K-Pop Meets Web3: Abstract and Modhaus Team Up to Launch Fan Engagement Platform ‘Cosmo’ Onchain

In a bold move at the intersection of blockchain and global pop culture, Abstract, a consumer-first blockchain platform, has announced a strategic partnership with Modhaus, the innovative K-pop agency behind tripleS, ARTMS, and idntt. The collaboration brings Modhaus’s interactive fan platform Cosmo onto the Abstract blockchain, making it one of the most significant integrations of Web3 tech into mainstream entertainment to date.

For fans, it could be the moment where Web3 finally goes mainstream—without the baggage.

Cosmo, which lets fans vote on group decisions, collect digital photocards, and complete quests for exclusive content, is now powered by Abstract’s invisible blockchain infrastructure. The result: users experience faster performance, intuitive onboarding (via email or Face ID), and zero crypto complexity—all while engaging in a fully onchain ecosystem.

“Cosmo is exactly what Abstract was built for—a space where fans don't just watch, they vote, collect, and move in sync with their favorite artists,” said Michael Lee, Abstract CEO and co-founder. “Together, we’re building a new cultural operating system.”

A New Era for K-Pop Engagement

K-pop is arguably the world’s most digital-native fan ecosystem—and the numbers prove it. tripleS has racked up over 3.4 million followers and bagged the 2023 MAMA Awards’ Best New Female Artist, while ARTMS topped Billboard’s Top New Artist Albums and has garnered over 90 million Spotify streams.

Now, with Cosmo on Abstract, these fans get a more participatory experience that brings real utility to digital collectibles and fan voting systems—without requiring them to understand wallets, gas fees, or crypto lingo.

“Fans deserve a real seat at the table,” said Jaden Jeong, CEO of Modhaus. “Partnering with Abstract lets us make that vision global, accessible, and seamless.”

Abstract: Culture Meets Infrastructure

Abstract is no ordinary blockchain. With over 2 million wallets already deployed, it's quickly becoming the go-to infrastructure for culture-defining projects—not DeFi degens. Built by veterans from Ethereum, Pudgy Penguins, and Kubernetes, Abstract is engineered for speed, scale, and simplicity, targeting Gen Z and Gen A users in high-GDP markets who want to engage, not debug.

Its zero-knowledge (ZK) cryptography and seamless UX allow apps like Cosmo to be invisible on the blockchain front—users onboard with email, interact via tap, and never touch a seed phrase. This “Web2 feel, Web3 power” ethos is what sets Abstract apart in a noisy ecosystem.

The partnership with Modhaus adds to Abstract’s growing portfolio of apps redefining how blockchain enables ownership, engagement, and participation across industries like music, fashion, gaming, and social media.

The crypto world has long touted the promise of fan empowerment, but most blockchain apps have been too technical or too niche to make a dent in pop culture. That changes with Cosmo on Abstract. It's a Web3 experience that doesn’t feel like Web3—and that could finally tip the scale for mainstream adoption.

With K-pop fans leading the charge, the partnership between Modhaus and Abstract isn’t just a tech upgrade—it’s a preview of what participatory fandom could look like in a decentralized, creator-first internet.

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Force Marketing and automotiveMastermind Partner to Bring AI-Powered, Hyper-Targeted Campaigns to Auto Dealerships

Two major players in automotive marketing tech—Force Marketing and automotiveMastermind—have announced a strategic partnership aimed at transforming how auto dealers engage with potential buyers. The move combines predictive buyer data with omnichannel marketing activation, giving dealerships an immediate edge in a hyper-competitive market.

The partnership taps into automotiveMastermind’s Behavior Prediction Score® (BPS) and advanced segmentation tools to enhance first-party dealer data. Force Marketing then activates that enriched data through Audience IQ, its proprietary customer data platform (CDP), delivering precision-targeted campaigns across digital platforms including Google, Meta, Connected TV, display, video, and streaming audio.

“This is about unlocking strategic access to powerful data—and activating it across untapped channels,” said John Fitzpatrick, CEO of Force Marketing. “We’re not just layering on tech. We’re delivering measurable growth that dealers can see in their bottom line.”

A New Data-Driven Blueprint for Auto Retail Marketing

At its core, the partnership helps dealers do what they’ve long struggled with: expand reach, increase ROI, and stay compliant with OEM programs—without adding operational overhead.

Force Marketing brings the creative and digital execution muscle. automotiveMastermind brings the data—and not just any data, but the kind that predicts who’s actually ready to buy.

By merging these strengths, the companies are creating a fully optimized campaign framework that dealers can tap into at no additional cost. It’s not a bolt-on. It’s a blueprint.

