News and Analysis
Local Businesses: Social-First, Tech-Driven, and Highly Adaptable
In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, a new breed of businesses is emerging. These businesses are rewriting the playbook by prioritizing social media, embracing advanced technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), and maintaining agility in the face of uncertainty. Constant Contact’s latest Small Business Now report sheds light on these trends, offering valuable insights for multi-location […]
MULO Brands With Soul: February Pick
This year, some MULO (multi-location) brands declared that they were disbanding their DEIB (diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging) initiatives. As we all know, having a team dedicated to DEIB is not nearly as important as “walking the talk” if you declare yourself an inclusive brand. Read here about why having a DEIB policy today may […]
More Ad Transparency, Control Come to RE/MAX
Brands that advertise on real-estate site RE/MAX, now have the benefit of centralized control over their data and ad operations via a media automation platform called Unify. The platform also enables brands to precisely target local audiences. As with any big-ticket purchase, the journey to buying or selling a home begins online, often times with […]
Commentary
Touchdown! How MULO Brands Score During Football Season
Many retailers and restaurants already have their eyes on the December holidays and are filling the shelves with pumpkin spice everything and costumes. We understand that huge MULO (multi-location) chains have planned their inventory and marketing campaigns months in advance. Advertising, licensing deals, and other NFL football properties add a whopping $5B to the U.S. […]
7 Ways to Use AI Responsibly for Multi-Location Marketing
AI is no longer a thing of the future. It’s something that’s here—and it’s here to stay. In fact, more than 80% of marketers are currently using AI tools. But what are some practical applications of AI for multi-location marketing and how can you use it to streamline processes and improve campaigns? We’re sharing seven […]
Come to Place
What place? Place! When? November 7th. OK. But what place? Place! No…that’s not a typo or a reboot of the old “Who’s on First?” Abbott & Costello routine. The Place23 Conference is a one-day event brought to you by Localogy, Street Fight’s “sister” company. With Street Fight hosting 2 sessions (more to come on this), […]
Latest Posts
How To Sustain Media Buys in Black-Owned Media
No single source seems able to pinpoint just how much brands allocate in dollars to ad inventory on Black-owned media in the U.S. But everyone seems to agree it should be more. This article cites media tracker Maven, which says there are upwards of 2,500 diverse-owned publishers alone and that 35% of those are Black-owned. […]
The MULO Dozen: April Brands in Review
Another April …another 12 innovations, booms, busts, and leadership changes in the MULO (multi-location) world. Retailers and restaurants are always scaling, shrinking, and experimenting with new innovation, footprints, business models, and technologies. In addition to covering many of them throughout the month, these end-of-month wrap-ups are designed to give you even more news and ideas. Speaking […]
BUST: A Timeless Ice Cream Brand Melts
Oberweis Ice Cream and Dairy was founded in 1927 and is an iconic Midwest retail brand. It recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and is in the process of reorganizing. The company operates 43 locations in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Missouri. While other ice cream brands thrive, Oberweis owes about $4 million to 20 creditors […]
Hidden Nuggets in Local Address Data for Retail Decisions
It’s no secret that the past few years have been extremely challenging for inventory managers. In 2021 and early 2022, brands faced widespread inventory shortages, while the latter half of 2022 and 2023 saw massive excess inventory levels (as much as $740 billion in unsold goods) as brands worked to counteract the previous year’s shortages […]
Tinuiti Report: Temu Takes a Break
Somebody must have given Temu a talking to. The e-commerce brand that offers very competitively priced items was glomming up ad inventory across social media throughout 2023 to the consternation of its competitors. And then, just like that… it receded. Temu, which increased its ad spending a whopping 1,000% in 2023 from the previous year […]
Self-Checkout Grows Up (and Sometimes Phases Out)
As the cost of labor skyrockets (especially in California) and the size of the qualified talent pool shrinks for MULO (multi-location) brands, retailers and restaurants are looking for ways to automate and streamline all aspects of their operations. Self-checkout was introduced in the 1980s but didn’t take off and proliferate until 2001. Since their mass roll-out, […]
Another ‘Tainment Category Sprouts Up
You’ve likely heard of eatertainment and sportstainment. But a new category of ‘tainment is out in the field — agritainment! A huge complex in Arizona (on the site of a family farm) has been converted into a space where people can eat, learn about farming, participate in fun activities, and pick fruits and vegetables in season. […]
City Mattress Rests Easy with Agital
Just because it’s called City Mattress doesn’t mean it’s off-limits to suburbanites or dwellers of the exurbs. At least that’s if performance-marketing agency Agital has anything to say about it. The agency developed a cross-channel marketing strategy to drive foot traffic to physical stores by using the brand’s existing customer data bases for its 30+ […]
How AI Is Transforming Phone Calls Into Data
“This call may be recorded for training and quality purposes” We’ve all heard a version of this ubiquitous message a thousand times. Chances are we don’t even notice it any more due to a form of audio “ad blindness”. Still, if we stop and think about it, interesting questions arise. What are these recordings actually […]
Fat Brands Blasts Off for Success
This writer was honored to be invited to an all-franchisee gathering of Fat Brands corporate team members, franchisees, and partners. Live events have made a comeback, as illustrated by the attendance of close to 2K people who enjoyed a close-up view of the Las Vegas Sphere, which was in keeping with the space theme of […]
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