News and Analysis
Crossing the Border With Sushi and More
Edo is a 45-year-old brand that began in Calgary, crossed the Canadian border to Arizona this month, and has bold expansion plans for the U.S. About a million Canadians visit Arizona annually and contribute about $800 million to its economy, so choosing the hot state for its first U.S. location makes business sense. Among some […]
Franchise Growth in 2025: 5 Insights That Could Define Your Future
Franchise businesses represent the backbone of many local economies, contributing not only to the convenience and options we enjoy but also to significant employment growth across the country. In an economy shaped by rapid technological change, evolving consumer behavior, and rising operational costs, franchises are facing both tremendous opportunity and unprecedented complexity. At Cinch, our […]
Karla Jo Helms Preps MULO Brands for the Impact of Tariffs
Karla Jo Helms runs an agency — JOTO PR Disruptors — that describes itself as “the anti-PR agency.” What does that actually mean? They focus on facts and pragmatic guidance rather than just media hype. To that end, Helms advises brands that may be wondering how to best prepare for U.S. trade tariffs. What should […]
Commentary
The Evolution of Social Media Advertising in 2023: What Lies Ahead in 2024
In the rapidly shifting terrain of social media advertising, a single platform is stealing the spotlight, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. TikTok, with its exponential growth, is racing ahead as one of the most prominent social platforms of 2023. But the story doesn’t end there. Meta, the tried and true veteran in […]
Using Low-risk, High-reward Enterprise GenAI for Marketing
There is a dizzying array of new generative AI solutions promising to optimize customer journeys and experiences. So it’s no surprise many digital marketers are ready to go all-in with the technology. In fact, 63% of marketing leaders plan to invest in Enterprise GenAI tools over the next two years. But taking a frenzied leap […]
Achieving MULO Marketing Success With Contextual Advertising
Not only can multi-location marketing be effective for businesses that have multiple brick-and-mortar locations, but it can also be an effective way to reach a larger audience and build brand awareness in the radius of store or shop locations. When using multi-location marketing, it is important to consider the different needs of each location, however, […]
Latest Posts
Placer.ai Releases 100 Retail and Dining Index
Placer.ai, a market intelligence platform, has released its Placer 100 Retail and Dining Index, which it plans to release monthly in order to provide an ongoing understanding of retail’s status, challenges, and potential for brands including Buffalo Wild Wings, Chili’s, Crunch Fitness, Warby Parker and other large retail chains. Location analytics including visit trends, trade […]
The Pause that Refreshes – How Ads During Paused Content Can Refresh in 2024
Imagine this: You’re going through the motions and you take a quick break. You reach for your Coca-Cola and take a sip – it’s exactly what you needed. It was a small pause from your routine that captured and revived you, a pause that refreshes. This was the catchy tagline that encapsulated Coca-Cola as a […]
DIY Franchising: The Platform for Scaling SMBs
Over the past decade, platform and SaaS companies have emerged that enable a wide range of businesses to “plug and play” rather than create from scratch. Although franchise consultants and associations abound, Gregory Ugwi took a page from companies like LegalZoom and offers small businesses a wide range of easy-to-access professional help when they are […]
GroupM, Incremental Partner on Neutral RMN Solutions
Fragmentation and poor measurement create a ton of inefficiencies for clients and agencies trying to plan and optimize retail-media investments. To address this issue, GroupM has expanded its retail (aka commerce) media offering and formed a partnership with Incremental, which provides neutral retail media solutions. The announcement was made on June 17 at the Cannes […]
Leap-ing Into a New Retail Model: An Interview With Amish Tolia
We’ve all seen founders with great ideas and/or products take the big step to brick-and-mortar stores and then crash and burn due to various factors. Amish Tolia is the Co-Founder and CEO of Leap, a company that has disrupted the traditional commercial broker/landlord/tenant model for retail brands. Tolia founded the company about six years ago […]
How to Pick the “Right” Retail Media: A Perspective from Skai
Nich Weinheimer is the EVP of Strategy at Skai, an omnichannel advertising platform focused on walled garden media. These networks (walled garden media) are their own ecosystem and keep their customer data close. As reported recently, major MULO (multi-location) retailers are taking a page from the Google and Amazon playbook and developing their own advertising ecosystems. […]
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 […]
Placer.ai and TapClicks Partner for Deeper Marketing Analytics
Placer.ai, the leader in location analytics, and TapClicks, the leading provider of Smart Marketing solutions, have partnered to integrate real-time foot traffic data into TapClicks’ omni-channel reporting platform. This collaboration advances the ability for marketers to gain deeper insights into consumer behavior and thereby more conclusively prove the effectiveness of marketing campaigns. In conversation with […]
RM + AI = $$ (Retail Media Gets Smarter)
RM = retail media. It’s booming now as retailers, airlines, and restaurants launch their networks to enable in- and out-of-store marketing to consumers and prospects. AI = artificial intelligence (of course). MULO (multi-location) brands can have huge amounts of data and numerous ways to monitor in-store behavior, but if they’re not using automation to inform advertising […]
MULO Brands With Soul: A New Mini-Series
The term “soul” is all relative. Many MULO (multi-location) brands today aim to stay in business and thrive. They incorporate new technologies into their operations, aim to hire and retain competent and loyal employees and ensure they are selling/serving the products/foods/services that today’s consumers want (and that their marketing is well-targeted and cost-effective). So, where […]
Street Fight’s Big 3
Street Fight Columns
Street Fight Categories
Why Stakeholder-Centric Localization Is Becoming Essential for Brand Trust