What I Saw in 2024: 10 MULO Trends and Predictions

As a journalist, I’m used to telling the stories that others pitch to me. (BTW…keep sending me your stats and news throughout 2025! You can reach me at [email protected].) Indulge me for a few minutes while I offer my perspectives on the year of MULO (multi-location) brands based on everything I’ve gathered.

Here are my predictions and insights:

1. Live events are here to stay. Although the pandemic forced us all into webinars and some marketing pundits claimed that new generations would avoid face-to-face gatherings, Street Fight LIVE 2024 (which I chaired), industry-specific conferences, and Placer.ai’s end-of-year gathering all proved to me that well-curated conferences, featuring true thought leaders, still have a place in the B-to-B mix.
2. The mall is timeless but different today. Eventually, “multi-use” may be stricken from the real estate lexicon, as every space will become a live/work/play/eat/shop destination. DOOH (digital OOH) advertising will follow shoppers everywhere they go and become more personalized and action-oriented. Retail media networks have proliferated. Convenience stores (C-stores) are no longer just truck stops and will become mini-malls in their own right, with built-in shopping, dining, and loyalty experiences (and e-car charging, gas, and gum, of course!)
3. Experiences rule. Over the holidays, I had a cocktail with a colleague at a combination liquor store, bar, restaurant, and arcade venue. Ironically, it’s located near a new apartment complex where a LIFETIME is being constructed. One-stop shopping has turned into one-stop living and working. Remote work has helped create an ecosystem where people of all ages can combine travel with work and play.
4. We’ll eventually stop hearing the letters “AI.” I don’t believe that will happen in 2025, but it will soon be another technological innovation that makes decision-making, marketing, and communications faster and easier. It’ll be an ingredient of all business and marketing actions. And yes, humans will still play a role.
5. Marketers will stop defining consumers by generation and look at spending power. Boomers control $548b in disposable income, so focusing on dates on birth certificates and Instagram influencers is leaving lots of potential behind. Plus, we’ll have better data (see #4) to target consumers based on behaviors and shopping/dining patterns rather than age.
6. Big agencies will need to wake up to survive. Given the wide range of media and automation, marketing is more complex and varied than ever. Gobbling up a digital agency is not the solution. Tomorrow’s agency will need a broad and deep range of skills and teams that reflect the demographic makeup of today’s consumers.
7. Local search is a critical aspect of consumers’ lives. They are focused on the product or service they need and don’t necessarily care if a non-urgent purchase comes to their front door, is picked up curbside, or involves a trip to a brick-and-mortar store. Brands need to look at the world through the consumer’s eyes and be vigilant in making sure how and where they appear online is accurate and actionable. See more here.
8. Customer service and employee culture have always been critical to consumers, and brands must honor that. The stakes are high. A service, policy, or communication misstep can quickly become a social media firestorm. Brands must be transparent, mindful, properly staffed, and willing to acknowledge and deal with failure.
9. The influencer bubble hasn’t burst yet, but the creator model is under scrutiny. New companies are emerging to ensure brands are putting their dollars towards people and solutions that will impact ROI.
10. We are living in a genuinely phygital world. Coined in 2007, the convergence of physical brick-and-mortar experiences and technology that facilitates them is now a reality and will be the theme of Street Fight LIVE 2025. We are no longer just discussing the melding of real and digital life. It’s just life as we know it. You’ll learn about the products, services, technologies, and marketing campaigns that have brought it all together (which brings us back to #1).

Watch this space throughout 2025 as we bring you new developments in the MULO ecosystem and have a happy, insightful, and peaceful new year!