News and Analysis
Stic Turns Everyday Driving Into a New, Measurable OOH Channel
Out-of-home advertising is getting more mobile and more measurable. Stic, a platform that turns everyday driving into a brand exposure network, has raised $10 million in bridge funding as agencies and advertisers search for alternatives to crowded digital channels. By paying drivers per mile to carry brand messaging through real neighborhoods, Stic offers brands a […]
Retail Media’s Maturity Moment: Why 2026 Changes Everything for Brands
Retail media is entering its maturity phase — and in 2026, there will be no hiding behind experimentation. As brands shift real budget into retail media networks, the pressure is on retailers to prove incremental impact, operational rigor, and measurable outcomes at scale. With U.S. retail media ad spend projected to surpass $69 billion, the […]
How Brands Can Influence AI Search Results—Not Just Rank in Them
As AI answers increasingly replace traditional search results, local and regional brands are facing a new visibility challenge: how to show up when consumers never click a link at all. In an AI search environment where recommendations are surfaced instantly—and often without a website visit—being included in the answer matters more than driving traffic. A […]
Commentary
Streets Ahead: TikTok News, Google Reviews, and the New Rules of Local Visibility
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses TikTok emerging as the top news platform, evidence that service areas don’t influence Local Rankings and Google now moderating review responses. TikTok Emerges as the Top News Platform for Young Adults The News New survey data from the Pew Research Center indicates that TikTok has overtaken long-standing social […]
The “Future of TV” Is Here: 4 Video Shifts That Will Define 2026
For the past decade, ad tech has talked about the “future of TV.” In 2026, that future stops being hypothetical. The infrastructure is in place, streaming is now the primary viewing mode for many audiences, and measurement is finally tying exposure to outcomes. The result is a decisive turning point for video: CTV advertising shifts […]
2026: The Year the Industry Pushes Beyond Fragmented Measurement
2026 is shaping up to be the year the video advertising industry moves beyond accepting fragmented measurement. Between the midterm political spending crunch, the convergence of linear and streaming, and growing pressure from brands to deliver real business outcomes, the cracks in today’s system are becoming impossible to ignore. Some of the most significant disruption […]
Latest Posts
Basis and Mediaocean Aim to Automate the Full Media Lifecycle
In an advertising ecosystem increasingly defined by fragmentation, operational complexity, and rising pressure for accountability, automation has moved from incremental improvement to strategic necessity. That shift is at the heart of a new integration partnership between Basis and Mediaocean, which together are seeking to automate the entire media lifecycle , from planning and activation through […]
What Email Marketing Will Look Like in 2026
The inbox is about to get personal in ways we’ve never seen before. After years running cold outreach email marketing campaigns for hundreds of businesses and analyzing more than 50 million emails, I’ve watched the email channel evolve from spray-and-pray blasts to segmented sequences. But what’s coming in 2026 makes everything we’ve done look like […]
Think National, Speak Local: Why Content Localization Drives Brand Trust
Brands earn attention when they sound like they belong. For national organizations, that sense of belonging doesn’t happen by accident. Content localization is the bridge between a big brand promise and a personal, community-level connection. It’s how a national healthcare message resonates in a small-town clinic, or how a nonprofit mission becomes a topic of […]
2026 Predictions: Where Multi-Location Brands Win Next
As we head into 2026, multi-location (MULO) and franchise brands are walking into one of the biggest opportunities we’ve seen in years. Not because there’s a shiny new channel that suddenly solves everything, but because Paid, Earned, and Owned Media are finally starting to work together in a way that rewards brands who think locally […]
Turning Reviews Into Intelligence: How Agencies Can Unlock Multi-Location Insights
For agencies managing multi-location businesses, reviews are no longer just a ranking factor or a measure of reputation. In today’s AI-driven local search ecosystem, reviews have evolved into a rich source of actionable intelligence — a tool that agencies can use to uncover operational issues, inform marketing strategies, and fine-tune brand messaging across locations. Treating […]
Short-Form Video Surges Beyond Social, Study Finds
Pity Jeffrey Katzenberg, the Hollywood mogul whose Quibi, a mobile-first video service, was way ahead of its time. The idea was to serve short-form video less than 10 minutes in duration to people as they were waiting at the bank, the post office, the doctor’s office or anywhere else where they might have a few […]
Streets Ahead: Google Core Update, IG Search, Review Delays
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses the Google December 20025 Core Update, Instagram search traffic and Google Review appeals delay. Google Rolls Out December 2025 Core Update The News Google has launched its December 2025 Core Update, marking the third broad algorithm change this year following major releases in March and June. The […]
Dave’s Hot Chicken Tops Yelp’s Most Loved Brands
Consumers are cautious, still spending, and they love what they love. Yelp Most Loved Brands of 2025 report provides a snapshot of loyalty to certain brands and why and where enthusiasm is strongest. Dave’s Hot Chicken is the Nashville-style spicy chicken QSR that began in a Los Angeles parking lot and has since drawn a […]
Intentional Marketing in the Age of AI: Smarter Strategy Choices for 2026
If 2025 has taught me one thing about AI, it’s that success won’t be about who uses the most. It will be about who uses it most intentionally. That’s why I want to take a step back from the marketing buzzwords. Before you jump into implementing any new AI solution in 2026, it’s vital to […]
Smarter Screens, Smarter Campaigns: How DOOH and Video Will Reshape 2026
As we head into 2026, the media landscape is reaching a distinct convergence point. Digital out-of-home (DOOH) is no longer an emerging channel. It’s the connective tissue between online intent and real-world decision-making. Video is no longer just a content format. It’s the operating system of modern influence. The smartest marketing and political campaigns in 2026 […]
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