Mastering the New Marketing Mindset

GumGum’s video solutions suite meets the growing demands of consumers  London, UK – Video advertising spend will account for 86% of new display dollars over the next three years, according to an eMarketer forecast. However, a significant disconnect remains between how ads are delivered and what truly resonates with consumers. GumGum , the leader in contextual-first advertising technologies, today released survey results from 3,000 consumers across the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada to further understand consumer behaviors and preferences with video ads. Key findings from GumGum’s survey include: ● Preference for Contextual Relevance : Nearly all (94%) consumers prefer contextually-relevant ads over those based on browsing history.  ● Aligned Interest Wins : 42% find ads related to their current interests (contextual) are the most valuable type of advertising. ● Support for Privacy : Over one-third feel privacy is the most important factor of advertising experiences, while approximately one-third put relevance on a par with privacy, saying both are equally important.  ● Increased Engagement : Almost 80% are more likely to engage with ads that match the content they are viewing. ● Viewer Experience Priority : Over 55% said video ads that are contextually relevant – and short and concise – are memorable for them.  To best meet the growing consumer demands for non-invasive, relevant advertising experiences, GumGum’s recently launched Mindset Graph™ is engineered to do just that. Mapping billions of data points across contextual cues, creative elements, and viewer attention metrics, the Graph delivers ads that match the context and mindset a consumer is currently in. Powered by the Graph, GumGum’s enhanced suite of video solutions – including instream, outstream, and overlay formats – are designed to stop viewers in their tracks with engaging content that mirrors the moment they’re in. This unique approach leverages page-level and video-level contextual analysis to match an advertisement with its surrounding environment as precisely as possible. “Let’s face it: online video experiences today aren’t working and video is only becoming more prominent,” said Ken Weiner, Chief Technology Officer at GumGum. “Advertisers are facing poor ad performance, wasted impressions, and growing viewer dissatisfaction. To put an end to this pattern, we’re using AI to analyze the billions of data points within the GumGum Platform™ every day to better understand the digital environment and mindset a consumer is in so that they want to watch the ad instead of skip it and move on.”  By focusing on high-quality, relevant video ad placements, GumGum not only upholds stringent brand suitability standards but also ensures that these standards do not compromise the reach and impact of ads. This commitment is further underscored by GumGum being the only independent ad tech platform to achieve MRC content-level accreditation for contextual analysis, brand safety and suitability across display, mobile web, and CTV.   ...Read more

Strategic leadership appointments reinforce Utiq’s investment in people  and commitment to responsible digital marketing Brussels, Belgium : Utiq , the European AdTech company providing a Telco-powered infrastructure that leverages authentic, user-consented signals, today announces its regional expansion with the establishment of dedicated leadership for Southern Europe and the DACH region. Monica Rodriguez has been promoted to lead Utiq’s Southern Europe operations, while Norman Wagner steps up to oversee the DACH region. These appointments reflect Utiq’s strong business momentum and commitment to delivering scalable, privacy-first solutions across Europe. Utiq’s growth continues to accelerate as the industry moves away from third-party cookies and probabilistic tracking. With increasing demand from brands and publishers for secure, deterministic addressability, Utiq is reinforcing its regional expertise to drive adoption of Telco-powered infrastructure with user-consented signals, enabling better marketing performance and ROI in the premium open internet. Investing in People for the Next Phase of Growth In addition to these leadership promotions, Utiq welcomes Stefania Pravatà to the team, joining as Head of Publisher for Italy to strengthen publisher relationships in the region. Furthermore, Julia Gloning has been promoted to Head of Media Services for DACH, and Jana Moran promoted to COO for DACH, reinforcing Utiq’s commitment to publisher success and responsible digital advertising. Marc Bresseel, CEO of Utiq, commented: “The rapid growth of our business is a testament to the industry’s need for a trusted, privacy-first approach to addressability. By investing in top talent like Monica, Norman, Julia, Jana and Stefania, we are ensuring that Utiq continues to lead the way in enabling brands and publishers to connect with audiences in a secure and compliant way. These appointments mark another key milestone in our mission to build a responsible, ad-funded open internet.” As the newly appointed leader for Southern