Nift’s Saket Mehta: Brands Must Learn to Thank Consumers for Their Actions
Attention has always been valuable in advertising. What has changed is how hard consumers are making brands work to earn it. It all comes down to what happens when brands get the moment right.
“You can’t just serve the customer an impression, you have to meaningfully engage with them,” Saket Mehta, CRO of Nift, told Beet.TV Editorial Director Lisa Granatstein. “What that means at Nift is that it’s a moment where we allow a business or a publisher to thank a consumer for a specific action.”
That opt-in, action-triggered model is generating conversion rates of 10 to 12% across Nift’s platform, compared to the one to 3% typical of digital advertising. Foot Locker reports that 90% of its customers enjoy their Nift gift.
Relevance earns trust
Harris Poll research commissioned by Nift found that 84% of consumers respond well when brands demonstrate they understand what the customer wants. That expectation has intensified as AI raises the bar for personalization across every channel.
“Customers are expecting brands and publishers to know what they want and what’s relevant to them, especially in this age of AI,” Mehta said. “What’s really important is that marketers are asking not how do I just serve them an impression, but how do I engage the customer in a really effective way?”
Delivery confirmations, loyalty program enrollments, milestone moments, and reservation confirmations all create natural openings where brand appreciation lands as genuinely relevant rather than intrusive.
Three-sided marketplace
Nift operates as a three-sided marketplace connecting publishers, advertisers, and consumers. Publishers thank customers on behalf of their own brand. Advertisers reach new consumers in high-relevance moments. Consumers discover products and services through machine learning that matches offers to demonstrated behavior.
A recent Klarna partnership illustrates the upside when all three sides align. Klarna’s birthday gift campaign generated a 150% increase in revenue alongside a 90% increase in customer favorability.
“Both revenue and customer sentiment can be drawn together and achieved together when done right,” Mehta said.
Intentionality over monetization
Owned customer moments are becoming more valuable than bought media, but Mehta is direct about the risk of over-monetizing them. Nift sends roughly 50 million gifts monthly, and consistent positive consumer experience requires discipline about when and how often to interject.
“The goal is not to over monetize. It’s to be highly intentional about how you’re reaching that customer and their ability to discover new products and services that could be relevant to them,” Mehta said.
Breaking down silos
The brands winning in this environment are those dismantling the separation between monetization, media, and customer experience — treating them as a single unit rather than competing priorities.
“Really making sure the silo between monetization, media, and customer experience all joins together and then operates as a unit so you can drive the appropriate level of customer appreciation and reciprocity,” Mehta said. “When they’re able to really ensure that they’re optimizing for the customer, we consistently see positive customer experience and stronger yield and better advertising performance for the marketer.”
Attention has always been valuable in advertising. What has changed is how hard consumers are making brands work to earn it. It all comes down to what happens when brands get the moment right.
“You can’t just serve the customer an impression, you have to meaningfully engage with them,” Saket Mehta, CRO of Nift, told Beet.TV Editorial Director Lisa Granatstein. “What that means at Nift is that it’s a moment where we allow a business or a publisher to thank a consumer for a specific action.”
That opt-in, action-triggered model is generating conversion rates of 10 to 12% across Nift’s platform, compared to the one to 3% typical of digital advertising. Foot Locker reports that 90% of its customers enjoy their Nift gift.
Relevance earns trust
Harris Poll research commissioned by Nift found that 84% of consumers respond well when brands demonstrate they understand what the customer wants. That expectation has intensified as AI raises the bar for personalization across every channel.
“Customers are expecting brands and publishers to know what they want and what’s relevant to them, especially in this age of AI,” Mehta said. “What’s really important is that marketers are asking not how do I just serve them an impression, but how do I engage the customer in a really effective way?”
Delivery confirmations, loyalty program enrollments, milestone moments, and reservation confirmations all create natural openings where brand appreciation lands as genuinely relevant rather than intrusive.
Three-sided marketplace
Nift operates as a three-sided marketplace connecting publishers, advertisers, and consumers. Publishers thank customers on behalf of their own brand. Advertisers reach new consumers in high-relevance moments. Consumers discover products and services through machine learning that matches offers to demonstrated behavior.
A recent Klarna partnership illustrates the upside when all three sides align. Klarna’s birthday gift campaign generated a 150% increase in revenue alongside a 90% increase in customer favorability.
“Both revenue and customer sentiment can be drawn together and achieved together when done right,” Mehta said.
Intentionality over monetization
Owned customer moments are becoming more valuable than bought media, but Mehta is direct about the risk of over-monetizing them. Nift sends roughly 50 million gifts monthly, and consistent positive consumer experience requires discipline about when and how often to interject.
“The goal is not to over monetize. It’s to be highly intentional about how you’re reaching that customer and their ability to discover new products and services that could be relevant to them,” Mehta said.
Breaking down silos
The brands winning in this environment are those dismantling the separation between monetization, media, and customer experience — treating them as a single unit rather than competing priorities.
“Really making sure the silo between monetization, media, and customer experience all joins together and then operates as a unit so you can drive the appropriate level of customer appreciation and reciprocity,” Mehta said. “When they’re able to really ensure that they’re optimizing for the customer, we consistently see positive customer experience and stronger yield and better advertising performance for the marketer.”
