Yesway, one of the fastest-growing convenience store chains in the US, has named Ray Harrison its new Chief Marketing and Merchandising Officer. Harrison, a retail veteran with more than three decades of experience across marketing, category management, and omnichannel strategy, joins the company’s senior leadership team effective immediately.

From Brookshire to Yesway: A Retail Career Built on Loyalty and Merchandising

Harrison’s resume reads like a playbook for modern convenience retail. Most recently, he served as Chief Marketing Officer at Cal’s Convenience, overseeing marketing and merchandising across 500-plus stores. There, he rolled out a digital loyalty program that became a cornerstone of customer retention and spearheaded omnichannel marketing initiatives spanning social media, delivery platforms, and in-store media networks.

Earlier in his career, Harrison spent nearly two decades at Brookshire Grocery Company, moving from store-level leadership to Vice President of Category Management. His success in private label strategy and promotional execution earned him industry recognition, including PepsiCo’s Category Manager of the Year award.

A Guest-First Mandate

For Yesway—which operates both Yesway and Allsup’s branded locations—Harrison’s arrival signals a sharpened focus on customer loyalty, private-brand expansion, and foodservice growth.

“I am eager to support our store teams, strengthen supplier partnerships, and deliver growth through a sharper, guest-first merchandising strategy,” Harrison said in a statement. “Together, we will make every visit faster, friendlier, and more rewarding.”

CEO Tom Trkla framed the appointment as a strategic move to align vision with measurable results. “Ray is an exceptional leader with a proven ability to translate strategy into execution. His expertise and innovative mindset make him the ideal choice to lead our marketing and merchandising efforts as we continue to grow and evolve,” Trkla said.

Why It Matters

Yesway has been expanding aggressively in a highly competitive convenience market that includes established players like 7-Eleven, Circle K, and Casey’s. With consumer expectations shifting toward digital-first loyalty programs, mobile ordering, and curated private-label products, Harrison’s track record in data-driven merchandising could give Yesway an edge.

Beyond customer-facing programs, Harrison is also expected to deepen supplier partnerships and modernize category management strategies—both critical as convenience retail faces supply chain pressures and tighter margins.

Industry Ties

Harrison is a Certified Professional Strategic Advisor with the Category Management Association and has served on multiple advisory councils, including the Food Marketing Institute and Topco Private Brands Council. He also sits on the advisory board of the Promotions Optimization Institute (POI).

For Yesway, his blend of operational depth and marketing innovation positions the company to keep pace with an evolving retail landscape where data, personalization, and convenience are no longer optional—they’re table stakes.

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Webflow is doubling down on marketing tech. The website-building platform today announced a new integration between Webflow Optimize—its AI-powered personalization and A/B testing tool—and Adobe Marketo Engage.

The tie-up, now live on Adobe Exchange Marketplace, gives marketers the ability to use Marketo audience data to drive personalized site experiences, run advanced A/B tests, and capture real-time performance insights linked to conversions.

A Push for Connected Marketing Stacks

For many marketing teams, the challenge isn’t a lack of tools—it’s the fragmentation between them. Webflow CEO Linda Tong framed the move as an answer to growing complexity:

“Marketers are being asked to do more with fewer resources, and the technology stack has become a barrier rather than a multiplier,” Tong said. “Webflow is simplifying what it takes to create high-performing web experiences. This integration with Adobe Marketo Engage helps teams move from fragmented workflows to faster, smarter, and more connected marketing.”

In other words, fewer open tabs, more closed deals.

Building on Adobe Summit Momentum

This isn’t Webflow’s first dance with Adobe. At Adobe Summit 2025, the company highlighted its integration with Adobe Express—launched in late 2024—which brought Firefly-powered generative AI image editing directly into the Webflow platform. That move cut friction out of creative workflows, speeding up design and publishing.

Now, with Marketo Engage added to the mix, Webflow is stitching together a marketing stack where creative, personalization, and optimization can flow seamlessly.

Who’s Already Using It?

Global brands including IBM Bank, Greenhouse, ABM Industries, and Dropbox are already tapping into the combined strengths of Webflow and Adobe’s ecosystem. The appeal: personalization at scale, backed by measurable performance data, without cobbling together multiple disconnected platforms.

The Bigger Picture

The timing is no accident. AI-driven personalization is quickly becoming table stakes, not a nice-to-have. Rivals like HubSpot, Salesforce, and Oracle are also layering AI into their marketing automation suites. For Webflow, leaning on Adobe’s massive install base—and extending its own Optimize tool into that world—signals a push to move beyond being “just” a website builder into being a central player in the martech stack.

