Consumer products expert with mastery of operations 

Toluna, the leading global insights technology and panel provider, today announced the appointment of Lucie Claire Vincent Ortiz to its Board of Directors. Lucie Claire will join the Board of Directors to guide the organization as it seeks to reset the standard for delivering world-class insights and business impact, with a particular focus on the needs of consumer packaged goods.

For over 30 years, Lucie Claire has held senior operating executive positions with large multinational consumer product companies, including Colgate-Palmolive Co. and Philip Morris International. She also has extensive experience in evolving organizational culture and ways of working to support business transformation, DEI strategies, and acquisition, retention, and promotion programs.

As an international consumer products president and leader of P&Ls for Fortune 100 companies, she has held on-the-ground roles in North America, Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and leading businesses across all continents. She is also a Qualified Risk Director.

Lucie Claire currently serves as Co-President of the board of directors of the International Women’s Forum Connecticut, a global non-profit with the mission of advancing women’s leadership and championing equality worldwide. She also serves on the Executive Committee as Secretary and Finance on the board of directors of GallopNYC, a non-profit that uses therapeutic horsemanship to help riders with disabilities.

She is an Adjunct Professor at New York University (NYU) for the School of Professional Studies, Master of Integrated Marketing and Communications, and is mentor and advisor for startups in retail technology, consumer goods and consumer HealthTech.

Lucie Claire Vincent Ortiz said, “Market research is a critical component of the workflow of every CPG leader. I look forward to working with Frédéric and the Board of Directors, sharing my CPG experience as well as my functional expertise as we pursue our objective of delivering on-demand access to panel, platform, and research expertise.”

Frédéric-Charles Petit, CEO of Toluna, said, “Lucie Claire is a transformational and innovative leader. Between her vast experience working on-the-ground with people across the globe, her deep understanding of consumer and market dynamics, and her track record of developing and implementing strategic plans for global categories, she is a natural fit as a member of our Board of Directors. I’m thrilled to work alongside her and to have her counsel as Toluna joins with MetrixLab to create a global force in market research.”

• Rokt to become an extension of Deliveroo's advertising platform on the order confirmation page in the delivery app

• Partnership launches in the UK and France, with plans to expand into other geographies

• Advertisers in the Rokt Ads network can now reach customers ordering on Deliveroo

Rokt, the leading ecommerce technology company that uses advanced machine learning and AI to serve relevant offers to shoppers, has today announced its newest partnership with delivery giant Deliveroo on the order tracker page.

Deliveroo has been building its retail media network since launching its advertising platform in 2021, supporting its restaurant partners to reach more customers on the platform.  

As part of its newly developed advertising platform, Deliveroo has confirmed it will now integrate with Rokt, an exclusive marketing channel, which allows brands to capture the full attention of customers directly on ecommerce confirmation pages. This means that advertisers in the Rokt Ads network can now access Deliveroo's audiences, and Deliveroo can provide the most relevant third-party offers to customers on their order confirmation page.  

"We're absolutely thrilled to welcome Deliveroo to the Rokt family," said Craig Galvin, Chief Revenue Officer at Rokt. "We're committed to driving relevance and value for our partners and their customers with our solutions in ecommerce. Our brand-safe marketplace brings together premium ecommerce sites and advertisers, with Deliveroo being the latest to join an exciting roster of leading international brands that have partnered with Rokt to boost their retail media program and advertising offering."

Rokt will become an extension of Deliveroo's advertising platform via the order tracker page in its delivery app. Recently, Deliveroo has been exploring non-endemic partnerships and broadening the range of brands it introduces to its customers. Rokt will enable Deliveroo to amplify these efforts whilst also protecting the customer experience, ensuring each advertising message is relevant to each end customer.

The partnership is launching in the UK and France, with plans to expand into Ireland soon after. Rokt will bring a stable of premium advertisers to Deliveroo's platform, including Skin+Me, LookFantastic, Pure Pet Food, and Headspace, to name a few.

"Deliveroo Media and Ecommerce provides brands with an opportunity to connect with millions of engaged customers at or after the point of purchase. We're delighted to partner with Rokt as we look to grow our advertising platform and build on this new revenue stream," said Ankit Jindal, Head of Advertising at Deliveroo.

Rokt powers billions of transactions globally each year, which advertisers across B2B, finance, travel, retail, and other DTC verticals can access through Rokt Ads. 

