News and Analysis
How VR and AR Are Changing the Car-Buying Experience
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
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
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
Small and Large Local Marketers Have Remarkably Similar Spending Focus
A survey of 200 U.S. small and medium businesses conducted late last year revealed that 70% said they would be increasing their digital and online marketing budgets in 2017. Fewer than a third said budgets would stay the same, and only 2% said they were cutting back.
Apple Gets Into Position for the Voice Search Revolution
As voice search becomes more prevalent, Apple will “retain an advantage over Amazon in ‘on-the-go’ searches, since our phones are always with us,” David Mihm tells Mike Blumenthal. “Unfortunately for Apple, people overwhelmingly conduct voice searches at home. “
Three Ways Location Marketing Is Changing in 2017
People are searching differently. They’re using emoji, voice commands, and social media to find what they want on demand through a variety of channels and devices. As a result, businesses need to be more nimble and imaginative in the way they convert online searches into offline sales.
Latest Posts
5 Tools for Brands Looking to Harness Predictive Social Intelligence
Predictive social intelligence platforms use big data to organize, pattern, and predict which online conversations will be happening tomorrow. By contextualizing future online chatter, brands can better target specific audiences on social channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Street Fight Daily: The Longevity of Online Grocery Delivery, How Foursquare is Winning SXSW
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Is Online Grocery Actually the Future? (Business Insider)… The Winner of This Year’s SXSW Interactive Is… (Forbes)… You Hate Paying Instacart Delivery Fees, So Pepsi Is Footing the Bill (Crain’s Chicago Business)
Borrell on Local Dailies and Their Tiny Digital Ad Share: They Need a New Story
Local digital ad revenue will grow from $48 billion in 2015 to $66 billion in 2016, Borrell Associates projects in its new benchmarking report covering 10,395 sites in all media. That’s an eye-popping increase of 37.5%. But newspapers will see only a 6% to 7% revenue increase,
Openings and New Hires at xAd, Placed, Upserve, and Schedulicity
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 Xaxis, Signpost, and Buzzfeed.
Raise Report: Blippar, AppCard, Ninjacart Reel in Fresh Rounds
Every two weeks, we round up some of the biggest fundraises taking place in hyperlocal marketing, commerce, and tech. This week’s edition includes new cash infusions for ICX Media, Staff Finder, and Mariana.
Street Fight Daily: Google Experiments With Local Services Concierge, Yext Reports 48% Revenue Growth
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Yext Sees $88.8 Million Revenue, 48% Growth for Location Data (TechCrunch)… Don’t Call a Plumber — Call (or Text) Google Concierge (Blumenthal’s)… Yahoo Labors to Carry On With Core Business While Exploring Sale (New York Times)…
Yelp’s Head of EU Public Policy: Europe Strategy Depends on Google Antitrust Case
Yelp has been vocal in its disapproval of Google’s handling of search results and is one of the complainants in the European Union’s antitrust lawsuit against the search giant. Street Fight recently caught up with Yelp’s head of EU public policy, Kostas Rossoglou, to talk about the case as well as the challenges faced by European companies hoping to break into local markets.
Case Study: Chicago Photographer Generates Leads with Paid Search Campaigns
As the digital marketing manager for Christine Waller Photography, a small photography business based in Chicago, Illinois, Conor Keenan uses many sources of traffic to generate leads. His monthly search budget runs between $250 and $500, depending on the services he’s focusing on that month.
Street Fight Daily: Amazon Building Delivery Network, ‘Research Online, Buy Offline’ Economy
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon Leases 20 Cargo Planes to Build In-House Delivery Network (Business Insider)… Report: For Every $1 Online Influenced by Reviews, Offline Impact At Least $4 (Marketing Land)… Square Posts Mixed Q4 Results, but Promise of Future Profits Boosts Stock (Recode)…
5 Staffing Marketplaces for On-Demand Vendors
The on-demand economy relies on a steady stream of self-employed workers who are willing to trade steady paychecks for flexibility and autonomy. But as the number of on-demand platforms increases, it’s becoming more of a challenge for companies to hold on to qualified workers.
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AI Won’t Fix Advertising – It May Scale Its Chaotic Nature