London-based technology provider SmartFrame Technologies has appointed Alan Capel as its chief commercial officer. Capel has over 30 years of experience in the image licensing industry, having held senior positions at Alamy and Getty Images. His responsibilities will include executing commercial strategies, identifying new opportunities for growth, and overseeing sales and marketing. SmartFrame recently grew its image-streaming platform to offer over 620 million embeddable images to publishers globally. It plans to increase its workforce by 45% by the end of Q1 2024.
SmartFrame is changing the distribution model of digital image file formats and terms of trade for image assets. It is moving away from the low-cost JPEG-licensing model, which has been in terminal decline for over a decade, to a free embeddable file format with in-image advertising revenue sharing for publishers and content owners. The company estimates that the demise of the third-party cookie will result in $376bn in spending on contextual advertising by 2027, creating a significantly larger revenue opportunity for content owners than the image licensing market currently offers.
SmartFrame’s CEO, Rob Sewell, expressed his appreciation for Capel joining the company and believes he will play a crucial role in driving the company’s growth strategy. Capel is excited to be part of the company’s transformational work that can change the future outlook of the image licensing industry.
The company’s aim is to create a fairer, more transparent, and prosperous industry for all. SmartFrame is seeking to deliver revolutionary solutions that can change the way businesses work with images and how they work for businesses.