Europe, Monica expressed her passion and ambition for the expanded role: “I’m thrilled to take on this opportunity at such a transformative moment for digital marketing. Southern Europe has a dynamic advertising landscape, and I look forward to driving further adoption of Utiq’s privacy-first solutions, ensuring that brands and publishers can engage audiences with trust and transparency.” Similarly, Norman shared his vision for the DACH region: “I’m excited to lead Utiq’s expansion in DACH, a market that has been at the forefront of privacy-conscious advertising. Our Telco-powered infrastructure with user-consented signals offers a unique solution to brands and publishers within a European infrastructure, and I’m eager to help them unlock the full potential of deterministic addressability.” Utiq remains committed to expanding its presence and enabling responsible digital marketing practices across Europe. With a growing team of industry leaders and a mission- driven approach, Utiq is shaping the future of privacy-first advertising. ...Read more

Lead generation and customer acquisition are critical drivers of revenue growth for businesses across industries. Generating leads is only one part of the equation; effectively capturing, tracking, scoring, nurturing, and converting those leads into paying customers determines commercial success. A Lead Management Operating System (LMOS) provides a unified digital framework that centralizes lead data, automates workflows, enhances cross-channel engagement, and delivers actionable insights that accelerate conversions. As companies face increasing demand for digital sales excellence, the market for lead management operating systems continues to expand, driven by data-driven decision-making, advanced technologies, and evolving customer expectations. Factors Fuelling Growth and Market Development Digital transformation remains a dominant driver. Organizations of all sizes invest heavily in digital sales and marketing infrastructure to stay competitive. As customers engage across multiple touchpoints, including websites, social media, email, and chat, capturing and consolidating lead interactions becomes increasingly complex. Businesses require LMOS platforms to centralize these interactions, eliminate data silos, and provide a consistent view of each lead’s journey. The centralized visibility helps companies nurture prospects more effectively and improve conversion rates. Market competition further accelerates adoption. In saturated industries such as technology, financial services, real estate, and professional services, companies differentiate themselves by delivering faster, more personalized sales experiences. A lead management operating system helps them prioritize high-value opportunities, automate repetitive tasks, and reduce human error. Organizations that leverage LMOS gain a strategic advantage by speeding up the sales cycle and minimizing lead leakage that occurs when prospects fall through process gaps. Modern buyers conduct extensive research before engaging sales teams, interact with multiple channels, and demonstrate varying levels of intent. Legacy sales processes cannot efficiently track and respond to these dynamic behaviors. LMOS platforms provide robust lead scoring, behavior analysis, and engagement tracking that help sales and marketing teams identify intent signals and tailor follow-ups accordingly. LMOS platforms incorporate consent tracking, secure data storage, and auditable records that help organizations remain compliant while building trusted relationships with prospects. Technology Implementation and Advanced Capabilities Technological innovation defines modern lead management operating system capabilities. AI and ML play prominent roles in automating lead qualification and prioritization. The systems analyze historical data, engagement patterns, and predictive indicators to assign lead scores that reflect sales readiness. AI models continuously refine scoring algorithms based on outcomes, improving accuracy over time. Intelligent systems identify sentiment, categorize intent, and trigger appropriate nurturing workflows. The capability enriches personalization while reducing manual analysis. Robotic process automation (RPA) further improves efficiency by handling routine tasks. LMOS systems automate data entry, assignment of follow-up reminders, contact enrichment, and integration with external sales and marketing tools. Modern LMOS platforms connect seamlessly with customer relationship management systems, marketing automation tools, analytics dashboards, and communication platforms. APIs ensure data flows smoothly between systems, eliminating duplication and maintaining consistency. Cloud architecture underpins many LMOS deployments, providing secure access to centralized data from any location. Cloud platforms support collaboration across distributed sales teams, enabling remote work environments and real-time updates. Real-time analytics and reporting tools empower decision-makers with insights into lead performance, conversion trends, and pipeline health. Dashboards visualize key performance