News and Analysis

Broadsign and Partners Execute Fully Agentic OOH Campaign

Broadsign and Partners Execute Fully Agentic OOH Campaign

Broadsign, Global Netherlands, and Draft Digital have demonstrated what may be the first fully agentic OOH (out-of-home) campaign, with autonomous AI agents handling everything from media planning to campaign execution. The project offers an early glimpse into how AI could reshape media buying, hyperlocal targeting, and the future role of marketers. Broadsign and Global Netherlands […]

Walmart Vibe Acquisition Shows Its Advertising Ambitions Are Getting Bigger

Walmart’s Vibe Acquisition Shows Its Advertising Ambitions

Walmart has spent the past several years quietly building one of the most formidable advertising businesses outside of the traditional digital giants. What began as a retail media effort designed to monetize shopper data is increasingly evolving into something much larger: a full-funnel advertising ecosystem capable of competing for budgets that have historically flowed to […]

As AI Changes Local Discovery, Scorpion Bets on Scale and Technology with 1SEO

As AI Changes Local Discovery, Scorpion Bets on Scale and Technology

The future of local marketing may depend less on generating leads and more on connecting marketing activity directly to business outcomes. The Scorpion acquisition of 1SEO reflects a growing industry shift toward AI-powered platforms that help businesses compete in an increasingly complex discovery environment. Artificial intelligence is rapidly changing how consumers discover, evaluate, and choose […]

Commentary

Why Local Restaurants Should Hire PR

Why Restaurant PR Matters for Local Growth

A great PR campaign can make or break the future of a restaurant location. But in the case of multi-location restaurant brands, this requires strong collaboration between local or franchise leadership and the overall brand to ensure a consistent, coordinated effort. The unique challenges of restaurant PR Running a PR campaign for a restaurant is […]

Your locations show Up in AI - But Are They Actually Recommended?

Your Locations Show Up in AI – But Are They Recommended?

A consumer asks an AI assistant for a local business recommendation near one of your locations. Your brand location appears in the response. By most current measures, that’s a win — and it is. But for MULO marketers managing local search performance for dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of locations, presence in AI-generated responses is […]

“Why Aren’t We in ChatGPT?”: The New Question an Agency Must Answer

“Why Aren’t We in ChatGPT?”: The New Question Agencies Must Answer

A new question is starting to surface in agency client calls: “Why aren’t we showing up in ChatGPT?” At some point recently, you’ve probably gotten this call. A client — one with solid Google Maps rankings, an optimized Google Business Profile, and a steady stream of reviews — asks ChatGPT or Gemini to recommend a […]

Latest Posts

Digital Remedy Takes on the Biggest Pain in Ad Performance

Digital Remedy Takes on the Biggest Pain in Ad Performance

Advertising performance is becoming harder—not easier—to measure, especially for agencies managing campaigns across multiple channels and markets. A new platform from Digital Remedy aims to simplify that complexity, giving marketers a unified view of ad performance across CTV, display, audio, and more—and changing how they understand what actually drives results. The new Digital Remedy platform, […]

“Why Aren’t We in ChatGPT?”: The New Question an Agency Must Answer

“Why Aren’t We in ChatGPT?”: The New Question Agencies Must Answer

A new question is starting to surface in agency client calls: “Why aren’t we showing up in ChatGPT?” At some point recently, you’ve probably gotten this call. A client — one with solid Google Maps rankings, an optimized Google Business Profile, and a steady stream of reviews — asks ChatGPT or Gemini to recommend a […]

TikTok and iHeartMedia Bring Social Discovery to Audio

TikTok and iHeartMedia Bring Social Discovery to Audio

TikTok is expanding beyond short-form video and into the audio world with the launch of TikTok Radio, a new collaboration with iHeartMedia that blends trending TikTok music, creator commentary, and viral culture into a broadcast and streaming format. Debuting during SXSW and now available on the iHeartRadio app and dozens of U.S. broadcast stations, the […]

Why AI Is Forcing Marketing to Move From Channels to Intent

Why AI Is Forcing Marketing to Move From Channels to Intent

For decades, marketing teams organized their strategies around channels—search, social, email, and paid—each measured and optimized separately. But as AI increasingly mediates how buyers discover, compare, and choose products, that channel-based model is breaking down, forcing marketers to rethink their infrastructure around something far more important: customer intent. That channel-based structure shaped everything from budgets […]

Why Streaming TV Ad Platform Vibe.Co Is Buying Billboards

Why a Streaming TV Ad Platform Is Buying Billboards

Out-of-home (OOH) advertising is increasingly becoming a channel for B2B technology companies looking to reach decision-makers in the real world. As SaaS platforms compete for the attention of enterprise marketers, AI founders, and venture capital firms, some are turning to highly targeted billboards and transit campaigns in tech-heavy markets. Streaming ad platform Vibe.co is the […]

The Missing Piece in Multi-Location Marketing: Location-Level Attribution

The Missing Piece in Multi-Location Marketing: Location-Level Attribution

Multi-location marketing has become dramatically more sophisticated over the past decade. Brands now operate across dozens or hundreds of markets, running paid search, local SEO, social campaigns, listings management, and reputation programs simultaneously. But while marketing execution has scaled, measurement often hasn’t kept up. Multi-location brands often rely on dashboards that show total leads, conversions, […]

Gorilla Property Services Eyes U.S. Franchise Expansion

Gorilla Property Services Eyes U.S. Franchise Expansion

A leading property maintenance franchise is expanding into the United States, highlighting how home services brands are turning fragmented local trades into scalable franchise platforms. Vancouver-based Gorilla Property Services announced today that it has partnered with Franchise FastLane to accelerate franchise development across the U.S. The move positions the company inside one of the fastest-growing […]

BrightLocal Survey: How Rising Review Expectations Are Reshaping Brand Reputation Strategies

Survey: How Rising Review Expectations Are Reshaping Brand Reputation Strategies

The BrightLocal 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey highlights a major shift for brands operating in local markets. Reviews from the last three months now carry the most influence in consumer decision-making, while rising rating expectations and AI-powered recommendations are redefining how consumers evaluate businesses. For brands with local footprints, maintaining a steady flow of fresh, […]

Gregorys Coffee Franchise Launch Signals Restaurant Expansion Trend

Gregorys Coffee Franchise Launch Signals Restaurant Expansion Trend

The launch of a franchise program by Gregorys Coffee highlights a broader shift underway across the restaurant industry. Increasingly, emerging concepts are turning to restaurant franchise expansion as a way to scale nationally while maintaining brand identity and operational consistency. Backed by Craveworthy Brands, Gregorys’ move into franchising illustrates how specialty coffee franchise brands are […]

AI Is Rebuilding the Local Marketing Stack — From TikTok to Mail

AI Is Rebuilding the Local Marketing Stack — From TikTok to Mail

The AI marketing stack for local businesses is rapidly taking shape — and it’s transforming how consumers discover and choose brands. Platforms like TikTok are emerging as powerful discovery engines, AI assistants such as ChatGPT are influencing how consumers evaluate service providers, and even traditional channels like direct mail are being rebuilt with predictive targeting […]