News and Analysis
Meet the Street Fight LIVE 2025 Speakers: Part 2
We’re just weeks away from Street Fight LIVE 2025 on September 30th in Los Angeles at Microsoft’s Playa Vista headquarters. What better place to tackle the huge impact that tech, AI, and digital media is having on the brick-and-mortar business ecosystem? Plus, the ecosystem itself is rapidly changing, with retailers, restaurants, service businesses, convenience stores, […]
Blis AI Platform Offers Deeper Targeting
Blis, recently acquired by T-Mobile, has launched Blis AI, a platform that uses foot traffic data and other real-world signals such as in-store sales to help brands with audience building and media planning. If a brand wants to reach moms during back-to-school shopping season, they can enter KPI parameters such as “foot traffic,” and Blis […]
Swiftly Program Enables Circle K and its Brand Partners
Retail technology platform Swiftly has partnered with Circle K, a mobility platform, to make it easier for alcohol buyers to get cash back rebates, eliminating the friction and time waste involved in traditional mail-in ones. Swiftly’s Alcohol Cashback platform works with a Circle K app that enables targeted, real-time promotions by product, category, and geography. […]
Commentary
Streets Ahead: AI Overviews and Organic Search, Google Core Update Concludes
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi looks at recent changes in AI Overviews as well as the conclusion of Google’s August Core Update. AI Overviews Now Better Reflecting Google Organic Search Results The News Recent research by Mark Traphagen and seoClarity shows that AI Overviews (AIOs) are now closely mirroring Google’s organic search results. After […]
Streets Ahead: FTC Reviews Ruling and Google Core Update
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi looks at the FTC’s new ruling on reviews and the Google august core update. FTC Launches New Rule to Combat Misleading Reviews and Ratings The News Fake reviews have been a longstanding issue in the digital marketplace, misleading consumers and harming reputable businesses. In response, after over a […]
Brand Marketing: Focus on Outcomes and Cut Through the AI Hype
Google’s decision to call off its deprecation of the third-party cookie may seem like a reprieve for many brand marketers. But the truth is, regardless of this move, the digital landscape is increasingly privacy-centric. As users take control of their data-privacy, brand marketers have two options: spend more or spend smarter. AI can deliver the […]
Latest Posts
Report: Advertisers Must Include Mobile Games in the Media Mix
It looks like the mobile channel is undervalued or at least under-utilized in advertising. Who knew? More specifically, the mobile gaming audience is being overlooked. According to a report by Digital Turbine called, “The Game-Changing Shift Report Series: CPG Edition. Why Brands Need to Consider Mobile Games in Their Media Mix,” ad campaigns miss up […]
Streets Ahead: Bluesky Soars and Google Expands
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses the mass exodus from X to Bluesky and Google expanding its “Nearby Offers and Events” feature. Bluesky Usage Soars Amid Exodus from X The News In the aftermath of the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Bluesky, a two-year-old decentralized social media platform, has seen a dramatic rise in user […]
Holidays 2024 Installment 6: Christy Parrish Predicts the Spending Future
Christy Parrish is the Senior Director of Client Partnerships at Cordial, shares her 2024 Holiday Shopping Predictions in Street Fight’s exclusive interview. With a focus on customer behavior and channel preferences, Parrish delivers unique insights for retailers navigating the season What is your #1 shopping prediction for this holiday season? In her Holiday Shopping Predictions […]
How AI Can Help Multi-Location Restaurants Prevent Another Health Crisis
What if restaurants could spot a health crisis before it spreads? With the help of AI, they just might. McDonald’s burger patties may not have been the culprit of its recent E. coli outbreak, which the company quickly traced back to slivered onions, but customers temporarily took a step back from the quick-serve restaurant’s top […]
Who Won the “Near Me Scavenger Hunt?” (and What it Revealed)
During the lunch break at Street Fight LIVE, our guests hit the virtual streets to put themselves in their customers’ minds (and small screens) and find targeted businesses “near me”. The scavenger hunt, which LT sponsored, worked like this: We gave everyone five categories of products and services and instructed them to use their phones […]
Selling into MULO Big Brand Stores: One Founder’s Story
Every inventor, entrepreneur, or manufacturer can’t get a big deal on Shark Tank. Scaling up via online selling can be exhausting and highly competitive, especially when an inventor/manufacturer is up against hundreds of similar brands. Many food and product entrepreneurs dream of having their products sold by MULO (multi-location) big brand stores. We recently sat […]
StreetFight Live: All Content Creators are Not Created Equal!
Next in our series about the highlights of Street Fight LIVE is an overview of the UGC (User Generated Content) panel. Moderator Steph Hadas of 5WPR spoke before the session about the definition of public relations today and touched on how the lines have blurred between earned and paid media. MULO (multi-location) brands have discovered […]
Holidays 2024 Installment 5: Elizabeth Lafontaine Predicts the Spending Future
Elizabeth Lafontaine, Director of Research at Placer.ai, is joining the virtual panel of MULO (multi-location) experts who are discussing consumer shopping behavior and marketing trends for this holiday season. Please contact me if you have predictions for this holiday season or 2025! What is your #1 prediction for holiday shopping season? “One prediction for the […]
Streets Ahead: Meta’s Threads and Instagram Video Quality
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses the continued growth of the Meta’s Threads platform and the Instagram move to adjust video quality based on popularity Threads Rapid Rise: 275M Users and Counting The News Meta’s Threads app, emerging as a competitor to X (formerly Twitter), has rapidly grown, now boasting 275 million monthly […]
That Damn Retail Music May Actually Boost Sales!
As the holiday season approaches, we can expect to hear Mariah Carey blasting from speakers at many MULO (multi-location) businesses. A new study reveals that holiday music does impact spending. In fact, it can boost retail ticket size by as much as 42%! Mood Media found that: 41% of shoppers feel nostalgic, and 29% feel relaxed […]
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AI Won’t Fix Advertising – It May Scale Its Chaotic Nature