News and Analysis

Mediaocean Acquires 4C Insights. What’s Next for Ad Tech?

Share this:

The coronavirus pandemic and ensuing recession have forced tech vendors to step up their games and make a stronger case to advertisers as to why their products and services are essential amid tightening budgets. The year of Covid-19 is also fostering a favorable environment for mergers and acquisitions, as solo players team up to emerge stronger on the other side of a stormy season.

Last week, ad tech got a fresh acquisition, as Mediaocean acquired 4C Insights. I checked in with Aaron Goldman, CMO of 4C Insights, to find out what the acquisition portends for the two companies and how it matches up with broader trends in ad tech.

Retail Prepares for a Covid-Inflected Holiday Season

Share this:

The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated the shift from brick-and-mortar commerce to digital transactions. It has also forced brick-and-mortars resisting the hybridization of their own businesses to adopt digital methods, turning restaurants and apparel stores alike into both brick-and-mortar establishments and online sellers.

Against that backdrop, retail’s biggest quarter will present novel challenges this year. Retailers will need to optimize for online transactions and contend with fragmented national and global landscapes where it may be safe to go to stores in New York but not in Los Angeles.

Coronavirus Boosts OTT Viewership and Opens New TV Ad Opportunities

Share this:

To be sure, kids are not the only ones spending more time staring at the TV screen. The coronavirus has catalyzed a golden age for TV viewership and non-traditional formats such as over-the-top viewing in particular, said Sean Buckley, COO of global video advertising platform SpotX.

SpotX announced a strategic investment in CTV and OTT-focused ad serving platform SpringServe Monday. I checked in with Buckley to find out how the partnership will benefit both companies and how the coronavirus year has affected TV viewership as well as video advertising.

Commentary

LBMA Podcast: Postmates & DoorDash, Foursquare, Uber

Share this:

This Week in Location Based Marketing is a weekly video podcast from the Location Based Marketing Association with Asif Khan & Aubriana Lopez. On the show this week: Mercedes Benz, Landmark + Sony Music, China’s BingoBox, Gordon’s Gin teams up with Weve, Foursquare’s new API, Uber expands bike sharing.

Berkeleyside.com Raises $1 Million With News Industry’s First DPO

Share this:

The established pure-play is now putting together a guide for how other news providers can convince their communities to make the same kind of high-response “impact investment.”

The New Face of Reputation Management: Photos, UGC Rise in Prominence

Share this:

As non-review content grows in prominence, brands and small businesses with be forced to reckon with it. Like reviews, such content both reflects and shapes a brand’s reputation. Unfortunately, many brands are still behind when it comes to engaging with local reviews, so these new developments will represent an even heftier challenge when it comes to crafting an effective and scalable strategy. Brands who neglect UGC in local will suffer greatly in comparison with those who learn how to engage.

Latest Posts

How Retailers Running Beacon Campaigns Fared This Holiday Season

Share this:

As large retail chains start unpacking the effectiveness of their digital marketing efforts, mobile presence management vendor Swirl is releasing the results of its own beacon marketing campaigns run during the holiday shopping season.

Who Should Rate Communities: Experts, the Public — or Both?

Share this:

One emerging group that might be able to help publishers answers tough questions is the nonprofit group STAR Communities, which “works to evaluate, improve, and certify sustainable communities.” The company helps cities and counties “achieve a healthy environment, a strong economy, and well being for their residents.”

Street Fight Daily: Spectacles Give Brands Location-Based, AR Marketing Tool; Indoor Location Tech to Rise

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Spectacles Offer Brands an Advertising Opportunity Combining AR and Location… Indoor Location Tech Predicted to Gain Widespread Usage in Coming Years… Case Study: Amazon Didn’t Kill Macy’s. Macy’s Did…

How to Keep Customers Loyal in 2017

Share this:

Trends and fads are common in the quickly-evolving local marketing industry, but it appears that loyalty programs are here to stay. So what’s the secret to keeping customers loyal in 2017? To find out, we went directly to the experts and asked what trends they’re seeing within the local merchant community.

Street Fight Daily: Brick-and-Mortar Retailers Make Gains Online, Twitter Shutters App Aimed at Brands

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Brick-and-Mortar Retailers See Online Sales Jump as In-Store Purchases Decline… Twitter Shutters Dashboard, App Aimed at Brands… Voice Search is On the Rise, and Brands Must Prepare…

Waze Says Its Crowdsourced Navigation Data Brings Clarity for Marketers

Share this:

Tapping into geolocation data has become essential for hyperlocal marketing strategies — but according to the folks at navigation app Waze, understanding what consumers are really up to when they travel around is a crucial next step. It can be easy for brands to make presumptions based solely on the fact that a specific person […]

Why Location-Based Machine Learning Is the Smart Path to Personalization

Share this:

With the right data, a brand can keep the relationship with the customer warm while they’re off-property, out-of-town or on a budget. Offering the right deals and communications that are relevant to real interests means that the relationship between man and machine is getting better all the time.

Street Fight Daily: Deliveroo Faces Potential Lawsuit, GrubMarket Charts Profitable E-Grocery Path

Share this:

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Deliveroo Couriers May Take Company to Court Over ‘Absurd’ Business Model… Online Grocery GrubMarket Breaks Even, Defying Trend of Difficulties for E-Grocery Field… Millenial Holiday Shoppers Did Their Research Online Before Buying In-Store…

Local’s Next Battleground: In-Car Media

Share this:

A few recent moves have begun to triangulate how Uber might build out auxiliary revenue channels. It will be all about enhancing your ride, then, down the road, an ad model. And it won’t involve in-car signage or digital displays.

7 Startups Vying to Become the Uber of Pot

Share this:

So-called “Uber for pot” startups are in high demand, not just among consumers but investors, as well. Marijuana-focused private equity firms and VC firms are diving in headfirst, paving the way for growth in the industry. Here are seven examples of on-demand cannabis vendors serving the market right now.