From her kitchen table in Scottsdale, Alexi Venneri recognized the power of social media to market to consumers. It was there, in 2010, that the company she co-founded and now leads as CEO, Digital Air Strike, was born.
The software company served to fill a gap as companies cut back on marketing during the Great Recession but were also desperate for revenue. Today, Digital Air Strike is a leading customer engagement technology partner helping more than 7,700 companies attract and retain business through digital and social media initiatives.
Digital Air Strike’s clients include eight top 10 automotive manufacturers, such as General Motors and Toyota. Based in Scottsdale, the business has 155 employees in three offices.
“Our company has always been flexible, ready to pivot daily, and develop new solutions to help our clients sell and service better online using technology,” Venneri said.
The lessons learned in those early years helped the company navigate the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, too. Rather than lay off employees, the company opted for furloughs and bringing people back when it could.
“We found the pandemic is a time to see who will step up and come up with new ideas,” Venneri said. “It reinforced our DNA. That’s how we grew our revenue by 40% in the past year. We didn’t panic during COVID. We teach our clients how to adapt by doing more with less using technology. It’s a lesson that has weaved throughout our past 12 years.”
Venneri’s previous roles include president of Auto Media/Blue Flame 6; VP of marketing, public relations and investor relations at DealerTrack; CMO at Who’s Calling and director of marketing for Major League Baseball’s Seattle Mariners.
Under Venneri’s leadership, Digital Air Strike lives by simple rules, the first of which is “no jerks.” The company’s stock option plan gives every employee skin in the game and they are urged to think like an owner. Digital Air Strike aims to do whatever it takes to help clients win, because if clients aren’t seeing value and growing, neither will Digital Air Strike.
“Digital Air Strike has been certified as a Great Place to Work for the past four years, a testament to the culture Alexi has put in place and continues to push,” her team said. “Alexi’s natural leadership abilities and industry experience drive the company to innovate new products and solutions to remain at the top.”
Venneri was named an Influential Woman in AZ Big Media’s AZBusiness Leaders 2022 magazine and was named a Woman Leader Blazing the Trail for The Rise magazine. Automotive News has recognized her as one of 100 Leading Women in the North American auto industry. She was named Innovator of the Year by AZ Top Tech Exec Awards, among many other accolades.
