Optimizely customers can easily access Writer's enterprise-grade, industry-specific generative AI capabilities within the Optimizely Content Marketing Platform 

Optimizely, the leading digital experience platform (DXP) provider, has announced that a new product integration with Writer, the enterprise-focused generative AI platform, is now live. The integration comes after the official partnership announcement in October and equips the Optimizely Content Marketing Platform (CMP) with first-of-its-kind AI capabilities that enable joint customers to harness the power of industry-specific LLMs to develop content that is relevant, compliant, and consistent with their existing brand tone and voice, and highly tailored to industry audiences – further simplifying the entire content marketing lifecycle.

Writer's integration into Optimizely One marks another milestone in the DXP provider's commitment to investing in its own AI future, while still offering customers cutting-edge solutions in the moment. The integration will leverage the Palmyra, the Writer-built family of large language models, to enhance AI-powered content generation capabilities and chat features across Optimizely applications. Palmyra LLMs are transparent and auditable, top-scoring on benchmarks like Stanford HELM, and keep customers' data private. They are coupled with the Writer-built graph-based RAG Knowledge Graph, AI guardrails to enforce brand and compliance rules, and a flexible application layer that serves a wide range of use cases, resulting in a strong AI platform that meets unique enterprise needs.

"Optimizely is proud to offer secure, powerful AI tools that give users much-needed certainty amidst the surge of generative AI solutions on the market today," said Alex Atzberger, CEO of Optimizely. "While we are continuing to invest in our own AI capabilities across Optimizely One, we see the immense value of providing customers access to Writer's industry-specific LLMs to enhance content creation and deliver great digital experiences."

"We are thrilled to partner with Optimizely on this integration to bring real generative AI value to enterprises ," said May Habib, CEO of Writer. "Offering mutual customers access to capabilities that deliver seamless AI content generation and the best-in-class user experience, will empower organizations to infuse AI into all of their business processes and maximize efficiencies."

In a move to further streamline the process of making e-commerce sites more accessible for people with disabilities, accessiBe has announced the release of its accessibility app, available to purchase for merchants via Shopify, one of the world's leading content management systems.

Thousands of online stores hosted on Shopify are already leveraging accessiBe's solutions to achieve and maintain better web accessibility. This newly introduced app is designed to make the purchase and installation process even smoother, simplifying the user experience by seamlessly integrating accessiBe's app into the merchant's store.

The escalating prominence of e-commerce in the consumer purchasing journey is evident, with 2023 data from Statista showing that 43% of consumers now prefer online shopping over visiting physical stores, highlighting a significant shift in shopping behaviors.

This shift underscores the need for e-commerce websites to be accessible, particularly given that one in four Americans lives with a disability. However, an audit conducted by accessiBe on 100,000 leading e-commerce websites found that only 7.4% met accessibility standards. This issue is not just an ethical concern but a business consideration, evidenced by the fact that in 2023, according to Forbes, over 82% of lawsuits filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) targeted e-commerce businesses. These statistics support the importance of accessible online shopping experiences. In 2024, accessiBe is committed to addressing the fast-rising demands for e-commerce accessibility and boosting awareness about the value of having a more inclusive online marketplace.

Dekel Skoop, CEO of accessiBe: "The release of accessiBe's app for the Shopify CMS, is another step forward in bringing web accessibility and inclusion to the business world at scale. One of the main barriers to web accessibility is awareness. Making this app available at the Shofiy's app store aims to both boost awareness and streamline the processes for businesses to take that step to make their site more accessible and inclusive."

Veritonic, the industry’s comprehensive audio analytics and research platform, announced today a new tier of their Brand Lift solution, Brand Lift Pulse. The self-serve solution is the first of its kind, removing long-standing barriers to brand health and campaign performance data.

Brand Lift Pulse provides brands with access to actionable awareness, favorability, use, intent, and recall data for audio campaigns of all sizes. Additionally, audio platforms and networks can now offer this highly coveted data to clients at every spend level and campaign size, providing invaluable insights that were historically reserved for substantial campaign investments.

