News and Analysis

Retail Insights: Inside The Vitamin Shoppe’s Omnichannel Strategy

The data that The Vitamin Shoppe collects in its CRM is used to create 360-degree views of each customer so that in-store associates can see in real time when customers have earned new awards and offer more personalized product recommendations based on previous purchases.

Consumers Still Do Not Understand How Companies Use Their Data

More than one year after the implementation of GDPR in Europe and with CCPA looming, consumers still have no idea how and why companies like Google and Facebook collect their data. That’s according to a global survey by mobile marketing firm Ogury, the largest of its kind to ask consumers about their understanding of marketing and privacy.

Nearly 40% of respondents in both Europe and the US were ignorant of what GDPR is. But more significant is that 52% of consumers report not understanding how their data is used.

Allset Redefines Its Position in the Mobile Ordering Space

Standing out in the mobile ordering space isn’t easy. GrubHub, Uber Eats, Door Dash, and dozens of other mobile ordering platforms are competing for business in what’s already become a tight market. So how does an outsider break into the business, and break away from the competition?

For companies like Allset, the answer is to create entirely new services that competitors aren’t offering.

Commentary

Why Local Marketing Tech Is Strongly Influencing 2016’s Furious M&A Activity

This year, investment in marketing tech is on pace to more than double the investment in ad tech, suggesting just how promising this market is. Because these solutions are in high demand and are built on a recurring and relatively predictable software-as-a-service (SaaS) revenue model, profits have surged.

Apps Continue to Battle, But the Mobile Web May Be Catching Up

With a shift to mobile websites, most mobile marketing dynamics will remain, although implementation for sites versus apps will be more than nuanced. Mobile search is already undergoing shifts, and listings management must take into account the role of the mobile platforms, maps, and, probably, Amazon.

Can Google Shift Its Revenue Model From Advertising to Products?

“Google rolling out integrated hardware and software is a big change,” Mike Blumenthal says to David Mihm. “They have tried their hand at manufacturing many times and failed, but this feels more strategic. Clearly their AI assistant effort is central and it seems that AI is table stakes for the coming battles.”

Latest Posts

Companies With Culture Data Outperform Those Without It

To figure out how to identify the right interactions to promote, CultureIQ measures 10 different operational and strategic company qualities. Three are most important: support, work environment, and mission and value alignment.

LBMA Podcast: Beacon’d Cities, Crowdsourced Maps, and P&G Tests Snapchat Ads

On the show: Adored loved to the tuned of $2.3 million; Fleetzen’s on-demand fleet of pick-up trucks; ShopperTrack acquired by Tyco; Starbucks teams with Alibaba; Twitter lets you control drones; LinkNYC wifi payphones are HERE!

Street Fight Daily: Google’s 3D Mapping Coming to Smartphones, Apple’s Potential Impact on Search

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Tangoes with Lenovo to Bring 3D Mapping to Smartphones (Wall Street Journal)… How Apple Could Play Spoiler for the Search Ad Business (Search Engine Land)… 50% of Consumers in Mature Markets To Use Phones, Smartwatches for Mobile Payments by 2018 (BizReport)…

‘Indie’ Local News Now Finds Profitability in Affluent-but-Challenging D.C. Market

2015 was a big year for independent community news publisher Scott Brodbeck and his Local News Now sites in metro Washington, D.C. We checked in with Brodbeck recently to see what makes him succeed in the tough business of community news, and as a self-financed independent, no less…

5 Self-Service Predictive Analytics Platforms

Vendors with business intelligence software are introducing more self-service platforms. Many of these platforms include predictive analytics capabilities that business owners can utilize to make smarter marketing and operations decisions. Here are five examples…

Street Fight Daily: Yahoo Faces Major Layoffs, Inside Uber’s ‘God Mode’ Privacy Battles

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Yahoo Is Prepping to Lay Off 10% or More of Its Workforce (Business Insider)… Uber Settles with New York Attorney General Over ‘God View’ Tracking Program (BuzzFeed)… GoButler, the Messaging-Based Personal Assistant, ‘Pauses’ Operations in Germany to Focus on U.S. (TechCrunch)…

Facebook Continues to Experiment in Local — But Its Focus Is Long-Term

The company isn’t trying to build a unified local search portal at all. Instead, they’re launching trial balloons, turning developers loose to experiment with the company’s local data in order to surface features and nuances that might eventually be useful as subtle additions to the Newsfeed…

How the Rise of ‘Mobility as a Service’ Will Impact Local Marketing

Autonomous vehicles will put pressure on all kinds of players. The pressure will be felt not only by car manufacturers but all kinds of other industries including auto dealers, insurance companies and transit systems…

Street Fight Daily: Learning from Target’s Digital Turnaround, AT&T’s Google-Like Plans

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… How Target’s Bet on Digital Helped Its Turnaround (Digiday)… Inside AT&T’s Plans to Be Everywhere You Are (AdAge)… Ad Tech Growth Hits Speed Bump (Wall Street Journal)…

How Top Marketers Are Curating the In-Store Mobile Experience

With consumer behavior in place, and solutions making technology like beacons as simple as a media buy, mobile proximity is poised to become the fasting growing piece of mobile advertising in 2016. The brands that have tested and learned early on are in great position to scale up and reach their audiences this year.