News and Analysis

The MULO Dozen: June Brands in Review Street Fight

The MULO Dozen: June Brands in Review

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In addition to our ongoing reporting about technology, creative innovations, and openings/closings in the MULO (multi-location) brand space, we publish this monthly quick-read summary of some of the developments at retailers, restaurants, and service brands. Whether you have just a few minutes or a few hours each month to track MULO trends for brands, Street […]

BUST: Why Do So Many Sports Stores Declare Bankruptcy? Street Fight

BUST: Why Do So Many Sports Stores Declare Bankruptcy?

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Among the MULO (multi-location) sporting goods stores that filed for Chapter 11 during the past decade are: Mountain Sports (50 sporting goods and apparel stores in seven states under Eastern Mountain Sports and Bob’s Stores brands) Olympic Sports (70 stores) Modell’s (153 stores) Sport Chalet (47 stores in California, Arizona, Nevada and Utah) Sports Authority […]

Amperity and the Power of First-Party Data Street Fight

Amperity and the Power of First-Party Data

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Amperity is a customer data platform that excels at helping brands unify and organize their first-party data using an average 30 different sources. Making sense of this data helps brand marketers understand when the same customer target shows up across disparate digital systems and lets them know the person is not three or four different […]

Commentary

Rootstrap on AI Regulation

Rootstrap Co-Founder on AI Regulation

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First of all, Anthony Figueroa wants everyone to know he is a big believer in the power and potential of AI. As co-founder and CTO of outcome-driven software development company Rootstrap, he is both amazed and afraid of AI’s potential based on what he has seen so far. “I think the biggest danger is that […]

The Next Big Change for Brands: Digital Trust

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Data privacy and consumer trust are key priorities for multi-location brands, users, and the U.S. government. On January 1, the California Privacy Rights Act was put into effect, a solid sign that federal privacy laws may be in the near future in the U.S. In fact, a recent McKinsey report explored the topic of “Digital […]

Mult-location brands and customer experience

How Multi-Location Brands Can Improve Customer Experience

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According to recent reports, 43.5% of brands agreed that positive CX is a critical differentiator when it comes to getting an edge on the competition. Creating positive customer experiences seems like a no-brainer, but in reality bridging the CX perception gap between customer service, marketing, and sales teams and potentially 10s or 100s of store […]

Latest Posts

Report: Advertisers Lean-In on Retail Data

Report: Advertisers Lean-In on Retail Data

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Retail data is changing the game for U.S. advertisers, presenting an incredible opportunity for those interested in closing the loop between digital ad exposures and actual sales. That’s according to a new report by The Trade Desk, an independent platform for digital advertising, which found that 91% of U.S. advertisers plan to maintain or increase […]

More Advertisers Explore Opportunities in Logged-In Media

More Advertisers Explore Opportunities in Logged-In Media

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Data privacy and online anonymity are layered into nearly every major martech project today, but a new survey of advertisers from the email based marketing technology company LiveIntent questions whether that approach is what consumers or advertisers actually want. Deep in the findings presented in LiveIntent’s 2023 Retail Media Playbook is this: Two-thirds of advertisers […]

Bad Stock Art: How Your Photos May Be Hurting Engagement

Bad Stock Art: How Your Photos May Be Hurting Engagement

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We all know the importance of graphics and videos in generating clicks, engagement, and traffic. One study claimed a lift of as much as 650 percent for posts and ads including imagery, versus text-only marketing. But the types of graphics or stock art you use may be as important as the fact that you use them. […]

What Lies Ahead for the Car Dealership?

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Are we racing into the future or just cruising along? You may not think of a car dealership as MULO (multi-location) brands, but drive through commercial areas, and you’ll probably see one dealership after another. New cars, used cars, and luxury cars are all on display for consumers to browse, test drive, and buy. The […]

DoubleVerify Pushes Into Retail Media with Instacart Ads Partnership

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DoubleVerify is pushing deeper into retail media, as the company looks to solidify its position as one of the most influential firms in the ad verification and digital measurement space. While the company already covers 90% of the top retail media inventory currently available, executives are looking for more.  DoubleVerify recently announced a partnership with […]

The Mall of the Future

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The media love to show pictures of vacant and deteriorating malls.  But the reality is that the mall isn’t dying. It’s just changing. Let’s think back to 1992 when The Mall of America opened and became a destination — not just for shopping but for dining and playing. It’s now a major tourist attraction and […]

Seedtag Brings Proprietary Contextual AI Tech to Digital Advertising 

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It shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that artificial intelligence has been a hot topic in the world of digital advertising as of late. There are a number of concepts floating around involving the best way to embrace the technologies. But Seedtag, a contextual advertising company with a global footprint, believes it has a solution […]

Emplifi’s Platform Drives Social Commerce

Emplifi’s Platform Drives Social Commerce

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When Emplifi upgraded its social commerce cloud last month, the goal was to empower brands to create more shoppable content across social media channels. The upgrades help bridge the gap between social media marketing and ecommerce to drive conversions and revenue for clients, the company said. Zarnaz Arlia, CMO of Emplifi, said the upgrades couldn’t […]

Jordan Blakesley Answers the Question: Do You Really Need PR?

Jordan Blakesley Answers the Question: Do You Really Need PR?

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Jordan Blakesley is the founder of B Public Relations (BPR), a company that manages 24 PR professionals in five cities. In addition to SMB boutiques and independent hotels, destinations, and restaurants, the company works with many multi-location brands, including Snooze, an AM Eatery, Next Level Burger, and King’s Seafood Company. We have observed at Street […]

What Comes Next for Retail Media 2.0?

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We all know where retail media has been. The channel has a history that dates back to at least 2012, when Amazon became a pioneer in the space and launched its first retail media network. That set off a chain of events that forever changed adtech as we know it. Walmart followed suit, with the […]