“At Veritonic, we are firm believers in democratizing access to essential data for audio success, advocating for the principle that every brand, agency, and platform should have the tools they need, irrespective of their size, scale, or investment capacity,” said Scott Simonelli, Founder and CEO of Veritonic. “Brand Lift Pulse not only levels the playing field, but also empowers every player incorporating audio into their marketing strategy. It ensures that all stakeholders can maintain a keen awareness of market dynamics, equipped with the essential data and metrics necessary for informed decision-making in both current and future audio campaigns.”

Similar to Veritonic’s Standard and Custom tiers of Brand Lift, Pulse includes demographic segmentation, custom questions, reporting, best practices, in-platform access to data, and more.

“Brand Lift has long been a measurement modality reserved for more established brands spending significant amounts of money, and ones that focus on top of funnel brand metrics,” said Korri Kolesa, CRO at Veritonic. “Brand lift metrics are crucial for brands of all sizes and as the audio space has matured, so has the needs of its advertisers. Brand Lift Pulse goes beyond the conventional focus on bottom-of-the-funnel metrics, providing comprehensive support for brands seeking a holistic understanding of their impact. Similar to how the advent of attribution transformed the advertiser mix in audio, we are now witnessing brand lift spearhead the next era of confidence in the medium."

The leading provider of independent and holistic audio data and analytics, the Veritonic platform is supporting the audio strategies of leading brands, agencies, and platforms around the world.

Whatfix, the global leader among digital adoption platforms (DAP), today announced the launch of yet another new product called Mirror, which is set to revolutionize systems training and product showcasing.

Mirror creates hyper-realistic and interactive replicas of web applications for immersive training and product demonstrations without any of the risks of live system engagement. IT departments will cut down significant infrastructure and manpower costs associated with maintaining additional application environments. Several large enterprises, including Fortune 500 companies, have realized value during the initial trials of Mirror, which is slated for Beta release in Q2'24.  

"Whatfix remains dedicated to improving user experiences, and with the launch of Mirror, we not only added a cutting-edge product line to our portfolio but also strengthened our position in Digital Adoption Platforms (DAP) and Analytics. This expansion underscores our commitment to revolutionizing user experiences, reducing costs, and accelerating the return on investment for digital transformations," said Khadim Batti, Whatfix CEO and co-founder.

"I'd best describe the University of Oxford's partnership with Whatfix as a transformative journey, with its Digital Adoption Platform (DAP) as a cornerstone of our digital strategy," said David Evans, Instructional Designer and IT Trainer at the University of Oxford. "Beyond the DAP solution, Whatfix has been a catalyst for innovation, simplifying complex processes and empowering teams for seamless navigation in the digital landscape. Whatfix's user-centric approach perfectly aligns with the University of Oxford's commitment to delivering exceptional customer experiences. Our experience with Whatfix has been a game-changer, reshaping how we navigate technology, ensuring smooth transitions, and serving as the secret sauce to our digital success."

2023 Highlights of Whatfix's achievements:

Turbocharged Growth and Expansion 
Whatfix registered a second year of top decile Year-over-Year (YoY) 45% growth in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) and a substantial 35% YoY increase in new revenue generated from existing customers. The company celebrated the successful closure of six deals exceeding $1 million, underscoring the need for organization-wide DAP implementations in large enterprises. A 40% surge in the Average Revenue Per Account, affirmed the increasing trust of existing customers. Further, 45% of customers chose to expand their engagement with Whatfix, showcasing the platform's enduring value and positive impact on user experience. The company added nine Fortune 500 companies, taking the number to 79, and saw a notable influx of 168 new customers, including Schindler Elevator Corporation, Orange, Brown & Brown Insurance, Benco Dental, the City of Baltimore, and Pepperdine University.

Sustaining Industry Leadership 
Whatfix has secured the position of the only DAP vendor named a leader in the inaugural Workplace Employee Experience Management (WEEM) Platforms PEAK Matrix^® by the Everest Group in 2023.

The 4.5/5 rating on the Gartner peer site and top DAP company rank on the Deloitte Technology Fast 500™North America for three consecutive years emphasize Whatfix's commitment to excellence. The company also earned other industry accolades, including Globee and Stevie Awards.

Strengthened Product Pipeline
Product Analytics, launched in 2023, registered a remarkable 5X ARR growth YoY, adding 50 new logos, including 48% from Global 2000 and Fortune 500 enterprises. The expansion of Whatfix Product Analytics to support Desktop applications reflects the commitment to becoming the vendor of choice, providing a seamless, no-code analytics platform for enterprises.