Deliveroo is the latest in a series of new partners Rokt has launched with this year, including Redbubble, Asos, Klarna, Lyft, boohoo, Morrisons, and Afterpay.

ZeroSum's eBook highlights the keys to automotive retail success in the coming year. 

Automotive retailers will need to turn to technology, including local market data, artificial intelligence, machine learning and automated advertising solutions to thrive in 2024. The findings are part of ZeroSum's "2024 Automotive Marketing Strategies + Retrospective of the 2023 Market" eBook, which reviews complexities the automotive industry dealt with in 2023 and provides a roadmap for dealers ready to adopt new strategies in 2024.

The report was released by ZeroSum today and can be downloaded for free here. 

"2023 brought unexpected change within the auto industry," said David Cox, COO at ZeroSum, "Market dynamics such as declining household incomes, high interest rates and high vehicle prices created a drag on sales. Moving forward, it is critical for dealers to leverage live local market data to understand customer demographics, vehicle preferences and demand. There are still millions of in-market customers looking for vehicles and dealers need to work a little harder to find them."

The report reviews the arduous year of record-high prices on new vehicles and a surge in new vehicle inventory which led to static movement on dealer lots. Dealers experienced further setbacks including the strike against Detroit's top three automakers and the impacts of aggressive EV targets, which will require more than half of all new cars to be electric vehicles (EVs) by 2030. As dealers have ramped up EV inventories, customer demand has not followed suit. This has led to a glut of EVs sitting on dealer lots.

For 2024, ZeroSum's eBook will point dealers to four key directives:

• Leverage data-driven marketing for targeted campaigns
• Embrace AI-driven tools, with human oversight
• Optimize inventory management for efficiency
• Recognize the enduring value of personal interactions to increase sales

"2024 is a year for dealers to show strength in their local market," said Cox, "Inventory is growing, and the industry will continue to be extremely competitive. Now is not the time to be quiet, a dealer needs to leverage the best market intelligence to be proactive and move more cars than their competitors."

Leader in Exposure Management and Security Validation Welcomes Margo Kahnrose, Katia Levitin and Eynat Grunewald as Company Experiences Rapid Growth

Cymulate, the leader in exposure management and security validation, announced today the addition of three new members of its leadership team, including two C-level executive positions. These new appointments introduce Margo Kahnrose as Cymulate’s Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) and Katia Levitin as Chief of Staff. Eynat Grunewald, the Company’s General Counsel, has also been elevated to Cymulate’s management team.

“As we continue towards our next stage of growth, we are thrilled to enhance our leadership team with experts in their respective fields,” said Eyal Wachsman, CEO and Co-founder of Cymulate. “Margo, Katia, and Eynat each bring fresh perspectives and deep expertise within their areas of focus, and I look forward to working closely with each of them to best serve our customers, employees and key stakeholders.”

Margo Kahnrose, named a Stevie Awards winner of Female Executive of the Year in Business Services (2021), has 20 years of experience in marketing and brand management. Prior to Cymulate, she served as CMO at Skai, an omnichannel marketing platform, and has previously held leadership positions at Kenshoo and SpotHero. Kahnrose is an established and proven marketing leader with a track record of building effective brands and campaigns for tech companies through authentic storytelling, demand generation and strong team collaboration.

“As threat landscapes widen, it is increasingly evident that constant security validation is the only way to clearly identify your organization’s practical risk and what to do about it. Cymulate is leading the industry towards maximizing the effects of security investments with better resilience and agility,” said Kahnrose. “I look forward to working closely with the leadership and marketing teams to continue to shape our messaging and brand position in the market so that it effectively reaches those in need of our technologies.”

As Chief of Staff, Levitin will oversee strategic operations and cross-functional collaboration, enhance workflow efficiencies, and work alongside the CEO and the executive team to better refine and execute Cymulate’s goals and mission. Levitin has more than 15 years of experience delivering high-quality results within the technology, fintech, and advertising industries. Prior to joining Cymulate, Levitin served as Chief of Staff for Voyager Labs and AvaTrade. She has also worked in similar business operation positions for Bidalgo (acquired by ironSource) and Amdocs.

“Cymulate’s remarkable growth and widespread usage is a testament to how successful the organization is at aiding security teams in measuring and tracking the effectiveness of their controls and defenses,” said Levitin. “As Cymulate rapidly expands globally, ensuring that we are scaling internal operations sufficiently to meet the growing needs of our customers and our organization’s strategic goals will be a top priority in order to remain a leader in the cybersecurity space.”

