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Material Welcomes Ranjan Kalia as Chief Financial Officer Material is pleased to welcome Ranjan Kalia as Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Kalia’s appointment comes as Material continues to scale its global capabilities, helping clients harness the power of data and AI to deliver demand-centric growth. A three-time CFO with more than 30 years of experience, Kalia brings incisive financial perspectives and operational command shaped by senior leadership roles across both public companies and private-equity owned enterprises. Kalia will partner with Material’s executive team to advance the company’s continued global expansion and investment in AI and data capabilities.
Aruliden, a Material Company, Wins 2026 DIELINE Package Design Awards for Work with Mienne Aruliden, the design studio within Material, is proud to announce it received Top Honors in three categories from the 2026 DIELINE Package Design Awards for its work with Mienne: Best of Category for Visual Brand Identity Systems and second place in the Body Care and Beauty & Cosmetics categories. As a Best of Category winner, the Mienne Visual Brand Identity System work will automatically be entered into the iF Design Award 2027, one of the world’s largest and most respected global design competitions.
Material Names Raman Kalra President, Asia Pacific Material, an intelligent growth company providing consumer data and insights, brand strategy and product innovation, is pleased to welcome Raman Kalra as President, Asia Pacific (APAC). Kalra’s appointment comes as Material continues to expand its global footprint with capabilities across insights, strategy, design and marketing technology. Kalra will lead the company’s APAC operations, bringing AI-driven data- and technology-enabled solutions closer to both global and local clients for whom the region is strategically vital. Laila Worrell, Material’s CEO, stated, “This is a transformative time for the industry and our clients. Raman’s expertise in AI-driven transformation and success in APAC makes him the ideal leader as we deepen our commitment to clients who compete in and across this vibrant, growing market.” Specializing in business transformation and demand engineering through data-backed insights, Kalra will partner with global teams to deliver Material’s full strategy-to-execution capabilities of insights, design and marketing technology to clients across the region.
Material Honored with Business Impact Award at 2026 Medallia Experience Conference Material, an intelligent growth company providing consumer data and insights, brand strategy and product innovation, is pleased to announce it received the Business Impact Award at the 2026 Medallia Experience conference in Las Vegas, NV. The Business Impact Award honors exceptional business results and value creation in the Medallia partner ecosystem. “We’re thrilled to be named a Medallia Business Impact Award winner,” said Nicole Hauptman, VP of Experience Measurement at Material. “This honor is a testament to the impact our teams deliver for our clients through our strong partnership with Medallia. Together, we help organizations build customer intelligence into their decision-making, shaping the future of experiences in an era when customer expectations and behaviors have never been more complex.” Material helps businesses understand what drives people, how behaviors are changing and how to move them. The Business Impact Award reflects Material’s and Medallia’s shared commitment to enabling companies to capture, interpret and activate customer insights at scale – fueling more resonant experiences and driving customer lifetime value. As Medallia’s first and longest-running service partner, Material leverages the industry-leading platform to help brands develop, implement and activate innovative, impactful CX management programs.
Material Honored as 2025 Acquia Partner of the Year for Content Optimization Material, an intelligent growth company providing consumer data and insights, brand strategy and product innovation, is pleased to announce its recognition as 2025 Acquia Partner of the Year for Content Optimization. Material builds moments and systems that shape behavior, spur action and grow brand value. As consumers increasingly discover and engage with content through AI-driven tools and evolving digital experiences, the Acquia Partner Award for Content Optimization recognizes Material’s ability to help brands adapt, improve content performance and deliver measurable business outcomes. “We are honored to receive the Acquia Partner of the Year award for Content Optimization,” said Caroline Mackenzie Kennedy, Chief Commercial Officer at Material. “This recognition underscores our shared commitment to helping organizations optimize their digital ecosystems for relevance, performance and scale in a shifting digital landscape. Together with Acquia, Material enables our clients to adapt to evolving consumer behavior and achieve stronger returns on their digital investments.” Acquia, a leader in open digital experience software, honored 25 organizations worldwide for their exceptional use of Acquia technologies.
