News and Analysis
MULO Brands Launch Their Own Media
You’ve most likely heard of Netflix, CNBC, and Sirius. Now, welcome to the Walmart network! MULO (multi-location) retailers are entering the broadcast and digital content arena with the launch and ongoing production of their own retail media channels. A retail media network is “a retailer-owned advertising service that allows marketers to purchase advertising space across […]
The New $20/Hour Minimum Wage in CA (and How MULO Brands are Coping)
As if fast-casual restaurants didn’t have enough labor challenges lately, the latest sting for them is the boost to $20/hour as the minimum wage in California. These MULO (multi-location) brands have had to deal with the pandemic, supply chain and labor shortages, lack of brand loyalty, food safety and health, the impact of technology on […]
Did the Music Die or Just Take a Beat as Sam Ash Closes Stores?
Music stores used to be wildly popular. Although many still exist and vinyl records have made a comeback, the MULO (multi-location) music store category is struggling. Sam Ash recently announced that it’s closing 18 of its 45 stores throughout the U.S. The first music store opened in the U.S. in 1759. Sam Ash sells instruments […]
Commentary
The Growing Importance of Retail and Second-Party Data
Heading into the New Year, there are many moving pieces for both marketers and publishers to consider. Navigating 2022 requires focusing on first- and second-party data, building symbiotic relationships, and thinking strategically about how best to capture audiences. As always, we’ll stay on our toes. Happy New Year!
Location-Based Marketing Association: Apple Wallet IDs Hit the TSA
In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association discusses TSA supporting Apple Wallet IDs starting in June, Locatify and Swiss agency Melt launching location-based audio walking tours, Irish retailers getting into recycling with AI-based reverse vending machines, and Unilever’s Lifebuoy using real-time mobile data to help Indonesians stay safe during Covid.
Latest Posts
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.
iOS Marketing and Attribution One Year After Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency
Now that we are coming up on the one year anniversary of ATT and the deprecation of the IDFA, it’s time to look back at what we’ve learned, what’s changed, and what the best practices are when building a successful, scalable user acquisition strategy for iOS 14.5+.
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.
How to Attract and Retain Tech Talent
Fewer foosball tables, more stability. Is that the key to attracting top talent as a startup in the tech community?
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.”
Let’s Stay Together: Retaining Customers in a Post-Pandemic E-Commerce World
Brands can maximize customer retention through integrated subscription experiences, exclusive content, and technology that prioritizes customer behavior.
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.
How AI is Evolving Ad Creative
The creative process is notoriously challenging for advertisers and publishers. Beyond the difficulty of the creative talent that goes into the ad, publishers and advertisers struggle to settle on creative and match it to viewers at appropriate times. It’s a huge logistical challenge.
More Brands Are Going DTC. Here’s Why
Yeti’s recent decision to no longer sell its products at Lowe’s and transition to a direct-to-consumer model is not an anomaly. A growing number of traditional brands are moving away from wholesale and opting to sell to consumers directly through their own e-commerce channels.



















































Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem