News and Analysis
Meet the Street Fight LIVE 2025 Speakers: Part 1
Street Fight LIVE was resurrected last year, after pausing for the pandemic. This “un-conference” thought leadership conference is the first of its kind because it brings together C-level executives and decision-makers across MULO (multi-location) retailers, restaurants, convenience stores, service businesses, eatertainment/sportainment concepts, and hospitality brands. They are joined by the agencies and technology companies (with […]
“Wegmaniacs” Rejoice as Wegmans Opens Restaurants
Industry crossovers are nothing new. Tommy Bahama has restaurants, a retail operation, and now a hotel. Fitness retailers like Athleta offer in-store workout classes. And now Wegmans , an iconic grocery store with more than 110 locations , is opening a restaurant to appeal to its Wegmaniacs fan base! Tastings is opening in Rochester, New […]
Spaceback Introduces CTV Launchpad Platform
Spaceback, which bills itself as a pioneer of social CTV, has released a new platform called CTV Launchpad that enables advertisers to produce hundreds of creative options that include local elements like business addresses for some multilocation brands or a QR code that can scan to a local office or store. “It used to be […]
Commentary
Retail Media – Enabling Brands to Shift to an Audience-first Mindset
While retail media can trace its history back decades to humble in-store signage, cardboard cutout displays, and sampling tables, the retail media networks of 2024 are some of the most advanced advertising channels ever created. And with this sector forecast to hit a staggering $140bn ad spend worldwide this year, it has yet to fully […]
Connecting Retail Media Networks with Custom Audiences
Retail media networks (RMNs) are becoming a dominant force in the advertising world, propelled by the valuable first-party data they generate. This rise, however, also presents unintended challenges: the creation of walls around this data to protect consumer privacy and the retailer’s competitive advantage, resulting in a fragmented view of consumers. While safeguarding privacy is […]
How Generative AI is Propelling Local Advertising
The digital advertising landscape has never been more dynamic or more complex. As small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) grapple with these changes and challenges, they also face opportunities for growth. Generative AI technologies are empowering marketers with intuitive, powerful, and personalized advertising strategies, helping them to save time and effort and compete like never before. […]
Latest Posts
Streets Ahead: Yelp 2024 State of Services, Google Review Policy
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi looks at Yelp’s 2024 State of Services report as well as the conclusion of Google’s new efforts to tackle fake reviews. Yelp Publishes 2024 State of Services Report The News Yelp’s annual report on the state of services indicates that the home services industry is set to break new […]
The Drive-Thru Keeps Growing (Literally)
A new Chick-fil-A concept store offers six-second meal prep and a four-lane drive-thru. After all, we live in a fast-paced, impatient world, and getting your food faster without leaving your car is a common practice these days. During the pandemic, the drive-thru became a regular part of our lives. Operators now realize that this model […]
Why is Waffle House So Successful? An FSR Conversation with Danny Klein
Danny Klein is the Editorial Director of FSR (full-service restaurant), a media company covering the food industry. A recent study on the top brands in the FSR world has implications for any MULO (multi-location) brand—restaurants, retailers, and service businesses. The study, created in partnership with Datassential, ranks the brands based on their number of units. The […]
AI in Advertising, According to Criteo
Romain Lerallut, VP of Engineering at Criteo, believes that AI will play a fundamental role in advertising for MULO (multi-location) brands. Enabling marketers to “speak” directly to consumers at all stages of the decision-making and purchase process, AI will not only result in more effective campaigns but also save companies advertising dollars and resources. What […]
Pharma, Healthcare Brands Optimistic about Tech and Its Impact on Media Spending
Media spending by big pharma and other healthcare brands is getting better all the time this year. New findings from Mediaocean’s 2024 H2 Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Market Report, based on surveys conducted via Tech Validate in July 2024, say so. The report references data collected from a specific subset of 151 leading pharmaceutical and healthcare […]
How to Get That Precious Email Address: A New Study by LiveIntent
Close to 40 percent of brands are increasing their email budgets. Although consumers’ inboxes remain packed, email marketing remains one of the most effective options for targeting and attribution. A new survey by LiveIntent offers some compelling data and implications for those MULO (multi-location) marketers using email as part of their marketing strategy. The biggest […]
Sports Innovation Lab Forms Partnership with Dentsu
Like most reasons for ad-marketing partnerships, it is all about the data. So too with the one just announced between Dentsu and the Sports Innovation Lab (SIL). The goal is for clients of both entities to have specialized access to sports audiences across any publisher or platform. Dentsu is the first holding company to partner […]
Intent, Context and Attention: 3 Signals Helping Brands See in the Dark
After Google’s cookie drama, you’d be forgiven for feeling like the lights have been switched off. But when discussing what’s next, there’s yet another major topic largely and mysteriously absent – the consumer. How does the public feel about the intent of people-based tracking and profiling online? And how will that help or hinder our […]
AI Powered Yext Social to Boost Brand Local Engagement
Yext has launched Yext Social, which it hopes will establish a new standard in AI-powered local engagement. The tool enables brands to manage local-customer engagement at scale globally. Using personalized content created using data insights, Yext Social connects with customers and manages their experiences and interactions, all on a single platform. Yext has thousands of […]
How to Score a MULO Touchdown: 7 Winning Points
Multi-location retailers, restaurants, and even service businesses (the MULO ecosystem) stand to benefit from football season — if they have the right marketing and sales playbook! Applebee’s (a 42-year-old brand with 1,600+ locations) forged a deal with the NFL. But even those brands who are late to the game this football season can profit from […]
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