News and Analysis
Just For You: MULO Brands Built Around Personalization
The Bear Cave is a grown-up version of the kids’ multi-location (MULO) brand Build-a-Bear. Personalization or the concept of making something unique as a gift or for yourself is nothing new. Most people like to think of themselves as unique beings with specialized tastes. Mainstream brands like Chipotle, Starbucks, and salad and ice cream franchises […]
The Franchise of the Future
The franchise MULO (multi-location) business model has been around since 1731 and boomed in the U.S. in 1960, with the formation of the International Franchise Association (or IFA). The IFA now represents 1,300 franchisors, 10,000 franchisees, and more than 600 professionals and suppliers to the industry, according to its website (which also features a robust […]
BOOM: This MULO Diner Chain is Roaring
The diner as a concept seems to be timeless. Back in 1913, the first stationary diner was established and ultimately grew to 6,000 privately owned locations nationally. That’s a giant MULO (multi-location) venture! Fast forward to today. Although foodies have a wide range of options for where to eat — from single-unit locations to specific […]
Commentary
LBMA: Heineken Tackles Supply Chain Crisis
In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association covers Hyatt rolling out room keys via Apple Wallet, the New York Mets launching facial ticketing at Citi Field, Foodtown Supermarkets completing a successful pilot with Allegiance Retail Services, and Heineken getting into the Christmas spirit to solve supply chain woes.
Latest Posts
How Restaurant Chains Are Using NFTs in 2022
What was once an approach used primarily by fashion brands, like Gucci, Adidas, and Louis Vuitton, is now being adapted for the restaurant industry. Fast food giants like McDonald’s are using NFTs to energize their social media followers, while other restaurant chains are allowing investors to use NFTs to buy shares in brand franchise fees and adding virtual ordering and online delivery to their metaverse presence.
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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