News and Analysis
Cadent Buys VuePlanner, Expands Total Video Capabilities Across YouTube and CTV
Cadent, the predictive advertising platform known for its leadership in cross-screen advertising, announced a significant expansion today with the acquisition of VuePlanner, a company recognized for innovation in YouTube advertising, campaign optimization, and independent measurement. The acquisition strengthens Cadent’s positioning as a converged media platform capable of delivering a single, unified workflow for advertisers across […]
Adform Integrates with Spotify Ad Exchange to Advance Programmatic Audio Buying
As digital audio spending accelerates toward a projected $43 billion global market in 2024, Adform and Spotify are expanding their partnership to bring agencies and brand marketers new levels of efficiency, transparency, and omnichannel precision. The companies announced that Adform is now directly integrated into the Spotify Ad Exchange, giving buyers streamlined access to Spotify’s […]
Plymouth Rock Launches Campaign for Northeast Region
Plymouth Rock Assurance, which provides homeowners and car insurance to customers in the Northeast, has a new ad campaign in which it advises customers to “keep calm and rock on,” a fairly reasonable directive, considering the vertical. North Carolina ad agency McKinney, created the campaign that is meant to support the idea that living in the Northeast […]
Commentary
Streets Ahead: Google Social Posts, Local Pack & AIO Results
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discuss Google expanding social posts visibility in local search results and a new study that finds a correlation between local pack and AI Overview results. Google Now Showcasing Social Posts More Prominently in Mobile Search The News If you haven’t already added your social media URLs to your […]
What are You Doing on September 30th?
As a consumer, you likely shop, dine, and consume services at a combination of big-box and mom-and-pop establishments. As a MULO (multi-location) executive, agency, or tech company, you probably attend several industry-specific (retail, restaurant, service) conferences in your sector. So, what’s the deal with an event like Street Fight LIVE 2025 that cuts across multiple […]
Setting the Record Straight on Curation
Curation is dominating conversations in the advertising world right now, and while it is not an entirely new concept, it still comes with misperceptions and confusion. Our industry’s desire to succinctly define curation, assign responsibility for it, and spell out guidelines and best practices is understandable—yet also challenging. But curation is more than a buzzword […]
Latest Posts
The MULO Dozen: April in Review
In April, Karla Jo Helms of JOTO PR Disruptors called our media outlet a “must-read for MULO (multi-location) brands navigating the fast-changing terrain of local, digital, and retail.” To that end, we bring you 12 top stories of each month from the retail, restaurant, service, franchise, hospitality, and convenience store ecosystem. What these brands are […]
Streets Ahead: ChatGPT Shopping and Yelp’s AI Call Feature
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses ChatGPT introducing direct shopping and Yelp testing AI-powered call handling. ChatGPT’s New Shopping Experience The News OpenAI has introduced a new augmented shopping experience inside ChatGPT, enabling users to browse and buy products directly within the platform. The feature showcases detailed product information, customer reviews, and direct purchase […]
“Consumer Discovery is Now a Free-for-All” Declares SOCI in New Study
The SOCI 2025 Consumer Behavior Index (CBI) reveals that marketers need to shift gears when it comes to search, declaring the industry’s state “the marketing crisis you didn’t see coming.” The study has enormous implications, as traditional search is evolving rapidly. According to their late-breaking announcement based on the index, the strategies that MULO (multi-location) […]
Optimizing for AI: Future-Proof Your Website for Search
Over the years, there have been many significant improvements in how search engines function. While these improvements have meant new changes in how company execute their SEO (Search Engine Optimization) campaigns, for the most part, the core fundamentals have been the same. However, in the past few years, AI technology has changed everything. Reliance on […]
Gregg Majewski, CEO of Craveworthy Brands, on Restaurant Trends
Gregg Majewski is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Craveworthy Brands, a multi-concept restaurant platform company and franchisor that launched in 2023. Majewski has built the MULO (multi-location) company brick by brick, adding iconic brands such as viral Dirty Dough, Food Network-founded Taim Mediterranean Kitchen, and Southern California-favorite Fresh Brothers Pizza. Earlier this year, […]
10 Design Offers Four MULO Design Principles for Brick-and-Mortar
10 Design is an architectural design firm that has created retail spaces (and mixed-use complexes) globally. 10 Design asserts, “Brick and mortar retail isn’t dying. It’s evolving. The most successful retail spaces today merge commerce, culture, and community, turning shopping into an immersive experience.” That principle can be applied to MULO (multi-location) retail design in […]
A BOOM and a BUST: Harry & David & Hooters
Openings, expansions, and bankruptcies are standard fare in the MULO (multi-location) retail and restaurant space. This month, we saw one significant opening and one bankruptcy declaration in the MULO ecosystem. Harry & David recently announced they are getting back into the retail game. This 91-year-old seller of gift baskets and gourmet food items shuttered most of its […]
Aquarium Ad Is a 3D Fish Out of Water
First its ads had a Super Bowl presence earlier this year. Now the Georgia Aquarium is going big in out-of-home. A creative campaign by Doe-Anderson, an agency in Kentucky, launched two executions in Atlanta to let the locals know they have one of the country’s great aquariums right in their backyard. If you find yourself […]
The Future is Here: A More Collaborative, AI-Enabled, Creatively Driven Industry
The advertising industry is in a period of accelerated transformation. What were once incremental shifts are now crystallizing into clear priorities — moving from hypothetical or expected into real and transactional. Consolidation around media-agnostic, AI-driven systems and the integration of creative and media processes are no longer future goals — they’re actively reshaping the way […]
Adaptive Checkout Uses AI to Boost Conversion Rates
Fraud and crime are realities of the MULO (multi-location) ecosystem. Brands used to just have to worry about the checkout stage with shoplifting, dishonest employees, and fake IDs and credit cards. Now that we’re living in a phygital world (one that combines brick-and-mortar and online sales), thieves, fraudsters, and AI-powered bots have become more sophisticated. […]
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