Conduent Supercharges EBT Security: Locking Features, Chip Cards, and Mobile Wallets Aim to Fight Fraud at Scale

As fraud tactics grow more sophisticated, so do the tools to stop them. Conduent Incorporated, a key player in tech-driven public service infrastructure, has unveiled major upgrades to its Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) solutions. These include user-controlled account locks, AI-driven fraud detection, EMV chip card readiness, and plans for mobile wallet support — all aimed at protecting recipients of government aid like SNAP from unauthorized access.

With its latest rollout, Conduent isn't just offering upgrades. It's pushing the EBT ecosystem into a future where fraud prevention is proactive, intuitive, and mobile-friendly.

Giving Users the Power to Lock Down Their Benefits

At the heart of the update is a seemingly simple—but powerful—feature: the ability for recipients to lock or unlock their EBT accounts. Available via the ConnectEBT mobile app and web portal, users can block all purchases or limit transactions to their home state, instantly shutting down out-of-state misuse attempts.

Currently deployed in 12 states — including Georgia, Ohio, and Pennsylvania — the lock/unlock capability is gaining traction as agencies look to empower users while tightening fraud controls.

“Our EBT lock-and-unlock feature is one of many solutions Conduent is delivering to combat fraud that threatens taxpayer funds,” said Anna Sever, President of Government Solutions at Conduent.

Anti-Fraud Intelligence Built-In: Meet VeriSight

This account control tool is part of Conduent’s VeriSight Anti-Fraud Suite, a layered security platform already used by several U.S. state agencies. VeriSight leverages real-time behavioral analytics to spot red flags — like repeated IVR calls from a single number — and automatically flag or block suspicious behavior.

In addition to voice channel monitoring, Conduent’s ConnectEBT app also offers real-time usage alerts, giving benefit recipients an early warning system against unauthorized transactions.

Coming Soon: EMV Chip Cards and Wallet Integration

Looking ahead, Conduent is preparing to support EMV chip-enabled SNAP cards, a shift that mirrors the broader payment industry’s evolution away from magnetic stripes. These chip cards significantly reduce the risk of cloning and point-of-sale fraud — a growing threat in public assistance programs.

Conduent is also future-proofing access with mobile wallet integrations, including support for Apple Pay and Google Pay. That move not only adds convenience for users, but aligns with rising consumer expectations for digital payment flexibility.

Why It Matters: Securing the Frontline of Public Assistance

Each year, Conduent helps disburse $85 billion in government payments, supports 2.3 billion customer interactions, and processes nearly 13 million tolling transactions per day. But public benefit programs like SNAP sit at the core of its social impact work.

In an era when fraudsters target vulnerable populations and public resources with increasing sophistication, giving recipients more control, agencies more visibility, and systems more intelligence isn’t just a technical upgrade — it’s a mission-critical necessity.

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Grossman Marketing Group Acquires Cooley Group, Strengthens Local Roots with National Reach

In a strategic move to deepen its capabilities and broaden its geographic footprint, Grossman Marketing Group has acquired Cooley Group, a Rochester, NY-based provider of custom promotional, print, and fulfillment services.

While many acquisitions focus solely on size or scale, this one is rooted in something far more resilient: shared values. Both companies are family-owned, people-first, and community-driven—traits that have helped them thrive in a crowded marketing services industry.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Cooley Group to the Grossman family,” said David Grossman, Co-President of Grossman Marketing Group. “We both believe our greatest asset is our people—and that’s the foundation of this partnership.”

From Upstate New York to Nationwide Reach

Founded in 1945, Cooley Group has built a stellar reputation in the Northeast for client service, workplace culture, and industry leadership. Named a Top 100 Distributor by PPAI and a Best Company to Work For in New York four years running, Cooley brings both pedigree and performance.

With deep experience in sectors like healthcare, higher education, professional services, food and beverage, and manufacturing, Cooley complements Grossman’s own industry reach—and gives Grossman added strength in key growth markets.

Post-acquisition, Cooley will continue operating under its existing name as a division of Grossman Marketing Group, retaining its full team and offices in Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Albany, and the Hudson Valley.