“This is the new world. We work together,” Fitzpatrick added. “Dealers shouldn’t have to choose between program compliance and strategic targeting. Now they don’t have to.”

Early Results Show Real Impact

The partnership has already been piloted across 10 dealerships, yielding standout results:

• Paid Search Campaigns: 59% lower cost per conversion and 42% drop in CPC

• Performance Max Campaigns: 13% improvement in cost per conversion

• Streaming Media / CTV: 19% lift in sales with enriched data targeting

These results validate what the partners are calling a “next-gen” approach to automotive marketing: one that’s predictive, efficient, and built to scale.

“Our Actionable Intelligence™ platform already helps dealers target one-to-one,” said Aaron Baldwin, CEO of automotiveMastermind. “This partnership brings that intelligence into new digital spaces where shoppers are active, but dealers haven’t always had visibility.”

Why It Matters for the Industry

In an era where digital fragmentation makes it harder to reach in-market buyers, this collaboration offers a clear path forward: merge intelligence with execution.

By tightly integrating predictive analytics with omnichannel activation, the Force–Mastermind partnership gives dealerships the power to:

• Reach high-intent buyers at the right time and place

• Optimize ad spend with real-time targeting insights

• Stay compliant with OEM co-op requirements

• Localize and personalize marketing without reinventing the wheel

And it’s all accessible without new tech hurdles or added vendor costs.

Force Marketing and automotiveMastermind are redefining what "working together" means in automotive marketing. It’s not about adding another dashboard. It’s about delivering smart, data-infused, omnichannel campaigns that convert—and finally giving dealers a system that works as hard as they do.

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Data Gets Personal: Alliant Acquires AnalyticsIQ to Supercharge Predictive Marketing

In a move poised to shake up the data-driven marketing landscape, Philadelphia-based private equity firm Inverness Graham has announced that its portfolio company Alliant has acquired AnalyticsIQ, a specialist in predictive analytics and behavioral data modeling. The acquisition signals a strategic bid to build one of the industry’s most sophisticated engines for people-based marketing.

If the data wars are heating up, this merger loads Alliant’s arsenal with next-gen targeting capabilities.

Why It Matters

Marketers are chasing more than just eyeballs—they’re after intent, emotion, and purchase behavior. AnalyticsIQ, known for blending cognitive psychology with machine learning, doesn’t just predict what consumers might do—it aims to answer the elusive why behind consumer actions.

Pair that with Alliant’s cooperative transaction data, and you've got a cocktail for campaigns that are not only more personalized but potentially predictive at scale.

According to Michael Morrissey, Managing Principal at Inverness Graham, “Combining Alliant’s proprietary transaction data with AnalyticsIQ’s predictive modeling and digital integrations enhances our ability to deliver high-performing, insight-driven audiences across both traditional and emerging marketing channels.”

Translation: better targeting, smarter segmentation, and fewer wasted ad dollars.

A Leadership Shift with Strategy at Its Core

With the deal, Scarlett Shipp, the current CEO of AnalyticsIQ, will take the reins of the newly combined business. Meanwhile, JoAnne Monfradi Dunn, Alliant’s founder and long-time CEO, is stepping down from daily operations but will remain on the Board, ensuring continuity and strategic oversight.

Shipp commented, “Our team has spent years building predictive data that helps brands not just understand what people do—but why they do it. Joining forces with Alliant enables us to scale that mission.”

Her words aren’t just PR polish—they hint at a future where marketing data gets a psychological upgrade. Expect deeper audience insights, more effective omnichannel campaigns, and a growing appetite for AI-enhanced data science.

What’s Next?

This acquisition also hints at a larger play: Inverness Graham and Alliant are still hungry. They’re actively looking for more deals, seeking data-centric firms that can plug into their expanding ecosystem of marketing analytics, identity resolution, and omnichannel activation.

It’s worth noting this merger comes as competition intensifies across the MarTech landscape. Giants like Adobe, Salesforce, and Oracle are continuing to consolidate data platforms, while independents fight for relevance through niche capabilities and innovation. With the Alliant–AnalyticsIQ combo, Inverness is betting on a best-of-both-worlds strategy: robust data scale plus nuanced predictive intelligence.

Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but with law firm Faegre Drinker and Stephens Inc. involved, the playbook here is clear—this isn’t a one-off acquisition. It’s a foundation for a smarter, stickier MarTech future.

Conversionomics Gets a Brain Boost: Net Conversion Injects AI Into Its MarTech Arsenal

Net Conversion, the data-obsessed media agency with a knack for turning marketing chaos into clarity, just gave its proprietary platform Conversionomics a major intelligence upgrade. The company unveiled a suite of AI-powered features that aim to radically streamline insights, unify measurement across media types, and future-proof ad targeting—without relying on cookies.

For a tool that’s already served as the analytical backbone for media strategy since 2008, this isn’t just a tune-up. It’s a full system evolution.

From Data Warehouse to Media Intelligence Engine

Conversionomics was originally built as a powerful data management platform, capable of digesting information from over 80 APIs and spitting out automated reports and exports. But in today’s fragmented, cross-device, privacy-challenged landscape, that’s table stakes.

Net Conversion is positioning the new AI-enabled Conversionomics as something more: a media enablement platform, one that doesn't just process data—it thinks.

And the timing couldn’t be better. Marketers are under pressure to do more with less, connect dots across disconnected journeys, and justify spend in real-time. “We are intrigued by the evolution of the Conversionomics platform,” said Mandy Penn, VP of Marketing at Evermore Orlando. “It represents a real departure from the standard practices and transactional limitations often associated with media today.”

Three Pillars of AI-Powered Performance

The platform’s overhaul revolves around three strategic pillars:

1. Insights:
At the heart of the update is an AI Insights Agent—think of it as an always-on junior analyst—that delivers real-time alerts, performance trends, and optimization cues straight to Net Conversion’s human analysts via Google Chat, Gmail, or Google Sheets. It’s not just automation; it’s augmentation.

2. Measurement:
Conversionomics now supports platform-agnostic measurement across channels like connected TV (CTV) and streaming audio, along with automated linear probabilistic measurement—no third-party aggregator required. It’s a clear push to break free from walled gardens and give clients a full-funnel, full-picture view.

3. Activation:
As cookies crumble, Conversionomics steps up with support for secure first-party data transfers, Conversions API, and Enhanced Conversions. These features not only facilitate audience targeting and lookalike modeling, but also improve offline-to-online attribution, giving brands sharper performance clarity in a privacy-first world.

AI with Intent

This AI-driven expansion comes on the heels of Net Conversion’s acquisition of Elevate the Outcome, a performance TV agency that further cements its expertise in omnichannel measurement. According to Brett Hughes, Chief Analytics Officer, “The latest AI enhancements represent the natural evolution of a vision we started 16 years ago—to make data truly useful for driving performance.”

If that sounds ambitious, it’s because it is. But it's also increasingly essential.

While many MarTech platforms are scrambling to retrofit AI, Conversionomics seems built for this next era—one that demands speed, agility, and intelligence across the entire media lifecycle. It’s not just about plugging in ChatGPT-style insights; it’s about building a system that understands media performance like a strategist, not just a spreadsheet.

A New Tagline for a New Era

Net Conversion is rebranding Conversionomics with a sharper promise:
“More intelligent marketing, less guesswork.”

At a time when marketers are drowning in dashboards and short on decision-making time, the pitch resonates. With these upgrades, Conversionomics shifts from simply organizing data to activating it—intelligently, intuitively, and at speed.

ImageKit Earns AWS Retail Competency, Tightens Its Grip on Retail Media Ops

ImageKit, the API-first media delivery and digital asset management platform, just earned AWS Retail Competency status—an achievement that validates its growing role in helping retailers deliver snappy, visually immersive digital experiences without breaking infrastructure or budgets.

The move puts ImageKit on a short list of AWS Partner Network (APN) members with proven chops in streamlining media for e-commerce and omnichannel retail, where every millisecond of load time and every pixel of polish counts.

What’s New and Why It Matters

With this new designation, ImageKit is officially recognized for its ability to help retailers:

• Accelerate time-to-market for visual content

• Cut infrastructure costs without sacrificing speed or quality

• Avoid painful media migrations by integrating directly with Amazon S3

That last part is especially notable. “Many of our customers already store their media assets in Amazon S3,” said Manu Chaudhary, co-founder and CTO of ImageKit. “With ImageKit, they can instantly transform and deliver those assets through the URL—no migration, no duplication.”

Translation: Retailers can keep their content where it is and still tap into ImageKit’s real-time transformations, adaptive video streaming, and AI-powered tools like background removal or upscaling. No messy replatforming. No wasted storage.

Behind the Curtain: What ImageKit Actually Does

ImageKit’s platform provides a one-stop shop for media management and delivery. Some of the key capabilities include:

• 50+ real-time image and video transformations, applied directly via URL

• Format and quality optimization (WebP, AVIF, etc.)