For marketers, the promise is clear: a smoother path to personalization, without the endless juggling act between platforms. Whether Webflow can turn that promise into competitive edge against the bigger suites remains to be seen—but this integration shows it’s serious about the fight.

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TNL Mediagene (Nasdaq: TNMG), the Tokyo-based digital media and data group, is giving Japan’s $5 billion content marketing industry an AI makeover. Its long-running marketing subsidiary, Infobahn, today announced a comprehensive AI-powered content marketing initiative designed to streamline everything from market research to campaign analysis—while still keeping human creativity in the loop.

The move comes as Japanese brands lean harder into multi-channel campaigns that mix SEO, social media, and visually driven storytelling. In a crowded market where infographics, videos, and branded content often make or break consumer attention, the ability to scale high-quality content faster could be a game changer.

Infobahn’s 26-Year Playbook, Now with AI

Infobahn isn’t a newcomer to content strategy. With more than two decades of experience serving Japan’s biggest brands, the firm has built a reputation around sharp visuals, cultural nuance, and narrative-driven marketing. Now it’s layering in AI across the entire content pipeline:

• Market & Competitor Analysis: Rapid AI-driven scans of competitor positioning to uncover differentiation opportunities.

• Strategy & Ideation: Persona design and customer journey mapping informed by research and planners, with AI used to refine insights.

• Content Creation: Human directors handle messaging, interviews, and fact-checking, while generative AI supports structure and consistency.

• Performance Analysis: AI crunches engagement and conversion data, spotting insights for faster optimization cycles.

In short: automation where it makes sense, humans where it matters.

Human-in-the-Loop, By Design

Co-founder and President Motoko Imada described the launch as a natural extension of Infobahn’s mission to help clients build brand identity through storytelling. The difference now is speed and scale.

Chief Content Officer Hiroto Kobayashi emphasized that AI alone isn’t the answer. “To integrate AI into our business, it is crucial to strategically design a Human-In-The-Loop system, where human professionals act as gatekeepers. This approach is key to building trust and empathy,” he said. The company’s philosophy: AI expands human capability, it doesn’t replace it.

Market Context and Financial Clout

The timing aligns with Japan’s growing appetite for polished, culturally relevant campaigns. Japanese consumers are highly responsive to visual and narrative-driven content, making the market fertile ground for AI-augmented strategies that still feel authentic.

Infobahn is also pulling its weight financially. In FY2024, the Digital Studio unit—where Infobahn sits—generated $20.5 million in revenue, a 33% year-over-year jump, contributing nearly half of TNL Mediagene’s consolidated revenue of $48.5 million. While adjusted earnings remain near break-even, the growth trajectory underscores how central content marketing has become to the company’s overall strategy.

Why It Matters

TNL Mediagene is hardly alone in bringing AI into marketing workflows—global players like HubSpot, Salesforce, and Adobe are racing to add similar capabilities. But Infobahn’s long history in Japan, combined with its explicit human-in-the-loop framework, could give it an edge in a market that values trust and cultural nuance as much as data and automation.

If successful, this initiative may not only sharpen Infobahn’s position in Japan but also signal how other regional players in Asia approach the balance between AI efficiency and human empathy in marketing.

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Brilliant PR & Marketing has a new look—and a sharper mission. The agency, long known for its consumer-centric public relations expertise, has rebranded as simply Brilliant, reflecting its evolution into a full-funnel performance marketing player.

The new identity isn’t just a logo swap. Brilliant is unifying services that traditionally live in silos—PR, affiliate marketing, paid media, influencer campaigns, experiential activations, and even social shopping—into a single, integrated brand storytelling engine. In short, it’s aiming to be the one-stop shop for brands that want awareness and measurable results.

From PR Roots to Performance Powerhouse

“Brand awareness is just the beginning,” said Founder and CEO Kathleen Tomes. “Our campaigns deliver at the highest level—driving sales, sparking conversations, and generating measurable results.”

That sentiment underscores the agency’s repositioning. Brilliant is no longer positioning PR as a standalone lever; instead, it’s reframing it as part of a performance marketing ecosystem designed to drive outcomes across the funnel.

A Deep Bench of Talent

Brilliant’s leadership team is stacked with veterans from some of the world’s most influential agencies, including Ogilvy, Havas, Edelman, and Gallery Media Group. The mix of long-time insiders and new recruits signals a push to blend institutional expertise with fresh thinking in areas like social commerce, retail activation, and data-driven paid strategies.

