News and Analysis
Policy Guardrails Mitigate Cyber Monday Security Risks
With so many aspects of this year’s holiday shopping experience outside retailers’ control—shipping delays, supply chain issues, and labor shortages, to name just a few—retailers are shifting their focus and using enhanced data security policies in their mobile apps and websites to improve the shopping experience for customers.
The Local Customer Journey is Omnichannel
A robust online presence is table stakes for even “local” businesses, as the local customer journey is thoroughly integrated into online search and selling. The Uberall study also suggests local businesses should capitalize on the greater trust and emotional connection they command with customers in an era when a product from Amazon is two clicks away.
Snap Doubles Down on Immersive Ads
Snap has been doubling down on AR — mostly seen through updates to its Lens Studio AR development platform and the evolving formats it offers to brand marketers. This recently culminated in two new programs to further stimulate AR marketing: Snap’s AR Lab and its Arcadia creative studio.
Commentary
Why Startups Should Aim to Partner with Larger Companies
If not to scale up quickly and earn unicorn status, what should startups be aiming to achieve? In essence, the answer is sustainable growth, and in recent years we have seen founders look to corporate partnerships as a viable way of achieving this. Corporate-startup partnerships are collaborations where an established company enters into a mutually beneficial relationship with an agile startup.
Brand Safety is a Brand Authenticity Problem
Marketers know that in a world of globalized competition, consumers are one click away from choosing a different product or service. Taking a stand can help brands appear righteous and earn consumer loyalty, which is why brand safety scandals necessitate a massive and speedy PR response. However, responding to or apologizing for such scandals can only be perceived as authentic the first time around—not the second time, and definitely not the third. The endless cycle of brand safety scandals reveals one of two things about today’s brands—they’re either lemmings, or they don’t really care about brand values.
Outsourced or In-House Delivery? We Did the Math
Local delivery is rapidly becoming a must-have for all kinds of businesses—people have become accustomed to online ordering and speedy delivery. According to a Go People survey, 65% of retailers will offer same-day delivery by the end of 2019, and according to Technomic, food delivery volume will grow by 12% year-over-year from 2019 to 2023. The question isn’t whether your business should offer delivery, but how.
Latest Posts
Street Culture: A Culture of Growth at PacketZoom
“Introducing [new employees] to the culture has been very important; it’s important that the people we hire are growth-oriented,” PacketZoom co-founder Chetan Ahuja says. “We want them to already be useful to the business, but their main goal is to grow and to grow with the company. They’re much more valuable that way.”
LBMA Podcast: Extreme Networks, Facebook, Daimler AG
This Week in Location Based Marketing is a weekly video podcast from the Location Based Marketing Association with Asif Khan, Rob Woodbridge & Aubriana Lopez. On the show: What3Words, Hold app, StubHub goes AR for Super Bowl, Amazon expands DASH, Clear Channel, Reebok “Get’s Pumped”, Acuity partners with Phunware.
Street Fight Daily: Benchmark’s Kalanick Suit Dismissed, IAB Releases Influencer Guidelines
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Benchmark’s Lawsuit Against Former Uber CEO Kalanick Dismissed (TechCrunch) It’s over. Benchmark’s lawsuit against former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick has now been dropped, ending one of the biggest VC-founder disputes in history. Street Culture: A Culture of Growth at PacketZoom (Street Fight) “Introducing [new employees] […]
Choice Hotels Reimagines Room Service with Delivery.com Partnership
A new partnership between Choice Hotels and delivery.com is being seen as a sign of changing times within the hospitality industry. Delivery.com is now providing a “room service-like experience” for hotel guests at Choice Hotels, allowing guests to have orders from local restaurants delivered directly to their hotel locations.
Three Candles to Light in Dark Times for Local News and Journalists
The news about local news hasn’t been good lately. But there have been three recent positive signals helping to balance the scales in the form of a digital newsgathering tool, a new survey about trust, and the survival of an important hyperlocal network in Brooklyn.
Street Fight Daily: Brands Bet on Dynamic Ads, Inside Uber’s Espionage Operation
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Brands Bet on Smarter Ads… The Tricks and Travails of Uber’s Spies… After Folding in Print, Self Finds Audience of Over 8 Million on Snapchat…
How Major Brands Are ‘Gamifying’ the Consumer Buying Experience
Although gamification itself is not a new marketing strategy, advancements in mobile apps and location technologies are providing brands with new opportunities to engage customers using these time-tested techniques. Here’s how six major brands are using gamification to change the consumer experience and promote loyalty.
Street Fight Daily: GoDaddy Acquires Main Street Hub, New York Times Leads Way on Loyalty
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… GoDaddy Is Acquiring Main Street Hub, Social Marketing Platform for SMBs… How the New York Times Uses Interactive Tools to Build Loyalty and Subscriptions… Here’s Why the Epidemic of Malicious Ads Grew So Much Worse Last Year…
5 Text Messaging Platforms for Businesses
Millennials don’t want to call businesses for answers to basic questions like store hours or product availability. That’s part of the reason why click-to-call platforms have taken off in recent years. Here are five vendors with click-to-call platforms for businesses.
Selling to Multi-Location Brands: Who Makes the Decisions
Across tactics, over a third of those big companies we surveyed manage local digital marketing in a centralized fashion, but a similar number do so locally or regionally. Local sites and email are the tactics most often de-centralized; mobile and paid search the most often centralized.
Street Fight’s Big 3
Street Fight Columns
Street Fight Categories
Why Restaurant PR Matters for Local Growth