Radar Report #008 – Week of April 27, 2026
7 Accounts Showing Buying Signals Each week, the Radar Report highlights companies showing signals of potential marketing investment. These moments often lead organizations to reassess agency relationships and growth initiatives. For agencies looking for new business opportunities, Radar Report surfaces companies likely preparing to invest in marketing and brand. 7. Michael Kors Michael Kors added a CMO with deep fashion, luxury, media, and commerce experience from Google. Trigger Michael Kors hired Corey Moran as Chief Marketing Officer in April 2026, bringing him in externally after leading fashion and luxury industry partnerships at Google. Why This Matters Moran’s background suggests a likely focus on brand relevance, commerce performance, media innovation, and luxury customer engagement. His Google role centered on fashion and luxury partnerships across media, technology, and innovation, while earlier roles at Coty covered prestige brands including Marc Jacobs, Chloé, Bottega Veneta, Miu Miu, and Balenciaga. Agency Opportunity Luxury brand strategy Commerce media Full-funnel performance Launch planning Customer engagement Smart Outreach Angle Lead with how Michael Kors can balance fashion authority with measurable commerce impact across digital, retail, and brand channels. Company Context Michael Kors is a global fashion and accessories brand in the accessible luxury market. Its category depends on brand heat, seasonal storytelling, retail execution, and digital conversion. 6. Bluefish Bluefish raised a $43 million Series B to scale its agentic marketing platform for Fortune 500 brands. Trigger Bluefish raised $43 million in Series B funding, co-led by Threshold Ventures and NEA. The company has also recently added Alanna Handelman as Head of Growth, Kat Vesce Lansbury as Head of Marketing, and Brenna Schaefer as Head of Product Marketing. Why This Matters The round signals a push to define and own the emerging agentic marketing category. Bluefish is building for enterprise brands that need to understand and manage visibility across AI search, assistants, content, PR, commerce, and paid media. Agency Opportunity AI search strategy Enterprise category positioning Product marketing PR and thought leadership Sales enablement Smart Outreach Angle Lead with how Bluefish can help CMOs move from AI visibility panic to a measurable operating model for brand presence across generative engines. Company Context Bluefish is an AI marketing platform built for Fortune 500 brands. Its leadership bench now spans growth, enterprise product marketing, brand, editorial, commerce, paid media, and sales strategy.
CMO Moves – Week of April 27, 2026
Highlights Corey Moran named Chief Marketing Officer at Michael Kors Michael Kors is a global fashion brand within Capri Holdings’ luxury portfolio. The appointment creates an integrated marketing role across brand communications, content creation, and consumer data analytics. It also points to a sharper focus on customer acquisition, brand storytelling, and global consumer engagement. Agency lens: Clear emphasis on brand communications, content, analytics, consumer… Get Unlimited NextBigWin Access Subscribe to become a NextBigWin Pro member and get access to all our exclusive content. Turn access and intelligence into your next big client win. Already a member? Login Subscribe to NextBigWin Pro
Lyft’s Brand Maturity Signals a Broader Mobility Opportunity
At a Glance Interviewee: Cass Zawadowski, Executive Creative Director, Global Brand Company: Lyft Estimated Revenue: $6.3B in 2025 Location: San Francisco, CA Website: lyft.com Industry: Mobility, rideshare, urban transportation, bikes, scooters, and platform services Company Notes: Lyft serves riders, drivers, and cities through a broader mobility platform Best-Fit Agencies: Brand strategy, integrated creative, social, creator, experiential, localization, AI workflow, produ… Get Unlimited NextBigWin Access Subscribe to become a NextBigWin Pro member and get access to all our exclusive content. Turn access and intelligence into your next big client win. Already a member? Login Subscribe to NextBigWin Pro
SBS Sharpens Marketing Around Growth and Commercial Alignment
At a Glance Interviewee: Adam Shpiro, Chief Marketing Officer Company: SBS Location: Paris, Île-de-France Website: sbs-software.com Industry: Financial technology software for banks, lenders, and payments Company Notes: SBS is a global fintech platform company serving financial institutions across banking, lending, payments, open banking, and compliance Best-Fit Agencies: B2B fintech positioning, ABM and demand generation, field and event marketing, executive thought leaders… Get Unlimited NextBigWin Access Subscribe to become a NextBigWin Pro member and get access to all our exclusive content. Turn access and intelligence into your next big client win. Already a member? Login Subscribe to NextBigWin Pro
Adam Shpiro on Reinvention, Growth, and Leading Across Change
