News and Analysis
Scaling the Mountain of Brand Reputation Management With Brynn Gibbs
“Meet” another one of our outstanding 30+ thought leaders taking the stage at Street Fight LIVE 2025. We want to give you a glimpse into the marketing and business insights of each of them before you join us in LA. Brynn Gibbs is the Founder & CEO of Consumer Fusion, a company that helps MULO […]
Two “Top Chefs” of PR Offer the Recipe for Success
In the weeks leading up to Street Fight LIVE 2025, we’ll be getting up close and personal with some of our speakers, encouraging them to share stories of how they found themselves in the MULO (multi-location) ecosystem. Lori Ruggiero is Managing Partner & EVP of 5WPR and Gabriella Velez is also an EVP at 5WPR. They […]
LG Ad Solutions Study Confirms CTV’s Audience Edge
Streaming continues to reshape television, but a new report underscores just how central personalization has become to its evolution. LG Ad Solutions, a global leader in advanced advertising for Connected TV (CTV), has released its 2025 Inclusive Screen Report, which explores the TV viewing habits and advertising preferences of diverse U.S. audiences, including Black, Hispanic, […]
Commentary
Streets Ahead: Google Social Posts, Local Pack & AIO Results
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discuss Google expanding social posts visibility in local search results and a new study that finds a correlation between local pack and AI Overview results. Google Now Showcasing Social Posts More Prominently in Mobile Search The News If you haven’t already added your social media URLs to your […]
What are You Doing on September 30th?
As a consumer, you likely shop, dine, and consume services at a combination of big-box and mom-and-pop establishments. As a MULO (multi-location) executive, agency, or tech company, you probably attend several industry-specific (retail, restaurant, service) conferences in your sector. So, what’s the deal with an event like Street Fight LIVE 2025 that cuts across multiple […]
Setting the Record Straight on Curation
Curation is dominating conversations in the advertising world right now, and while it is not an entirely new concept, it still comes with misperceptions and confusion. Our industry’s desire to succinctly define curation, assign responsibility for it, and spell out guidelines and best practices is understandable—yet also challenging. But curation is more than a buzzword […]
Latest Posts
MULO Brands With Soul May Pick: Clutch Coffee
We typically profile big multi-location brands in this column, but we were so impressed by this story from Darren Spicer, Co-Founder of Clutch Coffee, that we just had to include it. The brand currently has 20 drive-thru locations in both North Carolina and South Carolina and plans to open five more in the near future. […]
BOOM: Legacy Restaurant Brands Relaunch and Get “Glow-ups”
MULO (multi-location) retailers and restaurants often take their eyes off the ball (or shelves and plates) when planning for the future. We’ve seen many examples of established brands that thrived for decades suddenly closing up shop and declaring bankruptcy. However, we’re also witnessing legacy brands that realize consumer needs are evolving. These brands are coming up […]
Cookie Loss Didn’t Kill the Web, But AI Overviews Might
The digital advertising industry spent years preparing for the demise of third-party cookies—an event that never fully materialized. But while we were focused on cookies, a much bigger transformation was quietly unfolding: the fundamental shift in how people interact with search engines. AI Overviews. Google’s AI Overviews and AI-driven chatbots are reshaping search behavior in […]
What’s New at Walmart? A Creator Studio!
We’ve heard of SWAS or “stores within stores” (like Sephora at Kohl’s) and “pickleball within malls.” However, something new and powerful has now emerged for creators, at a Walmart in Tennessee. It’s a fully equipped creator studio where brand influencers, entertainers, and other Instagram-famous personalities and TikTok stars can capture content. Create-It Studios is described […]
Real American Beer Supports Live Music
Way back in 1974, The Who single “Long Live Rock” contained the sad refrain, “Rock is dead.” Not if WWE icon Hulk Hogan and his Real American Beer brand have anything to say about it: rock music—along with other genres–is being nourished and thriving through its brand sponsorships that support up-and-coming bands across the U.S. […]
Customer Communication : AI and Omnichannel
A new study by Sinch, a global company specializing in SMS marketing, reveals that consumers have particular views on the rapid pace of AI integration in customer communication. The 2.8 consumers surveyed expect consistent, secure, and personalized experiences across all channels, including SMS, email, chat, and voice. A significant 58% of consumers are accepting of […]
Streets Ahead: Google’s AI Mode and New Full-Width Knowledge Panels
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses Google CEO, Sundar Pichai’s comments on AI Mode & the future of Google Search as well as the Knowledge Panel /Business Profile redesign. The Future of Google Search – AI Mode The News In a wide-ranging conversation on the Lex Fridman Podcast, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai explored […]
Broadsign Makes Advances in DOOH Buying
Broadsign wanted to cut lengthy buying cycles in DOOH (digital out-of-home), and now it can with the launch of a new product called Broadsign In-Advance. Its first customer is now WPP Media in the Netherlands, which tested the new capability to secure DOOH ads across the Netherlands via OutMoove. The technology enables media buyers to […]
BOOM: MULO Health & Wellness
Despite Weight Watcher’s recent bankruptcy, the MULO (multi-location) health and wellness ecosystem—and the consumers who spend there—is booming. Weight Watchers jumped on the weight loss drug bandwagon, but it may have been too late for the iconic brand, founded in 1963. So, other than looking for miracle injections, where else are today’s consumers going to […]
MULO Hotel Brands Go Glamping
We recently wrote about how many multi-location (MULO) hospitality brands are getting into the extended-stay space to meet the needs of business travelers, digital nomads, and other transient professionals. Not only major hotel brands providing these creature comforts but they are also putting guests closer to real creatures with their entrance into the glamping (upscale […]
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