Eynat Grunewald has also been promoted to the company’s management team as General Counsel. In this role, Grunewald will continue overseeing legal matters, providing strategic legal counsel and guidance to the management team, managing legal risks, ensuring regulatory compliance, and supporting the company’s innovation and growth. Grunewald has more than 10 years of legal experience and prior to joining Cymulate, was a senior associate at Shibolet & Co.

“I am thrilled to continue my journey with the Cymulate team, a dynamic force in the cyber industry,” said Grunewald. “By integrating technological, business and legal needs, working together to drive innovation and navigate challenges, we will continue to support the company’s ongoing success.”

Fyllo|Semasio, the leading provider of contextual targeting solutions, announced today that Jeff Ragovin has been elevated from President to CEO. At the same time, Ragovin announced that the company has begun migrating its entire portfolio of audience taxonomy data into privacy-compliant contextual segments via its Semasio targeting platform, which advertisers can use to drive performance in a post-cookie environment. The transition is currently underway and should be fully complete in Q1 2024.

With the transition, Fyllo laid out its vision of Semasio and contextual advertising as the future of privacy-compliant performance while reengineering how the company does business. The new contextual audiences will be available through Semasio across all major distribution platforms, including The Trade Desk, Adform and Infillion.

“Infillion is pleased to further our partnership with Semasio following our acquisition and relaunch of the MediaMath platform. Reintroducing Semasio to the MediaMath DSP is a key step in Infillion’s strategy,” said Rob Emrich, founder and executive chair, Infillion. “Our five-plus year collaboration with Semasio underscores their significant impact, particularly in advanced contextual and keyword targeting. This partnership not only elevates our platform but also positions us at the forefront of audience targeting in the evolving, cookieless digital landscape.”

“Serving as CEO of Fyllo during our transition to purely contextual performance represents the culmination of my journey with this pioneering, one-of-a-kind company,” Ragovin said. “By transitioning Fyllo’s audience taxonomy into Semasio-led fully contextual taxonomies, we're providing our clients and partners the opportunity to embrace a hybrid strategy before cookies fully deprecate. The entire digital ad ecosystem is looking at foundational disruption in 2024 that will transform how they do business, and contextual advertising promises to be the new paradigm.”

Centered on elevating culture and talent development, Johnson's hire signals a new phase of strategic growth for the company and its employees

Nexxen, a global, unified advertising technology platform with deep expertise in video and Connected TV ("CTV"), today announced the appointment of Gretchen Johnson as Chief People Officer. In the role, Johnson will lead Nexxen’s Human Resources and Talent Acquisition teams, focusing on culture and employee development to ensure the company continues to hire and retain best-in-class talent.

Previously, Johnson served as Chief People Officer at Siprocal, a gaming distribution, monetization and engagement platform. She also holds prior experience in the advertising technology sphere, as Senior Vice President, Human Resources Director at Aegis Media, acquired by Dentsu; and Vice President and Group Director of Talent Management at Digitas, the integrated marketing services brand within Publicis Groupe.

"We are thrilled to welcome Gretchen Johnson to our team,” said Ofer Druker, Chief Executive Officer at Nexxen. “The breadth and depth of her knowledge in orchestrating high-value human resources initiatives will enable us to align our people and organization with our commercial strategy and execution. Nexxen is the sum of our most valuable assets – our people – and through culture and employee development, Gretchen will help usher our organization into a new stage of growth.”

"This is an exciting time to join Nexxen, with its customer-centric culture where both talent and innovation thrive,” said Gretchen Johnson, Chief People Officer at Nexxen. “I look forward to working closely with the teams here to ensure these values are elevated through strategic HR initiatives.”

Paycom Software, Inc. , a leading provider of comprehensive, cloud-based human capital management software, announced today the appointment of Steve Sturges to the role of chief marketing officer (CMO).

“Steve brings three decades of experience in marketing, branding and advertising to our team. I’m excited to see him continue to elevate our innovative brand, engage our clients and drive further demand generation for our salesforce,” said Paycom founder, chairman and CEO, Chad Richison.

As Paycom’s chief marketing officer, Sturges will lead strategy, development and execution across all marketing and communication functions, while driving lead-generation efforts and enhancing Paycom’s brand equity for stakeholders.

