Introducing 5 new Bonfire Community Groups
At the heart of customer engagement lies a fundamental truth: community matters. This principle drives brand loyalty and fosters shared experiences, and it’s no different for Braze! We are passionate about creating opportunities for you to connect, learn, and grow. In that spirit, we are excited to introduce Bonfire Community Groups—our first open groups designed to enhance your experience. Led by Braze team members, these new groups will focus on specific industries and roles, providing a dedicated space for members to connect and share insights. Similar to our Discussions, these groups will allow you to engage with fellow customer engagement professionals, discuss challenges, share ideas, and receive valuable feedback. Ready to learn more? Here are our new Bonfire Community Groups! Retail and eCommerce Join this group of Retail and eCommerce enthusiasts dedicated to enhancing customer engagement through innovative strategies, shared insights, and collaborative networking. Whether you’re a major brand or a small Shopify store, you’ll find others who share your passion for the Retail and eCommerce space. Financial Services Connect with Braze customers from across the financial services sector to share industry insights and discuss customer engagement strategies that foster trustworthy experiences. In a competitive landscape, it’s essential for brands to connect effectively with consumers on their individual journeys. This group is perfect for anyone in FinServ looking to learn from peers and find solidarity in shared challenges (and solutions!). Creative Collective This group is a space for innovators to explore and share creative strategies that push the boundaries of customer engagement. For too long, there’s been a misconception that creativity and performance are at odds. Research from WARC and Cannes Lions shows that the best brands drive customer acquisition, engagement, loyalty, and retention by leveraging award-winning, data-driven creative campaigns. Join this group to connect with others who are committed to marrying creativity with technology and setting new standards for innovation. Small but Mighty We’re bending the rules a bit with this one: Small but Mighty has technically existed since Bonfire’s inception. The big change? Now, anyone can join this group, which was previously private. By opening access, we hope even more small teams can leverage the collective power of the Bonfire Community and elevate their customer engagement strategies. Bonfire Expert Council While this group operates on a “request-to-join” basis, it plays a crucial role in shaping the future of Braze Bonfire! Apply to become a founding member and be instrumental in helping the community team build our roadmap, introduce new programs and features, and enhance the overall community experience. As a trusted member of the Bonfire Expert Council, you’ll also help answer questions, provide solutions, and share your expertise with the rest of the community. We envision these groups as just the beginning of many more to come. Visit the Community Groups page to find the group (or groups!) you’d like to join, and kick things off by posting a hello or sharing your thoughts on what you’d like to see in the future, or even a current challengeCommunity Groups you’re facing, or a question you have. If you’re interested in leading a Bonfire Community Group of your own, we want to hear from you! Reach out to us at community@braze.com , or mention one of our community managers in a reply on this post—MaggieBrennan, EmilyCalderon, and I are always here to help!Tech for an Equitable Future - Cohort 5 Application Launch!
What a week! Today, we announced the opening of applications for the fifth cohort of our Tech for an Equitable Future product grant program today at Forge. We’re partnering with BET+, the premium streaming entertainment service and valued GSA customer, to break down barriers for underrepresented founders by offering 12 months of free access to Braze technology and services. 🌟 About: Applications are open through January 17, at which point we’ll select 20 startups across APAC, EMEA, and North America to join Cohort 5. 🤝 BET+ x Braze: Through this partnership, BET+ will provide select participants of the program with 1:1 mentorship, access to a BET+ branding masterclass, free email advertising, and more 💡 Why It Matters: In 2023, Black-founded startupsreceived less than 0.5% of U.S. venture funding, and women-founded startups just 2.2%. Braze is committed to leveling the playing field for underrepresented founders. Through this program, we’ve donated over $900,000 in product value to startups in FY'25 alone. 📢 Apply or Share the Word: Applications are open now through Jan. 17, 2025. ApplyHERE by clicking the Apply Now button.Welcome to the New and Improved Braze Bonfire!
Hey Bonfire friends! You may notice things look a little different around here. We took your feedback over the last year to heart and have been hard at work behind the scenes to make your experience even better. These updates will make navigating our community simpler, more engaging, and a whole lot more fun.Site under maintenance Thursday, July 18
The Bonfire community will be going through an upgrade Thursday, July 18 from 8am PT - 5pm PT. Please note that the community will not be accessible during that time. If you need assistance with your Braze instance, please submit a Support Ticket via the Braze dashboard. We look forward to you experiencing our upgraded community once the update is complete. Let us know if you have any questions by dropping a note to community@braze.com.Follow the neon lights to Forge 2024
Big news, Bonfirers: get ready to go all in on customer engagement. This September, Forge is back for 2024 in a dazzling new place: Las Vegas! With success stories from big, innovative brands, tricks of the trade from industry experts, and networking opportunities galore, you’re sure to hit the inspiration jackpot. Forge is also the place to get certified, trained, and expand how you can use Braze in your day-to-day work. Come for the business, but stay for the fun—it’s not called the city that never sleeps for nothin’. We’ll keep the party going with activations, celebrations, and a few well-deserved awards. Mark your calendar for September 23-25, 2024, and check back in for a Bonfire-exclusive chance to roll the dice and attend Forge on us!Tech for an Equitable Future Applications Open
Braze is excited to announce our new product grant program Tech for an Equitable Future—an expansion of the Tech for Black Founders program to other underrepresented groups. Tech for an Equitable Future aims to remove barriers for underrepresented founders by providing their companies 12 months of free access to the Braze platform and supporting services. This initiative—launched in 2020 to address findings that only 1% of founders backed by venture capital in the US are Black—now provides a total of 24 Black-led startups free access to the Braze platform. The expanded program will continue this effort with the inclusion of other underrepresented founders, including women founders, who garner just 2% of the capital invested in VC-backed startups in the US. With equity as one of the guiding social impact pillars at Braze, we are committed to the continued pursuit of equity and inclusion in the technology industries. Businesses accepted to the program can expect to accelerate their growth, increase their chances at receiving VC funding, and build successful businesses.Congratulations to the 2023 Torchie Awards winners
Congratulations to the Forge 2023 Torchie Awards Winners and Runner Ups! The annual Braze Torchie Awards is a celebration of the leading brands and marketers who are building the future of customer engagement. This year we’re pleased to recognize an exceptional class of award winners who are finding innovative ways to forge connections and strengthen relationships—one message at a time. We awarded eight total awards this year, six customer awards - Rising Marketing Star of the Year, Bonfire Community Leader, Marketing Leader of the Year, Creative Excellence Award, Collaborative Team of the Year, Campaign of the Year and two partner awards - Technology Partner of the Year and Solutions Partner of the Year. Customer Award Winners Rising Marketing Star of the Year Winner: Samara Halperin, Lifecycle Marketing Associate for Talkspace (CongratulationsSamaraHalperin!) Bonfire Community Leader Winner: Kristijan Arsov, Lifecycle Marketing Manager for Lifesum (CongratulationsKristijan!) Marketing Leader of the Year Winner: Christine Miller, Senior Director, Global CRM Operations for Warner Bros. Discovery Creative Excellence Award Winner: Peacock Collaborative Team of the Year Winner: Grubhub Campaign of the Year Winner: Canva Partner Award Winners Technology Partner of the Year Winner: Census Solutions Partner of the Year Winner: Ogilvy To learn more about the winners and runner ups, check out the Torchie Awards Winners announcementHERE.Re-certify with Braze
Is it time to re-certify with Braze? As our program celebrates its third anniversary, many of our certification badge holders will need to get re-certified to maintain their credentials. In order to re-certify, individuals must retake the full certification exam. Now that Braze Certifications are valid for three years, we want to ensure that all certified professionals have the most up to date information about our platform as our exams and Learning Paths continue to evolve. As part of our certified professionals community, you will receive an email from Braze Learning 90 days before your badge expires, which will include detailed information about the steps you will need to take to re-certify as well as a 50% off discount promo code to retake your exam. As always, if you have any questions, please reach out to the certification team at certification@braze.com.Turn customer data into actionable insights with Braze
Today’s brands are managing an extraordinary amount of data. Many teams within an organization rely on different kinds of data, that data must flow into many kinds of tools within your stack, and privacy scrutiny around customer data is getting more and more rigorous every year. But if data’s supposed to help, why’s it always so hard? Braze is making it easier than ever to leverage your data, reduce costs, and eliminate complexity. With features like Cloud Data Ingestion, our new and improved Data Residency capabilities allow you to make data actionable regardless of where it resides or how it's structured. Whether we’re talking about zero, first, second, third, or product data – your marketing teams can easily access your data and make it actionable within Braze.
