News and Analysis

C’mon Publishers and Streamers, Give It a Wurl

C’mon Publishers and Streamers, Give It a Wurl

When it comes to solving business problems, the Wurl platform addresses three core needs in the CTV ecosystem for content publishers and streamers : monetization, performance marketing, and distribution. On the monetization front, it helps publishers and streamers maximize their supply by connecting them with advertisers. In terms of performance marketing, its connects publishers and […]

Raising Cane's Adds Dazzle (and Fries) to its Footprint on Times Square

Raising Cane’s Adds Dazzle (and Fries) to its Footprint on Times Square

Times Square in New York City is known as the “Crossroads of the World.” And MULO (multi-location) brand Raising Cane’s is known for its chicken finger meals and sauces. The Texas-based brand hired a local New York (Brooklyn-based) creative agency called Wellcom to create “show-stopping decor” for this 8,000 SF restaurant chain’s location. This restaurant […]

Survey: Walmart Ranked Most Promising Retail Media Network

It pays to be popular. As the retail media space continues to grow, and more retailers launch their own media networks, advertisers are being forced to make tough decisions about how they allocate their budgets. In addition to the heavy-hitters, like Amazon, Target, and Walmart, advertisers are looking at the hundreds, if not thousands, of […]

Commentary

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.

Latest Posts

How to Turbocharge Social and Email via Cross Promotion

At a time when marketers have limited resources to create new content, social posts and user-generated content can be a welcome addition to email marketing campaigns and newsletters. Email and social media can also be used to cross-promote, creating two sticky channels that drive home important messages. What’s more, while everyone is at home and online more than usual, marketers can get creative with new forms of social engagement over email, too.

Power of Influencers May Be Growing amid Pandemic

As many as 21% of consumers have made their first-ever influencer-driven purchase since the Covid-19 outbreak struck the US, according to new research by martech firm Valassis.

The firm speculates that this apparent increase in the power of influencers may be related to a boost in social media usage among consumers stuck at home.

How To Get More Positive Google Business Reviews and Improve Your Google Rankings

In this article, we’ll take a look at how Google reviews can make or break your customer acquisition and retention efforts, and secondly, what you can do to encourage more customers to write the sort of reviews that keep the almighty Google algorithm happy.

Holiday Sales Are Starting Earlier Than Ever. Here’s Why

“Retailers are responding to social distancing guidelines [this] year and preparing for potential decreases in spending by kicking off promotions earlier than we’ve ever seen,” says Dosh CEO Ryan Wuerch.

Wuerch says Covid-19 safety protocols require a more elongated approach to holiday marketing. Kohl’s, L Brands, and Macy’s have all referenced pulling forward holiday promotions, and Amazon’s Prime Day later this month seems perfectly timed to pull in early holiday shoppers.

Making Local Content Work for Retailers

Customers expect businesses to answer their questions and meet their demands in one easy-to-find, easy-to-navigate-to location. They want to know what a store carries, where the store is located, and if they can easily buy a product online instead. Increasingly, especially since the advent of Covid-19, they also want to know if they have access to services like curbside pickup or what safety provisions a business provides. This is why, now more than ever, marketers need to leverage local content strategies to our advantage.

Location Weekly: Walmart Delivers Covid Tests via Drone

In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association covers Walmart delivering Covid tests via drone in Vegas, United Airlines launching an interactive flight search map, Amazon Sidewalk moving beyond the connected home, and Toronto-based WXM Tech cooking up TraffikFlo for Covid traffic management.

How McDonald’s is Using AI in Marketing to Better Understand Customers’ Needs

McDonald’s waited until it could produce an AI-driven app that provides customers with personalized deals based on their purchasing history. In other words, McDonald’s bet on quality over quantity. This, of course, is just one of the ways that AI presents opportunities and challenges alike in regards to martech. 

As we’ve previously noted, as AI adoption increases, brands are searching for a competitive edge. McDonald’s is no exception to this, and a look at how the company is using AI is instructive as to the opportunities AI presents for other firms.

Street Fight’s October Theme: Home for the Holidays

Entering Q4 means many things, but to us it points to the media and commerce world’s annual culmination. That’s right — in this time warp of a year, we’re entering the holidays. Considering the oddities of 2020, what will this year’s holiday season look like? We know for sure it will not be normal.

Answering that question will be Street Fight’s October editorial focus. Branded with the cheeky title “Home for the Holidays,” (title credit: Damian Rollison), this month’s focus will be defining the holiday shopping dynamics of a socially distanced and sheltered-in-place world. What will be different?

Forever-Changed Buying Patterns Mean Rethinking Customer Loyalty

Online ordering and curbside pick-up became an essential service for everyone from major retailers like Home Depot and Target to restaurants and small specialty shops. Bookstores began delivering orders without a delivery fee. Even car dealerships have had to rethink their entire sales model, with many moving the full customer experience online. 

While these business transitions were driven by the pandemic, the new consumer buying trends — and the business measures put in place to adapt to them — will likely become a permanent fixture even as the economy enters a recovery phase. 

Interactive Maps Help Bring Back Shoppers After Covid Hiatus

As the pandemic has worn on, marketers have begun to ask what’s next. How do you keep open and click-through rates high, even as consumers shift back from e-commerce to in-person shopping? The answer, for many, involves maps.

Just look at Torrid, the women’s retail chain formerly owned by Hot Topic, with more than 600 stores across the U.S., Puerto Rico, and Canada.