Why It Matters

The rebrand comes at a time when agencies are being asked to prove impact beyond earned media hits. With influencer campaigns blurring into e-commerce, and performance marketing dictating budget allocation, Brilliant’s repositioning reflects where the industry is heading: toward unified strategies that collapse PR, creative, and commerce into one growth engine.

For clients, the message is clear: this isn’t just PR anymore. Brilliant wants to be the bridge between product and positioning, story and scale.

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5WPR, one of the largest independently owned PR agencies in the U.S., is doubling down on influencer marketing as the creator economy continues to evolve. With platforms reshaping their algorithms, audiences demanding more authenticity, and brands seeking measurable ROI, the agency has expanded its influencer capabilities into a full-scale, end-to-end offering.

The upgraded practice covers strategy, talent sourcing, partnership management, content development, execution, and performance analytics. 5WPR says its influencer programs are customized around client goals across sectors like consumer goods, food and beverage, health and wellness, travel, tech, and lifestyle.

“Influencer marketing is no longer a one-size-fits-all tactic—it’s a brand-building engine that has to adapt to cultural shifts, platform trends, and business outcomes,” said Leigh Ann Ambrosi, Managing Partner and EVP, CPG & Lifestyle at 5WPR. “At 5W, we’ve built a model that pairs creative storytelling with smart targeting to deliver real results.”

The agency works with influencers at every tier—nano, micro, and celebrity—across both earned and paid campaigns. Its proprietary approach spans influencer vetting, contract negotiations, creative direction, FTC compliance, and ROI reporting.

The move comes as brands face mounting pressure in an oversaturated digital space, where consumer fatigue and regulatory scrutiny challenge traditional influencer playbooks. 5WPR aims to cut through the noise by integrating influencer work with broader PR, social, and digital campaigns.

Already behind award-winning influencer programs across consumer and corporate categories, 5WPR says it will continue to invest in creator partnerships as part of its broader push toward innovation and strategic growth.

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Integrum AB, the Swedish medtech company best known for its OPRA™ Implant System, is betting that better language—not just better hardware—can accelerate adoption of bone-anchored prosthetics. At the American Orthotic & Prosthetic Association’s National Assembly in Orlando, the company rolled out a global marketing strategy built around a new term: BondedMatrix™.

The phrase isn’t describing a new feature so much as a new way of talking about what OPRA already does: integrate soft tissue and bone into a stable, long-term connection. It’s the biological barrier formed after healing that makes OPRA stand apart from conventional socket-based prosthetics and rival implant systems. Now, instead of a mouthful of surgical and biomechanical jargon, clinicians and patients can point to a simple, memorable label.

Why Naming Matters

For years, OPRA’s differentiator has been its ability to create a dependable, dry skin-to-implant interface—something that matters deeply for amputees worried about infections and long-term comfort. But the benefits have often been buried in technical language. “This initiative is about creating a common language that makes OPRA’s advantages more accessible,” said Jeffrey Zanni, President of Integrum Inc.

It’s not just marketing gloss. By coining BondedMatrix™, Integrum hopes to give doctors, prosthetists, and patients a shorthand that drives both clinical trust and patient demand. Think of it as branding the invisible—but critical—layer of protection that’s been part of OPRA since its inception.

Market Context

The timing is telling. With over 1,000 OPRA implants already placed worldwide and decades of refinement by Dr. Rickard Brånemark, Integrum is trying to expand awareness as competition in advanced prosthetics heats up. Rival systems often tout modular upgrades or advanced materials, but they still struggle to achieve consistent long-term skin-bone integration.

“Patients want a dependable and dry skin-implant interface—a BondedMatrix,” said Dr. Jason Souza of Ohio State University, a leading voice in amputation care. “The OPRA Implant System is the only one that can reliably deliver it.”

What’s Next

Beyond the rebrand, Integrum is doubling down on education. At booth #931 during AOPA 2025, the company is offering live discussions and resources for clinicians. A dedicated dinner session led by Dr. Souza will spotlight patient outcomes and real-world performance of OPRA implants.

Whether BondedMatrix™ sticks as a household term remains to be seen. But in a space where trust, reliability, and long-term outcomes drive adoption, giving people the language to demand the right technology might be as important as the implants themselves.

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MotionPoint, best known for its website localization tech, is expanding its playbook. The company just unveiled Transcreation for Marketing, an AI-powered self-serve solution designed to help global teams adapt marketing assets—ads, emails, presentations, even social posts—with cultural nuance.