Another product launched last year was Enterprise Insights. Features like QuickRead, Survey Analysis, and Content Auto-Completion serve as tangible examples of Whatfix's technological prowess aimed at elevating the overall user experience.

Leading with Innovation
Whatfix secured three patents from the US Patents Office and filed 12 more in 2023, rapidly adding to the company's patent portfolio. These patents encompass innovative technologies, including a system and method for creating steps in providing digital guidance to an underlying application, the personalization of digital guidance content, and the automatic testing of digital guidance content.

Accelerated Partner Ecosystem
Whatfix successfully onboarded 30+ new partners, including Coupa, Genpact, NTT Data, Sify Technologies, to name a few. The company enhanced engagement with strategic GSIs like Infosys, HCL, Cognizant, TCS, and other strategic regional partners like Jacobs, GP Strategies, upgrading them as "Whatfix Certified Delivery Partner", as part of the Rise 2 Excellence partner program for Services partners.

Creating DAP Experts at Whatfix University
Whatfix launched a Product Analytics certification alongside its existing DAP certifications. The company has upskilled 1585 DAP experts and 153 Product Analytics champions, showcasing consistent growth since 2021, with 4,103 certifications.

Looking Ahead
In a strategic move towards userization, Whatfix will continue to harness the power of Gen AI to simplify user experiences and boost productivity by introducing two key new features in 2024

• Ask Insights: to simplify users' interactions with analytics tools and capture insights from data
• AI Assist: an AI-powered autonomous task assistant

These innovations will empower users to generate insights, create trend reports, and perform tasks through natural language inputs.

Mobiquity Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of next-generation data intelligence and advertising technology solutions, is excited to announce its partnership with AWINR Brands, an innovative platform transforming the valuation, purchasing, and selling of online businesses. This collaboration will leverage Mobiquity's new Conversion Platform, aimed at boosting both website traffic and sales conversion rates, and enhancing Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).

Dean Julia, CEO of Mobiquity Technologies, stated, “We’re confident in the partnership's ability to drive higher volumes of contextually relevant website traffic. This, in turn, will empower site owners to better utilize their first-party, opt-in data with the help of the platform's unique AI engine, enhancing their ability to identify and retarget a significantly larger segment of previously anonymous visitors, thereby improving sales conversions.”

April Sands, Founder of AWINR Brands, added, “We believe this partnership has the ability to provide an enormous opportunity to the millions of small to medium-sized Shopify ecommerce sites, which will now have access to a comprehensive, easy-to-use digital marketing platform to effectively compete with larger enterprises.”

Tenured tech executives join DigiCert to scale operations and meet growing demand for digital trust worldwide 

DigiCert, a leading global provider of digital trust, today announced new additions to its executive leadership team with the appointments of Jugnu Bhatia as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Dave Packer as Chief Revenue Officer (CRO).

"DigiCert just closed its largest quarterly bookings in the company history, and I am thrilled to have such exceptional leaders joining our executive team at an important stage in our growth," said Amit Sinha, CEO of DigiCert. "Jugnu and Dave bring deep operational and leadership experience at scale. With our continued digital trust innovation and go-to-market execution, these leaders will play a critical role as we drive to $1 billion and beyond in annual recurring revenue."

With extensive experience in leading corporate and operational finance for both private and publicly traded companies, Bhatia joins DigiCert from Zscaler, Inc., where he most recently served as SVP, Finance and Chief Accounting Officer. During his eight-year tenure, Zscaler grew from a private company to a NASDAQ-100 company, scaling from $100 million in ARR to more than $2 billion in ARR. Prior to Zscaler, Bhatia spent nearly 20 years in finance, strategy, and operational roles with organizations such as Oracle and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, where he also served industry leading clients like Cisco, Agilent, and Sony.

"At a time when data is currency and security is paramount, cultivating trust becomes the bedrock upon which relationships and innovation thrive, unlocking avenues for growth," said Bhatia. "I am looking forward to realizing this massive opportunity as part of DigiCert's executive leadership team."