Executive: Adam Shpiro, Chief Marketing OfficerCompany: SBSIndustry: Financial technology softwareCompany Snapshot: SBS provides software platforms for banks, lenders, and payment systems.Format: CMO Journeys Interview Why It Matters Adam Shpiro’s path to the CMO seat did not follow a straight line, and that is what makes it worth studying. He moved through engineering, consulting, agriculture, venture investing, banking, and commercial strategy before taking over marketing. Each stop gave him a different lens on leadership, growth, and decision-making. For agencies, his perspective is useful because he does not talk about marketing as a silo. He talks about it as part of the whole business. Their Path, in Short Adam said that at 18, he would not have predicted this career. He saw himself as a math-and-physics person and studied mechanical engineering at the University of Bristol. But during that time, he realized something important: engineering was not the right long-term fit. So he pivoted. He moved into management consulting, then took a far less expected turn when an opportunity came up through a family office investment in Malawi. He volunteered to go and joined an agricultural business there. What began with one department grew into broader leadership, and eventually he was running the business. That chapter clearly shaped him. He described it as life-changing. He was young, far from home, and suddenly exposed to the realities of leading a raw, unsophisticated business. He also got pulled into looking at investments across countries and industries. It was hands-on, fast, and demanding. When he returned to Israel, he expected to move into startups. Instead, he landed in early-stage venture capital. That role taught him something else: he had built strong practical business experience, but he wanted a deeper business foundation. That led him to business school, then to JPMorgan, where he worked in a leadership development program and later in corporate development on the retail banking side. From there, he joined a digital banking startup and got a closer look at what a high-growth environment really feels like. Later, at SBS, he first came in through a go-to-market and commercial strategy lens. When he was asked to lead marketing, he said his reaction was simple: I have never actually worked in marketing before. But that was part of the logic. The role called for someone who could connect marketing to the broader business. Big Themes From the Conversation One idea came through again and again: Adam is comfortable when the path is not fully mapped. He does not talk about growth as a clean sequence of planned moves. He talks about trying things, learning quickly, shutting down what is not working, and moving forward again. For him, progress seems to come from motion, not perfection. That carries into how he leads. He said quality still matters, but now it is quality and speed. That is a meaningful distinction. He is not arguing for sloppiness. He is arguing against hesitation. He would rather build a team that can move and learn than one that gets stuck protecting itself from every possible mistake. He also returned to a lesson from an earlier boss in Africa. The advice stayed with him because it was simple and human: life is a long road, so do not sprint through it. Follow your heart. Do something you love, because you will probably be much better at that than the things you do not love. It is the kind of advice that sounds soft until you realize how much of his career it explains. Another strong theme was connectedness. Adam does not see marketing as a group of separate channels or specialties. He sees interdependence. Content affects product marketing. Product marketing affects digital. Digital affects field. That is why he values a real leadership team structure inside marketing. He wants people to understand not only their own lane, but also how the lanes connect. Watch Or Listen CMO Journey Interview How They Choose the Right Agency Partners When I asked Adam about agencies, his answer was less about flash and more about substance. He spoke about working with outside partners in areas like content, media, and events. Content matters because SBS is full of experts, and the company wants to give those people a voice. Media matters when reach matters. Events matter because bringing customers and the wider ecosystem together matters. But his real test for agencies starts earlier. It starts with whether they understand the objective. Then whether they understand the KPI. Then whether they can connect their work to the business outcome that matters. He used a phrase from Hebrew that translates roughly to having “a big head,” meaning someone sees the wider purpose, not just the immediate task. That idea says a lot about what he wants from partners. He does not want someone who simply delivers the asset they were asked for. He wants someone who understands why the asset exists in the first place. He also made a clear distinction between service and partnership. In content, for example, he said there is still a difference between AI-generated work and work created by professionals who understand the industry. At the same time, he expects professionals to use the best tools available. The point is not to protect an old model. The point is to produce work that helps the business hit its goals. That standard applies more broadly, too. “You asked for X, here it is” is not enough. Adam wants agencies that go further. Agencies that stay proactive. Agencies that do not get complacent after the first win. Agencies that keep checking whether the work is still aligned with the outcome. That is where credibility lives for him. Not in noise. Not in polish alone. In usefulness, business understanding, and the ability to keep creating value over time. What Stood Out What stood out most was Adam’s lack of ego about his own story. He has worked across sectors, functions, and leadership roles, but he tells that story with unusual honesty. He is quick
M&A Signals – Deals Announced Through April 22, 2026
Highlights American Express acquired Hypercard American Express is a global financial services company with a large commercial services business. Hypercard is an agentic expense management company focused on AI-powered workflows for business spending. The deal adds Hypercard’s AI expertise and capabilities to American Express’s commercial services business. That gives American Express more room to build agentic tools and AI-powered solutions that automate processes … Get Unlimited NextBigWin Access Subscribe to become a NextBigWin Pro member and get access to all our exclusive content. Turn access and intelligence into your next big client win. Already a member? Login Subscribe to NextBigWin Pro
Funding Signals – Activity Through April 21, 2026
Highlights Loop raised $95M (Series C) led by Valor Equity Partners and the Valor Atreides AI Fund Loop builds an AI platform for logistics and supply chains. The funding will help it expand into a broader set of enterprise use cases. It also gives the company more room to deepen product and engineering and invest in top AI talent. Agency lens: Enterprise positioning, product marketing, website messaging, and category content could all come into play as Loop broaden… Get Unlimited NextBigWin Access Subscribe to become a NextBigWin Pro member and get access to all our exclusive content. Turn access and intelligence into your next big client win. Already a member? Login Subscribe to NextBigWin Pro
What New CEOs Reveal About Where Marketing Dollars Go Next
Problem / Context Most agencies look for one signal when trying to find new business: A new CMO. It makes sense. CMOs are the buyer. They control marketing budgets. They hire agencies. But by the time a new CMO is in place, something important has already happened. The decision to change. And that decision usually starts somewhere else. The Signal A new CEO. Not every time. Not in every company. But when a company brings in a new CEO (especially from the outside), it signals something deeper. The business needs to change. Growth has stalled. Strategy needs to shift. Pressure is building. And when that happens, marketing is almost always part of the reset. Why It Matters A new CEO does not just inherit a strategy. They question it. In the first 90 days, they are asking: What markets should we be in? What is not working? Where can we grow faster? That creates movement. Sometimes it leads to a new CMO.Sometimes it puts pressure on the current one.Almost always, it creates demand for new thinking. And that is where agencies come in. Not because they are needed eventually. Because they are needed now — before the plan is locked. The Mistake Most Teams Make They treat CEO changes like a one-time trigger. Send an email. Maybe connect on LinkedIn. Then move on. Or worse, they ignore the CEO entirely and wait for the CMO change to happen. Both miss the point. A CEO hire is not a moment. It is a window. And that window can last 6–12 months as strategy, budget, and teams evolve. The Smarter Move Use the CEO change to guide how you show up — not how fast you sell. Start with context: What was this CEO hired to do? What is their background: growth, product, operations? What industries are they coming from? Then qualify the opportunity: Is this a category that uses agencies? Is there likely to be marketing investment? Are there other signals: hiring, repositioning, expansion? From there, engage the buying committee. Not just the CMO. The CFO is thinking about spend.The CRO is thinking about pipeline.The COO is thinking about execution. Each sees the change differently. So your perspective should reflect that. How to Use This Treat CEO changes as a signal to stay close, not jump in. Follow the company.Watch how the story unfolds.Layer in insight over time. That might look like: Sharing relevant research Offering perspective based on similar transitions Inviting them into conversations with peers The goal is not to catch them at the perfect moment. It is to be present when the decision takes shape. Because by the time an RFP appears, the direction is already set. And the agencies that win are usually the ones who were there earlier — helping make sense of the change. The bottom line is this: CMOs may sign the deal. But CEOs often create the reason the deal exists in the first place.
City of Big Spring Looks for Web Design Partner for Mobile-First Tourism Website Redesign
At a Glance Buyer: City of Big Spring Convention & Visitors Bureau Industry: Tourism/public sector Location/markets: Big Spring, Texas/West Texas tourism market Primary scope: Web design and digital experience services for a modern, mobile-first tourism website Key deliverables/channels: Website redesign, development, maintenance, hosting environment, CMS implementation, SEO, analytics, event calendar, automated business listings, interactive maps, newsletter signup tool… Get Unlimited NextBigWin Access Subscribe to become a NextBigWin Pro member and get access to all our exclusive content. Turn access and intelligence into your next big client win. Already a member? Login Subscribe to NextBigWin Pro
City Of Brentwood Marketing Services Opportunity With Annual Budget and Broad Content Scope
At a Glance Buyer: City of Brentwood Industry: Economic development/public sector Location/markets: Brentwood, California; East Contra Costa County/San Francisco East Bay Area market Primary scope: Marketing and related management services for the Better in Brentwood program Key deliverables/channels: Copywriting, photography, videography, social media engagement, website management and hosting, event promotion, video content, business directory content, monthly reporting an… Get Unlimited NextBigWin Access Subscribe to become a NextBigWin Pro member and get access to all our exclusive content. Turn access and intelligence into your next big client win. Already a member? Login Subscribe to NextBigWin Pro