News and Analysis
Retailers Build Internal Infrastructure to Optimize In-Store Advertising
Target, Kroger, Walmart, AT&T, and even the coffee giant Starbucks are all investing in audio out-of-home advertising as a way to direct traffic to existing kiosks inside brick-and-mortar stores. For Starbucks, which is ramping up to allow for mobile ordering at kiosks in more than 1,300 Target stores across the country, the investment in AOOH is especially pronounced.
Commentary
Why and How to Take Steps Toward Brand Assurance
Companies are adapting at breakneck speed. For example, Dick’s Sporting Goods is offering curbside pickup to protect its customers and staff. DoorDash is discounting delivery services to help working parents. Walgreens is making it easier to get critical prescriptions. Measures such as these have been essential in instilling a sense of community, care, and trust.
We must not attempt to carry on business as usual. We can no longer think about marketing and advertising in the same ‘brand vs. demand’ framework. Now is the time for brand assurance — to actively fulfill brand promises, to help customers, and to maintain brand reputation.
Can Emerging Tech Support Local’s New Normal?
I’ve been looking for discoveries that could be blessings in disguise. Just like remote work, these aren’t new concepts but ones that are now given the chance to shine. For example, I spend lots of time analyzing virtual reality, which could be a valuable virtual event tool.
But more to Street Fight’s main focus, what discoveries or business approaches could benefit local commerce? One of them could in fact be VR’s cousin, augmented reality. Its ability to help people visualize things or facilitate “see what I see” co-presence could help local service pros socially distance.
CPG Brands Can Navigate a Cookieless World With a Little Help From Their Friends
Ever since Apple announced it was limiting third-party cookies two to three years ago, brands have been working to adapt to a cookieless world. With Google jumping on the bandwagon recently, the pressure to adopt cookieless solutions has intensified.
Here are some of the questions we’ve been fielding from CPG brands about the future of digital advertising — and how marketing technology providers can help.
Latest Posts
Loyalty Solution Narvar Acquires Kronos Care, Expands in Europe
Customer engagement and loyalty solution Narvar, which has tripled in size over the last year, announced on Tuesday its acquisition of Kronos Care, a fellow customer engagement startup founded in just 2017. The move will help Narvar conquer the European market, bolstered by the local expertise of the Paris-based Kronos.
Kroger CEO Offers Closer Look at Grocery Giant’s Tech Innovation at NRF 2019
Among Kroger’s latest innovation is a partnership with online grocer Ocado. Kroger is licensing Ocado’s technology—the only grocer in the United States to do so—in order to benefit from its digital-native mastery of automated warehouse operations and on-demand delivery. The company will be expanding its number of warehouses powered by Ocado’s technology in 2019.
How Brands Will Select Key Partners in 2019: 5 Key Takeaways from Affiliate Summit West
Robert Glazer: This year’s Affiliate Summit West conference took place earlier this month in Las Vegas. And just like every year, performance marketing experts gathered to see some of the potential challenges and opportunities the space is likely to see in 2019. This year’s conference gave them plenty to chew on. There were five topics, in particular, that I found to be most important. Here’s a closer look at them.
LBMA Vidcast: Square Goes Mobile SDK, Gimbal Buys UberMedia
On this week’s Location-Based Marketing Association show: Square goes mobile SDK, Sinclair + Harman + SK Telecom, Gimbal buys UberMedia, AT&T and others to stop selling location data, LocusLabs partners with IndoorAtlas. Special Guests: Herve Utheza (Here Technologies) & Tom Kenney (Verve).
How Savvy Brands Are Getting Mobile Offers Into the Hands of Consumers
“For brick-and-mortar businesses, the focus on driving foot traffic through mobile couponing is even more important due to the convenience of online shopping. We see mobile coupon platforms becoming ubiquitous and affordable for even small businesses to create, design, and distribute their own coupons,” Katie Wilson, CEO of TapOnIt and a digital advertising veteran, tells our senior editor Stephanie Miles.
Trending Now: Brands Shifting Mobile Ad Budgets from Facebook to Google UAC
Brian Bowman: There’s an emerging trend in the advertising industry—for the first time, brands are shifting significant mobile advertising budgets from Facebook ads to Google Universal App Campaigns (UAC). While Facebook advertising has largely dominated mobile marketing budgets, this migration of budgets to Google’s platform has been a helpful shift to diversify risk tied to any single platform. Why is this shift happening now, and what does it mean for brands?
Urban Airship Acquires Accengage, Becomes World’s Largest Mobile Customer Engagement Company
Urban Airship, which serves Fortune 25 brands such as Adidas, BBC, and Vodafone, indicated that it would use the combined resources now at its disposal to expand the technical capabilities of its slate of mobile solutions. It will also take advantage of Accengage’s native expertise in the European market, particularly at a time when increased regulation on both sides of the Atlantic is underscoring the importance of strong policy and PR teams.
Google and Amazon Escalate Voice ‘Platform Wars’
Mike Boland: Any entity competing for local commerce—publishers, brands, ad-tech players—has a looming platform choice for voice. Like the platform wars between iOS and Android, it’s a matter of deciding where to apply finite resources and development muscle. Maybe the answer is “both” Google and Amazon. But for now, Google appears to have the lead.
Doddle Launches in US, Pushing Click-and-Collect Forward for American Retail
Touting the fact that 70% of U.S. shoppers have leveraged click-and-collect options at their disposal in the last six months, Doddle, which has been active in the UK, will be helping major retail partners such as Amazon create smoother buying experiences for customers who want to take advantage of one-click online ordering while avoiding the process of delivery.
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