Packer brings to DigiCert more than 30 years of tech industry experience spanning leadership roles in sales, field operations, alliances, professional services, customer success, and support. Drawing from his diverse background in ERP, security, and data management, he will lead DigiCert's go-to-market expansion efforts to capitalize on the massive market opportunity in digital trust. Prior to DigiCert, Packer led Worldwide Field Operations at Matillion, as well as Ping Identity and E2open—both of which had successful IPOs.  

"Digital trust is not just a foundation, it's the cornerstone of a tremendous market opportunity that I see for DigiCert," said Packer. "The need for digital trust is only going to keep growing as the tectonic shifts from quantum computing and GenAI continue to impact every part of work and life, and DigiCert is in the prime position to address these growing needs."

Merkle research highlights ways marketers can strengthen loyalty through improved customer experience. 

Merkle, dentsu's leading technology-enabled, data-driven customer experience management (CXM) company, announced the launch of its 2024 Loyalty Barometer Report. Now in its sixth edition, the research report reveals how consumer mindsets are shifting and where brands may need to pivot to stay ahead of the curve and remain relevant.  

The Loyalty Barometer Report surveyed 1,500 US consumers, and many of the questions were consistent with previous years' studies, providing a year-over-year perspective showcased in several of the report's illustrative charts. Participants were asked about a variety of topics related to building brand loyalty and what drives them to do business with certain brands, from participation in loyalty programs to data privacy and personalization.

"With consumers having more control and buying options than ever before, winning in today's experience economy requires marketers to reach customers with the right offer at the right time, at the right place, and via the right channel," said Chris Wayman, EVP, promotion, loyalty, and messaging, at Merkle. "Our Loyalty Barometer Report outlines how consumer demand for loyalty programs – and the elevated experiences they deliver – remains high. Brands can further enhance loyalty strategies through emerging technologies, such as AI, to evolve with their customers' rapidly changing expectations and remain relevant in these critical moments in time."

When asked about the top factors that make them feel loyal to their favorite brand, 56 percent of consumers stated that great products were most important to them. However, customer service, loyalty programs, and experience continue to have the highest impact on whether they continue doing business with a brand – all at a higher rate than in the previous report.

The new report highlights four key takeaways for marketers looking to ramp up customer loyalty efforts in 2024 and beyond:

• Converging forces around data privacy and AI are poised to alter the landscape; loyalty strategies will need to evolve to catch up to rapidly changing customer expectations and harness the value from emerging technologies.
• Consumer demand for loyalty programs remains high, with participation in both paid and free programs increasing compared to the previous report.
• Financial rewards must anchor program value exchanges, and brands should wrap financial value exchanges in differentiated benefits, adding value beyond discounts.
• Consumer distrust around using their data will erode loyalty program value. Brands need to be transparent and show tangible value from sharing data.

Forter, the Trust Platform for digital commerce, today announced the appointment of Anthony Barsoom as chief financial officer and Jim Howard as vice president of sales in the Americas.

"We're thrilled to have Anthony and Jim join Forter at such an exciting time for the company. Their experience helping lead highly successful, profitable companies will be instrumental as we continue to scale our operations and drive growth," said Michael Reitblat, chief executive officer and co-founder, Forter.

Barsoom has a track record of leading finance and strategy for some of the largest digital businesses. Most recently, he served as head of finance for Zoom where he led the company's post-pandemic initiatives to increase sustainable profitability. Previously, he was the CEO of fabric.com, an Amazon subsidiary. Before that, he was with The Home Depot for nearly a decade serving in various leadership positions, including as the CFO of the Northern Division.

"I've spent most of my career on the merchant side, navigating the worlds of fraud, abuse and payments and their impact on the bottom line," said Barsoom. "The decision to join Forter was an obvious one – they're pioneers in this space with a powerful platform, a large and growing customer base and a proven business model."

Howard joins Forter with nearly 25 years of experience growing successful sales and operations teams for enterprise SaaS companies. Most recently, he was vice president of sales, Americas for Tufin leading sales, pre-sales and channel teams. He's also held key leadership positions at VMWare, Pivotal Software and CA Technologies.

"The results Forter drives for the world's largest brands are undeniable – with the right emphasis on growing revenue and customer lifetime value," said Howard. "As a sales leader, it's exciting to join a company that consistently delivers business outcomes. We have an experienced and expert go-to-market team, and I'm keen to continue expanding our business."