Why It Matters: Capabilities, Culture, and Continuity

Grossman isn’t new to this game. Over the past decade, the company has steadily expanded through targeted acquisitions, focusing not just on capabilities, but on cultural fit. That’s why this merger clicks.

“For 80 years, we’ve helped clients showcase their brands while staying true to our local roots,” said Phil Yawman, President of Cooley Group. “But clients’ needs are changing, and we need access to more resources to keep pace. Grossman brings that—and more.”

Among those resources: Grossman’s award-winning technology stack, advanced e-commerce platforms, global logistics, and sustainability leadership. That includes SwagCycle, an industry-first program for giving branded products a second life via donation or recycling. So far, it’s redirected over $11 million in branded items from landfills and into the hands of nonprofits or reuse systems.

The Bigger Picture: A People-First Marketing Powerhouse

With Cooley now onboard, Grossman’s value proposition only gets stronger. It further positions the company as a national player with local roots—a rare blend in an industry that’s increasingly being swallowed by conglomerates or sidelined by startups.

“This is about expanding what’s possible for our clients,” said Ben Grossman, Co-President of Grossman Marketing Group. “And we’re doing it while preserving the culture and community focus that make both companies strong.”

Grossman’s growing portfolio now supports some of the world’s most recognizable organizations across sectors like higher education, healthcare, tech, and pro sports—all while maintaining its fourth-generation, family-owned ethos.

It’s not just a merger. It’s a reinforcement of what modern marketing clients want: innovation with integrity, scale with service, and growth that doesn’t forget its roots.

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Birdelo 2.0: A "New" PR-Tech Platform That’s Actually Been 15 Years in the Making

While PR-tech startups are having their moment, Birdelo is reminding the industry it got there first.

Originally launched in 2008 under a different name, the platform now known as Birdelo quietly solved a problem that has only recently become trendy: how to make brand-to-media collaboration more seamless. Now, with its AI-enhanced relaunch as Birdelo 2.0, co-founders Nikki Carlson and Kailynn Bowling are drawing attention to the system’s early roots—and why that matters in today’s fragmented media landscape.

“We built the original version in 2008 because we were living the pain points ourselves,” said Carlson. “We didn’t see a solution in the market—so we built one.”

Back then, Carlson and Bowling were wearing multiple hats—running ChicBlvd Magazine, launching the consumer tech brand ChicBuds, and scaling their PR firm ChicExecs. The problem? No centralized tool existed for sharing brand assets, samples, and pitches with journalists. The duo built one internally and quietly used it to power their firm for over a decade.

Fast forward to 2024, and PR-tech has become a buzzword. Yet Birdelo 2.0 isn’t just jumping on the AI bandwagon—it’s built on battle-tested infrastructure, now supercharged with automation and smarter matchmaking.

What’s New in Birdelo 2.0?

The platform now connects nearly 100,000 brands with major media outlets through a simplified interface designed to serve journalists and PR teams alike. Editors can access story ideas, affiliate-ready product links, hi-res imagery, and samples all in one place—without the usual back-and-forth emails.

Media outlets already leveraging the system include CNN, The Today Show, InStyle, Good Housekeeping, Women’s Health, GQ, and E! News—a testament to Birdelo’s quiet relevance over the years.

This isn’t a beta-stage product with bugs to iron out. It’s a refined system with over a decade of iteration behind it. The proof? A 2011 video demo of the original platform (then called the ChicExecs Media Networking System) and an 8-year-old YouTube case study showing the tool in action with Madison Media.

Birdelo’s timing couldn’t be better. As the lines blur between editorial and branded content, and journalists grow more selective in the pitches they accept, having a unified system to facilitate authentic, streamlined collaboration is invaluable.

But Birdelo isn’t chasing the hype. “This isn’t a new concept,” Bowling emphasized. “It’s a reimagining of something that’s already worked—for years.”

The startup narrative often favors flash over function. But Birdelo’s story flips the script: function first, flash later. And with AI now part of its DNA, Birdelo 2.0 is positioned to scale its quiet advantage into something far louder in today’s noisy PR-tech race.

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 RainFocus™, provider of the next-generation event marketing platform, today announced the RainFocus and Adobe Workfront Fusion integration. The solution seamlessly connects Adobe Workfront directly to RainFocus via Workfront Fusion. This enables event marketing teams to streamline event creation workflows by automatically creating events in RainFocus using approved Workfront requests. 

Meeting and event request forms often sit within event technologies, creating a disconnect between approved events and marketing workflows. The new integration simplifies event setup through fully templated experiences. By automating the process for event requests, approval, and creation from within Workfront, organizations can eliminate repetitive data entry, manual event setup processes, and time-consuming coordination between project management, event platforms, and marketing automation systems.

Teams can also leverage RainFocus’ Marketo integration to automatically clone specified Marketo Program Templates upon event creation in RainFocus for a complete field marketing events lifecycle.

“Organizations are increasingly investing in micro-events to deliver highly personalized experiences that strengthen their customer relationships, underscoring a need for automated event lifecycle management,” said JR Sherman, CEO of RainFocus. “This solution is another step in our partnership with Adobe to further align event teams and sales and marketing teams for strategic event planning and execution.”

“B2B companies are transforming events into a strategic marketing channel, reinforcing the need for innovative solutions that drive measurable results,” said Stephen Ratpojanakul, Senior Director, Digital Strategy Group at Adobe. “The RainFocus and Adobe Workfront Fusion integration has powerful use cases for field marketing events that eliminate manual processes for requesting meetings, enhance data accuracy, improve operational efficiency, and accelerate time to market.”

In early 2025, RainFocus was recognized as the B2B Technology Partner of the Year for the second consecutive year. As an Adobe Technology Partner, RainFocus has launched additional data integration solutions with Adobe, including the Destination Connector and the Source Connector.

Click here for more information about the new integration and RainFocus’ partnership with Adobe.

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Creating a marketing business plan isn’t just a box to check—it’s the blueprint for how your brand grows, engages, and competes. Whether you're launching a new campaign or overhauling your strategy, five foundational elements are essential for building a high-impact, data-driven marketing plan.

1. Executive Summary: Your Strategic Hook

The executive summary is your first—and perhaps only—chance to make an impression. Though it's written last, it appears first in your plan, offering a concise snapshot of your product, pricing, promotion, and placement strategies.

More than a table of contents, this section should capture stakeholder attention by clearly presenting:

• The business opportunity

• Market position

• Value proposition

• Core marketing objectives

A compelling narrative that reflects your brand’s philosophy and market ambitions sets the tone for what follows.

2. Situation Analysis: Know Your Terrain

A situation analysis evaluates both internal and external factors shaping your marketing environment. This is where SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) analysis comes into play.

Key components:

• Macro trends: Economic, social, regulatory, and technological factors

• Micro insights: Competitor benchmarking and customer behavior patterns

• Performance review: Past marketing KPIs, lead conversions, sales trends

Understanding where you stand today informs where you can go tomorrow. Collaborating with cross-functional teams—especially sales and finance—ensures your insights are grounded in reality, not assumptions.

3. Target Audience: Profile with Precision

Identifying your ideal customer is essential for message-market fit. The more specific you get with demographics and psychographics, the more personalized and effective your campaigns will be.

Start with:

• Demographics: Age, gender, income, education, geography, and job title

• Psychographics: Values, lifestyle, buying motivations, interests

• Behavioral insights: Purchase habits, content preferences, channel usage

Developing detailed audience personas based on this data ensures your team crafts content, offers, and experiences that resonate—turning awareness into action.

4. Goals & Objectives: Align and Aim Smart

Set marketing goals that are ambitious yet attainable, and always aligned with your broader business strategy. Use the SMART framework (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) to define objectives such as:

• Increasing monthly inbound leads by 20% in Q3

• Growing email list by 10K subscribers in six months

• Improving conversion rate on product pages by 15% by year-end

Clear goals give your team direction and accountability—and make it easier to justify budget allocations or channel investments.

5. Evaluation & KPIs: Measure What Matters

A business plan without an evaluation strategy is like sailing without a compass. Define your key performance indicators (KPIs) early to track progress and adjust tactics as needed.

Depending on your strategy, your KPIs may include:

• Website traffic and bounce rate

• Social media engagement and follower growth

• Cost per lead (CPL) and return on ad spend (ROAS)

• Email open and click-through rates

• Customer acquisition cost (CAC) and customer lifetime value (CLTV)

Regular performance reviews—monthly or quarterly—ensure you stay agile and adaptive in a changing market.

A strong marketing business plan doesn’t just document your ideas—it validates them. By combining strategic thinking with data-driven insights across these five areas, you set your marketing function up for smarter execution and scalable success.

Whether you're a startup refining your GTM strategy or a growing brand seeking operational alignment, these five elements aren’t optional—they’re foundational.

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Fresha Upgrades from SMS to RCS with Twilio, Sees Major Gains in Customer Engagement and Revenue

Fresha, the global booking platform for salons and wellness professionals, is proving that messaging innovation can drive real business results. By upgrading from traditional SMS to Rich Communication Services (RCS)—powered by Twilio and Google—Fresha has significantly boosted engagement, deepened customer trust, and increased partner revenue.

Handling over 700,000 daily appointments for 130,000 partners in 120 countries, Fresha needed more than just a messaging tool—it needed a verified, interactive, and high-performing communication channel that could scale globally without losing trust. The company found its answer in RCS.

“When messages come from a verified, recognisable Fresha brand, people engage more because they know it’s genuine,” said Jeremy Miller, Head of Product at Fresha. “That trust leads to stronger relationships and better outcomes.”

RCS vs. SMS: A Clear Performance Gap

RCS—often dubbed the next-gen SMS—offers verified sender IDs, rich media, and interactive buttons, giving brands more control over their messaging identity. For Fresha, RCS meant:

• 41.3% read rate on appointment-related messages

• 6% lift in appointment confirmations

• 7.1% jump in customer reviews

• 5.3% increase in tipping

• 99.2% message delivery rate

Those are not just better metrics—they’re measurable revenue drivers for Fresha’s salon and wellness partners.

“RCS stands out because it’s trustworthy,” said Stephen Brough, Global GTM Head – RCS for Business at Google. “Trust makes all the difference.”

No Code, No Friction: Deployment with Twilio’s API

Thanks to Twilio’s API, Fresha rolled out RCS messaging without any code changes. And because the company was already using Twilio’s infrastructure—including SMS, WhatsApp, voice, chat, and email—adding RCS was a natural extension of its omnichannel strategy.

With Twilio Flex, deployed through partner Zing, Fresha now manages all its customer communication channels in a single interface—tailoring engagement by geography, channel preference, and compliance requirements.

“Twilio lets us launch in new countries with complete confidence that our messages will be delivered,” added Miller. “We’re protected and trusted, wherever we go.”

Messaging That Builds Relationships, Not Just Reminders

In an era where 61% of consumers don’t believe brands use their data in their best interest (according to Twilio’s latest SOCER report), RCS gives businesses a way to stand out by showing up with transparency and intent. With this move, Fresha isn’t just chasing higher open rates—it’s turning everyday touchpoints into branded trust-builders.

“They’ve transformed messaging into a secure, branded space their customers recognise,” said Peter Bell, EMEA VP of Marketing at Twilio. “From the first booking to the final thank you and beyond.”

As more companies explore ways to differentiate in an AI-driven, privacy-conscious era, Fresha’s pivot to RCS messaging offers a compelling blueprint: Don’t just reach your customers—reassure them.

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Weave and Neo Team Up to Bring Smart Automation to Veterinary Clinics

Weave, the customer experience platform built for small and medium-sized healthcare businesses, has launched a new integration with Neo, the cloud-based veterinary practice management system from IDEXX. The collaboration aims to modernize veterinary clinic operations by automating repetitive tasks, enhancing communication, and improving the overall client experience.

In an increasingly competitive veterinary services market, operational efficiency and personalized care aren’t just nice to have—they’re business imperatives. This integration delivers on both, offering practices a smarter, more seamless way to stay connected with clients and their pets.

“This integration allows veterinarians to focus more on care and less on admin,” said a Weave spokesperson. “It’s about making every touchpoint count.”

What the Integration Unlocks

Here’s what veterinary practices get when they connect Weave with Neo:

• Appointment Reminders with Confirmation Writebacks: Automatically send reminders to clients and sync their responses in both Weave and Neo—helping reduce no-shows and manual follow-up.

