Sprout Social launched a new integration with Canva. As the most comprehensive social media management platform to offer this integration, Sprout enables brands to strengthen their social presence with more engaging content by streamlining the path from design to publishing. Users can now send finalized visuals from Canva directly into Sprout as draft posts, accelerating workflows and reducing errors between creative and social teams. With short-form video delivering the highest ROI and commanding the most marketing investment in 2025, teams need to create and publish engaging content quickly. The new Sprout Social and Canva integration makes that possible with a one-click workflow that sends designs, images or videos from Canva directly into Sprout, complete with captions, tags, profile groups, and scheduled times. This eliminates handoffs and delays so teams can stay focused on strategy and performance. Scott Morris, CMO of Sprout Social said, “By streamlining the path from design to publishing, we’re helping marketers unlock the full potential of social-first strategies, coupling creativity with social intelligence for a powerful competitive edge.” Anwar Haneef, GM and Head of Ecosystem at Canva said “By connecting Canva directly with Sprout Social, we’re bridging two of the most powerful social media tools to create an even faster path from idea to impact. This means that engaging, on-brand social assets can flow seamlessly into publishing, helping creators and brands stay consistent and move at the speed of culture.” The integration removes common handoff challenges by giving creative teams a direct path to share assets with social managers for review and scheduling. This makes it especially valuable for teams whose designers finalize content in Canva and need a seamless way to hand it off for approval and publishing.
Verisk launches commercial property GenAI underwriting assistant with API-enabled architecture, automating workflow tasks, dataset ingestion, and real-time risk appetite
Verisk has launched the Commercial GenAI Underwriting Assistant, a cloud-based tool designed to modernize commercial property underwriting. The tool uses advanced data analytics and generative AI to improve decision-making, enabling underwriters to assess risks more accurately and improve profitability. The tool automates workflows and integrates seamlessly with existing systems, focusing on collaboration between AI insights and human judgment. It addresses industry challenges such as rising costs and workforce shortages, enhancing operational efficiency and supporting insurers in navigating the evolving market. Verisk’s commitment to ethical AI practices and the Augmented Underwriting Suite strengthens its overall product offering and commitment to responsible technology usage in the industry. However, the launch of the Commercial GenAI Underwriting Assistant highlights the pressing challenges within the insurance industry, such as rising costs and a shrinking workforce. A significant portion of industry professionals (36%) view digital transformation and technology modernization as their biggest challenge, suggesting that Verisk’s solution may not fully address underlying issues faced by its clients. There is also a potential risk of resistance from insurance professionals who might feel threatened by automation, impacting adoption rates of the new solution. Verisk’s new Commercial GenAI Underwriting Assistant:
Harnesses generative AI capabilities to automate workflows and manual tasks, summarize complex datasets via data ingestion and deliver real-time risk appetite insights to accelerate underwriting risk assessment.
Integrates into existing policy administration and underwriting systems as an API-enabled solution, ensuring flexibility, scalability and security.
Enhances decision-making via a “Human-in-the-Loop” approach by combining AI-driven insights with expert judgment, rather than replacing it.
American Senior Lending’s first-lien home equity solution combines protected line of credit with debt-to-income qualification based on lifetime payment caps; delivering monthly payments as low as $126 for retirees
American Senior Lending, a national home equity solutions company, launched EquitySelect, a first-lien home equity loan designed to give retirees more financial flexibility. The nonrecourse loan — meaning that borrowers and their heirs will never owe more than the home is worth — lets borrowers choose their monthly payments, with options as low as 1% annually, and caps lifetime monthly payments so they never exceed a set amount. Qualification is based on the lifetime cap, resulting in lower monthly payments when determining the debt-to-income ratio (DTI). The product — available only in first position on primary residences that have tappable equity — carries no annual fees, no prepayment penalty and a fixed 40-year term with a protected line of credit. A second-lien version is in development. A pilot program showed that a 75-year-old borrower qualified for a $300,000 EquitySelect loan, drawing $150,000 at closing. The initial monthly payment was $126 and will not rise above $391 during the 40-year term, even after tapping the remaining balance, until the final balloon payment is due. “EquitySelect is about giving homeowners more choice after being forced into an ‘either-or’ box for too long,” said Eric Ellsworth, executive vice president of sales at American Senior Lending. “EquitySelect breaks that mold by combining desired features of existing mortgage products into one flexible, highly tailored financial solution. Feedback from our pilot broker partners confirms what we’ve long known: consumers want a more flexible way to access their equity.”
Participate deploys a patented loan sales ecosystem serving 800+ institutions across 48 states with automated NDA workflows, single system-of-truth architecture, real-time balance reconciliation, and encrypted document repositories
Participate affirmed its role as the Loan Sales Ecosystem for banks, credit unions, farm credits, and specialty lenders. Built on patented technology, Participate unifies automated execution, the industry’s largest automated loan sales network, and lifetime post-sale servicing—so financial institutions can move capital with speed, control, and transparency. Participate’s ecosystem reflects what customers already rely on every day: automated workflows from “list to close,” optional access to a nationwide network of buyers and sellers, and real-time, shared balances and documents after the trade—no spreadsheets, no reconciliation headaches. It’s the modern way loan sales get done. Institutions use Participate to free up loan ops capacity, accelerate closings by weeks, diversify concentrations, and unlock fee income—without adding staff. Real-time visibility reduces reconciliation and reputational risk while giving boards confidence to scale. What’s inside the Loan Sales Ecosystem: • Automation: Publish opportunities in minutes; automate NDAs and agreements; streamline funding, P&I disbursements, interest-rate changes, notifications, and reporting. Eliminate spreadsheet risk and compress cycle times. • Network: Engage your own partners or tap the largest automated loan sales network—800+ institutions in 48 states—to diversify risk, access liquidity, and grow fee income. • Post-Sale Servicing: Maintain a single, real-time system of truth for originators and participants with shared balances, audit-ready transaction detail, and encrypted docs.
Auquan launches purpose-built Credit Agent enabling 2-3X more deal evaluation throughput using RAG-powered autonomous workflows for deal screening, borrower assessment, and covenant compliance monitoring
Auquan announced its Credit Agent, the first and only AI agent that autonomously completes entire credit analysis and monitoring workflows to provide comprehensive evaluation of lending opportunities and borrower performance. Auquan’s Credit Agent autonomously handles entire credit workflows — from initial screening through detailed analysis to complete memo generation — enabling teams to evaluate 2-3x more opportunities while maintaining thorough standards. Designed with deep finance domain expertise built in, Auquan’s Credit Agent autonomously handles the entire credit workflow, including: Deal screening: Instant qualification against lending criteria with red flag detection and high-level analysis. Borrower assessment: Financial health assessment. Market intelligence: Competitive positioning, market dynamics analysis, and sector-specific risk quantification. Structure analysis: Loan term evaluation, comparable transaction benchmarking, and structural risk assessment. Credit memo generation: Complete, formatted reports matching each firm’s exact templates and standards. Portfolio monitoring: Continuous tracking of borrower performance, covenant compliance, and early warning signals. Regulatory and LP reporting: Automated generation of standardized reports for regulatory compliance and investor communications. Credit teams can use Auquan to analyze proprietary internal datasets and secure data room information alongside public and subscription market data within a unified analytical framework. This comprehensive approach eliminates analytical silos and provides a complete picture that competitors simply cannot match, allowing for more nuanced risk assessment and opportunity identification in the private credit landscape.
Kroger reintroduces paper coupons achieving measurable unit sales increases; addressing inclusion initiatives for non-smartphone users while maintaining 4 billion digital coupon distribution capacity.
Paper coupons can boost a retailer’s appeal to customers who are older or who don’t have the latest iPhone, according to Kroger executives. Kroger Chairman and CEO Ron Sargent said the company is reintroducing paper coupons in every store as part of an effort to simplify its promotional offers. “Our customers are recognizing these changes, and they’re giving us credit for them,” Sargent said. “We know this because customer price perception improved in nearly every division this quarter, and we saw another quarter of sequential improvement in share.” Sargent said that he had talked with “hundreds and hundreds” of customers over the past six months and heard that older consumers who may not be as digitally proficient as younger ones want to get the same deals that are available on smartphones. “And so we wanted to give them an equal playing field,” Sargent said. “And I think the end result, we’ll get incremental business from that.” Sargent said he also found that customers “who don’t have a $600 iPhone” were disenfranchised by digital coupons. “So, we’re really trying to appeal to a broader customer segment, not only people that are very digitally savvy, but also people who are not or not able to be,” Sargent said. David Kennerley, chief financial officer at Kroger, said the benefits of paper coupons are measurable in terms of increases in unit sales and positive feedback from customers.
T-Mobile engages Bad Bunny fans by deploying NFC-chipped charm activation; generating Instagram engagement through one-tap digital gateway integration and creating phygital collectibles that link cultural merchandise to social platforms.
T-Mobile Puerto Rico, one of the Bad Bunny tour sponsor partners, created a unique VIP experience for its customers attending the artist’s “No Me Quiero Ir de Aqui” residency in the island’s capital San Juan. The telecommunications company’s clients were given access to Club Magenta , an exclusive lounge on the José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum venue’s terrace which featured a Charm Bar activation curated by Puerto Rican accessories brand Edalou Paris. Guests could personalize their own collectible bag charm, choosing from a selection of objects connected to Puerto Rican culture and identity, alongside a co-branded NFC chipped fob turning the physical keepsake into a digital gateway. When tapped to a smartphone it connected fans directly to T-Mobile Puerto Rico’s Instagram account. Edalou Paris founder, Eda Aguilar., described how the phygital innovation tied brand loyalty to cultural pride via “frictionless digital engagement,” boosting impressions and followers, and building digital community. The charms worked as “both fashion accessories and digital bridges,” she said, merging style with interactivity. She plans to evolve the model,” she added, noting its potential to unlock discounts, playlists, AR filters, and other NFC gated perks. The charm idea also plays into the Labubu effect which has galvanized the trend for collectible bag charms.
Unilever targets GenZ with its limited-edition product drop strategy generating urgency through QR code remixes and celebrity signature authentication; driving multiple SKU purchases via mobile website integration
Limited-edition exclusives provide a greater sense of urgency in these collaborations than an exclusive launch window before a product is released at the retailer’s competitors. Unilever’s Dove has become a leader in this tactic, working with Walmart and Target on limited-edition collections. In December 2024, Dove rolled out a limited-edition assortment of personal care items at Walmart that were inspired by bakery franchise Crumbl’s most popular dessert flavors. The collection was showcased in PDQs on free-standing displays. The Crumbl collaboration is part of another trend driving limited-edition launches: Brands are finding that new product flavors aren’t always enough to maintain consumer loyalty. As preferences quickly shift, companies are looking for innovation through cross-category collaborations. A high-profile example of this includes Mondelez International’s Oreo and Coca-Cola Co.’s flagship brand partnership last summer to try to reach Gen Z shoppers, who enjoy surprising flavors. They declared themselves “Besties” and launched limited-edition Oreo-flavored Coke Zero Sugar and a Coca-Cola-flavored Oreo cookie. Oreo is also seeking collaborations with celebrities who can bring a fresh audience as well as a novel flavor. The cookies are imprinted with music-themed designs like headphones and a heart-shaped vinyl record. Oreo inspired shoppers to pick up multiple SKUs by including a cookie with singer Selena Gomez’s signature in one in three packs. That design could also be used with a mobile website to unlock an exclusive remix. Limited-edition exclusives have solidified into powerful, high-stakes tools for driving retailer partnerships, sparking shopper excitement and keeping pace with consumers whose tastes change as quickly as the trends they follow.
Sam’s Club omnichannel retail experience network integrates first-party membership data with IndyCar virtual racing simulators and Scan & Go technology; enabling cross-seasonal campaign measurement
Select Sam’s Club stores in Nashville recently provided customers an omnichannel tie-in with the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series open-wheel auto racing tournament. Three Nashville Sam’s Club stores recently offered a two-day interactive experience called “Race to the Club” that included virtual racing simulators, a photo opportunity with an actual Indy car, brand demos and samples, and live music from country band Lanco. One store featured Andretti Global IndyCar racing team driver Kyle Kirkwood appearing to meet customers and sign autographs. In addition, at the Nashville Superspeedway Fan Zone, Sam’s Club hosted two days of interactive brand activations and Kirkwood debuted the sponsored No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda on race day. In April 2025, the retailer said it would start using first-party data to offer personalized experiences through an offering called MAP’s Omni Experiences. MAP’s Omni Experiences combines digital performance tactics like search and display with immersive experiences in and around media activations via channel, including online and in-store. These experiences can promote large-scale seasonal events, such as back-to-school, as well as smaller brand-led localized events. Race to the Club marked the debut of the offering.
One Click SEO’s launches Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) service combines schema.org vocabulary with content authority optimization and brand perception analysis to position businesses for AI-generated answer visibility and local search dominance
One Click SEO, has launched its groundbreaking new product, One Click GEO. This innovative service is specifically designed to address the seismic shift in how people search for information online, moving from traditional keyword-based queries to conversational, AI-driven interactions. One Click GEO offers a comprehensive solution for businesses to not only adapt to this new reality but to thrive in it, ensuring their brand is not just found, but prominently featured in AI-generated results. Users are no longer just typing keywords into a search bar; they are asking complex questions and expecting direct, comprehensive answers. In this new paradigm, traditional search engine optimization (SEO) techniques, while still valuable, are no longer sufficient. Businesses that fail to adapt risk becoming invisible in the new AI-driven search ecosystem. This is where Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) becomes essential. One Click GEO is a comprehensive service that addresses all aspects of Generative Engine Optimization. The service is designed to: Boost Brand Visibility in AI-Generated Answers: Position your brand as a trusted source of information, ensuring that your business is mentioned and recommended in AI-generated answers. Dominate Local Search: Enhance your local search presence, making it easier for customers in your area to find and choose your business. Future-Proof Your Online Presence: Stay ahead of the curve by adapting your digital marketing strategy to the latest advancements in AI search.