News and Analysis
BUST: A Hard Landing as Soft Surroundings Files for Bankruptcy
Here we go again…another beloved retailer shutters its brick-and-mortar operations. Soft Surroundings filed for bankruptcy this week. This MULO (multi-location) women’s clothing brand once had 80 locations physical locations (reduced to 44) and is now shuttering all of them. The company, which released its first catalog in 1999, also sold home goods and accessories. However, […]
Captify, Adform Partnership Creates First End-to-End Contextual Activation
A new partnership between the search intelligence firm Captify and Adform, a programmatic platform, is creating an industry-first end-to-end contextual activation that bypasses the need for cookie identifiers. The collaboration between the Captify and Adform enables privacy-first, audience-based programmatic buying for marketers, opening the door to greater scale across inventory pathways, which are often deprioritized […]
5 Consumer-Permissioned Data Platforms to Watch
The concept of data privacy has taken center stage in 2023. As consumers grow more aware of the value of their personal information — and the potential risks associated with its misuse — a new paradigm that places power back into the hands of individuals is beginning to emerge. Consumer-permissioned data platforms are at the […]
Commentary
How E-Commerce Apps Can Win Prime Day
Advice abounds about how to prepare for Prime Day 2021 (June 21 and 22) — from perfecting your social strategy to how to score the best deals. Here are a few tips, backed by data, to help your brand come out of online retail’s biggest day with an even bigger win.
LBMA: NextNav Merging with Spartacus
In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association covers a free laundry service for the homeless, Rockbot teaming with Clear Channel on the airport market, NextNav merging with Spartacus to go public, and solar-powered e-paper bringing real-time signs to the Bavarian ski resort.
Our Industry’s Efforts to Solve the Identity Crisis Are Grossly Misdirected
Today’s industry trades are clogged with speculation and solutions addressing the forthcoming upheaval of the digital identity landscape. Unfortunately, little of the discussion and proposed paths forward are focused on mobile apps, the environment in which the loss of consumer targeting capabilities is going to be most devastating.
Latest Posts
Brand Marketing 2.0: Brand is Back, But Expectations Have Changed
The allure of immediately seeing metrics like clicks, downloads, or form completions outweighed instincts to make investments that pay dividends over the longer term. No longer.
Sprint to Success with Agile Marketing
Even though agile marketing has been around for a couple of decades, keep in mind that it’s a modern approach for today’s marketers — in keeping with the focus on data. With the right martech to support performance measurement needs (using metrics that are credible outside of marketing), you can sprint to success with agile marketing.
Retailing in the Post Covid-19 World
Throughout the pandemic, lockdowns and safety restrictions have forced retailers to tweak their operations and strategies in accordance with changing circumstances around them. AI has played a key role in helping retailers adapt to the conditions of today and those on the horizon.
With that in mind, here are three key areas where AI is helping retailers cope with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Contextual Ads and Brand Suitability Are the Future of Targeting
Cookies and blocklists put brands on the back foot. Brand suitability draws on perception and customization to make sure that surrounding content makes sense for the brand’s image and customer base. And, when you combine this with context-informed targeting and human intelligence, brand suitability is the more powerful approach to engage with today’s consumers and customers in a way that also helps to future-proof today’s savvy brands.
Clearlake Acquires Precisely in $3.5B Deal
In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association covers Google making hotel search listings free, WazeAds and Mojo’s coffee campaign, T-Mobile enrolling all customers in an ad-targeting program, and Clearlake re-acquiring Precisely in a $3.5B deal.
Expert Roundup: How Will Privacy Define the Near Term? Part I
As Covid-19 took over the collective mindset of the past year, several previously prominent topics shifted to the back burner. But now that there’s a light at the end of the pandemic tunnel, those previously resonant topics are re-emerging.
At the top of that list is privacy.
Setting Up A Post-Pandemic E-Commerce Boom Strategy
The previous year shattered expectations based on forecasts going into 2020. For e-commerce brands, it brought both challenges and opportunities with more shoppers than ever adopting new online buying habits. Still, it would be wise for businesses to think about what happens once consumers feel more comfortable venturing back into brick-and-mortar businesses. By having a strong D2C strategy that is agile and customer-centric and with the right infrastructure to grow globally, businesses can feel more confident for whatever the future holds.
Consent and Privacy Platforms for Ad Buyers
An incredible amount of innovation is happening within the privacy compliance space right now, and these consent management tools are just several examples. Here are six privacy tools worth checking out.
SafeGraph Raises $45M to Democratize Access to Places Data
SafeGraph — which powers analytics for organizations like Sysco, Ares Management, Choice Hotels, US Foods, and Verizon Media — picked up $45 million from Sapphire Ventures, as well as returning investors from previous rounds like Peter Thiel and Alex Rosen of Ridge Ventures. The company plans to use the funds to capitalize on the expanding market of data buyers and offer new ways for customers to buy data. Through a growing partner network and new data delivery mechanisms, SafeGraph will be allowing interested parties to access the exact data they need, wherever they need it.
Why Local News Sponsorships Are More Relevant than Ever
Taken together, current events have resulted in a heightened opportunity for brand sponsorships of local news organizations and broadcasts. Let’s examine why these sponsorships are receiving increased attention from advertisers, and the various forms the sponsorships can take.
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Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem