Reaching new heights with consumer engagement and revenue acceleration.

In a groundbreaking move set to transform the retail marketing landscape, Alpine IQ (AIQ) announces its strategic acquisition of Dispense Software, a pioneer in ecommerce menuing solutions for regulated markets. Set to revolutionize retail marketing, the titan in behavioral automation and loyalty will now offer brands and retailers an unparalleled toolset to enhance consumer engagement and supercharge revenue growth.

Dispense — known industry-wide for their innovative digital menuing and unmatched SEO expertise — empowers customers with a no-code platform that streamlines order management and optimizes customer engagement. The acquisition of Dispense represents an expansion of Alpine IQ’s goal to deliver a full range of products designed to seamlessly run core business needs and drive greater ROI efforts.

A strategic play to fill a crucial void

In an industry where retailers are increasingly concerned about competitive marketplaces and the rising costs of customer acquisition, this merger offers a compelling alternative.

“With Dispense, retailers gain native SEO benefits and the freedom to build their customer base and brand without relying on marketplaces,” said Kyla Sirni, Co-founder and CEO of Dispense. “By joining forces with Alpine IQ’s leading data and marketing platform, we can help retailers strengthen their strategies with a comprehensive suite of integrated ecommerce and marketing tools to help them thrive in a digital landscape.”

“Our biggest challenge has been enhancing the shopping and recapture abilities within our loyalty app, which serves over 110 million shoppers,” said Nick Paschal, CEO of Alpine IQ. “The acquisition of Dispense is a game-changer, allowing us to significantly improve conversion rates and create more engaging, gamified experiences within retailer-owned apps.”

The brand looks to leverage both proprietary softwares to enable retailers to extend the average customer interaction from a few minutes in-store to a lifetime of loyalty and repeat business.

Integrating advanced features for the future of online shopping

Looking ahead, Alpine IQ is set to integrate a multitude of innovative features that promise to elevate the digital shopping experience. “We're in the process of integrating features that will redefine how the customer shops online; from chat and personalized product recommendations to menu customization and seamless checkout processes,” shared Tim Officer, Co-founder and CTO of Dispense. “The products’ future includes a wide range of enhancements aimed at reducing customer frustrations often found in disparate technology stacks.”

Retailers can look forward to a seamlessly integrated platform compatible with popular point-of-sale systems such as Treez, Dutchie, Flowhub, Cova, and Square. “This makes it easier than ever for retailers to become the consumer destinations that modern shoppers expect,” Paschal emphasized.

Expanding reach and setting new industry standards

The acquisition is not just about enhancing Alpine IQ's current offerings but also about broadening its impact across various sectors. “This move opens the door for us to expand our shopping capabilities into new industries, where we're rapidly increasing our footprint,” Paschal noted.

AIQ is committed to a comprehensive list of enhancements to the platform, incorporating features like in-cart upsells, abandoned cart recapture, and extensive analytics for both in-store and wholesale operations. Paschal goes on to explain, “our goal is to offer a holistic solution that not only meets, but exceeds, the expectations of today's retailers and their customers.”

A testament to growth and innovation

Alpine IQ's impressive trajectory from a modest $150k in revenue in 2020 to $26 million in 2023 underscores the company's exceptional growth and strategic vision. With a commitment to financial prudence and innovation, AIQ has not only knocked down stereotypes but has set a new standard for success in regulated industries and beyond.

Honoring the Dispense legacy and vision

In acquiring Dispense, Alpine IQ celebrates the remarkable journey of a female-led company, grown under the leadership of Kyla Sirni. Dispense's path to profitability and its status as a beacon in legal market cannabis technology are testaments to the ingenuity and dedication of the team.

As part of AIQ, Dispense will be positioned to continue their mission of empowering retailers to manage operations on their own terms. The company is committed to preserving the Dispense legacy, retaining all staff and further enriching the ecommerce platform with new resources and data analytics capabilities.

ClickTech, a leading provider of AdTech software solutions and dedicated channel support making digital marketing accessible and more cost-effective for all businesses, today announced the release of V4 of Adzooma, its award winning online marketing platform.

