News and Analysis
Fan Frenzy: The Rise of Merch in MULO Restaurants
Merchandise (merch) has long been part of the music scene. You love the band…you see the live show…you buy the music, tee shirt, and hat on the way out of the venue. But now, multi-location (MULO) brands are picking up on the beat and incorporating creative and varied branded merchandise into their offerings. Whether consumers […]
Snack Brands Lean Into Nostalgia this Back-to-School Season
The dog days of summer have arrived, and all around the country, parents are preparing kids for back-to-school in just a few short weeks. For snack and specialty food brands like General Mills, Conagra, and Nestlé, it’s go time. Despite often being overlooked during the back-to-school rush, when attention is generally focused on backpacks and […]
Snoop Dogg’s Munchie Meal and Celebrity-Inspired MULO Brands
We live in a world of stars — big, small, and on the rise. From singers and actors we watch on stage and screen to reality TV celebrity to previously-unknown consumers who make a name for themselves on TikTok, we exist in a world where everyone can be perceived as “talent.” Celebrity endorsements are certainly […]
Commentary
On-Page Content Differentiation: The Benefits of Location-based Messaging
Content consists of more than just your copy block, though it’s a great place to start. Adding product information, featured collections, and highlighted services are all elements that enhance your on-page content strategy. Understanding what’s popular in that specific area and how customers are searching for your products or services in that area can help guide your content strategy to differentiation and success. Therefore, it is key to create content attuned to regional differences, or location.
The Covid-19 Pandemic at One Year: How Payments Have Changed Forever
The payments industry will move forward from the seismic shifts in behavior we’ve seen to new puzzles: how to make a card top of wallet, how to expand the on-demand economy to new product groups, and how the Buy Now, Pay Later space evolves in time. But the changes we’ve seen will impact the course of the industry for years to come. How merchants and payment providers adapt to these changes will have a key part to play in how they recover from the impact of the pandemic.
How Audio OOH Can Withstand Emerging Privacy Regulations
Audio OOH enables advertisers to reach the right audience, and reporting tools can help them decipher how their audio ad influences a customer’s path to purchase. This type of product-level transactional data will be crucial as advertisers continue to clash with harsh but growing privacy regulations.
Latest Posts
How Consumer Behavior Toward Auto Ads Changed During Covid-19
As one of the largest spenders on digital advertising in the U.S., the automotive industry is a bellwether. Prior to the pandemic, the automotive industry had consistent double-digit growth in digital ad spending. That growth was forecast to continue through the end of 2020 — then, in March, everything changed.
Why Your Local Pages Might Be Happier on a Subdomain
Whether to build local pages on a subdomain or within a subfolder has long been a topic of heated debate. I’ve never sought to sway anyone’s religious conviction, nor do I intend to begin doing so. If you’re a devout subfolder-er, then I’m sure you have your reasons, and I look forward to hearing them. I’ll add that I haven’t yet thought of any other instances wherein I’d argue in favor of a subdomain, but I believe local pages are an exception. So, for those of you still open to opportunity, prepare to be opportune.
Prop 24 Could Majorly Impact California Data Privacy. Will Businesses Comply?
All eyes are focused on the presidential election today, but for businesses, a ballot initiative in California could have major implications. Proposition 24, known as the California Privacy Rights Act of 2020 (CPRA), is seen by many as an even more stringent version of the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). That has some businesses rethinking how they collect user data and questioning whether they might be vulnerable to lawsuits if the proposition passes.
Street Fight’s November Theme: Google’s World
Google’s World is shorthand for the fully fleshed-out concept: “It’s Google’s world… we’re all just living in it.” The main thrust is that Google’s search dominance gives it enormous control in impacting the fate of businesses everywhere who rely on search for traffic and customer acquisition.
Google’s ongoing updates to the search algorithm, ranking factors, and SERPs continue to have ripple effects on marketers everywhere. It’s becoming more challenging to follow the moving target of SEO effectiveness. This game has its own set of rules when it comes to local search.
How L’Oréal and Other Innovative Brands Are Reinventing the Store Locator
It’s true that most consumer searches originate with Google and other search engines and that consumers often find the information they need in third-party properties like Google Maps, Yelp, and TripAdvisor without the need to turn to the business website. But these sites and apps have limitations, only making certain fields and features available and generally presenting a uniform, abbreviated view of businesses.
Store locators, along with their companion properties, local store landing pages, offer a far greater degree of freedom for introducing features that differentiate a brand from the competition.
How to Create an Engaging Mobile Ads Strategy in 2020
The median clickthrough rate for ads on Google Display Network has decreased 32% since the last quarter and is 41% lower than this time last year. These figures indicate that audiences just aren’t receptive to mobile ads despite companies’ attempts to target ad messaging to specific groups.
Mobile advertising is not going to go away — the industry is expected to surpass $240 billion by 2022. However, companies need to take a dramatically new approach to see positive returns on their investment. Here’s how to stand out from the crowd and secure better conversions with mobile ads.
Location Weekly: Verizon Deploying Voice-Activated Digital Signage in Store
In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association covers Amazon giving customers money to purchase their data, Verizon deploying voice-activated digital signage in stores, Eight O’Clock Coffee hosting Java Parties, and Telluride converting old gondola cars into dining cabins for winter.
Plan for Black Friday with this E-Commerce Holiday Checklist
Deloitte’s annual holiday retail forecast projects that e-commerce holiday sales will grow by 25% to 35% year over year, compared to a sales increase of 14.7% last year. Here’s a five-point holiday prep list to help ensure your digital commerce experiences stack up and are ready to engage the influx of shoppers this holiday season.
What’s Snapchat’s Local Play?
Snap continues to make moves in local commerce. Historic steps include geo-filters, while more recent activity includes Local Lenses and business listings in Snap Map. These features are notable on their own, but they get more interesting when you view them together and extrapolate to Snap’s local road map.
For example, Snap has more 13-34-year-olds active than any other channel, including Facebook and Instagram. This essentially means Snap can offer SMBs incremental and non-duplicated reach to an attractive audience.
The Brandify Consumer Holiday Survey: Shopping Habits Likely to Shift Dramatically
More purchases will be made online, and when consumers do venture out to stores, they expect thorough, stringent safety practices as well as tools that help to make shopping as efficient as possible. Popular shopping events like Black Friday are likely to capture far less attention from consumers this year.
But on a positive note, consumers generally feel confident that their holiday budgets will be consistent with prior years and that the amount of time allocated for holiday shopping won’t change significantly.
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Meta Is Automating Ads, But Brands Still Face a Bigger Problem