“I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to join Paycom and lead such a talented marketing team,” Sturges said. “I’m stepping into this role ready to innovate and continue to highlight a premier brand and one of the best products in the HR tech space.”

Sturges has spent more than 35 years promoting some of the most influential and successful brands in the country. He co-founded Oklahoma City-based VI Marketing and Branding in 1992 and served as a partner and creative consultant for Paycom for more than 15 years.

ID.me continues its market leadership, with an unprecedented number of Americans who can access services across the internet with a single, verified, and portable log-in credential.

ID.me, the market-leading secure digital identity network, announced today it has reached a major milestone with 50 million users verified to the federal standards for consumer authentication, NIST Identity Assurance Level 2. This market adoption marks a transformation for customer experience tied to login and identity verification.  

Once users have created an ID.me login and verified their identity, they are fast-tracked to easily access services across hundreds of government, private sector, and non-profit organizations. Similar to payment wallets, ID.me's identity wallet allows registered users to simply login and consent to release their previously verified identity to access services at multiple agencies. This approach dramatically reduces user friction while providing important security benefits.

Blake Hall, founder and CEO of ID.me, notes that ID.me's growth is a reflection of ID.me's longstanding commitment to putting consumers at the center of the digital identity ecosystem.

"The real value of a reusable, portable credential with ID.me is that we shift control back to the consumer by stripping away the friction consumers were forced to endure because of multiple logins and a frustrating inventory of passwords," said Hall. "The verified ID.me user has access to the internet's digital fast lane. ID.me verification is designed so that it is the last login an individual ever has to create and the last identity verification event they have to perform."

ID.me's 50 million users are verified at the Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Identity Assurance Level 2 (IAL2). These credentials are portable and reusable through ID.me's Multi-Factor Authentication capabilities which are certified at NIST Authenticator Assurance Level 2 (AAL2). Federal and state government agencies, healthcare organizations, and businesses adhere to NIST for compliance purposes and to securely authenticate user identities. ID.me is the only digital identity verification provider that meets the NIST standard while offering portable and reusable identities to streamline access along with omnichannel enrollment options for first-time identity verification.

Portable and reusable identity credentials have also been shown to improve customer experience and increase access to services. As pre-verified users move from site to site, pass rates can exceed 99 percent when high-assurance credentials are reused. ID.me's approach to identity verification is increasing the number of people who can verify their identity and gain access to digital services, while reducing friction for users and empowering members to control their own data and privacy. With 50 million users now enrolled into a portable and reusable verified identity, ID.me is committed to a future where 'no identity is left behind.' 

ID.me focused identity verification innovation on communities left behind by historic methods of verification. By providing video-chat and in person verification pathways, individuals have more options to verify the way they choose. These communities include individuals without credit history, unhoused populations, Americans living overseas, and tribal users. ID.me addresses historical barriers for these communities. For example, a federal agency working with ID.me found that users in  Puerto Rico experienced a relative increase in pass rates of more than 200 percent with ID.me compared to the data broker solution previously used by the agency.

"The ID.me branded button on a website signifies a digital fast lane to streamline access to services," Hall explained. "This digital fast lane is particularly important to the most vulnerable populations. Data brokers, even those who use alternative data sources, do not have coverage for tens of millions of non-fraudulent users. ID.me's approach offers alternative verification options for enrollment, which includes more people in the promise of the digital economy. We lock in those inclusion gains via our identity wallet so users have a digital passport for access."

Meeting the NIST standards are also key to preventing fraud. During the pandemic, seven states credited ID.me with helping to prevent over $270 billion in fraud. Because fraud and identity theft slows down agency operations, these capabilities lead to more access over time.

"The power of the secure ID.me login," Hall explained, "is that it allows our business customers to move past a fractured tangle of confusing login systems. By unifying consumer identity across organizations, our customers can focus on their core mission and service delivery while outsourcing authentication to ID.me's secure network which increases access and lowers fraud."

ID.me has issued a digital wallet to more than 119 million members. More than 90 million are enrolled in Multi-Factor Authentication to protect their login from takeover. 50 million users are verified at NIST IAL2. Members can use their ID.me login and associated credentials at 15 federal agencies and at 40 state government agencies. ID.me's identity wallet also works across more than 600 consumer brands for use cases like social login, hotel guest check-in, exclusive financial savings, and account recovery.