Postie, a leader in direct mail automation solutions, has appointed Phil Davis as its Senior Vice President (SVP) of Sales. This appointment marks a strategic milestone in the company’s mission to help large brands create more personalized and meaningful relationships with their customers through direct mail.

Phil Davis' Proven Expertise

Phil Davis brings over two decades of experience leading revenue teams and scaling high-margin businesses within the data and marketing technology sectors. His extensive background includes:

• Chief Business Officer at AtData (formerly TowerData): Contributing to business growth and leadership.
• CEO at RapLeaf (part of LiveRamp): A founding member that helped shape the company’s success.

His track record in strategic planning, go-to-market execution, and team building will significantly benefit Postie’s growth trajectory.

Leadership Perspective

Dave Fink, CEO & Co-founder of Postie, expressed confidence in Davis’s appointment:
"We hire slowly to ensure we get key hires right, and I couldn't be more confident in this new hire and partnership. Phil's extensive experience and leadership in the data and advertising space make him a valuable addition to our team. He understands the challenges marketers face and will be key in accelerating our growth."

Direct Mail Industry Resurgence

The direct mail industry is seeing a revival, with increasing effectiveness and addressability across a variety of demographics. USPS research reveals that millennials respond positively to direct mail, with:

• 85% of millennials taking time to review their mail.
• 52% of millennials are more likely to make a purchase from companies using both direct mail and digital marketing.

This growth is proving that direct mail remains a vital and powerful marketing channel, particularly when combined with modern technology.

Phil Davis on His New Role

Phil Davis expressed his excitement about joining Postie:
"I’m excited to join Postie to help lead and nurture this world-class team. Direct mail is an amazing channel for driving measurable results, and Postie's platform offers a modern, data-driven approach that empowers brands to succeed in today’s competitive landscape."

Innovid, a leader in advertising solutions, has unveiled Harmony Reach & Frequency for publishers in collaboration with Roku, the top TV streaming platform in the U.S. This breakthrough initiative focuses on optimizing frequency management and campaign effectiveness, offering unique advantages for publishers and advertisers alike.

Key Highlights of Harmony Reach & Frequency

1. Groundbreaking Frequency Management Solution

   • Harmony Reach & Frequency is the first holistic tool for managing ad frequency across CTV and digital video.
   • Now integrated with Roku, it helps publishers enhance the value of their ad inventory by reaching untapped audiences.

2. Advantages for Advertisers

   • Incremental Reach: Suppresses already saturated households, targeting net-new viewers.
   • Maximized Campaign Effectiveness: Reduces waste, increasing ROI on ad inventory.
   • Enhanced Frequency Management: Optimizes ad exposure to deliver measurable outcomes.

3. Strategic Insights via Roku Data Cloud

   • Roku’s integration allows seamless signal sharing, improving audience targeting precision.
   • Alignment of supply and demand-side goals enriches the overall ad experience for viewers and advertisers.

Additional Innovations in Partnership

• Harmony Direct:

  • Simplifies workflows for non-biddable TV streaming media by eliminating inefficiencies like additional tech layers and fees.
  • Roku was the first publisher to adopt this innovative feature, showcasing its commitment to simplifying the CTV ecosystem.

• Harmony Conversions:

  • Provides near real-time conversion insights, enabling publishers to refine in-flight campaigns.
  • Features include identifying high-performing attributes (e.g., geo, genre) and suppressing impressions for converted households.

Statements from Key Stakeholders

• Miles Fisher, Roku:
  “This partnership underscores our commitment to advancing the TV streaming ecosystem and aligning advertiser-viewer goals.”

• Guy Kuperman, Innovid:
  “Frequency management is an untapped opportunity for publishers to differentiate themselves and improve the CTV ecosystem.”

The partnership between Innovid and Roku exemplifies a shared vision of optimizing the CTV ecosystem. By integrating Harmony Reach & Frequency and Harmony Conversions, the two companies aim to revolutionize advertising precision, efficiency, and outcomes for publishers and advertisers alike.

HUMAN Security, Inc., a leader in cybersecurity, has announced a strategic partnership with TollBit to combat unauthorized AI scraping bots and enable content monetization. This collaboration enhances digital security, enforces compliance with robots.txt directives, and introduces innovative revenue opportunities for publishers.

Key Highlights of the Partnership

1. Enhanced Visibility & Control Over AI Agents

   • Offers deep insights into scraping activity from AI agents.
   • Empowers publishers to make informed decisions to protect digital assets.

