News and Analysis
Kevel Launches AI-Powered Kevel Console to Transform Retail Media Campaigns
Retail media continues to evolve rapidly, with growing demands for automation, cross-channel efficiency, and deeper audience personalization. Last week, retail media technology provider Kevel announced the launch of the Kevel Console. This AI-powered, self-service platform is built specifically for retailers, marketplaces, and publishers seeking greater control, speed, and performance from their media networks. Kevel Console […]
WiRL-ing with Satyne Julianna Doner
Although technology is booming, human connections remain extremely valuable in the MULO (multi-location) restaurant world. A whopping 77% of restaurant operators say that talent acquisition and retention are significant challenges. Associate Editor Satyne Julianna Doner recently gathered a group of executive women in the MULO (multi-location) restaurant industry to discuss their career paths and how to foster […]
Hatch Urges People to ‘Escape the Algorithm’
A Boston-based agency known as Hatch has come up with a tagline for a local museum’s campaign that may well be a healthy approach to life itself: “Escape the algorithm.” For the purposes of this local outdoor campaign, which began its run in the greater Boston area in 2024, the work is in support of […]
Commentary
Finance Is Questioning Your Marketing Value: Can You Prove Your Worth?
Marketers today are facing an overwhelming number of challenges. Too many channels, each claiming to be the key to driving performance. Finance teams are questioning whether marketing investments are truly profitable. As a result of this pressure, many brands have shifted their budgets toward performance-driven digital channels, prioritizing conversion metrics that validate their short-term decision-making. […]
When a $7 Million Super Bowl Ad Isn’t Enough
The Super Bowl still represents the most premium of premium ad buys. However, the ROI of such a premium spot—regardless of its creative execution—has everything to do with the omnichannel strategy that surrounds it. More than ever, live sports advertising needs to reflect a community-driven mindset. As a result of the unique way in which […]
Fragmented Future: How the Loss of Net Neutrality Threatens Innovation and Equity
The internet has long been hailed as a great equalizer, a space where anyone with an idea can reach a global audience. However, the erosion of net neutrality principles threatens to undermine this fundamental characteristic, creating a fragmented and unequal online landscape. Without strong safeguards, the internet could transform from a platform for innovation and […]
Latest Posts
IHOP & Applebee’s Serve Up Huge News
From hot cakes to happy hour, a new co-branded restaurant in Texas now gives diners a wide range of food options. Applebee’s and IHOP (owned by the same operator) announced this new concept last month. Those who love breakfast for dinner and power-eaters who want to start the day with a Bloody Mary and a […]
8 MULO Ad Trends 2025
The 2025 advertising season kicks off annually with the Super Bowl. Brands spend millions and attempt to out-do each other with cinematic artistry and celebrity appearances. Savvy brands take those trends and enhance them throughout their digital footprints, ensuring that visitors to TikTok, Instagram, and brick-and-mortar stores will notice and, ultimately, pull out their wallets (physical or […]
The Rise of AI Ad Buying Agents: A Marketer’s Perspective
AI-driven ad buying is not new. From Google Ads’ “set-it-and-forget-it” approach to Meta’s dynamic audience targeting, the goal has always been to automate away the tedium of bidding and targeting. But with the more recent advancements in generative AI and deep learning, the promise is morphing into something more expansive: real-time, hyper-personalized ads that match […]
Seedtag’s Contextual AI Seeks to Understand Multi-screen Content
Is multi-screen contextual targeting at a granular level even possible? With Contextual AI, Seedtag aims to make it a reality sooner rather than later. The global contextual advertising company specializes in serving ads across the open web and CTV, which is rapidly expanding its reach but struggles with precision audience targeting. Targeting to broad genre […]
Vistar Media and Western Union Partner Up for DOOH Ecosystem
Vistar Media, the leading global provider of technology solutions for out-of-home (OOH) media, just announced an agreement with Western Union to manage and monetize its growing network of more than 2,200 digital out-of-home (DOOH) screens across the United States, Canada, and Brazil. The global out-of-home (OOH) advertising market is projected to reach $42B billion in […]
Streets Ahead: Instagram AI-Powered Search, TikTok Creator Search Insights
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi covers Instagram’s new AI-driven search feature and TikTok Creator Search Insights Instagram’s AI-Powered Search The News Instagram is testing an AI-powered search feature within the comments section, according to AdWeek. This new tool automatically generates AI-driven search summaries, offering users relevant context as they engage with posts. 🔹 […]
Study Reveals Why You Got those Ads
We’ve all been served ads that made us wonder, “How’d that sucker get in my feed?” The answer is inefficiency. Adlook, a global media tech company specializing in digital advertising solutions, conducted a study that showed how outdated data results in reaching the wrong audiences with ads. The chief offender is demographic targeting. In a poll […]
Not Your Momma’s Market: The Grocery Store Embraces Technology
Like all other MULO (multi-location) industries, grocers or more correctly the grocery store sector is amplifying its use of technology to aid the shopping experience, increase consumer preference, and streamline buying and inventory management. Swiftly, a leading integrated retail technology platform trusted by grocers like Target, IGA, and Save Mart, recently announced a major expansion […]
Going Local with Paige Sawin of Sparkcatcher Media
Paige Sawin, President of Sparkcatcher Media, won our virtual scavenger hunt at Street Fight LIVE 2024. She knows the local search space intimately and works with brands to ensure that when people search “near me,” her client brands, products, and services can be quickly and effectively found. We sat down with her to discuss the […]
Why Q5 Signals a Shift for Ecommerce in 2025
The start of a new year always marks the end of the holiday season, and as the frenzy of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Boxing Day subsides, many retailers shift their focus away from advertising, assuming that consumer interest and spending have peaked. But in reality, a lucrative Ecommerce opportunity remains hidden in plain sight: […]
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