Aletheia Marketing & Media - Comprehensive Analysis Report
Summary
Aletheia Marketing & Media, established in 2018 in Dallas, Texas, is a data-driven and tech-enabled agency that specializes in high-impact digital marketing solutions. The company's core mission is to create and deepen connections—among colleagues, within communities, with clients to solve problems, and with consumers by understanding their values to foster meaningful engagement. Embracing truth, trust, and transparency, Aletheia focuses on building brand awareness and driving performance across the entire marketing funnel. The agency leverages behavioral science and human values, utilizing exclusive audience development tools and proprietary AI, to unlock opportunities and drive return on investment for clients across diverse industries.
1. Strategic Focus & Objectives
Core Objectives
Aletheia Marketing & Media's primary objective is to create and deepen connections, from internal teams to clients and ultimately with consumers, by understanding their core values for meaningful engagement. The company strives to build brand awareness while simultaneously driving performance at every stage of the marketing funnel. Its business principles are rooted in transparency, accountability, integrity, a growth mindset, and being good people.
Specialization Areas
The company specializes in high-impact digital marketing solutions, with a strong focus on behavioral science and human values. Key areas of expertise include:
Values-Driven Marketing: Leveraging exclusive audience development tools to create values-driven personas that aim to unlock opportunities and drive ROI.
Media Expertise: Comprehensive services in media buying, planning, and strategy.
Full-Funnel Optimization: Perfecting each part of the marketing funnel to ensure brand awareness at the top and conversions at the bottom.
Core Services: Strategic consulting, media planning and buying, and business intelligence and research.
Target Markets
Aletheia serves clients across a broad spectrum of industries, including:
Healthcare
Automotive
Finance
Restaurants, including Quick Service Restaurants (QSR)
Amusements & Family Fun
Construction & Engineering
Professional Services
Staffing & Recruitment
Education
2. Financial Overview
Funding History
Aletheia Marketing & Media has not raised any external funding rounds since its inception.
The company maintains an estimated annual revenue of $13.9 million per year.
As of December 2022, Aletheia reported 28 employees, reflecting an 8.0% increase from December 2021. Another estimate indicates approximately 62 employees, with a reported 41% growth in employee count in the past year.
3. Product Pipeline
Key Products/Services
Aletheia Marketing & Media offers a comprehensive suite of digital marketing services and leverages proprietary technology:
Strategic Consulting: Providing expert guidance on marketing strategies tailored to client needs.
Media Planning and Buying: Developing and executing media campaigns across various platforms.
Business Intelligence and Research: Utilizing data and insights to inform marketing decisions and optimize performance.
Pluralytics (Acquired): An AI content intelligence platform that uses behavioral science and AI to identify consumer values and priorities, influencing purchasing decisions. Its ValuesFinder™ platform and patented model analyze and predict content performance to generate tailored messaging.
Zenzi (Acquired): A pioneer in values-based audience research, integrated with Pluralytics to provide advanced values-driven solutions.
ValuesBase® and ValuesFinder: Proprietary technologies used to deliver tailored strategies for maximum ROI and conversion rates. These AI systems analyze language and imagery to predict content performance, evaluate messaging alignment, and measure key brand tones, sentiment, complexity, and formality.
Advanced Modeling and Attribution: Studying the relationships between sales, impressions, and spend data to construct market mix models and optimize media investments, minimizing waste through predictive models.
4. Technology & Innovation
Technology Stack
Aletheia Marketing & Media differentiates itself through its cutting-edge technological platforms, proprietary technologies, and patented AI.
Core Platforms and Technologies: The company utilizes SaaS platforms and proprietary technology for an enhanced go-to-market strategy.
Proprietary Developments: This includes ValuesBase® and ValuesFinder, which are essential for delivering tailored strategies and maximizing ROI. Their AI analyzes language and imagery to predict content performance, evaluating messaging alignment to target groups, brand voice, and custom personas, including their ValuesTypes™ personas.
Scientific Methodologies: Employs behavioral science principles to understand consumer values and motivations.
Technical Capabilities:
AI-driven content intelligence identifying consumer values and predicting performance.
Analysis of messaging alignment, brand tone, sentiment, complexity, and formality.
Advanced modeling and attribution to optimize media investments and predict sales results.
Social listening tools for monitoring the social landscape.
Acquisitions: The July 2024 acquisition of Pluralytics, an AI content intelligence platform, and the earlier acquisition of Zenzi, a values-based audience research pioneer, demonstrate Aletheia's commitment to advanced AI and values-driven insights.
5. Leadership & Management
Executive Team
Chris Schembri: Founder/Chief Executive Officer. Chris Schembri founded Aletheia Marketing & Media in 2018. Under his leadership, the company acquired Zenzi and Pluralytics and received recognition by Inc. Magazine in 2024 and 2025. He previously held roles as Chief Operating Officer for Camelot Strategic Marketing & Media and Vice President for AT&T Media Services. He was also a three-time "Professor of the Year" at the University of Windsor, teaching Marketing Strategy.
Alisa Miller: Chief AI Officer, Board Director & Co-founder of Pluralytics. Miller joined Aletheia's leadership team following the acquisition of Pluralytics in July 2024.
Rick Byrne: Chief Marketing Officer & Co-Founder of Pluralytics. Byrne also joined following the Pluralytics acquisition in July 2024.
Damien LaManna: EVP, Managing Director.
Heidi Clement: Head of New Business & Consulting.
Patrick Derdeyn: Head of Business Development.
Clayton Kjos: SVP Product Development.
Richard Chellew: SVP Implementation.
Susan Scott: SVP/Managing Director, AMM Health.
Britt Baumel: SVP Operations (also listed as VP Operations).
Nikki Santillana: VP Client Experience.
English Atkins: VP Media Operations.
Jodi Lyssy: VP of Business Intelligence.
Recent Leadership Changes
In July 2024, Aletheia Marketing & Media completed the acquisition of Pluralytics. This strategic move brought Pluralytics' co-founders, Alisa Miller and Rick Byrne, into Aletheia's leadership team as Chief AI Officer (and Board Director) and Chief Marketing Officer, respectively.
6. Talent and Growth Indicators
Hiring Trends and Workforce
Aletheia Marketing & Media has demonstrated substantial growth, earning recognition from Inc. Magazine as one of the 5000 fastest-growing private companies in the U.S. in both 2024 and 2025, showing a 3-year growth of 326%. The company was also listed on the Inc. Regionals Southwest at No. 35 in 2025 and No. 97 in 2024.
As of December 31, 2022, the company reported 28 employees, an 8.0% increase from the previous year. Another estimation for Aletheia Marketing & Media cites 62 employees, with a 41% employee count growth in the past year.
Current hiring trends indicate recruitment for specialized roles such as:
Content Intelligence Manager: This role focuses on leveraging Generative AI tools and data analysis for content performance reports and audience analysis.
Lead Engineer, SaaS: Indicating a continued investment in their proprietary software as a service platforms.
Aletheia emphasizes a culture of strong communication and transparency, investing heavily in technology, data, and automation, while also highlighting its people as its greatest resource.
7. Social Media Presence and Engagement
Digital Footprint
Aletheia Marketing & Media maintains an active social media presence across prominent platforms:
LinkedIn: Often used for company news, partnership announcements, and industry insights.
The company utilizes these channels to communicate brand messaging, share thought leadership initiatives, and engage with the community. While specific campaigns are not detailed, their presence supports their strategy of transparency and truth in marketing.
8. Recognition and Awards
Industry Recognition
Aletheia Marketing & Media has received significant industry recognition for its rapid growth and innovative approach:
Inc. 5000 List: Recognized as one of the fastest-growing private companies in the U.S., ranking No. 1342 in 2025 and No. 1437 in 2024.
Inc. Regionals Southwest List: Featured at No. 35 in 2025 and No. 97 in 2024.
Advertising Age's Media Mavens: Founder and CEO Chris Schembri was named one of Advertising Age's Media Mavens.
9. Competitive Analysis
Major Competitors
Aletheia Marketing & Media operates within a highly competitive full-service marketing agency sector. Key competitors include:
S⁴Capital: A leading digital advertising and marketing services company with a focus on global digital marketing.
Townsquare Media: A media company primarily focused on radio broadcasting, live events, and providing marketing solutions to local businesses.
Interpublic: One of the world's largest advertising and marketing services companies, offering a wide range of services globally.
MandR Marketing, The Partnership, and Talking Dog Agency: These are other digital marketing agencies that compete in various segments of the market.
Aletheia differentiates itself through its specialized focus on values-driven marketing, powered by proprietary AI and behavioral science, which aims to provide deeper consumer insights and more effective campaign performance compared to generalist agencies.
10. Market Analysis
Market Overview
Aletheia Marketing & Media operates within the dynamic and expansive global digital marketing industry. The total addressable market is significant and continuously growing, driven by increasing digital consumption and the imperative for brands to connect with consumers online.
Growth Potential: The industry shows robust growth, particularly in areas leveraging advanced technologies like AI and deeper consumer insights.
Key Market Trends:
Values-Driven Marketing (VDM): This is a critical and growing trend, with studies indicating that campaigns embedded with VDM significantly enhance ad preference, likeability, relevance, and overall performance. Aletheia's focus on understanding consumer values aligns perfectly with this trend.
AI Integration: Artificial intelligence is transforming the industry, enabling more precise targeting, personalized content creation, and predictive analytics for campaign optimization.
Evolving Customer Expectations: Consumers increasingly expect personalized, relevant, and authentic brand interactions.
Market Challenges and Opportunities:
Challenges: Navigating a crowded market, keeping pace with rapid technological advancements, managing data privacy concerns, and demonstrating clear ROI in a complex digital ecosystem.
Opportunities: Leveraging proprietary AI and behavioral science to offer unique, high-value services that provide a competitive edge. Expanding into specialized sectors like healthcare with dedicated practices (AMM Health).
11. Strategic Partnerships
Aletheia Marketing & Media has strategically leveraged mergers and acquisitions to enhance its technological capabilities and market position.
Pluralytics (Acquisition): Acquired in July 2024, Pluralytics is an AI content intelligence platform. This partnership brings expertise in behavioral science and AI that identifies consumer values and predicts content performance, significantly boosting Aletheia's values-driven marketing capabilities.
Zenzi (Acquisition): Aletheia previously acquired Zenzi, a pioneer in values-based audience research. The integration of Pluralytics with Zenzi aims to provide enhanced, advanced values-driven solutions.
* WARC (Research Partnership): Aletheia partners with WARC for research on values-driven marketing, demonstrating its commitment to evidence-based strategies and contributing to industry insights.
12. Operational Insights
Aletheia Marketing & Media positions itself as a data-driven and tech-enabled agency focused on both brand building and performance. Their distinct competitive advantage is rooted in their values-driven marketing approach, which is powered by proprietary AI and behavioral science expertise. By integrating tools like Pluralytics' ValuesFinder and Zenzi, Aletheia gains a deep understanding of consumer motivations, enabling them to predict purchasing behavior. This capability allows for the creation of tailored messaging
