News and Analysis

57% of Consumers Want Brands to "Get Personal" on Streaming Media Street Fight

57% of Consumers Want Brands to “Get Personal” on Streaming Media

Despite the often negative buzz about consumer privacy and the ubiquity of shopping and dining data, a new study revealed that most U.S. consumers (57%) prefer personalized ads to mass marketing when they’re watching streaming media.  The study was done by Moloco, a machine-learning company. As advertising on streaming media has become more common, opportunities […]

The MULO Dozen: June Brands in Review Street Fight

The MULO Dozen: June Brands in Review

In addition to our ongoing reporting about technology, creative innovations, and openings/closings in the MULO (multi-location) brand space, we publish this monthly quick-read summary of some of the developments at retailers, restaurants, and service brands. Whether you have just a few minutes or a few hours each month to track MULO trends for brands, Street […]

BUST: Why Do So Many Sports Stores Declare Bankruptcy? Street Fight

BUST: Why Do So Many Sports Stores Declare Bankruptcy?

Among the MULO (multi-location) sporting goods stores that filed for Chapter 11 during the past decade are: Mountain Sports (50 sporting goods and apparel stores in seven states under Eastern Mountain Sports and Bob’s Stores brands) Olympic Sports (70 stores) Modell’s (153 stores) Sport Chalet (47 stores in California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah) Sports Authority […]

Commentary

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The Future of Personalization Requires Direct Engagement with Consumers

We can probably all agree that to attempt personalization and get it wrong is worse than not doing it at all. No one wants to invest significant money into data collection to not see the ROI, and consumers don’t want to see irrelevant messaging from brands. So, how can marketers effectively personalize their communications and understand the human they are trying to reach behind the screen?

Mixing the Right Ingredients for Powerful, Clickable Content

In the age of social media and incessant scrolling, marketers can easily lose prospective customers’ attention. How can one create Instagram or Twitter-worthy content that not only draws eyeballs but also compels shoppers to make a purchase? By laying the proper groundwork, striking the right emotional chord, and getting creative, business can create powerful, clickable content.

Refocusing the Contextual Advertising Conversation on Outcomes

It’s time to stop getting hung up in the jargon. Instead, let’s talk about what really matters to marketers: outcomes and how to secure them.

Latest Posts

The Best Marketing Tactics Can’t Be Measured

If some marketing tactics are more measurable than others and you place all the emphasis on readily available metrics, you are just going to turn your marketing program into a click machine.

Contact Center Should Be the Marketing Engine

6 Omnichannel Loyalty Platforms for Multi-Location Retailers

In 2022, shoppers want more. The most effective loyalty platforms are going beyond transactional rewards to create unique cross-channel experiences that keep customers coming back for more.

Location-Based Marketing Association: Meta Goes After Restaurant Sales

In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association covers BC Transit debuting NextRide real-time transit info, PayTile launching a geo-location payment app, Meta going after restaurant sales, and Immertia releasing an AR packaging platform.

Influencers Struggle with Measurement as Channel Evolves

Many marketers still think of influencers as nascent affiliate partners. But as the channel evolves, influencers are seeking more sophisticated tools to assess their value and substantiate their impact as a marketing channel. 

back-to-school kids

Retailers Shift Back-to-School Strategies

The marketing promotions most likely to win over back-to-school shoppers in 2022 differ from those of the past two years. Competitive pricing is an area where retailers can stand out.

Audigent and Epsilon Bring Custom Audiences to Private Marketplaces 

The partnership with Epsilon is expected to give Audigent a significant boost in the data identity, curation, and activation space, where a number of platforms are currently competing to position themselves for a future without third-party cookies.

Google’s Latest Privacy Play Has Big Implications for the Open Web

Google Fuels the Real-World Metaverse

Whether for entertainment (which can foster marketing use cases) or direct commerce, the real-world metaverse will have major implications for the next generation of online-to-offline marketing strategy.

Looking Into the Future of Cashierless Retail

Are the perceived privacy issues that go along with shopping in a cashierless environment causing retailers to hold back on adopting smart checkout technology?

Closing the Attribution Loop

While marketers cannot speak with every customer to learn about their journey, they can access those insights using the correct data. And that process starts with a fully closed attribution loop.

Inform Your Multichannel Customer Experience Strategy

Chatbots Get Faster and Supply Helpful Data

Deploying chatbots effectively will require smarter, faster-learning chatbots. And that’s what Botco.ai is bringing to market with Instachat Builder, “a new product that accelerates AI chat deployment by allowing Botco.ai customers to directly train Botco.ai’s chatbot on any type of text information.”