• Dynamic personalization for location or device-based rendering

• AI features like smart cropping, background removal, and image enhancement

• Developer-friendly tooling that lets teams go live in minutes, not weeks

Whether teams are pulling from an existing Amazon S3 bucket or using ImageKit’s built-in DAM, the promise is the same: speed, flexibility, and fewer hands on deck.

Real-World Impact

Retailers and DTC brands, especially those navigating multi-platform strategies, increasingly rely on solutions like ImageKit to unify the look and performance of their content. As one Curtsy engineer put it, “When we need a new image size or layout, we just tweak the URL parameters and ship.”

That kind of agility is essential as content needs continue to scale across web, mobile, email, social, and beyond.

Context: Retail’s Visual Revolution

As retail pushes further into personalization and real-time commerce, the back-end systems powering media need to catch up. Tools that once simply stored and served content now need to optimize, adapt, and deliver intelligently—often in real-time.

AWS’s Competency Program is designed to help enterprises cut through the noise and identify vendors with vertical-specific expertise. By earning the Retail Competency, ImageKit joins an elite group of tech partners enabling scalable, secure, and flexible retail experiences on the AWS cloud.

The message to retailers? Your media stack doesn’t need to be a Frankenstein of CDNs, resize scripts, and DAMs. With ImageKit, you can simplify the pipeline—without sacrificing performance.

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Amperity Lands Leader Spot in IDC’s 2025 CDP Report—And It’s Not Just Hype

Amperity, the AI-fueled customer data cloud trusted by big-name retailers, just locked in a Leader spot in the latest IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Retail Customer Data Platforms 2025 Vendor Assessment. The recognition isn’t just another badge—it reflects how far the platform has come in solving the mounting data chaos plaguing modern retail.

The Retail Data Problem—And Amperity’s Fix

Fragmented data sources. Real-time personalization demands. An AI race with no finish line. Retailers are juggling more complexity than ever before—and consumers aren’t cutting them any slack.

Enter Amperity. The platform’s strength lies in stitching together millions of customer interactions to create unified, actionable profiles—all while meeting compliance and governance demands. IDC’s research director Ornella Urso called it out directly: “Amperity’s platform is built to address these challenges head-on.”

The IDC report highlighted Amperity’s patented identity resolution, data governance, and embedded AI features like AmpAI, which make advanced capabilities accessible to both data engineers and less technical teams alike.

Why It Matters Now

Retailers from Dr. Martens and Citizen Watch to JB Hi-Fi and SPARC Group are already using Amperity to power hyper-personalized customer experiences. The platform doesn't just unify customer data—it turns it into marketing fuel that boosts loyalty, performance, and speed to market.

And with consumer expectations soaring—especially around personalization and privacy—retailers are rethinking their customer data foundations. IDC’s validation of Amperity is more than a feather in its cap; it’s a signal to the market that a more intelligent, privacy-conscious CDP is now table stakes.

Not Just Another AI Buzzword Platform

While plenty of platforms are scrambling to slap on AI labels, Amperity has been steadily building practical tools that address the everyday pain points of enterprise teams. Two recent additions illustrate this point:

• Identity Resolution Agent: Uses machine learning to match and merge customer data with high accuracy, even when signals are noisy or scattered across channels.

• Chuck Data: An AI assistant that lives inside the terminal and lets engineers query, tag, and build customer tables using plain English—no need to write SQL or wrangle pipelines manually.

In short: Amperity’s AI isn’t a gimmick. It’s a productivity engine.

Strategic Execution Meets Market Timing

“We believe being named a Leader reflects the impact we’re making in unifying customer data, activating insights, and turning data into business value,” said Tony Owens, CEO of Amperity. It’s the kind of quote you'd expect—but it rings true given the company's expanding footprint, including recent AI rollouts and a client list featuring over 400 major brands across verticals.

As the CDP landscape matures and marketers demand faster, smarter, and more integrated platforms, Amperity’s recognition by IDC positions it not just as a tech leader—but as a strategic enabler for brands trying to stay relevant in a post-cookie, AI-everything world.

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Go1 Appoints Jenny Dearborn to Board as L&D Faces a Tech-Powered Makeover

Go1, the world’s go-to content aggregator for learning and development (L&D) leaders, has added heavyweight learning strategist Jenny Dearborn to its Board of Directors—a move signaling the company’s deeper push into AI-enhanced, outcomes-driven workplace learning.

Dearborn is no stranger to scaling L&D systems at the enterprise level. She previously served as Chief Learning Officer at SAP, where she oversaw global learning strategy and built programs at scale for tens of thousands of employees. She's also a best-selling author on using data to boost workforce performance—and she's bringing that knowledge straight to Go1’s table.