indicators (KPIs), enabling both tactical adjustments and strategic planning. Predictive analytics helps organizations forecast revenue, identify bottlenecks, and allocate resources effectively. New Developments and Strategic Implications Sales teams increasingly use mobile LMOS applications to update lead statuses, respond to inquiries, and track performance on the go. Real-time mobile access improves responsiveness and reduces delays caused by disconnected systems. The impact of lead management operating systems spans operational, financial, and strategic outcomes. Operational efficiency improves as workflows become automated and collaboration increases across sales and marketing teams. Lead visibility increases, reducing lost opportunities and accelerating pipeline progression. Organizations achieve higher conversion rates, shorter sales cycles, and stronger revenue predictability. Strategic decisions become more informed as LPOS analytics uncover patterns and opportunities that guide market expansion and campaign optimization. Applications of lead management operating systems appear across industries. In technology and SaaS companies, LMOS optimizes trial-to-subscription conversion. In financial services, it supports compliance-driven outreach and risk-based qualification. Real estate and automotive sectors rely on LMOS tools for rapid engagement and personalized offers that foster trust and loyalty. The need for lead management operating systems persists as businesses face shifting market dynamics, heightened customer expectations, and increasing competition. Organizations must adopt integrated platforms that provide agility, intelligence, and scalability. The market for lead management operating systems expands due to digital transformation, AI adoption, omnichannel expectations, and the need for data-driven sales optimization. As companies seek to improve customer acquisition, retention, and revenue performance, LMOS platforms become essential infrastructure for sustainable commercial growth and competitive advantage in a rapidly evolving business environment. ...Read more

Launch Completes 12-Month AI Transformation for Jellyfish, Reflected in Bold New ‘Move Faster, Smarter, Together’ Rebrand Agentic Solution for In-Housing Automates Media Research, Evaluation, Content Strategy and Activation, Delivering Cost Reduction & Performance Improvement London UK  – Jellyfish, the leading global digital marketing company under The Brandtech Group, has unveiled a first-of-its-kind AI-driven in-housing media platform. Built on the company’s automated marketing system, the platform is a unified framework that taps into a range of proprietary AI agents and tools, including Jellyfish’s recently released Media Ops Agent.  Jellyfish has successfully utilized these AI technologies with various brand clients, but now, for the first time, marketers can access its full suite as a comprehensive, end-to-end solution to bring their media programs in-house, easily automating media research, evaluation, content strategy and activation.  The platform's agentic workflows offer marketers significant advantages, including: • Accelerated Time to Launch: Decreases time to launch campaigns by 65%. • Reduced Infrastructure Costs: Lowers infrastructure expenses by an average of 22%. • Error-Free Launches: Ensures flawless campaign executions with AI-driven precision, including 100% adherence to Google, Meta, and Amazon best practices within hours. • Augmented Performance: Boosts campaign performance by an average of 30%. Plus, the platform automatically adjusts campaigns to stay within the allocated budget and continually optimizes them for performance every 2 hours, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This new tool builds upon Jellyfish’s established support for brand clients’ in-housing efforts. Prior to this release, the company facilitated in-housing initiatives through its Jellyfish Training program. Offering over 250 courses, this program encompasses subjects such as Social Media, Search, and Programmatic. Notably, the program also features comprehensive training on Gen AI, with 15 new courses added just within the past year. The company’s work in the in-housing space is also founded on proven expertise within The Brandtech Group. Brandtech’s OLIVER, is the world's first and only company dedicated to designing, building, and running in-house agencies and marketing ecosystems. It currently serves over 500 brands in nearly 50 countries. Jellyfish’s launch of the new in-housing media platform is the last piece of a 12-month AI development program, which saw the company overhaul every aspect of the traditional marketing mix from insights to SEO, assets to activation, and MMM to reporting. In addition, the transformation is in direct alignment with The Brandtech Group and its established leadership in providing large-scale Gen AI services since 2018.  Marking this milestone, Jellyfish is also introducing a rebranding that features a new logo, visual representation and the tagline “Move Faster, Smarter, Together” – all reflective of the company’s significant AI developments and transformation, alongside its entrepreneurial roots. “In merely a year, we have been able to create 235,000 pieces of content for three of the world's top 10 advertisers with the content on average being produced 62% faster, 55% cheaper and delivering a 40% improvement in ROI. This represents a totally new integrated AI approach – driving remarkable results,” said Natalie Winford, Chief Solutions Officer, Jellyfish. "For brands eager to take control of their media, Jellyfish’s new media in-housing platform automates marketing analytics, freeing teams to focus on strategy, not data entry. Moreover, it also integrates an advanced MMM tool, which quickly and precisely determines the marketing contribution to KPIs to make macro budgetary decisions,” said Jeff Matisoff, Partner, Jellyfish. “Thanks to Jellyfish's agentic media system, it's finally time for marketers to power their in-house media teams with AI as opposed to just shifting agency headcount into their own org. In-housing demand is high, with the ANA reporting that 80% of its members have in-house agencies – and AI is predicted to spark expansion.” “In the last 12 months we have challenged ourselves to build and run tech that answers client needs around speed, insight, transparency, measurement, invention and cost. This latest launch is a primary example of a totally new marketing strategy – underpinned by AI,” said Nick Emery, CEO, Jellyfish. “Our new identity reflects our ability to combine both left and right brains for progressive brands in ways that others can’t.  We are about speed, outcomes and invention. As 'Good to Great' says you can’t invent your company identity you have to discover it. You cannot just claim to be something that you inherently are not. ‘Move Faster, Smarter, Together with AI’ is true to our entrepreneurial DNA, our amazing, inventive talent and the cutting-edge technology we develop every day.” “Crafting Jellyfish’s new brand was an enticing challenge,” said Jo Wallace, Global Executive Creative Director, Jellyfish. “We set out to capture the company's collaborative energy, diverse expertise, and AI prowess, bringing them together in a dynamic visual identity that demonstrates how we ‘Move Smarter, Faster, Together’ to drive growth for our clients.” Appendix The Jellyfish 12-month development program has built AI into every discipline;  Switchboard ,  which was officially released in March 2024, is Jellyfish’s single source of truth cloud-based reporting suite. Prioritizing audience and creative insights and customized for each marketer’s campaign requirements, Switchboard is how Jellyfish clients keep real time performance at hand. Jellyfish launched  AI Studios  in April 2024 to drive the adoption of   Pencil   and reinvent how content at scale is delivered. Its AI-powered platform scales creative delivery like never before, enabling the production of hyper-relevant, localized content in real-time. By integrating creative seamlessly into performance strategies, Pencil turned campaigns into engines of innovation and efficiency. At the same time, the company launched the   Creative Collective  to drive both tech-enabled creative ideation and the premium that still exists around social led human-generated content - winning   the Grand Clio  for its work with Netflix. Search has always been central to Jellyfish but pioneering  One Search  gives them an award-winning edge in the market - innovating with its clients in a search landscape that continues to grow in terms of complexity, fragmentation, and disruption from AI. OneSearch won two awards in 2024 for work with Swarovski, recognizing its ability to generate more growth for less spend. Over the course of 2024,   Jellyfish Training   trained over 55,000 delegates on courses ranging from GA4 through to prompt engineering and Generative AI, collecting the global Google Cloud Partner for Training Award for three years running. Released out of beta in June 2024,  Now-Next-Soon  (NNS), Jellyfish’s forecasting and budget allocation platform, reinvents Marketing Mix Modelling to quickly and granularly inform decisions across all marketing channels - offline, digital, promotional, email, events and more. NNS’s faster outputs and frequent updates tell marketers everything they need to know about how marketing is driving business performance In September 2024, Jellyfish launched the  Share of Model ™  platform reinventing SEO and providing real-time insights into how AI systems like GPT-4 and Llama 2 perceive brands, empowering clients to refine their strategies for an AI-driven world. Three start-ups have since raised $5M each to copy this initiative. Jellyfish Cloud   was created and released in October 2024 to guide the company’s clients across the right platform solution and martech systems integration. Before Agents were a thing Jellyfish launched   Social Agents  in December 2024 to transform how clients gather feedback on content and positioning. All this comes together under Jellyfish’s  AM, Autonomous Marketing  framework that brings together all of the company’s assets and inventions to drive growth for its clients. ...Read more