News and Analysis

Vistar Verify: DOOH Needs Quality Inventory Standards

Vistar Verify: DOOH Needs Quality Inventory Standards

Vistar Media wants to help establish quality inventory standards for the DOOH market. To that end, it has launched Vistar Verify. The program creates a shared definition of quality inventory in the Vistar marketplace using manual and automated checks. The objective is to ensure inventory is represented accurately and meets a collective set of standards […]

Study: ‘Ghosting’ Customers Leads to $2.4 Billion Loss in Retail Sales

Study: ‘Ghosting’ Customers Leads to $2.4 Billion Loss in Retail Sales

Even if you haven’t heard the term “ghosting” before, you’ve almost certainly experienced it.  Ghosting, or ending a relationship by suddenly withdrawing from all communication, is the exact opposite of what brand marketers are going for when they work to cultivate and deepen their relationships with customers. And yet, according to a new study, by […]

Google Third-Party Cookies, Adds LiveRamp to Data Clean Room Lineup

Google Third-Party Cookies, Adds LiveRamp to Data Clean Room Lineup

One year.  That’s how long Google says publishers have to test — and raise any red flags on — the cookie alternatives in its Chrome Privacy Sandbox. In a recent announcement, Joey Trotz, director of product for Google’s Privacy Sandbox Ecosystems, all but guaranteed the company would finally be depreciating third-party cookies in the second half […]

Commentary

How Agility Will Reshape the Marketing Landscape in 2021

Agility will be the factor that separates the winners from the losers this year. Agility means having the corporate structure and mentality to pivot fast.

DOOH Growth Trajectory in 2021

After a year spending a great deal of time at home and on screens, people want to get outside—making digital out-of-home (DOOH) a huge opportunity this year.

How to Create Video Ads for Local Businesses

Want to create an engaging video ad to promote your local business? Read on to get tips on creating a video ad that will get you more clicks and conversions.

Latest Posts

5 Ways to Use Location-Targeted Ads During a Pandemic

Savvy brand marketers are finding ways to take advantage of location-targeted advertising to inform consumers about shifting variables such as store hours of operation and social distancing requirements. Despite some apprehension among advertisers worried about seeming to capitalize on a catastrophe, surveys show that consumers are OK with being targeted with ads right now. More than 90% of people surveyed say they think brands should continue advertising during the crisis.

Here are five examples of ways that brands can start using location-targeted advertising to more effectively connect with consumers during the pandemic.

How Advertisers Can Pursue Brand Safety without Avoiding Sensitive News Content

Advertisers blocking all potentially sensitive content is a raw deal for advertisers and publishers, says Rachel Tuffney, EVP of US operations at Dianomi. Publishers need advertiser support for serious stories. Advertisers need to be able to tell their own stories without avoiding 50% of serious news platform content and without blocking stories that may actually resonate with the brands they want to build.

Tuffney spoke to Street Fight to elucidate the trade-offs on this issue and explain how brands can be safe without blocking all sensitive content. 

Why SMBs Are Flocking to Martech to Combat Covid Slump

The old way of doing business isn’t working anymore. As restaurants, retailers, and other businesses work to keep customers updated about shifting hours of operation and in-store social distancing requirements, they are opening up to outside-the-box ideas and becoming more comfortable trying location-targeted marketing platforms.

Data show that digital adoption among businesses and consumers jumped forward at least five years in the first eight weeks of the pandemic. Small restaurants and retailers are eagerly adopting the same tools now that they were hesitant to try back in 2019. That push is leading technology providers to expand their offerings and develop new tools for a growing market.

Mediaocean Acquires 4C Insights. What’s Next for Ad Tech?

The coronavirus pandemic and ensuing recession have forced tech vendors to step up their games and make a stronger case to advertisers as to why their products and services are essential amid tightening budgets. The year of Covid-19 is also fostering a favorable environment for mergers and acquisitions, as solo players team up to emerge stronger on the other side of a stormy season.

Last week, ad tech got a fresh acquisition, as Mediaocean acquired 4C Insights. I checked in with Aaron Goldman, CMO of 4C Insights, to find out what the acquisition portends for the two companies and how it matches up with broader trends in ad tech.

The All But Inevitable Outcome of the Facebook Advertiser Boycott

The boycott may yet exert some meaningful pressure on Facebook to change its ways, but that outcome is unlikely. This is partly due to the dynamics of the advertising market itself but also to the global scale of Facebook’s business and the essential role end consumers must play in any boycott. It’s worth examining each of these factors in turn.

Retail Prepares for a Covid-Inflected Holiday Season

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

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

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

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

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.