News and Analysis
BOOM: Mini Golf Goes Maxi
Even if you may never be a star on an international golf tour, you can beat your friends and family to a rousing game at indoor mini golf. Puttshack, which opened two mini golf locations in 2021 has rapidly grown to 11 nationally in: Nashville Boston Chicago Dallas Houston St. Louis Pittsburgh Miami Denver Scottsdale […]
This Channel Could be Bowling Brands Over
Move over, Ralph Kramden. Bowling is becoming one of the most popular activities in the United States. According to data released last year from Ipsos, it was among the most “played” sports in 2022. Right after Cornhole, which 20% of Americans played, bowling drew 19%. Swimming was third at 18%. Statista posits that about 45 […]
BOOM: The Skinny on FAT Brands
FAT Brands sends us regular news announcements about their growth, menu updates, and company strategies. We’re wowed by their speed of franchise innovation. We reached out to their executive team to get insights into the FAT philosophy and forward-looking path. As a MULO (multi-location) brand, they are clearly one of the gentle yet powerful giants. […]
Commentary
How AI Is Driving the Next Generation of Ad Creative
Most industries have a healthy fear that artificial intelligence is going to render humans obsolete (and even possibly take over the world). But for the digital advertising industry, if applied the right way, AI has the potential to improve production and performance by making more room for original ideas without stripping away reliance on humans.
The Future of CTV Advertising: What Brands Need to Know
With chatter pointing to the fact that we are entering an endemic era globally, many brands and marketers are discussing how to make their ad budgets drive positive outcomes in what may be another tumultuous year ahead. As the number of CTV viewers continues to rise, so will ad spend; the latest projections forecast CTV ad spend to grow by 23% in 2022.
‘Good’ Third-Party Data Rides to the Rescue
The “good” third-party data comes from non-cookie sources, such as demographic maps, the use of discount and loyalty cards, public records about real estate transactions, and many other sources, because it’s diversified and anchored to real-world activity. And getting more contact points using third-party data doesn’t just help with marketing outreach, it also helps with linkage, deduplication, and updating or corroborating dated information.
Latest Posts
The “Say-Do Gap”: Why Marketers Can’t Simply Ask Consumers for Data
Asking consumers to relay their information in a survey is not as bullet-proof a privacy-adjusted marketing strategy as it might sound. That’s because of what consumer insights platform DISQO calls the “say-do gap”: What people say they do and what they actually do often does not line up. This forces brands to collect data on behaviors with consent — which is what DISQO aspires to enable.
With Labor in Short Supply, Automation Can Improve the Customer Experience
As shoppers return to physical stores, ongoing labor challenges are forcing retailers to cut down store hours and temporarily close locations. As these challenges persist — and to prepare for additional factors that may impact labor — retailers can turn to technology. What’s more, through automation, retailers can improve efficiency while still creating a positive customer experience.
How Advertisers Can Work with Local Publishers to Connect with Communities
Fun fact: Street Fight started out as a publication covering local media, less so martech and localized marketing. This interview is where the two come together: how national or even global advertisers can partner with local publishers to develop targeted, location-based messages that resonate.
Location-Based Marketing Association: Why Starbucks is Adding EV Charging Stations
In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association talks about Volvo installing EV charging stations at Starbucks stores, Tim Hortons doing the same in Canada, ParkBee raising $33M, Prose partnering with BreezoMeter on local pollution-based hair care, and CrownTV releasing a digital signage app to display NFTs at retailers.
Why Retailers Are Struggling to Deepen Customer Relationships in 2022
Although 73% of decision-makers believe digital capabilities in physical locations—such as QR codes, self-checkout, and contactless payments—are more important now than before the pandemic, seven in 10 rated their organization’s ability to provide seamless customer journeys across digital and physical touchpoints as “average,” “fair,” or “poor.”
Ranking Correlations with Other Reputation and Search Metrics Are Not Linear
Google appears to think of ranking in terms of zones, where the first zone features the best possible mix of proximity, relevance, and prominence, and the second zone begins to sacrifice either proximity, or relevance, or both, but is less likely to sacrifice prominence. In more human terms, this means that Google wants to show us the best options for a query, and when it runs of inventory, it brings in results that are farther away or that might offer a reasonable alternative.
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