Welcome to another session of ExtraMile by HiTechNectar, an exclusive interview series with top industry players, discussing the latest technology, innovation, marketing practices, tech trends, expert insights, and a lot more.
Today, we have the pleasure of interviewing Rony Vexelman, the Vice President of Marketing at Optimove, the first Customer-Led Marketing Platform. Under Rony’s leadership, Optimove was recognized by Gartner’s 2023 Magic Quadrant for multichannel marketing hubs.
Hello Rony! Greetings for the day! We are excited to host you today!
Q1. You have more than a decade of experience in the marketing sector. What major transformations have you observed that have reshaped marketing practices globally?
Ans. The shift of control from brands to customers is most significant transformation in marketing over the past decade.
Historically, marketing was primarily a one-way push to consumers by brands. Brands controlled the narrative, pushing out messages and hoping to shape perception. Now, thanks to digital and social media, customers call the shots. They decide when, where, and how they engage with brands and expect personalized experiences. If brands don’t listen to consumers to meet their needs, customers will switch off without hesitation. It is why we say, brands need to start with the customer as they plan their marketing strategies and programs.
Brands must be agile, responsive, and customer centric. To keep pace with a customer’s interaction with a brand, marketers need to leverage first-party data to truly know and understand their customers. By unifying customer data from multiple touchpoints, marketers can create detailed profiles that absolutely deliver personalized interactions. Tools like AI and predictive analytics take this further, allowing brands to anticipate needs and respond in real time. The goal is to move from one-size-fits-all campaigns to tailored experiences that resonate with individual preferences and behaviors.
Bottom line is that all marketing needs to start with the customer.
Q2. Why is personalization so crucial in marketing? Would you say personalization is the key to Optimove’s success?
Ans. Personalization in a world of instant access and commoditization can be the only differentiator. People like to buy from brands that know and understand them. We tend to go back to the shop or restaurant where we are known.
With today’s technology, marketers emulate a live personalized experience online. Personalization is the bridge that allows brands to connect with customers on a deeper level, addressing their unique needs and preferences.
For example, Blain’s Farm & Fleet, a significant retailer in the US, goes beyond generic personalization by asking its customers specific questions about their pets. They use that information to send tailored emails with tips on how to better care for their pets. This approach is not just about selling products; it’s about genuinely helping the customer, which strengthens the relationship and keeps them coming back. Personalization that adds real value to a customer’s life fosters trust and loyalty, which is why it’s such a critical component of successful marketing strategies today.
Q3. How does Optimove assist companies in enhancing customer loyalty and retention rates? How does the company fulfil its clients’ expectations in this regard?
Ans. Have you ever gone shopping and felt a bit lost, only to have a great salesperson guide you to exactly what you needed? Now, imagine that same personalized experience happening online—across all your favorite brands. That’s what Optimove does.
We use AI and real-time data to act like a digital salesperson, guiding each customer through their journey with tailored recommendations, offers, and support. It’s not just about transactions; it’s about making every customer feel seen, understood, and valued.
From a tech perspective, we go beyond simple automations by acting as the “Air Traffic Controller” of marketing. Optimove uses robust customer data—historical, real-time, and predictive—to make smart decisions for each customer. The more data we have, the better our AI performs. And unlike rule-based systems that rely on rigid if/else commands, Optimove’s AI adapts to customer behavior in real time, creating flexible, personalized journeys across unified marketing channels. Plus, we measure the incremental impact of each campaign with scientific accuracy, so brands know what’s truly driving customer behavior—not just clicks and opens, but meaningful results.
Optimove turns data into relationships. By orchestrating personalized interactions at every touchpoint, we help brands not only meet but exceed their customers’ expectations—building loyalty that lasts.
Q4. You have been associated with Optimove for more than five years. What are the common difficulties the company has encountered during this time, and how has its workforce tackled those?
Ans. Our most common difficulties have been from unforeseen outside forces, Covid and managing a company in a war zone. There is only one word: resilience. As we have noted, Optimove has bones of steel.
Our success boils down to a few key factors. First and foremost, it’s our people. We have an incredible team that’s deeply committed to both our customers and our mission. This dedication is what helped us transition smoothly to a work-from-home model during COVID and face other challenges that have come our way.
Our leadership also plays a crucial role. They’re great at setting the company up for success, but what really sets us apart is how much autonomy our employees have. They’re empowered to make decisions on the front lines and share valuable insights with management. This level of agility allows us to adapt quickly to change, ensuring we stay on track even when the landscape shifts.
Q5. What is your opinion on enhancing marketing efficiency with technology and innovation? What technologies does Optimove utilize to meet its goal of becoming a customer-led platform?
Ans. Marketers that don’t embrace technology and innovation are going to be left in the dust. And honestly, they won’t lose their jobs to AI—they’ll lose them to people who know how to use AI.
Today’s marketers need to be agile and tech-savvy if they want to engage customers in real-time, with personalized, relevant messaging. New technologies are reshaping the role of marketers entirely. That’s why we introduced the “Position-less Marketer.” The Position-less Marketers adapt and excel across different functions—no longer boxed into rigid roles. They use AI to unleash their full creative potential, cutting down silos and inefficiencies.
At Optimove, we empower this “Position-less Marketer” by combining human creativity with the power of AI. Our platform automates repetitive tasks, analyzes massive amounts of data, and predicts customer behavior, so marketers can focus on what they do best connecting with their audience in meaningful ways. Our CRM platform helps brands engage customers at just the right moment, driving loyalty and optimizing campaigns like never before.
Optimove has been a leader in AI for over a decade. In fact, AI-orchestrated marketing is a hallmark of Optimove. In 2012, Optimove was the first CRM Marketing Platform to natively embed AI to predict customer migrations between lifecycle stages, followed by the launch of OptiBot in 2016. Its most recent innovation, OptiGenie, announced in November 2023, empowers marketers to optimize workflows from insight to creation and orchestration.
Q6. Optimove has been collaborating with other industry leaders for long-lasting impact. What opportunities do partnerships offer in marketing, and how have they benefited your company?
Ans. Great partnerships are like a musical supergroup or great sports team—they bring together the best of different worlds to create something bigger than the sum of their parts. At Optimove, we are the CRM Marketing leader in AI-orchestrated customer journeys. And when combined with targeted technologies from our partners, our platform becomes even more impactful as do our partners’ technologies. It’s a classic case of 1+1=3, where these collaborations create stronger solutions for marketers.
By partnering with over 140 companies like Snowflake, Merkle, and Captain Up, we extend our capabilities in data warehousing, business intelligence, gamification, and more. For example, our partnership with Captain Up and Gamanza Engage introduced AI-orchestrated gamification, offering personalized, real-time customer engagement.
Ultimately, these partnerships allow us to deliver more tailored, effective solutions for our clients, driving greater value and helping brands deepen customer loyalty.
Q7. As the VP of Marketing in a multi-channel marketing platform, how do you ensure that your organization follows the latest trends and practices to stay ahead of competitors?
Ans. Staying ahead is in our DNA. As I mentioned, AI-orchestrated marketing is a hallmark of Optimove —we’ve been ahead of the curve since 2012 when we became the first CRM platform to embed AI for predicting customer migrations.
While we love testing on the bleeding edge, we make sure to execute on the leading edge. This means our clients get the most advanced, proven solutions with no technology risk. When they choose Optimove, they’re not just getting innovation—they’re gaining a competitive edge with tools that are both cutting-edge and reliable.
Staying ahead in marketing is all about being curious and proactive. We constantly analyze the market to spot emerging trends and see where we can innovate. We don’t just watch from the sidelines—we experiment ourselves. For example, in our marketing department, we have an “AI spotlight” during every all-hands meeting, where we share real-world use cases of Generative AI. This sparks new ideas across teams and keeps us pushing the envelope.
We feed these insights directly into our product and sales strategies, ensuring our offerings remain at the forefront of what’s working in the market. It’s this constant cycle of learning, experimenting, and applying that keeps us competitive.
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