News and Analysis

AI Is Reshaping Even Direct Mail — And Home Services Brands Are Taking Notice

AI Is Reshaping Even Direct Mail — And Home Services Brands Are Taking Notice

As AI continues to transform digital marketing, it is now reaching one of advertising’s oldest channels: direct mail. Imaginuity has launched AI Mail, a managed direct mail system designed specifically for home services brands. Powered by AdScience®, the company’s proprietary Customer Data & Activation Platform, the offering applies machine learning to identify high-probability households and […]

New Scorpion Report Signals Growing Performance Gap in the Home Services Economy

New Report Signals Growing Performance Gap in the Home Services Economy

A new national study from Scorpion suggests that local home services businesses are entering 2026 facing a widening performance gap — one shaped by rising homeowner expectations, AI-driven discovery behavior, and fragmented marketing infrastructure. Scorpion’s 2026 State of Home Services Marketing Report, based on responses from 2,000 homeowners and nearly 1,000 home services business leaders, […]

Select Enterprise Local SEO Has a Visibility Problem — And AI Search Is Making It Worse Enterprise Local SEO Has a Visibility Problem — And AI Search Is Making It Worse

Enterprise Local SEO Has a Visibility Problem — And AI Search Is Making It Worse

Enterprise brands and multi-location businesses are investing more than ever in local SEO. Bigger budgets. Advanced tools. Experienced in-house teams and agency partners. Yet many multi-location brands are still missing a critical piece of the puzzle: true visibility at the location level. The culprit isn’t execution. It’s measurement — or more precisely, the lack of […]

Commentary

Independent Agencies Are Getting Boxed Out of Adtech

Independent Agencies Are Getting Boxed Out of Adtech

Adtech wasn’t built for the local shop on Main Street. It was built for the holding company on Madison Avenue. Independent agencies—fast-moving, deeply embedded in their communities, and focused on outcomes—have always punched above their weight. But today’s advertising infrastructure doesn’t support how they operate. From minimum spend requirements and opaque supply paths to bloated platforms […]

Streets Ahead: ChatGPT, AI-Generated meta descriptions and AI Mode reshaping search

Streets Ahead: ChatGPT, AI-Generated meta descriptions and AI Mode

In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses OpenAI expanding the ChatGPT ecosystem, Google experimenting with AI-Generated meta descriptions in search results and Google’s AI Mode reshaping how people search OpenAI Expands ChatGPT’s Ecosystem The News  OpenAI has unveiled a major expansion of the ChatGPT experience with the launch of in-app integrations and a new […]

AI Is Breaking Down Data Silos — Without Breaking Privacy

AI Is Breaking Down Data Silos — Without Breaking Privacy

The world of marketing has quickly moved away from legacy, invasive practices that took liberties with customer data, and into a new, privacy-first era. Direct collaborations based on first-party data have become the most effective way for brands and media owners to identify shared customers, develop audience insights, and plan, activate, and measure campaigns. While […]

Latest Posts

Scoring AI & Advertising Points with Aaron Goldman

Scoring AI & Advertising Points with Aaron Goldman

In the weeks leading up to Street Fight LIVE 2025, we’ll be 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. Today, we speak with Aaron Goldman,  advertising guru and Chief Marketing Officer of Mediaocean. How did you first get […]

Monica Feid Talks Franchise Marketing

Monica Feid Talks Franchise Marketing

In the weeks leading up to Street Fight LIVE 2025, we’ll be 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. Once such speaker is Monica Feid of agency, Thunderly. Monica Feid is COO & Co-Founder of Thunderly Marketing, a […]

Scaling the Mountain of Brand Reputation Management With Brynn Gibbs

Scaling the Mountain of Brand Reputation Management With Brynn Gibbs

“Meet” another one of our outstanding 30+ thought leaders taking the stage at Street Fight LIVE 2025. We want to give you a glimpse into the marketing and business insights of each of them before you join us in LA.  Brynn Gibbs is the Founder & CEO of Consumer Fusion, a company that helps MULO […]

Two "Top Chefs" of PR Offer the Recipe for PR Success

Two “Top Chefs” of PR Offer the Recipe for Success

In the weeks leading up to Street Fight LIVE 2025, we’ll be 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. Lori Ruggiero is Managing Partner & EVP of 5WPR and Gabriella Velez is also an EVP at 5WPR. They […]

LG Ad Solutions Study Confirms CTV’s Audience Edge

LG Ad Solutions Study Confirms CTV’s Audience Edge

Streaming continues to reshape television, but a new report underscores just how central personalization has become to its evolution. LG Ad Solutions, a global leader in advanced advertising for Connected TV (CTV), has released its 2025 Inclusive Screen Report, which explores the TV viewing habits and advertising preferences of diverse U.S. audiences, including Black, Hispanic, […]

Shane Lukas Helps Solve "The People Problem"

Shane Lukas Helps Solve “The People Problem”

In the weeks leading up to Street Fight LIVE 2025, we’ll be 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. Such as Shane Lukas of A Great Idea. Meet Shane Lukas, who will be on stage discussing how […]

Why TV Remains the Heartbeat of Local Connection

Why TV Remains the Heartbeat of Local Connection

In today’s increasingly digital world, fostering a sense of community can be challenging. Yet it’s not impossible. New research from Tenetic and CivicScience reveals that TV is the best medium at making people feel connected to their local communities–twice as effective as streaming content, twice as effective as digital video, and nearly three times better […]

Michael Farmer: Mad Men are Now Mad Robots

Michael Farmer: Mad Men are Now Mad Robots

In the weeks leading up to Street Fight LIVE 2025, we’ll be 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. Michael Farmer has had a long and rich career in the advertising industry and is the author of “Madison […]

The MULO Dozen: August Brands in Review and C-Suite changes

The MULO Dozen: August Brands in Review

BOOMs, BUSTs, and C-Suite leadership changes don’t cool off during the summer months. Our wrap-up of hot August topics proves that out! However, the hottest part of the Summer of 2025 is the big reveal of our impressive speaker lineup for Street Fight LIVE 2025, just a few short weeks away!  Bravo! Italian Kitchen and […]

Nick Dan-Bergman: Taking Flight in the New Agency & Franchise World

Nick Dan-Bergman: Taking Flight in the New Agency & Franchise World

In the weeks leading up to Street Fight LIVE 2025, we’ll be 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.  Nick Dan-Bergman, CMO of agency LT(Lane Terralever), will be joining us to discuss everything franchise-related and sharing the […]