Managing over 150,000 advertising accounts and overseeing an annual spend of over $1.2 billion, the platform has been visually re-designed from the ground up to be faster, much more intuitive, and simpler to use.

ClickTech Co-Founder David Sharpe said, "As a company, we strive to help businesses of all sizes to unlock the full potential of their paid ad campaigns across Google, Microsoft, and Facebook Ads with AI-powered insights and tailored recommendations. With the new release of Adzooma V4, we're building on our legacy as a leader in the AdTech space to deliver a platform to maximize efficiency and performance for businesses of all sizes."

Building on the recent awarding of Microsoft Advertising's EMEA Channel Partner of the Year Award, and the deep Google Ads integration of previous versions, Adzooma V4 expands its insights with Performance Reports and improved Opportunities for Meta Ads, allowing users to optimize assets and reduce wastage across more channels than ever before.

Hannah Tillotson, Head of Customer Success said, "We worked very closely with customers on building the roadmap for Adzooma V4, and the end result is an extremely powerful tool for managing your paid media accounts, whether you're a single business, or an agency overseeing multiple accounts. As well as the exciting technology we're delivering with today's release, our customers can also leverage our award-winning partnerships with the likes of Google and Microsoft to access the latest in AdTech and paid media opportunities, including exciting innovations such as Microsoft Performance Max and Netflix Ads".

Analysis of millions of ON24 experiences reveals global benchmarks for B2B digital engagement and ways for sales and marketing teams to increase results

Today ON24, a leading intelligent engagement platform for B2B sales and marketing, announced its annual, “2024 Digital Engagement Benchmarks Report,” to unveil the key trends in B2B customer and prospect digital behavior, and how go-to-market organizations can innovate across channels to increase their pipeline and revenue growth. 

Based on analysis of millions of B2B professionals engaging across hundreds of thousands of webinars, virtual events and content experiences in 2023, a critical finding is the significant impact of personalization on marketing channel performance – when a digital experience is personalized, B2B prospects and customers nearly double their engagement with calls-to-actions and are four times more likely to progress their buying journey, enabling sales and marketing teams to deliver greater ROI and business results.

"For the past decade, go-to-market teams have known the power of personalization to unlock business results, but the challenge of scaling personalization has stood in the way,” said Callan Young, CMO, ON24. “Now, with the rise of AI, we believe there is a tremendous opportunity for sales and marketers to achieve both personalization and scale, helping businesses significantly increase revenue performance while improving their efficiency. Our findings demonstrate the potential for AI-powered personalization and content to make digital engagement more intelligent and transform the B2B buying experience.”

With digital engagement continuing to grow year-over-year (YoY), the report identified the shifts in B2B customer and prospect digital behavior in the past two years, including the following highlights:

• Engagement with digital experiences is intensifying - The average number of unique interactions per attendee increased by 20% since 2021.
• B2B customers and prospects are demonstrating higher buying intent - Requests for product demonstrations per attendee from webinar experiences grew by nearly 60%.
• Personalization is making a significant impact on the B2B buying journey - Engagement with calls-to-actions increased by nearly 70% YoY, requests for product demonstrations grew by 4X and conversion rates doubled for personalized experiences YoY.
• Audiences want to engage with experiences anytime, anywhere - The average number of unique interactions per attendee within on-demand experiences grew by 13% YoY.
• Audience demand for content is greater than ever, increasing the need for generative AI: The number of content hub visitors increased by 2X YoY and content views in personalized experiences were up almost 40% YoY.

Sendlane, the unified retention marketing solution for eCommerce brands, elevates merchant capabilities and the customer experience with an exciting update to its signature email and SMS marketing suite. Today, the SaaS company announced the launch of Forms, a user-friendly tool enabling eCommerce merchants to grow their email and SMS lists easily at no additional cost.

"At Sendlane, our mission is to unify the tech stack for eCommerce merchants. After multiple successes with our additions of SMS and Reviews, we knew it was time for a significant upgrade to our outdated Pop-ups product to meet the marketplace's ever-changing needs. We are proud to bring another incredible product to our customers, Sendlane Forms, with new advanced features and an easy-to-use UI, for free," says Jimmy Kim, Founder and CIO of Sendlane.