It’s a move that pushes MotionPoint beyond translation and into something closer to cultural marketing. As Evan Kramer, CEO of MotionPoint, put it: “Delivering assets that not only speak the language but reflect the culture and context of each market is the next step in our mission.”

From Translation to Transcreation

Website localization has been MotionPoint’s bread and butter for years, but marketing teams often run into a gap: they may have a perfectly localized site, but the follow-up campaigns—ads, landing pages, social—fall flat if they’re just translated. MotionPoint’s new platform aims to close that gap by keeping tone, brand intent, and emotional resonance consistent across channels.

The tool allows marketers to upload text or documents, which are then AI-adapted for cultural context. Features include:

• AI-driven cultural adaptation for messaging and tone

• Glossaries and brand voice protection to preserve identity and product names

• Optional human review for nuance and authenticity

• Simple upload workflows for assets like PDFs and decks

The end result? A marketing experience that doesn’t just “work” in another language but actually lands with the intended audience.

Why It Matters

Consumers are savvy, and “just translated” content often feels generic, clunky, or even tone-deaf. MotionPoint argues that true global marketing requires parity—where every touchpoint, from a website to an Instagram ad, feels equally on-brand and culturally fluent.

This fits into a bigger trend in martech: brands are investing heavily in cultural personalization as competition for digital attention grows. It’s no longer enough to have localized sites; the supporting campaigns must feel native too.

MarketFully’s Bigger Picture

The launch also ties into the broader strategy of MarketFully, MotionPoint’s parent company. MarketFully wants to be the first platform to unify website translation, transcreation, and content creation under one roof. They call it InContent Marketing—content that’s in-language, in-culture, and in-market.

For marketers stretched thin, that means a chance to scale culturally fluent campaigns without waiting weeks for traditional localization pipelines. “The Transcreation for Marketing solution conserves a brand’s identity and voice while ensuring the content connects,” said Kajetan Malinowski, VP of Product at MarketFully.

If MotionPoint pulls this off, it could position itself as more than a localization vendor—it becomes a cultural intelligence partner for global marketing teams.

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Artificial intelligence has gone mainstream in marketing. According to Basis Technologies’ latest annual survey, every marketing leader reported that their teams are using AI in advertising and marketing workflows, with 95% of professionals leveraging generative or agentic AI at least monthly—and a third using it daily.

The survey, titled AI and the Future of Marketing, polled 140 professionals across agencies, brands, and publishers in August 2025, revealing how AI tools are shaping productivity, risk, and workforce dynamics.

AI Adoption Is Exploding

The most common AI applications are ideation and research, cited by 76% or more of respondents. ChatGPT dominates as the tool of choice, used by 88% of professionals, far ahead of other AI platforms. Paid AI subscriptions are also on the rise, with over 65% of organizations investing in premium tools, up from 44% in 2024.

Efficiency gains are palpable: more than 73% of respondents reported being moderately or significantly more productive over the past year thanks to AI—a notable jump from 54% in 2024.

Yet adoption doesn’t always mean automation. Only 20% of organizations currently “employ” AI agents, and while 25% report having replaced—or planning to replace—employees with AI, most professionals (66%) feel little risk of losing their own roles in the next 3–5 years.

Rising Concerns and Risks

AI’s rapid adoption comes with growing apprehension. Survey respondents cited brand safety, misinformation, copyright liability, and environmental impact as key risks:

• 86% are concerned about copyright and legal exposure

• 70% support regulation of AI’s development and use

• 63% are worried about AI’s energy footprint

• 100% see generative AI as a brand safety risk, with 40% calling it significant

Interestingly, nearly one in five marketers report deprioritizing SEO because of AI’s influence on search, signaling a shift in digital strategy priorities.

The Industry Implications

The survey underscores a broader industry trend: AI is no longer optional for marketers. Tools like generative AI and automated analysis are embedded into daily workflows, accelerating ideation, content creation, and campaign optimization. However, professionals must balance these gains with oversight, governance, and ethical considerations.

“The Basis annual AI survey shows that this is an unstoppable force in business, especially advertising and marketing,” said Katie McAdams, CMO of Basis Technologies. “AI’s benefits far outweigh concerns for now, but marketers must remain vigilant about its unintended consequences.”

For agencies and brands, the message is clear: adopt AI strategically, maximize efficiency, and remain mindful of risks—or risk falling behind in a digital-first, AI-driven marketing landscape.

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