News and Analysis
TikTok and iHeartMedia Bring Social Discovery to Audio
TikTok is expanding beyond short-form video and into the audio world with the launch of TikTok Radio, a new collaboration with iHeartMedia that blends trending TikTok music, creator commentary, and viral culture into a broadcast and streaming format. Debuting during SXSW and now available on the iHeartRadio app and dozens of U.S. broadcast stations, the […]
Why a Streaming TV Ad Platform Is Buying Billboards
Out-of-home (OOH) advertising is increasingly becoming a channel for B2B technology companies looking to reach decision-makers in the real world. As SaaS platforms compete for the attention of enterprise marketers, AI founders, and venture capital firms, some are turning to highly targeted billboards and transit campaigns in tech-heavy markets. Streaming ad platform Vibe.co is the […]
Gorilla Property Services Eyes U.S. Franchise Expansion
A leading property maintenance franchise is expanding into the United States, highlighting how home services brands are turning fragmented local trades into scalable franchise platforms. Vancouver-based Gorilla Property Services announced today that it has partnered with Franchise FastLane to accelerate franchise development across the U.S. The move positions the company inside one of the fastest-growing […]
Commentary
Streets Ahead: Agentic Shopping, Reviews, and the Rise of Fresh Content
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses Google’s agentic shopping move in AI-Driven commerce, review recency and volume driving local visibility, and freshness as the new authority in AI search Agentic Shopping: Google’s Next Move in AI-Driven Commerce The News Just in time for peak holiday spending, Google has rolled out agentic Shopping in […]
Streets Ahead: Whitespark Local Ranking Factors and Local Lists in GBP
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses 2026 Local Ranking Factors from Whitespark as well as local lists in Google Business Profiles 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors: Engagement, Credibility, and Connection The News Whitespark’s Local Search Ranking Factors report remains one of the industry’s most trusted indicators of what drives visibility in local search. […]
Content Marketing in the Era of AI Fatigue
AI wants to help you with your content marketing. In fact, it wouldn’t mind at all being at the center of your content marketing strategy. Tell it what you need, giving it as many or as few details as you’d like, and it will crank out content for you nonstop and freakishly fast. And if […]
Latest Posts
BOOM: First Watch is a Brand to Watch
Founded in 1983, First Watch has quietly and steadily expanded to approximately 500 locations across 29 states. The success is, in part, attributable to the ever-growing popularity of breakfast as a restaurant category. Although the brand still lags behind one of its oldest (1969) and most formidable (600+ stores in 49 states) competitor Cracker Barrel, […]
Streets Ahead: Google AI Mode , OpenAI & Commerce, TikTok
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses Google expanding AI Mode from search to transactions, OpenAI pushing into commerce and clarity around TikTok in the U.S. Google Expands AI Mode from Search to Transactions The News Google is extending the capabilities of its AI Mode with two experimental features designed to push conversational search […]
BOOM: From C-Store to Travel Center with Wawa
We can all agree that the c-store (convenience store) is evolving rapidly and has even become a testing ground for a fantastic array of new technologies. After all, it makes sense. How many other retail businesses are so focused on finding the consumer precisely at their time of need…whether it’s a bathroom break, gas or a […]
Matt Lopez: The Human Behind the Robots
Leading up to Street Fight LIVE 2025, we have been getting up close and personal with some of our speakers, encouraging them to share stories of how they found themselves in the MULO (multi-location) ecosystem. How will one of our speakers, Pepper, get to Microsoft’s headquarters? Not via Uber. But he does have a human guide […]
Beyond Search: AI Visibility the New Growth Lever for MULO Brands
For years, agencies have measured local search success with a simple formula: check Google Maps and Search rankings, optimize, repeat. However, the rise of AI-driven search experiences, including Google’s AI Overviews and AI Mode, Gemini, and of course standalone tools like ChatGPT, has fractured what “local visibility” means, with AI visibility creating both a challenge and […]
Study: OOH Ignites Sports Fans
Sports fans respond enthusiastically to humor, especially when they are reached with an OOH message inside the venue of an event. That’s according to a new report from the OAAA in conjunction with The Harris Poll, which found that those same fans tend to spend locally. According to the findings, sports fans act on OOH […]
Kindness (and Nature) Still Rule for Justin Freeman
Our column “Brands With Soul” comes alive on September 30th at Street Fight LIVE 2025, when a panel that includes Justin Freeman, Managing Director at the KINDR Foundation, takes the stage. As the search for retention of (human) talent becomes more important in the MULO (multi-location) ecosystem, company culture and leadership behaviors can make all […]
I “Cooked Up” the Term MULO
I’ve been writing profiles of all our MULO speakers and sponsors for Street Fight LIVE 2025, so why not include a little something about myself as well? After all, I will be chairing, emceeing and had the pleasure to line up many of this year’s speakers. If you’re reading this and are interested in scoring […]
Scoring Goals in the Franchise Ecosystem with Gregory Ugwi
Gregory Ugwi is back for his second year speaking at Street Fight LIVE. And what a year it’s been! The company he co-founded, Wefranch, has given both franchisors and prospective franchisees a tech-powered way to start and scale. This year, Gregory Ugwi hosted a series of events to bring major brand franchises together with individuals […]
Getting Brandy With Reilly Newman
Reilly Newman is the co-author of a book called Brandy: 101 Sips of Wisdom for Attaining a Successful Brand. Whereas in the past, MULO (multi-location) brands had significant control over how they presented themselves, both at the corporate and local levels. Social media has disrupted that model, and brand reputations are as likely to be impacted […]
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