Affinity Solutions names new executives

Transaction marketing firm Affinity Solutions said it hired Richard Bravman as COO and Gary Starr as CFO to capitalize on new opportunities in the growing world of transaction informed marketing solutions.

Bravman will have direct responsibilities for Affinity Solution’s technology, product, analytics, and operations functions. Starr will have responsibilities for finance, legal, and human resources. Affinity Solutions works with retail and banking partners to create business development opportunities through card-linked offers and transaction-enabled marketing. The company said it works with nearly 4,000 national and regional banks and more than 25,000 conventional retailers to leverage its proprietary analytics across a range of customer data in a privacy-controlled to offer highly targeted, optimally delivered offers.

“Affinity Solutions is at an inflection point in its history, triggered by growing recognition of the power of our transaction-based targeted marketing solutions, by customers in both retail and financial markets,” said Jonathan Silver, Affinity’s president and CEO. “Our deep and wide customer and ecosystem partner relationships, combined with our unique big data analytics capabilities, connecting the worlds of payments and marketing, put us in a very attractive position to expand our offerings, serve new customers, and rapidly grow our business. We decided that now is the time to add leadership depth and experience, to ensure that we capitalize successfully on these opportunities.”

Bravman, a seasoned technology executive, joins the firm after serving most recently as president and CEO of Pivot3, a leader in converged storage appliance solutions for video surveillance and VDI applications. Previously, he served as vp of corporate development and chief marketing officer at NCR Corporation and also held the role of chairman and CEO of Intelleflex, a provider of RFID-based cold supply chain solutions. He spent the first 26 years of his career at Symbol Technologies.

Gary Starr, a seasoned financial executive, joins Affinity Solutions after a 29 year career in finance. He has served as CFO as Archstone Consulting, Martha Stewart Living and Newsweek.