Dave Lewis, former VP of product and market strategy at StrongMail and e-mail industry thought leader, has re-emerged after leaving StrongMail seven months ago as the VP of market and product strategy at messaging services firm Bizanga.
In this role, Lewis will be responsible for industry outreach as well as development of products and assessing the needs in different markets. Bizanga, which has a presence in Europe and Southeast Asia, recently opened an office in San Mateo, CA. It provides an e-mail messaging platform for various US Internet service providers including Cox Communications and ComCast.
“For years we have been talking about how the industry needs to change to address the way that consumers communicate,” said Lewis. “What attracted me to this company is that they are addressing this need for a more holistic approach through technology. Today we are using it for e-mail messaging, but it has the potential to work across channels.”
Lewis could not discuss his future plans at Bazanga, but did say that he aims to address the issue of siloing in channels. “Behaviour is changing and I don’t think that the industry is keeping up,” he said. “People are communicating with mobile, RSS and social networks and just because they are using these various channels, we should not be treating them like they are five different people. A customer’s needs may vary based on the nature of the message.”
Lewis, a long time contributor to DMNews, has a 30-year history in the online marketing and e-mail space. For the past three consecutive years, B-to-B Magazine has named Lewis as one of the most influential people in e-mail marketing. He has served on the board of the Email Sender & Provider Coalition and on the Email Experience Council, in addition to working as VP of market and strategy at StrongMail Systems.
Prior to StrongMail, Lewis served as VP of deliverability management and ISP relations for e-mail service provider Digital Impact, now called Acxiom Digital. Before Digital Impact, he served as VP of marketing and customer information for CareGuide, an online provider of elder care management services.
Lewis has also led development and marketing for Acxiom Corp. and founded and managed the list services division for DataQuick Information Systems, before to its acquisition by Acxiom. Lewis began his career at Bank of America where he held a series of senior level marketing and product management positions over his 15-year tenure, including responsibility for the development and direct marketing of its equity products.
