News and Analysis
Keen and Accretive: OOH Drives Hidden Growth
In a media landscape dominated by search, social, and streaming, a new analysis from Keen Decision Systems and Accretive suggests marketers may be missing one of their most efficient levers for growth: out-of-home (OOH) advertising. The joint study reveals that OOH delivers a marginal ROI (mROI) of $7.58 … well above the average media mROI […]
Andy Wiederhorn Returns to Fat Brands
Sometimes stepping away from a role for a while gives leaders a whole new perspective on their company and its future. Andy Wiederhorn, CEO of Fat Brands, spent more than a year as an outside consultant and strategic advisor to the company. It allowed him an opportunity to focus on long-term strategy and capital allocation. […]
Spectrio and Screenverse Partner to Monetize Brand-Owned Screens
Spectrio announced a strategic partnership with Screenverse, one of the fastest-growing players in the programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH) space. The collaboration, announced October 15, 2025, expands Spectrio’s capabilities by introducing programmatic ad monetization directly into its enterprise signage ecosystem, turning brand-owned screens into scalable media opportunities. For Spectrio, a long-time leader in digital signage and […]
Commentary
Beyond Search: AI Visibility the New Growth Lever for MULO Brands
For years, agencies have measured local search success with a simple formula: check Google Maps and Search rankings, optimize, repeat. However, the rise of AI-driven search experiences, including Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode, Gemini, and of course standalone tools like ChatGPT, has fractured what “local visibility” means, with AI visibility creating both a challenge and […]
Beyond Likes: Win Hearts with Emotional Marketing
I’ve been in the marketing game for a while, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that data is king. We track clicks, opens, conversions, and a million other metrics. But what if the most important metric isn’t something you can easily count? What if the result of emotional marketing is a feeling? We’re […]
Why TV Remains the Heartbeat of Local Connection
In today’s increasingly digital world, fostering a sense of community can be challenging. Yet it’s not impossible. New research from Tenetic and CivicScience reveals that TV is the best medium at making people feel connected to their local communities–twice as effective as streaming content, twice as effective as digital video, and nearly three times better […]
Latest Posts
Survey: Marketers Lean-In to Personalization, Performance
We’re well into H2, and omnichannel ad platform Mediaocean has released its 2025 H2 Market Report, a compilation of responses from a global survey of hundreds of marketing professionals. It looks like experimentation is out, and execution is in when it comes to using AI, advertising on CTV, and verifying identity as the foundations of […]
MULO Brands With Soul August Pick: Raising Cane’s
A “one love” philosophy may sound more like Woodstock, Burning Man, or a spiritual retreat than a MULO (multi-location) food brand with more than 900 locations. Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers has become known for its corporate culture, which emphasizes the importance of respect, community, teamwork, and having fun as part of every employee’s daily experience […]
From Data to Dachshunds: Meet Elizabeth Lafontaine of Placer.ai
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. Elizabeth Lafontaine is the Director of Research at Placer.ai and will share the latest insights on consumer trends, including […]
Streets Ahead: Google Chat, and Instagram Reels
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses Google enabling direct business chat in Maps & Search and Instagram unveiling retention insights for Reels Google Brings Chat to Maps The News Google has rolled out its Chat feature within Google Maps, giving users a direct way to message businesses via text or WhatsApp. Customers can […]
Ryan Serhant Update: Disrupting the MULO Real Estate World
We interviewed Ryan Serhant a couple of years ago, when he introduced the concept of a “real estate broker office as content creator studio.” His vision appears to be gaining momentum as Serhant expands into new markets. Serhant is also upping the talent game in a legacy industry by recruiting the best property “influencers” with […]
Swiftly’s Campaign Studio Can Empower Local Grocers
When ad historians look back on the evolution of DOOH advertising, they may well say of the present time, “self-service was the rage.” (Apologies to Anatole Broyard.) And just as Broyard opened a used book store in Greenwich Village in the 1940’s and got to know his clientele very well, so too do local grocers […]
Cracker Barrel: The Rebrand That is Anything But Stale!
The MULO (multi-location) restaurant ecosystem and the marketing agencies that support it have been abuzz and aghast over the past week. Cracker Barrel has about 700 locations in 44 states, but the number of opinions on their new logo and store design outweighs those numbers. And many have been less than favorable on the rebrand. […]
The Road Ahead: What Autonomous Cars Teach Us About Marketing Automation
The race toward fully autonomous cars fascinates me—not just for what it means for transportation, but for the lessons it offers those of us navigating the shifting lanes of marketing automation. Both fields are being reshaped by artificial intelligence. Both promise more efficiency and precision. And both, at their core, remind us that technology shines […]
Streets Ahead: Google’s Big Cleanup, New Profile Signals, and the Page Every Business Needs for AI Search
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses Google’s Knowledge Graph purge, new user-confirmed attributes in business profiles, and how a “Why Choose Us” page can help your business stand out in AI search. Google Purges 3 Billion Knowledge Graph Entities The News Google has reportedly removed about 3 billion entities from its Knowledge Graph […]
For DOOH: Start with Where the Screen Is
Democracy has come to DOOH media. Anyone with a credit card, basic computer skills, and five minutes of free time can set up and run a DOOH campaign thanks to AdOmni’s self-serve ad platform. Jonathan Gudai, CEO of AdOmni, said that for too long the process of planning and executing a campaign has been a mysterious […]
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