News and Analysis

Why One Version of the Truth Is Vital to a Retailer’s Success

Why One Version of the Truth Is Vital to a Retailer’s Success

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When walking into a Walmart, customers know exactly what to expect, as the brand provides a consistent experience from merchandise to employee interactions, no matter the location. With over 10,500 stores, Walmart employs 2.1 million associates. From a managerial standpoint, that number can seem daunting. Providing a consistent experience across all store locations can be […]

A Dozen Predictions for Multi-Location Brands

A Dozen Predictions for Multi-Location Brands

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Over the past few years, we’ve seen cosmic shifts in consumer shopping and dining behaviors. Our lives have been forever changed by the pandemic and the proliferation of a wide range of technologies (not to mention supply chain challenges).  Our focus on multi-location brands qualifies us as futurists, so here are some of our observations […]

Brand Marketers Strike a Balance Between Personalization, Privacy

Brand Marketers Strike a Balance Between Personalization, Privacy

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Individualized marketing is a powerful tool for brands looking to engage with customers on a deeper level, but with one wrong step, personalization can quickly become creepy. Although 62% of consumers today say they expect personalization from their favorite brands, just 40% say they actually trust brands to use their data responsibly and keep it […]

Commentary

Google’s Ads Data Hub Should Be on Every Marketer’s Radar

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Ads Data Hub incorporates privacy by design and is first-party data-driven, which is crucial in today’s environment. It is built on a future-proof cloud architecture, meaning as technology continues to evolve, ADH will stay relevant. With all of its capabilities, ADH should be on every marketer’s radar.

Marketing in 2021: Universal ID Race and Creative Efficiency

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Marketing in 2021 will bring a universal ID race that The Trade Desk is leading, though Amazon DSP is a dark horse. It will also spur greater creative efficiency.

What Marketers Can Learn from the Mobile-First Shopping Season

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Mobile commerce gained in popularity throughout the year as Covid-19 confined consumers to their homes. Marketers need actionable tips to keep up with mobile shopping trends in the year ahead. 

Latest Posts

Retail Prepares for a Covid-Inflected Holiday Season

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The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the shift from brick-and-mortar commerce to digital transactions. It has also forced brick-and-mortars resisting the hybridization of their own businesses to adopt digital methods, turning restaurants and apparel stores alike into both brick-and-mortar establishments and online sellers.

Against that backdrop, retail’s biggest quarter will present novel challenges this year. Retailers will need to optimize for online transactions and contend with fragmented national and global landscapes where it may be safe to go to stores in New York but not in Los Angeles.

Changing Behaviors Are Influencing Targeting Tactics

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Online actions such as a person’s search history or the brands they like on social media platforms fall short in telling the full story of genuine consumer behavior. Offline behaviors, however, prove to be more indicative of a consumer’s likes, dislikes, and hobbies. During a time when people go fewer places, where they go tells us even more about who they are.

Coronavirus Boosts OTT Viewership and Opens New TV Ad Opportunities

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To be sure, kids are not the only ones spending more time staring at the TV screen. The coronavirus has catalyzed a golden age for TV viewership and non-traditional formats such as over-the-top viewing in particular, said Sean Buckley, COO of global video advertising platform SpotX.

SpotX announced a strategic investment in CTV and OTT-focused ad serving platform SpringServe Monday. I checked in with Buckley to find out how the partnership will benefit both companies and how the coronavirus year has affected TV viewership as well as video advertising.

Location Weekly: Coca-Cola Goes Contactless, Amazon’s Smart Shopping Cart

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In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association covers Coca-Cola going contactless with its Freestyle machines, Amazon putting Go in a shopping cart, Walgreens opening doctors’ offices in its stores, and Shake Shack launching summer camp in a box. 

A Call for Brand Safety: Using OOH to take Ownership of Advertising Environment

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Brands today are spending valuable time assessing and understanding the environments in which they exist and the communities they impact. I expect that more brands will turn to OOH as we move closer to the election; it is a one-of-a-kind medium that provides a safe platform to share messaging while fostering conversations and shaping a local environment. 

Most importantly, the tangible IRL impact of OOH provides a level of authenticity that amplifies voice and connects with people as they safely enjoy some much-needed time outside of their homes. 

Contact Center Should Be the Marketing Engine

Hyperlocal Device Targeting Should Be Part of Your Advertising Strategy

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True hyperlocal advertising revolves around mobile location data. The intersection among time, place, device, and creative is the sweet spot that we’re aiming for here. By harnessing mobile location data, digital marketers can employ smarter audience targeting, deliver more timely and relevant ad messaging, generate more foot traffic, and measure the offline results of online marketing efforts. 

If you’re looking to add location-based advertising to your digital marketing mix, here are some effective tactics that can help you boost in-store visits.

Can a Pandemic Inflect Local Commerce Tech? Part II

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What about the tech adoption accelerants happening on the supply side? Tech giants who provide marketing and operational tools for local businesses have been in hyperdrive over the past few months to roll out new Covid-era features.

Here are three areas where we’re seeing the most activity … and where we could correspondingly see the most local business evolution.

The Essential Data Requirements for Successful Developers

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Leading brands and local businesses alike rely on innovative business and consumer data to market their products, sell directly, and advertise through multiple channels, including social media, display, email, and direct mail.

Tech companies rely heavily on data to support search and navigation, location analytics, risk assessments, and more.

While use cases might be different, here’s what all companies and their product developers should look for when evaluating the data that will fuel their solutions.

AI’s Promise and Challenges for Martech

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In this article, we will discuss the ways artificial intelligence is changing marketing and why this marks a positive change. This article will also discuss how metadata can be more revealing than event data itself when collected and analyzed in aggregate, and why making all this data functional is the main strength of AI technology. 

As Delivery Market Consolidates, Affiliate Marketing Gets Sophisticated

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Uber’s recent decision to acquire Postmates for $2.65 billion was just the beginning. As the delivery market consolidates, there will almost certainly be rising demand for pay-for-performance marketing products that help these companies strike a balance between volume and profitability.

One of the latest examples of this is the launch of Actionable Intelligence, a product by Button that gives marketers the ability to target and test high-value audience segments with personalized offers.