Two Material Leaders Named to 2025 Insight250 List of Pioneers and Change-Makers in Market Research and Insights Material, an intelligent growth company providing consumer data and insights, brand strategy and product innovation, is pleased to announce SVP Bonnie Matosich and SVP Kate Whittle were named to the 2025 Insight250 list. Presented by ESOMAR, Insight250 is an annual recognition of outstanding leadership and innovation in the market research and insights industry. Bonnie Matosich, Senior Vice President, Consumer Strategy, and Kate Whittle, Senior Vice President, Strategy + Innovation, are featured among a diverse group of honorees across the academic, enterprise, agency, technology, consulting and media sectors. At Material, Bonnie delivers growth strategy to leading consumer brands, leveraging diverse frameworks, data sources, insights and activation tools. As a recognized technology industry leader, Kate uniquely meets the need for speed, innovation and impact these clients require to thrive and win. “Bonnie and Kate embody Material’s focus on unlocking intelligent growth for the world’s leading brands,” said Jeremy Sack, president of Insights at Material. “Their recognition by Insight250 is thoroughly deserved and also reflects the holistic value and impact our teams deliver for clients every day.”
Material Receives Two ESOMAR Awards for Best Customer Experience Insight and Excellence in AI in Market Research Material is pleased to announce it is the recipient of two 2025 North America ESOMAR Awards: Best Customer Experience Insight and Excellence in AI and Automation in Market Research. The ESOMAR Awards celebrate market research innovators and visionaries whose outstanding work is redefining the role of insights in business, culture and society. Best Customer Experience Insight Award Material received the Best Customer Experience Insight Award for its work with Encore, the global leader in event production and technology. Material’s CX insights team partnered with Encore to transform its post-event transactional survey program into a sophisticated, actionable insights ecosystem, enabling a customer-centric culture of excellence. Excellence in AI and Automation in Market Research Award Material was recognized with the Excellence in AI and Automation in Market Research Award for the implementation of Muse, its proprietary AI tool, with a global consumer payments financial technology company. Muse transforms static customer segmentation models into dynamic, conversational AI personas, allowing users to interact with segments to test messaging, refine strategy and unlock immediate insights.
Material Announces Strategic Partnership with Optimizely Material is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with leading digital experience platform provider Optimizely. As a Silver Partner, Material leverages Optimizely’s cutting-edge solutions to drive client success and fuel customer-centric growth for the world’s largest and most recognizable brands. “Our partnership with Optimizely allows Material to deliver truly personalized experiences in all channels,” said Dan Persson, Vice President of Technology. “We’re deeply committed to helping businesses activate customer data in ways that help brands meet consumer expectations. Optimizely is an ideal partner to help unlock the future of digital experiences.”
Material Welcomes Oscar Yuan as Chief Strategy and Growth Officer Material, a growth strategy company providing consumer data and insights, brand strategy and product innovation, is pleased to announce the appointment of Oscar Yuan as Chief Strategy and Growth Officer. "Oscar's appointment to our executive leadership team represents our fierce commitment to bringing our clients exceptional talent and strategic insights and innovation,” said Laila Worrell, Material Chief Executive Officer. “Oscar has a terrific track record helping large, global companies harness data-driven insights to compete and win. His industry experience and vision will be a catalyst to the outstanding outcomes Material provides for the world's most recognizable brands." Material puts human insights to work to help businesses transform their customer relationships, innovate and grow. With more than 20 years of industry experience across leadership roles in global agencies, insights and consulting companies, Yuan will be responsible for driving near and long-term strategy, advising key clients and spearheading new offering development, including technology and AI integration. He will also provide commercial leadership of the company’s growth areas including international expansion.
Material appoints Laila Worrell as Chief Executive Officer Material announced the appointment of Laila Worrell as Chief Executive Officer. Worrell has an exceptional track record driving growth and enterprise value creation for world-class companies. Worrell previously served as a Blackstone operating advisor and co-Chair of the Material board. “Our board has observed Laila’s impact first-hand, and we have great confidence in her leadership,” said Eric Nadan, Material Board Chair. “She brings a strong track record driving transformational outcomes for companies and extensive experience working with financial sponsors. Her clarity of vision and bias for action is exactly right for Material as we move into the future. We know our people – and our clients – will be inspired by her vision and leadership as she takes Material to new levels of performance.” A recognized leader in the services sector, Worrell brings thirty years of experience to the role. She led a multi-year strategic repositioning of Aricent, a digital engineering services company owned by KKR, and she was instrumental in its $2 billion sale to Altran Technologies, creating the largest engineering services company in the world. Among Aricent’s assets was the iconic product design studio, Frog, which achieved global acclaim for its work designing Apple products. As CEO of Altran Americas, Worrell drove a transformation that contributed to the company’s acquisition by Capgemini for more than $5.5 billion.