Now, our users can achieve optimal results with the Sendlane Forms tool, featuring robust options ranging from customizable layouts to advanced targeting and comprehensive performance data. Notable Forms features include:

• User-Friendly UI: Publish high-converting forms with customizable layouts, built-in legal jargon, and drag-and-drop functionality for fast implementation.
• Content Customization: Create compelling, branded forms using new styling options and updated fonts. Plus, save content blocks with Global Styling for quick building.
• Versatile Collection & Layout Options: Choose from multiple mobile and desktop layouts to collect consent via Email only, SMS only, or Email and SMS.
• Multiple Ways to Collect Information: Capture lead details and key data points with inline, pop-up, and banner forms.
• Questionnaires for Deeper Insights: Understand your audience's preferences to create personalized, targeted automations and campaigns that truly resonate.
• Advanced Targeting: Leverage new targeting rules to show up when and where it matters most with controlled frequency, URL and location inclusion/exclusion, and display triggers.
• Comprehensive Performance Data: Gain impactful insight into track impressions, click-through rates, emails and SMS conversions, and form lifetime value.

EX.CO solidifies its position as the leading video platform for publishers with new GCPP certification 

EX.CO, the world's leading publisher video technology platform empowering publishers to own their video content and monetization strategies, today announced its recognition as a Google Certified Publishing Partner (GCPP). This certification reinforces EX.CO's expertise in delivering cutting-edge video solutions for publishers to further engage audiences and increase monetization opportunities.

As a platform specifically designed for publishers, EX.CO always prioritizes publishers' needs by providing solutions such as a machine-learning-based yield engine, AI-driven contextual recommendations, and access to a premium video content marketplace which makes it easy for publishers to achieve 100% video coverage on their websites. This Google certification solidifies EX.CO's credibility as a technology provider and reinforces EX.CO's ability to support publishers with everything they need to execute a successful video content and monetization strategy at scale.

Certified Publishing Partners are vetted by Google and must pass all Google's policies that drive premium user experiences, implement best practices that drive higher yield, and prove that they have established a strong track record of helping publishers succeed through customer feedback and surveys. As publishers continue to seek out effective tools for challenges they face such as economic trends, audiences flocking to social media platforms, and the future without third-party cookies, Google and EX.CO are providing solutions for them to make more informed decisions when it comes to video.

"Our ongoing alliance with Google has been instrumental in cementing our status as a trusted partner for publishers. Achieving recognition through the GCPP program is a source of pride and marks a significant achievement for our entire team," said EX.CO co-founder and CEO, Tom Pachys. "We look forward to working with Google further to continue driving innovation and delivering more future solutions to publishers."

EX.CO's AI-driven and machine-learning-based solutions for video management, video monetization, content automation, and video recommendation are trusted by some of the largest publishers globally including The Arena Group, CBSi, Hearst Newspapers, and Nasdaq. Becoming a Google Certified Publishing Partner strengthens EX.CO's position as a trusted industry leader for publishers and opens more opportunities to deliver premium video technology to a vast network of publishers.

New GenAI-Powered Platform Integrates Social Impact Into Salesforce Customer 360

ScaleWith, the #1 Social Impact AI company, recently announced the public beta availability of its GenAI-powered platform Social Impact Copilot™. This advanced AI tool, built on OpenAI technology and available on the AppExchange, works alongside Salesforce’s Einstein Copilot to transform how businesses align with their customers’ values. 

Social Impact Copilot™ seamlessly integrates with Einstein Copilot to help businesses align marketing & sales strategies to deepen customer relationships, drive profits and create operational efficiencies. Social Impact Copilot™ extracts insights from Salesforce's Data Cloud and enriches customer data with CSR, Sustainability and social impact insights, allowing for a deeper understanding of customer needs and societal trends.

Social Impact Copilot™ brings new vitality to Salesforce’s 1-1-1 philanthropy model, which dedicates 1% each of company equity, product, and employee time to local communities. ScaleWith introduces the 1-1-1 2.0 model. This enhanced framework incorporates a second layer of ‘1’ by integrating data-driven social impact strategies into core business operations enabling sales organizations to achieve better win rates, shorter sales cycles and improved client retention, while directing critical funding to address our most pressing global challenges.

