News and Analysis
Vivvix Chief: Predictable Linear Ad Mechanisms in Decline
In the crowded advertising intelligence space, there’s a few ways for a startup to gain attention. One way is by introducing new technology, or utilizing AI in a way that impresses jaded brand marketers and agency leads. Other popular approaches are to build relationships with key decision-makers or bring on experienced leadership who can lend […]
Ampersand Launches ‘Sports Viewer Audience Segments,’ Helping Brands and Agencies
Live sports programming accounts for more than one-third of all television viewing by U.S. adults, but without access to detailed audience demographics, agencies and multi-location brands tasked with developing targeted ad creatives are largely flying blind. A new capability from the audience-first TV advertising sales company Ampersand has the potential to change that. Just […]
Gun Hill Brewery Refocuses on Hyper-Local Marketing
If you’re lucky enough to score tickets to “Hamilton” on Broadway, you can also enjoy a brew called “Rise Up Rye,” made for the show by Gun Hill Brewing Co. in The Bronx. Since 2016, the beer has been available as part of the Broadway Brews project and the company sets the definition of hyper-local […]
Commentary
Accelerated Digital Transformation Levels Playing Field for Local Businesses
As local businesses and SMBs adjust to their new realities, digital transformation initiatives have surged — namely in the form of pivoting to e-commerce selling and delivery models. Why? It’s no secret that online sales have taken the lead across the business landscape during Covid-19, and that is likely to continue.
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.
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.
Latest Posts
OTT Will Transform How Local Businesses Connect with Their Customers
When looking out into 2020 through a local media lens, advertisers trying to reach hyper-local audiences will continue to lean in and adopt more digital and over-the-top practices. No longer will businesses consider OTT an add-on to their media plans; rather, it will become the centerpiece to reach local audiences who are turning to free streaming services and apps to watch news and entertainment.
Here are our four top predictions for 2020.
Foot Traffic Data Shows Signs of Retail Apocalypse Can Speak to Smart Retail Strategy
Over the last year, we saw many well-known brands close their doors and scale back their offline footprints. While many believed this to be a sign of weakness, it was, in fact, a sign of a very effective corporate strategy.
Retailers such as Macy’s and Walmart both faced multiple closures in 2019, but when digging deeper and analyzing specific store locations, we uncover a much more informative narrative than simple brick-and-mortar decline.
Heard on the Street, Episode 43: Inferring User Intent with Viral Gains
One elusive component of effective marketing is knowing what consumers are thinking. But even with advances in AI, traditional ad targeting practices often commit basic errors like showing people the same ad several times … even though they may not be interested in any way in the product in question.
This is the area where Viral Gains is innovating. The latest guest on Street Fight’s Heard on the Street podcast, Viral Gains CEO Tod Loofbourrow tells us how his longstanding affinity for robotics and AI has influenced his path to solving this problem by better inferring intent and consumer sentiment.
Three Essential Steps toward Omnichannel Success
Consumers have limited time, detectable habits, and preferences about how they interact with brands. Marketers have become increasingly empowered to know and respond to these preferences on all channels.
As brands leverage opportunities offered by omnichannel marketing and further embrace the technology that unlocks each channel’s capabilities and insights, they will give customers the personal experiences they crave. Beginning the journey toward true omnichannel can be daunting, but the immense value it creates for both customers and brands far outweighs the rethinking, reinvention, and innovations it demands.
With Investment in Geo, Foursquare Focuses on Improving Data Access
When it comes to location data specifically, Senior VP of Product Josh Cohen is seeing Foursquare’s partners put more emphasis on the quality of data. The company’s partners are developing more sophisticated understandings of the range of data quality when it comes to location, which means Foursquare has to dedicate more resources to make sure new industry-wide expectations are met.
Crossing the B2B-B2C Divide: The Next Frontier in Customer Experience
In recent years, the marketing industry has started to discuss the increasingly blurry line between the disciplines of B2B and B2C marketing. For the most part, the conversation to date has been a discussion of tactics and methodologies—but this is only the tip of the iceberg.
Over the next five years, the breakdown between the B2B and B2C worlds will be dramatic, and the resulting marketing landscape—as well as people’s expectations for messaging—will look quite different than they do today. Let’s look at how this blurring line will soon vanish altogether.
Telnet Passwords Leaked for Half a Million IoT Devices, Servers, Routers
The breach is particularly significant given the rapid expansion of smart or IoT devices. Given that consumers already struggle to secure basic electronic devices including laptops and smartphones, the Telnet breach indicates how much larger the security risk for personal devices may become in coming years as smart speakers, TVs, and fridges join the legion of devices open to hackers.
Takeaways From ‘The Other CES 2020’ That Location-Minded Marketers Need to Know
CES provided a unique showcase for the importance of connected TV (CTV); it’s one of the few events that wrangles hardware, media, and advertising companies into the same place for a week. Within digital advertising, this topic is number one, and not outlining your strategy to support CTV in 2020 was a way to cut any CES meeting short. Companies that have moved from video to TV, such as Amobee or Telaria/Rubicon, exciting new combinations of TV and digital assets such as Xandr; programmatic TV leaders like The Trade Desk; and companies that have been long on TV for years such as Samba TV should have a fantastic 2020 ahead of them.
LBMA Presents Location Weekly: Leveld, Canada Goose, Alexa on Broadway
This week on the Location-based Marketing Association podcast: a new app for location-based tool rental platform Leveld; Canada Goose crafting an engaging store experience with snow and ice; and JP Morgan Chase offering DashPass to premium cardholder members.
Asif and Aubriana continue with a groundbreaking step from the longest running musical on broadway, the famous Phantom of The Opera, becoming the first in the industry to leverage Alexa, Earth Fare going with Mood Media for upgraded digital signage, and Sprint & Wirecard teaming up on IoT payments.
How to Capture the Attention of Multiscreen Consumers
We’ll reach for our phones because the TV alone isn’t enough to entertain us, but this constant overstimulation leaves us wanting more. The fact that we’ll often use the ad breaks to check our phones throws the effectiveness of TV advertising into doubt, but the truth is whatever outlet consumers choose, marketers can no longer take a captive audience for granted.
Here are some tips to capture attention in a multi-screen media environment.
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AI Won’t Fix Advertising – It May Scale Its Chaotic Nature