2. Advanced Robots.txt Enforcement

   • Enforces robots.txt policies for both known and unknown bots.
   • Prevents unauthorized scraping or summarization of content.

3. Seamless Monetization Through AI Paywalls

   • Implements a paywall requiring AI bots to pay per scrape.
   • Supports enterprise-level partnerships with AI developers for consistent revenue streams.

4. Blocking Unwanted Scrapers

   • Mitigates unauthorized bots while allowing compliant AI agents to access content ad-free.
   • Reduces invalid traffic (IVT), ensuring higher content integrity.

5. Adaptive Learning for Real-Time Protection

   • Continuously tracks and labels AI agents across web properties.
   • Enhances detection feedback loops for quicker response to unauthorized activity.

Statements from Leadership

• Apurva Joshi, HUMAN:
  "This partnership advances our capabilities to control and monetize unwanted traffic while empowering publishers to unlock new revenue streams.”

• Toshit Panigrahi, TollBit:
  "We aim to help content owners monitor, manage, and monetize their data, ensuring sustainable AI scraping practices."

The HUMAN-TollBit partnership is a game-changer for content-driven enterprises, combining cutting-edge bot management with AI monetization infrastructure. By empowering publishers with visibility, control, and monetization tools, this collaboration not only combats malicious scraping but also transforms AI-driven content access into a sustainable revenue model.

The 2025 Sprout Social Index™ Edition XX highlights the evolving role of social media as the leading source for trends and cultural moments, surpassing traditional channels like TV and family networks. While this provides a golden opportunity for brands to capture attention, the challenge lies in delivering authentic and personalized experiences amidst a crowded digital landscape.

Key Findings from the 2025 Sprout Social Index

1. Social Media as a Discovery Zone

   • 81% of consumers make impulse purchases driven by social media.
   • 73% would switch to a competitor if a brand fails to respond on social platforms.

2. Consumer Expectations for Brands

   • 93% believe brands should stay culturally relevant, but trend-chasing must be meaningful.
   • Authenticity and originality rank as top traits valued by consumers in brand content.

3. Challenges for Social Teams

   • 94% of practitioners feel the pressure of being "chronically online."
   • Creative fatigue and burnout are significant challenges, exacerbated by the need to stay relevant.

Recommendations for Brands

1. Focus on Authentic, Human-Centric Content

   • Prioritize original, relatable content that aligns with community values.
   • Avoid superficial trend-chasing that may alienate audiences.

2. Invest in Social Customer Care

   • Build personalized 1:1 engagement strategies to foster trust and loyalty.
   • Ensure responsiveness to retain customers and prevent brand switches.

3. Leverage AI to Support Teams

   • 93% of practitioners believe AI can alleviate creative fatigue.
   • AI can help manage repetitive tasks, allowing teams to focus on strategic efforts.

4. Combat Misinformation

   • 93% of consumers expect brands to actively address misinformation.
   • Monitor online conversations to correct falsehoods and maintain brand integrity.

Insights on AI and Marketing

1. Increased AI Investments

   • 48% of marketing leaders plan to boost AI investments in 2025.
   • 97% believe AI proficiency is critical for their teams.

2. AI’s Impact on Team Growth

   • 86% of leaders anticipate hiring more team members despite AI integration.
   • Over half (53%) view AI as a tool to expand team capabilities rather than replace roles.

The 2025 Sprout Social Index™ reveals a transformative social media landscape, emphasizing the importance of authenticity, meaningful engagement, and cultural relevance. By focusing on these aspects and leveraging AI, brands can navigate the complexities of the digital ecosystem, strengthen customer relationships, and drive impactful business outcomes.

Mediaocean and LiveRamp have strengthened their partnership by integrating RampID into Flashtalking, Mediaocean’s creative ad-serving platform. This breakthrough makes Flashtalking the first ad server to fully implement RampID, empowering advertisers to deliver precise, personalized campaigns at scale in a privacy-first digital landscape without relying on third-party cookies.

Key Benefits of RampID Integration

1. Personalized and Optimized Creative

   • Combine contextual signals (e.g., location, weather, or device) with RampID to create hyper-relevant ad experiences across channels.
   • Collaborate with LiveRamp’s premium network to enhance creative impact.

2. Enhanced Measurement and Performance

   • Access accurate attribution and cross-device reach for deeper campaign insights.
   • Improve performance using RampID’s durable, authenticated identity ecosystem.

3. Future-Ready Advertising

   • Seamlessly transition to cookieless workflows, adhering to evolving privacy regulations while maintaining scale and flexibility.

Industry Endorsements

• Princess Cruises leveraged the integration for cookieless personalization.
  • "The combination of identity and creative optimization makes campaigns more effective and future-ready," said Nick Charrow, Director of Media at Princess Cruises.

Strategic Impact

The partnership aligns with Mediaocean and Flashtalking’s mission to bridge creative and media silos, offering advertisers:

• Automation: Simplified workflows for omnichannel advertising.
• Intelligence: Data-driven insights to refine targeting and performance.
• Flexibility: Compatibility with privacy-first standards for sustainable advertising.

Advertisers using Flashtalking can now benefit from global scalability via LiveRamp’s ecosystem, which integrates with 165 demand-side and supply-side platforms.

Expert Commentary

Travis Clinger, Chief Connectivity & Ecosystem Officer at LiveRamp, emphasized the significance of this integration:
“Flashtalking is a leader in ad serving, and with RampID integration, advertisers can deliver personalized messaging at scale while reducing dependency on third-party cookies. This partnership enables precision, performance, and sustainability across digital campaigns.”

The integration of RampID into Flashtalking marks a pivotal moment for advertisers navigating a cookieless world. By combining robust identity solutions with dynamic creative capabilities, Mediaocean and LiveRamp are paving the way for more effective, privacy-first advertising.

Medallia, Inc., a global leader in customer and employee experience, has appointed Mark Bishof as Chairman and CEO. With over 40 years of leadership experience in software and technology, Bishof succeeds Mike Lipps, who will remain on the Medallia board as part of its next growth phase. Alongside Bishof’s appointment, Medallia has unveiled a revitalized leadership team to accelerate its innovation in customer experience (CX) and AI-driven solutions.

Key Leadership Appointments

1. Mark Bishof – Chairman and CEO

   • Former Chief Business Officer at Qualtrics and CEO at Clarabridge.
   • Pivoted Clarabridge into a leader in conversational AI.
   • Vision: Evolve Medallia’s capabilities from CX surveys to AI-driven automation and conversations.

2. Sid Banerjee – Chief Strategy Officer

   • Former founder of Clarabridge.
   • Focus: Drive Medallia’s AI innovation agenda and support client transformation.

3. Bas Brukx – Chief Financial Officer

   • Previous CFO roles at Therapy Brands, Clarabridge, and Allego.
   • Expertise in financial strategy and operational excellence.

4. Ram Ramachandran – Chief Transformation Officer

   • Former President of CareJourney and CTO at Clarabridge.
   • Role: Lead enterprise transformation initiatives.

5. Karl Knoll – General Counsel

   • Legal expertise from Clarabridge and Womble Bond Dickinson.

6. Jamie Hunter – Chief of Staff and Head of Corporate Development

   • Former COO of Emburse.
   • Role: Enhance organizational efficiency and corporate development.

Strategic Vision

Bishof outlined his goals to leverage Medallia’s legacy of innovation and integrate advanced AI capabilities:

• AI and Automation: Transition from traditional CX surveys to AI-powered conversations for real-time insights.
• Client Success: Help enterprises deliver exceptional customer experiences, enhance loyalty, and stay competitive.
• Team Synergy: Unite seasoned industry leaders with Medallia’s core team to redefine the future of CX.

Endorsements

• Orlando Bravo, Founder of Thoma Bravo:

  • "Mark’s leadership and experience position Medallia for unparalleled growth in a transformative industry."

• Mike Lipps, Medallia Board Member:

  • "With Mark at the helm, Medallia is ready to deliver even greater value and innovation for its clients."

Medallia’s new leadership marks an exciting chapter of innovation in CX and AI. With Mark Bishof at the forefront, supported by a world-class team, Medallia is set to redefine how enterprises engage with their customers, leveraging cutting-edge technology to deliver transformative experiences.

RainFocus™, the next-generation event marketing platform provider, has introduced the Destination Connector, a revolutionary data integration solution with Adobe. By enabling seamless data flow between Adobe Experience Cloud and RainFocus, the Destination Connector transforms customer data into actionable insights, delivering personalized event experiences and driving greater customer loyalty.

Key Features of the Destination Connector

1. Two-Way Data Integration

   • Connects real-time customer behaviors from Adobe Experience Cloud to RainFocus, creating a unified attendee journey.
   • Complements the Source Connector, which maps RainFocus behavioral data back into Adobe Experience Platform.

2. Enhanced Personalization

   • Fuels event personalization with enriched customer profiles.
   • Enables marketers to align year-round sales and marketing data with attendee behavior for tailored experiences.

3. Streamlined Workflows

   • Facilitates seamless collaboration between sales, marketing, and event teams.
   • Provides a constant feedback loop for informed decision-making.

Leadership Insights

• JR Sherman, CEO of RainFocus:

  • "The Destination Connector, paired with the Source Connector, creates a feedback loop that enhances customer engagement and streamlines workflows, ensuring every touchpoint is meaningful."

• Stephen Ratpojanakul, Senior Director, Adobe:

  • "Real-time access to unified customer data through solutions like the Destination Connector fuels personalization at scale, accelerating deal cycles and improving win rates."

Milestones in the Adobe Partnership

1. Adobe Platinum Partnership (2023)

   • RainFocus became a Platinum Partner, solidifying its collaboration with Adobe.

2. Event Support

   • Powered the Adobe Summit 2024, hosting over 10,000 attendees and 250+ sessions.
   • Recognized as ISV Partner of the Year for Technology Innovation at the 2024 Digital Experience Partner Awards.

3. Integration with Adobe Acrobat Sign

   • Streamlined tasks for speakers, exhibitors, and attendees with dynamic, pre-populated contracts, simplifying event participation.

Strategic Impacts

The Destination Connector empowers B2B marketers and event organizers to:

• Leverage First-Party Data: Enhance personalization and improve customer engagement.
• Drive Pipeline Growth: Accelerate acquisition cycles and improve conversion rates.
• Optimize Event Marketing: Deliver high-impact, data-driven event experiences.

The introduction of the Destination Connector reinforces RainFocus’ position as a leader in event marketing innovation. Together with Adobe, RainFocus is setting a new standard for omnichannel marketing, enabling companies to connect, personalize, and optimize every aspect of the customer and attendee journey.

ID.me, a leading digital identity wallet provider, has announced the appointment of SaaS industry veterans Brian Robins and William "Bill" Welch as independent board members. With decades of experience scaling high-growth technology companies, Robins and Welch bring expertise in financial strategy and cloud security, further strengthening ID.me's mission to simplify and secure online identity verification.

Key Highlights

1. Board Appointments

   • Brian Robins: Chief Financial Officer at GitLab Inc., will serve as Chair of ID.me’s Audit Committee.
   • Bill Welch: Chief Executive Officer of Sysdig, will serve as Chair of ID.me’s Compensation Committee and Member of the Audit Committee.

2. Strategic Leadership

   • Robins brings over 25 years of financial and strategic leadership in hyper-growth SaaS companies, IPO readiness, and capital markets.
   • Welch offers 30+ years of expertise in cybersecurity, cloud security, and scaling product development and global operations.

Insights from Leadership

• Blake Hall, Founder & CEO, ID.me:

  • "Brian’s financial acumen and Bill’s cybersecurity expertise will strengthen our efforts to keep Americans safe while transacting online."

• Brian Robins, CFO, GitLab Inc.:

  • "I’m honored to contribute to ID.me’s next phase of growth and help ensure no identity is left behind."

• Bill Welch, CEO, Sysdig:

  • "Joining ID.me’s leadership team is an exciting opportunity to enhance the online experience for millions of Americans."

Board Member Credentials

1. Brian Robins

   • Current CFO at GitLab, leading IPO readiness and financial performance.
   • Former CFO at Cylance, AlienVault, and Verisign.
   • Special Advisor at Brighton Park Capital and Advisory Council Member at ForgePoint Capital Cybersecurity.

2. Bill Welch

   • CEO of Sysdig, driving AI-powered cloud security solutions.
   • Former President and COO of Talkdesk and Zscaler, with expertise in IPOs and scaling global operations.
   • Leadership roles at Duo Security, HP Americas Software, and Symantec.

Strategic Impact

With the addition of Robins and Welch, ID.me is poised to:

• Accelerate Growth: Capitalize on financial expertise to scale operations.
• Enhance Security: Leverage cybersecurity insights to safeguard digital identities.
• Improve User Experience: Deliver a safer and more convenient identity verification process for millions of users.

ID.me’s appointment of Brian Robins and Bill Welch marks a significant step in its journey to redefine digital identity. Their combined expertise in SaaS, cybersecurity, and operational excellence ensures ID.me continues to lead the way in secure online transactions.