Why This Appointment Matters

Dearborn’s arrival comes at a pivotal moment for corporate learning. Organizations are scrambling to upskill teams in real time while integrating AI, personalized learning, and data-backed outcomes—all without overwhelming already stretched L&D departments.

“Jenny understands the real challenges L&D teams face every day,” said Chris Eigeland, CEO of Go1. “She knows what it takes to build learning programs that actually work at scale.”

Go1, which aggregates learning content into a single platform, is positioning itself as the answer to content sprawl and ineffective training tools. By bringing in Dearborn, the company signals it’s not just curating content—it’s serious about strategic enablement at the executive level.

A Veteran Who Knows the Learner—and the Numbers

“I’ve always believed that great learning happens when you combine the right content with smart data insights,” said Dearborn. “Go1 is solving real problems for L&D professionals, and I’m excited to help them reach even more organizations.”

Dearborn’s resume reads like a checklist for modern L&D leadership: CLO at SAP, Chief Talent Officer at HP Enterprise, CPO at Klaviyo, and now Chief People Strategy Officer at BTS. She's also authored three best-sellers on workforce analytics and is a proud advocate for neurodiversity, creative work, and—yes—beekeeping.

Go1's Bigger Vision

This board appointment comes as Go1 looks to expand its footprint and sharpen its value proposition amid fierce competition in the L&D tech space. The company’s AI strategy, vast content library, and compliance tools already serve over 10,000 organizations worldwide, including several Fortune 500 names.

Backed by a star-studded investor list (think Salesforce Ventures, SoftBank, and Y Combinator), Go1 has raised over $400 million to date and was named a 2023 Top Company by Y Combinator.

With Dearborn on board, Go1 isn’t just stacking its leadership team—it’s doubling down on its mission to make scalable, strategic learning the new normal.

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Semrush Secures Leader Position in Forrester SEO Wave 2025—And the Data Backs It Up

In a competitive and rapidly evolving SEO landscape, Semrush has carved out a clear leadership position. The company announced it has been named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Search Engine Optimization Solutions, Q3 2025, thanks to its AI-powered platform, collaborative features, and sheer data firepower.

If you’re one of the thousands of marketers juggling rankings, content strategy, and competitor insights in real time, this should be on your radar.

Why It Matters: Vision, Speed, and 26 Billion Keywords

Forrester evaluated seven enterprise-grade SEO vendors across current offerings, strategy, and customer feedback. Semrush stood out not just for features—but for ambition.

The report highlights Semrush’s framing of SEO as the “engine of digital discoverability,” a phrase that captures the platform’s AI-first roadmap. With search moving beyond keywords to intent, conversation, and predictive behavior, platforms like Semrush are being judged on how well they help marketers move faster, work smarter, and adapt on the fly.

“Semrush analyzes over 200 million domains and 26 billion keywords,” the report notes. “Customers of other vendors retain Semrush for competitive intelligence and keyword research rather than using others end-to-end.”

That’s more than just a flex—it’s a signal that data supremacy is now a key differentiator in the SEO arms race.

Scoring High Where It Counts

Semrush received the highest scores possible in seven key categories of Forrester’s current offering evaluation, including:

• Competitive Intelligence

• Keyword Research

• Reporting & Analytics

• Collaboration Tools

The takeaway? While many platforms are tacking AI onto the surface, Semrush is baking intelligence into the core of every feature—from keyword suggestions to competitor analysis to multi-channel visibility.

AI Meets SEO, with Marketers in Mind

As search becomes increasingly shaped by AI-generated answers, zero-click results, and conversational interfaces, SEO platforms are shifting focus from just tracking rankings to enabling full-funnel strategy.

“We’re building the platform to lead the future of marketing,” said Eugene Levin, President at Semrush. “Our goal is to deliver AI-powered, end-to-end solutions so marketers can grow with confidence.”

That includes using AI for everything from content ideation to link gap analysis to voice search optimization. And crucially, Semrush appears focused on building features that work for teams of all sizes, not just enterprises with an in-house SEO army.

Context: What Sets Semrush Apart

Forrester’s recognition further validates what many in the industry already know: Semrush isn’t just a toolkit—it’s becoming an operating system for digital marketers.

Its competitors may offer similar features, but few match the breadth of Semrush’s data or the platform’s ability to support cross-functional collaboration across SEO, content, PPC, and social teams.

That versatility—paired with flexible pricing and ongoing innovation—is what cements its place as a Leader in the 2025 report.

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