How Mall of America Is Innovating With Local Tech and Talking Robots

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Street Fight recently caught up with Sarah Townes, Mall of America’s marketing VP, to discuss the evolution of physical retail, where she’s placing her tech bets, and how location fits into the mix.

Learning to Work on Your Startup Even While Executing on the Day-to-Day

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“Some of the best companies you couldn’t define their market size on day one,” says Foundry Group’s Brad Feld. “Nobody has any idea what their market sizes are. Others a lot of times you think the market size is X and it’s either an order of magnitude bigger or smaller. “

GateHouse’s UpCurve Acquires Closely to Complement ThriveHive

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Closely will be integrated into ThriveHive’s digital solutions, deepening UpCurve’s ability to aggregate and analyze SMB data. The buy enhances ThriveHive’s data-driven product suite by marrying its guided marketing platform with social media management software.

Brad Feld: Startup Founders Should Focus on Defining ‘Cultural Norms’

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The Foundry Group and TechStars co-founder has seen his share of startups. He is co-author of the book “Startup Opportunities: Know When to Quit Your Day Job,” which had its second edition released last month. Street Fight caught up with Feld recently to talk about some of the trickier issues in starting a company.

After Some Challenging Pivots, Moz Digs Deeper for Growth

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After several years of fast growth pushing into a variety of different marketing products , the firm announced last August that it was laying off 28 percent of its workforce in order to refocus on its core competencies. We caught up with CEO Sarah Bird recently to talk about the changes and where she sees the digital marketing industry headed.

Facebook Looking for More Consumers to Chat With Businesses on Messenger

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At the Collision conference in New Orleans on Tuesday, Facebook’s head of product for Messenger, Stan Chudnovsky, spoke with Recode’s Kurt Wagner about how the company is trying to unite the messaging app’s 1.2 billion users with the 60 million businesses in the Facebook ecosystem.

Study: 55% of Mall Shoppers Would Shop at an Online Retailer’s Brick-and-Mortar Store

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Online retailers like Warby Parker and Bonobos have been experimenting for years with pop-up stores and actual brick-and-mortar locations. This phenomenon was the subject of a recent study conducted by ChargeItSpot, which provides cell phone charging stations for retailers and events.

Location Data Shows Which Brands Coachella Attendees Favor

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Attendees at the annual music festival may seem somewhat heterogeneous from the outside, but a new study of InMarket’s anonymized location data gives a sense of the concertgoers’ brand preferences, and insight into the effectiveness of sponsors’ campaigns.

Gannett Acquires SweetIQ, Building Out ReachLocal’s Suite of Digital Products

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Gannett announced on Thursday afternoon that it has acquired Montreal-based listings management company SweetIQ, which will be rolled into its ReachLocal suite of software for small businesses and brands. SweetIQ’s products provide local businesses with tools to manage their listings and reputation, and measure consumer engagement.

Yext Shares Up Sharply in Initial Day of Trading, Portending Well for Local

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Yext’s shares jumped nearly 22% in the company’s initial day of trading, with the price rising as high as $14.25 per share before settling to $13.41 at close. The strong opening was a hopeful message from Wall Street for the local marketing industry, which has been looking to Yext’s IPO as a bellwether.

YP’s Rowe: Hybrid Print/Digital Offerings Can Reinforce Value

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The company’s chief executive, Jared Rowe, talked about where YP saw its sweet spot. In particular, he spoke of a “blended” print and digital model where publishers could move consumers “back and forth, and in between” to create more value for local businesses.

LOAC Notebook: As Platforms Ascend, Some Blunt Words for Legacy Media

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“You’re going to have to change the way you do business,” CBS’s Ezra Kucharz told media executives earlier this week in a keynote at Borrell Associates’ Local Online Advertising Conference in New York. “The world is changing and we have to change with it.”

Near CEO: Bad Data Remains a Big Challenge for Location Platforms

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Near enables brands and businesses to “visualize, engage and analyze audience data including their location and behavior for data-driven decisions.” Street Fight recently caught up with Near’s founder and CEO, Anil Mathews, to talk about location intelligence in 2017 and what types of new use cases we may soon see.

Finding Success as a Digital Agency, DAC Group Expands Deeper Into Europe

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The legacy listings company has undergone a transformation over the past five years, doubling revenue while shifting its mix from 80% print to 90% digital. We caught up with CEO Norm Hagarty to talk about DAC Group’s two recent international acquisitions and where he thinks local is heading.

Why Omnivore’s POS-Connection Platform Is Really an ‘App Store’ for Restaurants

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The platform, which connects apps to POS systems, is making it easier for restaurants to find and test new technology. We recently caught up with founder and CEO Mike Wior to talk about the unique issues facing restaurant tech, and how Omnivore’s service can enable more experimentation and innovation.

YP CEO: Tech Companies Have Required ‘More of Our Clients Than We Need To’

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In August, YP announced that former Cox Automotive Media Solutions Group President Jared Rowe would take the company’s helm as CEO. Street Fight recently caught up with Rowe to talk about how he’s found the first few months on the job, how he thinks local is evolving, and when he thinks the last print Yellow Pages will eventually be printed.

PlaceIQ Announces Strategic Investment From Alibaba Group, Expansion Into China

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The location-based audience and insights platform has partnered with — and received a strategic investment from — Alibaba Group, the largest online and mobile commerce company in the world. The minority investment will be used to help PlaceIQ scale its operations globally, beginning with the Chinese market.

Verve CEO: Eliminating Uncertainty in Location Data Is ‘Critical’ for Mobile

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Street Fight recently caught up Nada Stirratt to talk about how brands are coming to understand location as a part of their mix, why high-quality location data is so vital for marketers, and where the “white space” is in local tech.

Reserve and Deliver: Waitr Acquires Restaurant Booking App Requested

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Restaurant booking app Requested has announced that it has been acquired by Louisiana-based food delivery and restaurant management company Waitr. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Requested will keep its California office and its team will remain intact in the transfer.

Placing a Bet on Apps for Local Businesses, Advice Local Acquires Scanther Mobile

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Advice Interactive Group will acquire the app tech company founded in 2012 by brothers EJ and Austin Archuleta. Scanther’s team will join Advice as part of the deal, and the company will be rebranded as Advice Mobile and integrated within the Advice Local product suite.