

• Audiobooks offer a growing distribution channel: U.S. audiobook revenue reached $2.43 billion in 2025, according to the Audio Publishers Association.

• Website development, SEO and email marketing can support long-term author discovery and audience relationships beyond an individual book launch.

• Screenplay adaptation and Hollywood pitching may create additional opportunities for eligible works, but pitching does not guarantee a film or television deal.

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FeaturedCustomers has published its Fall 2026 Content Marketing Software Customer Success Report, ranking vendors based on customer reference content, content quality, social media presence, and market presence relative to company size. The report recognizes 13 vendors across three categories: Market Leaders, Top Performers, and Rising Stars. Its rankings offer prospective buyers a customer-reference-based view of the content marketing software landscape, although the categories should not be interpreted as a universal ranking of product performance or suitability.

FeaturedCustomers’ latest customer success report highlights a diverse group of content marketing software providers serving organizations with different content production, management, distribution, and customer engagement needs.

The report divides vendors into three award categories. Rather than presenting a single list of products from best to worst, FeaturedCustomers uses its categories to reflect a combination of customer evidence, market presence, and relative company scale.

Market Leaders: Established vendors with broader market presence

Five vendors received the Market Leader designation: Ceros, Contently, Optimizely, Skyword, and Sprinklr.

According to FeaturedCustomers, Market Leaders have substantial customer bases and market share, alongside strong ratios of customer reference content, content quality scores, and social media presence relative to company size.

The group spans different areas of the marketing technology market. Ceros focuses on interactive content experiences, Contently on content marketing services and operations, Optimizely on digital experience and content management, Skyword on content marketing, and Sprinklr on enterprise customer experience and social media management.

For enterprise buyers, these distinctions matter because content marketing software is not a single, uniform product category. Some organizations prioritize editorial workflows and content strategy, while others need interactive experiences, enterprise publishing, or coordination across multiple digital channels. A Market Leader designation provides a starting point for vendor research, but buyers still need to assess individual capabilities against their own requirements.

Top Performers: Strong customer feedback with room to scale

Six vendors received Top Performer recognition: Acrolinx, CoSchedule, Marq, PathFactory, Uberflip, and Upland Kapost.

FeaturedCustomers describes this category as comprising vendors with significant market presence and sufficient customer reference material to support their market positioning, but without the relative customer base and scale associated with Market Leaders.

The category covers several distinct marketing needs. Acrolinx focuses on content quality and brand consistency, CoSchedule on marketing organization and planning, Marq on branded content creation, PathFactory on content engagement and buyer journeys, Uberflip on content experiences, and Upland Kapost on content operations.

For buyers, these distinctions reinforce the importance of matching software to specific operational requirements. A platform designed to improve content governance may address a different problem from one built to distribute assets, organize campaigns, or measure content engagement.

Rising Stars: Emerging vendors building momentum

BuzzSumo and StoryChief received Rising Star recognition.

According to FeaturedCustomers, Rising Stars have not reached the market presence of the other two categories but demonstrate momentum, a developing customer-reference base, and a growing social presence. The designation is intended to identify vendors showing potential rather than suggesting they already match larger competitors in scale.

BuzzSumo supports content research and discovery, while StoryChief provides content marketing and publishing capabilities. Their inclusion gives buyers additional options to investigate, particularly when evaluating focused tools for content ideation, distribution, and workflow management.

How FeaturedCustomers evaluates vendors

The Fall 2026 report is based on more than 2,000 pieces of verified customer reference content, according to the published announcement. FeaturedCustomers says its overall customer success score uses a weighted average of three components: Content, Market Presence, and Company Scores. Thirteen vendors met the minimum requirements for inclusion in this report.

The methodology draws on signals such as customer references, reference quality, platform engagement, social media presence, web visibility, and company characteristics. This offers a structured way to identify vendors with customer evidence and market momentum.

However, the awards should not be treated as a direct comparison of every product feature, implementation cost, integration, or return on investment. Buyers should use the report to build a shortlist, then validate individual products through demonstrations, customer references, technical assessments, and trials where available.

Market Landscape

Content marketing software now spans a broad range of functions, from editorial planning and brand governance to interactive experiences, content distribution, and buyer engagement analytics. As organizations manage more formats and channels, they increasingly need to coordinate content creation with governance, distribution, and measurement.

FeaturedCustomers’ report reflects this diversity by recognizing vendors across three categories rather than presenting one universal product ranking. Established providers receive recognition for their combination of customer evidence and market presence, while other vendors are distinguished for customer ratings, emerging momentum, or focused capabilities.

For marketing leaders, the practical challenge is selecting a platform that fits the organization's content maturity, team structure, technology environment, and measurement requirements. A recognition in a customer success report can help identify candidates, but it does not replace a use-case-specific evaluation.

Strategic Outlook

The report provides a snapshot of customer-reference strength and vendor positioning in the content marketing software market. Its greatest value for enterprise buyers is as a discovery and shortlist resource, particularly when paired with direct customer evidence.

Marketing teams should assess shortlisted platforms against their priorities: content governance, editorial collaboration, personalization, distribution, sales enablement, or performance measurement. They should also examine implementation effort, integration requirements, adoption, and the ability to connect content activity with business outcomes.

For vendors, the awards underline the importance of demonstrable customer success. Product capabilities matter, but credible references and evidence of customer value can also influence consideration during B2B software purchasing.

Top Insights

• Thirteen vendors recognized: FeaturedCustomers selected five Market Leaders, six Top Performers, and two Rising Stars in its Fall 2026 content marketing software report.

• Customer evidence is central: The report draws on more than 2,000 pieces of verified customer reference content and a weighted scoring model.

   

• The categories serve different purposes: Market Leaders reflect scale and customer evidence, Top Performers combine market presence with customer validation, and Rising Stars highlight emerging momentum.

• The market spans multiple use cases: Recognized vendors address content quality, planning, branded asset creation, interactive experiences, publishing, and content engagement.

• Buyers still need independent evaluation: Award categories can inform shortlisting, but product fit, integrations, costs, and measurable business outcomes require separate assessment.

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