Street Fight’s January Theme: Turning the Page

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This post is the latest in our “Turning the Page” series. It will be an editorial focus for the month of January, and you can see the rest of the series here


Welcome to 2021. As we move on from the dumpster fire of 2020 and hope for better times in 2021, what will be the state of local media, advertising, and commerce? Just as Street Fight has been an authority on these topics since 2011, we’re intent on carrying the torch into 2021… our tenth year.

During the past few years of that stretch, we’ve segmented our monthly coverage into themes, as you may have noticed. Following last month’s theme of “Leaving 2020” — a retrospective analysis — what better way to ring in a new year than to focus on what’s to come in the next year?

Street Fight Editorial Themes

We’ll do just that throughout January. How will Covid-19 continue to impact local media, advertising, and commerce as it rages on (with an end finally in sight)? What about other looming topics that have been overshadowed in the Covid era… namely, privacy crackdowns and antitrust activity?

And what new innovations will emerge in Covid’s wake? As we’ve examined, tough times force new perspectives, and that’s where innovation lives. Just as the last few downturns led to major media shifts — search in the early 2000’s and social in the late 2000’s — can we expect similar in 2021?

Beyond innovations from startups and tech giants, what about local businesses themselves? One silver lining in the scorched earth of brick-and-mortar commerce is that survivors will be battle-tested for a post-Covid era. They’ve accelerated their digital savvy ten years within ten months.

So far this has included things like pivoting to e-commerce. And it’s not just selling things online but high-impact local commerce fulfillment such as curbside pickup in retail and order-ahead for QSR. We’re even seeing creative ways to help restaurants boost cash flow with emerging tech like AR.

So how will all of this play out in 2021? Our writers and contributing voices will present insights throughout the month about what we could see unfold in the coming year. Our inboxes are already stuffed with 2021 projections from contributors, and we’ve gotten a jump on some already.

What’s the Fate of Location Intelligence in 2021?

Collectively, we’ll define what the “next normal” looks like for the world of local commerce. Will things go back to the old normal or be a hybrid reality that cherry-picks components and new perspectives from the past ten months? Will e-commerce dip back down to pre-Covid levels or keep surging?

We’ll answer these questions and others throughout the month. And though this builds around our monthly cadence of thematic coverage, we’ll also continue to cover local commerce happenings. In fact, January will be action-packed with announcements after a holiday slowdown.

So look out for the tag “Turning the Page.” We’ll label posts so you can discover them daily or actively browse them. Coverage will include our own daily reporting, deeper analytical dives from columnists, and a steady flow of contributions from business leaders developing first-hand insights.

Speaking of which, we’ll take this chance to remind you about our editorial contributor program. If you have unique perspective and insights, we’d love to hear from you. As always, we’ll prioritize and fast-track submissions that align with the monthly theme, as well as longer-term future gazing.

Reach out to us with suggestions for monthly themes, opportunities to contribute, or to amplify your brand messaging alongside this thematic coverage. On that note, we’re excited to also announce that we’ve launched the latest version of our media kit. Check it out, and come be part of the narrative.

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