“The partnership between ScaleWith and Salesforce is a game-changer, set to redefine what success means for customers,” said Jim Tantaro, Chief Customer Officer at ScaleWith. “By turning every interaction into an opportunity for impact, we are making success synonymous with positive change, ensuring that our customers thrive by driving higher revenues and profits and improving the quality of people's lives in communities around the world."

Following 11+ years in senior leadership roles at Twitter, Riedy Will Lead Business Operations, Sales, and Marketing for the Performance TV Advertising Platform

tvScientific, the leading performance advertising platform for connected TV (CTV), today announced that the company hired Chris Riedy as Chief Revenue Officer. In his new role, Riedy will be responsible for driving integration and alignment between all revenue-related functions, including marketing, sales, customer support, pricing and revenue management.

Chris brings 25 years of sales, business development & marketing experience to tvScientific. Following the acquisition of Twitter / X by Elon Musk, Chris led the Global Sales and Marketing practice out of San Francisco. Before that, he was based in Dublin, Ireland, and served as Vice President, EMEA, leading Twitter's business practice for Europe, Middle East and Africa. Formerly, Chris managed teams focused on helping top clients and partners within the US successfully leverage Twitter’s platform to meet their marketing and business objectives.

“Technology has dramatically changed the TV landscape, and I couldn’t be more excited to join tvScientific as the company drives innovation and performance for advertisers of every description,” Riedy said. “tvScientific is redefining what’s possible with CTV advertising, having the opportunity to combine an incredibly creative medium - TV Advertising - with precise targeting and one-to-one outcomes is exactly what advertisers of all shapes and sizes are looking for. I count myself very fortunate to be a part of it.”

Riedy joins tvScientific amidst the ongoing transition of the $72 billion TV advertising market to programmatic execution, as technologies emerge that enable the buying and measurement of TV advertising in a manner similar to the $200 billion search and social media market. CTV advertising is expected to grow by 22.4% globally in 2024 to $25.9 billion, according to GroupM’s mid-year forecast.

“Chris is uniquely qualified to drive tvScientific's go-to-market strategy and execution into our next stage of growth,” said Jason Fairchild, CEO. “His relationships across the industry, as well as his 25-year track record of growing teams from early stages to billions per year in revenue, is exactly the right fit for tvScientific.”

Prior to his time at Twitter, Riedy led business development, strategy and product marketing at a variety of venture-backed startups.

Compulse, a leading marketing technology and managed services company built for local media and agencies, and TapClicks, a leading provider of Smart Marketing solutions, including unified marketing operations, analytics, and reporting platforms for digital marketing, today announced a strategic partnership to help their clients accelerate and manage advertising campaigns.

The partnership integrates software and services from both companies to streamline and optimize omnichannel advertising campaigns. The integration adds functionality, eliminates the need for manual data re-entry, reduces the likelihood of human error, and dramatically speeds up the sales process, campaign creation, and go-live timelines. Simultaneously, campaign metrics from Compulse will feed into TapClicks’ analytics and reporting platform while reducing media costs and fees for all customers.

“Local media companies and agencies need a better way to manage their rapidly growing digital business,” said Martin Kristiseter, Managing Director at Compulse. “Our joint customers no longer need costly point systems for media planning, proposal generation and omnichannel fulfillment. Our unified solution greatly enhances our customers’ ability to generate more revenue, improve profit margins, and increase operational efficiencies to future-proof their businesses.”

The partnership between Compulse and TapClicks comes at a time when media investments are shifting toward programmatic activation, and marketers demand greater transparency. Compulse and TapClicks address that demand by providing technology to enhance and streamline marketers’ workflow, delivering greater insight into where and how media dollars are being spent. The efficiencies gained from this collaboration translate into savings for marketers. These savings can be reinvested in more working media or allocated towards enhancing operational margin, ultimately driving greater value for businesses across the industry.

“Partnerships are part of our DNA,” said Chel Heler, Executive General Manager at TapClicks. “The breadth of complementary technology and services between TapClicks and Compulse gives us an unprecedented opportunity to create a powerful end-to-end solution and generate huge efficiencies for our collective customers.”