News and Analysis

Mapping Innovations Accelerate for the Post-Covid Era

The latest mapping innovations can be summed up in the announcements coming out of the last three major developer conferences. As we’re in the midst of developer conference season, this includes Google I/O, Snap’s Partner Summit, and Apple’s flagship WWDC. Let’s tackle those one at a time.

Brands Turn to Zero-Party Data Amid Privacy Restrictions

Tighter privacy restrictions are leading brand marketers to consider data collection opportunities they may have overlooked in the past, including some zero-party data collection methods that involve partnerships with subscription box companies and legacy media publishers. Unlike first-party data, which involves a company collecting insights about a customer or user, zero-party data is information that the customer or user proactively hands over to the brand.

SMBs Scramble to Capitalize on an Early Amazon Prime Day

Small and mid-size businesses saw record-breaking sales during Amazon’s Prime Day in 2020, with an increase of nearly 60% year-over-year. But with so much of the retail space currently in transition and an early Prime Day on the horizon, SMBs are scrambling to ensure they can take advantage of the corporate holiday this year.

Commentary

Google and Amazon Escalate Voice ‘Platform Wars’

Mike Boland: Any entity competing for local commerce—publishers, brands, ad-tech players—has a looming platform choice for voice. Like the platform wars between iOS and Android, it’s a matter of deciding where to apply finite resources and development muscle. Maybe the answer is “both” Google and Amazon. But for now, Google appears to have the lead.

Voice Search Readiness in 2019 and Beyond

Bernadette Coleman: 2019 is here. While the focus in recent weeks has been predictions on the digital marketing trends that are expected to emerge this year, I would argue that one of the most important measures brands need to take in 2019 is to implement a full-scale voice search readiness strategy, if they have not already.

food

LBMA Vidcast: Kroger Innovates, Location Sciences Raises Capital

On this week’s Location-Based Marketing Association show: Phillips 66 + Honda, Location Sciences raises capital, City of Los Angeles sues IBM/Weather Channel, Mall of America, Kroger goes unmanned for delivery, Heineken sees geo-marketing success in UK.

Latest Posts

LBMA Podcast: Uniqlo, Joyful ATMs, Blippar and Google

This Week in Location Based Marketing is a weekly video podcast from the Location Based Marketing Association with Asif Khan and Aubriana Lopez. On the show: xPressTap, Senior + Mall of America, Ford + RadiumOne Bluedot Innovation.

Street Fight Daily: Walmart Grows As Advertising Platform, Amazon Paves Way for Alexa Everywhere

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Walmart Leverages In-Store Data to Grow as an Advertising Force… Amazon Opens Up Access to Developer Tools for Adding Alexa to Commercial Products… Facebook Is Giving Advertisers More Flexibility When Buying Mid-Roll Video Ads…

Ad-Tech Expert’s Advice to Local News Publishers: Pivot to Digital Subscriptions

Ratko Vidakovic, founder and principal of the Toronto-based ad-consulting firm AdProfs, spoke with Street Fight recently about the often-rambunctious world of digital advertising and how news publishing fits into it — not always so well.

How Football Viewership Trends Impact Brand Advertisers

Sports bars suffered in the wake of declining NFL ratings last season, but a drop in viewership could actually benefit hardware stores, gas stations, and supermarkets, according to a new analysis just released this morning by the location intelligence company Foursquare.

Street Fight Daily: Google Makes Maps Interactive, Amazon Rolls Out ‘Instant Pickup’

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Brings Q&A to Maps, Further Entering the Local Recommendation Space… Amazon Adds ‘Instant Pickup’ in U.S. Brick-and-Mortar Push… Aiming for Transformation via Acquisition, Non-Tech Companies Buy Tech Firms…

Why Premium Media Is the Gold Standard for Brand Marketers

There are media companies and then there are the media companies that deserve brands’ business — the ones that represent a positive baseline. High-quality premium publishers and advertisers know what high-quality environments look like. Consumers know it, too.

Why Location Measurement and Attribution Are Key to Brand Visibility

Attribution “is the metric that all brands and media verticals are moving to as it solves a number of gaps in the market.” says Freckle IoT’s Neil Sweeney. He believes measuring how branding strategy is working is becoming just as important as brand visibility.

Street Fight Daily: Facebook and Amazon Fuel Local Food Transactions, Netsertive Buys Mixpo

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Americans Love Ordering Pizza on Facebook and Amazon… Netsertive Acquires Seattle Ad Tech Firm Mixpo… Hard Look at Online Pays Off in Higher Quarterly Profits for Kohl’s…

Enterprise Local Marketers Treat AI Hype as Means to an End

Our research suggests that big brands and retailers don’t have AI high on their list of local marketing priorities. But it appears that if brands are very email- and direct mail-focused, and that’s where they’re thinking of applying AI.

How 5 Brands Use Geo-Targeting to Fuel In-Store Sales

By serving mobile ads based on users’ geographic locations, brands can avoid these types of blunders and hone in on the type of hyper-specific messaging that boosts engagement and click-through rates.