News and Analysis

How VR and AR Are Changing the Car-Buying Experience

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New cars are incredibly expensive, and most people don’t feel comfortable picking a vehicle based exclusively on two-dimensional images and whatever data they can pull up on the Kelley Blue Book website. Consumers don’t want to go into dealerships, either, so they end up delaying their purchases for as long as possible.

RelayCars thinks it has a solution.

The company has put together a program that uses augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) to help consumers research new cars and trucks. Getting a realistic view of a vehicle from their own homes helps users narrow down their selections and decreases the time shoppers need to spend test driving multiple cars.

Digital Advertisers Look to Connected Cars to Push Industry Forward

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As the industry continues to evolve, Geopath’s Kym Frank predicts that two-way communication between cars and advertisers will become even more commonplace and OOH strategies that involve connected vehicle data will be the norm among major brand advertisers.

“The car itself can communicate with digital displays to trigger optimal creative, and the billboard can communicate with the dash to trigger in-app ads,” Frank says. “We are at the very beginning of seeing what is possible and measuring those impacts.”

Airship Acquires Apptimize to Sharpen Mobile Marketing Experiences

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Airship rebranded to emphasize its shift from push notifications to a broader suite of messaging tools. Apptimize will help its clients iterate across channels and solutions as they attempt to find the best way to reach customers flooded with marketing and other kinds of media.

Commentary

Local Providers Should Take Care in Interpreting Big Mobile Advertising Numbers

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One of the key themes of Mary Meeker’s annual presentation was mobile advertising — its growth, targeting, and measurability. But recent Street Fight surveys of SMBs and brand marketers indicate that mobile still has surprisingly low usage and perceived effectiveness.

How Sports Marketers Can Extend Their Brands and Win Big This Summer

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With so much opportunity — and competition — how can marketers stand out from the crowd and forge meaningful relationships with sports fans? Here are some best practices that will enable marketers to identify their perfect audiences and build lifelong relationships with fans.

Are Website Builders the Next Big Growth Market in Local?

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Website builders have been around almost as long as the internet itself. As you would expect, this is a busy market. Sitebuilderreport.com tracks 35 vendors. There are many more. Interestingly, only 4 of the 35 vendors get a good rating. Clearly, this is a large market that is ready for new and better solutions.

Latest Posts

Street Fight Daily: Publisher Reach on Facebook Declines, Grocery May Be Next Boon for Amazon

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Publisher Reach on Facebook is Down 42% Since January… Shipping, Business Supplies, and Grocery Delivery — Not Echo — Most Likely to Be Amazon’s Next Growth Driver… What’s Next for Tronc: Scooping Up Other Newspapers…

Can Local Tech Make Dining Out ‘Seamless, Tailored & Magical?’

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Nowait CEO Ware Sykes, who will be a speaker at Street Fight Summit West next week in San Francisco, spoke with us recently about about how technology is rethinking the conventions of dining out for both customers and restaurateurs.

Openings and New Hires at Yext, Advice Local, Verve and Cuebiq

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Every two weeks, Geoff Michener covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. This week’s edition includes moves and new openings at Sightly, TapClicks and Modcloth.

Street Fight Daily: Amazon Crushes Rivals on Mobile, Tribune Rebrands as Tronc

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon is Blowing Away Competitors on Mobile… Ericsson: IoT Connections Will Crush Mobile by 2018… Tribune Publishing Becomes Tronc to Reflect Strategic Pivot…

Moz CEO: Establishing Attribution Is About Building Businesses’ Trust

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A lot of local marketing companies are operating in the shadow of prior practices and companies that created a lot of distrust in the market, says Moz CEO Sarah Bird, who will be a speaker at Street Fight Summit West next week: “Part of the vision of online-to-offline attribution is to overcome that snake oil effect and build trust so you can point to data.”

Why Local News Sponsorships Are More Relevant than Ever

Lee Enterprises and Okanjo Team Up to Match Ads to News ‘Sentiment’

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Up until now, most digital ad targeting has focused on marrying the right ad with the individual user. But that kind of targeting can be hit or miss. This new partnership will try and connect the right kind of ad messages to the right editorial content across Lee’s 20 million monthly visitors.

Street Fight Daily: Uber Closes $3.5 Billion Round, Mary Meeker’s 2016 ‘Internet Trends’

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Uber Turns to Saudi Arabia for $3.5 Billion Cash Infusion… 7 Key Data Points from Mary Meeker’s 2016 Internet Trends Report… Facebook Says Its New Tech Can Understand Text With ‘Near-Human’ Accuracy…

FiveStars Digs Deeper Into Customer Data to Get Beyond ‘Loyalty’

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FiveStars co-founder and CEO Victor Ho, who will be a speaker at Street Fight Summit West next week, caught up with us recently to talk about the efficiency of retention marketing, the shift from daily deals to digital loyalty programs, and what analyzing the trove of SMB consumer data can potentially yield.

7 Automated Customer Service Solutions for Merchants

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Savvy business owners are looking for ways they can use hyperlocal technology to manage the increasing number of customer requests, issues, and even complaints, without taking time away from the hundreds of other tasks they juggle on a daily basis. Here are seven examples of platforms that can help businesses react nimbly and effectively.