• Automated Data Sync: Keep client contact details and appointment data consistently updated across platforms.

• Call Pop with Phones: When a client calls, their profile instantly appears, giving staff instant access to relevant information for more personalized service.

• Vaccination Reminders: Send automated texts so pet owners don’t miss important vaccination dates.

• Weave Reviews: Make it easy for clinics to collect and manage reviews on Google and Facebook—key for reputation management and new client acquisition.

• Missed-Call Texting: Respond automatically via SMS when a call is missed, helping practices convert more opportunities even when lines are busy.

• Text Writebacks: Seamlessly log SMS conversations into the Neo system, ensuring all communication is captured for continuity of care.

Veterinary clinics are often juggling tight schedules, emotional clients, and complex care plans—all while navigating outdated admin systems. This integration streamlines communications and ensures important updates don’t slip through the cracks, helping practices deliver care with confidence and convenience.

It also supports better payment experiences through Weave’s flexible billing tools, including text-to-pay, online payments, and patient-friendly payment plans—improving collection rates and reducing administrative overhead.

In short: Weave’s integration with Neo empowers veterinarians to spend more time treating pets and less time chasing down appointments, payments, or paperwork.

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Sendbird Names Charles Studt as CMO to Supercharge Growth in AI-Driven Customer Experience

As the race to redefine customer engagement with AI accelerates, Sendbird has brought in a heavy-hitter to lead the charge. The company today announced that Charles Studt, a former marketing exec at Qualtrics, has joined as Chief Marketing Officer to spearhead its global strategy and help position the company as a definitive leader in agentic AI-powered CX.

Studt steps into the role at a pivotal moment for Sendbird, which recently launched Omnipresent AI—its flagship AI agent designed to transform customer support from reactive ticket resolution into proactive, omnichannel engagement. With over two decades of experience scaling SaaS brands, Studt is tasked with elevating Sendbird’s brand in a crowded AI market and expanding adoption of its conversation-centric platform.

“Charles joins Sendbird at a critical moment as we accelerate our vision for agentic AI in customer engagement,” said John S. Kim, CEO and Co-founder of Sendbird. “He brings the experience and strategic clarity needed to cut through the AI hype and build a brand that resonates with real business impact.”

From CX Growth at Qualtrics to AI-Powered CX at Sendbird

At Qualtrics, Studt served as VP of Marketing and GM of Product-Led Growth, where he drove 100%+ pipeline growth for CX product lines in under two years. He’s also held senior marketing roles at IntelePeer, QuanticMind, and Redbooth, building scalable marketing engines and customer-centric narratives across high-growth tech sectors.

Now, he’ll turn his attention to positioning Sendbird as a category-defining player in agentic AI—an emerging space where AI agents aren’t just reactive assistants but proactive participants in customer journeys.

“This is Sendbird’s moment to set a new standard,” said Studt. “We’re here to show that AI isn’t about replacing humans—it’s about making the customer experience more human by being more proactive, predictive, and persistent.”

AI With a Human Touch

Unlike traditional support bots, Sendbird’s Omnipresent AI enables brands to anticipate customer needs, initiate autonomous conversations across channels, and resolve issues before users even know they exist. It’s a fundamental shift in philosophy: from support-as-a-service to engagement-as-a-strategy.

Studt plans to amplify this differentiation through:

• Human-first brand storytelling

• Case studies that showcase ROI in real CX environments

• Market expansion for Omnipresent AI

• High-velocity, AI-powered marketing operations

Internally, he also aims to build a marketing culture powered by the very AI principles the product embodies—agility, responsiveness, and user-centricity.

Sendbird’s move comes as the AI-powered CX space becomes increasingly competitive, with players like Intercom, Ada, and Drift evolving their own AI capabilities. What sets Sendbird apart is its developer-first DNA, proven messaging infrastructure, and focus on agentic AI—an emerging frontier in which bots act as autonomous agents, not scripted responders.

With Studt on board and momentum building around Omnipresent AI, Sendbird is clearly betting that the future of customer experience isn't just smart—it’s self-starting.

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