News and Analysis

Urban Airship Acquires Accengage, Becomes World’s Largest Mobile Customer Engagement Company

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Urban Airship, which serves Fortune 25 brands such as Adidas, BBC, and Vodafone, indicated that it would use the combined resources now at its disposal to expand the technical capabilities of its slate of mobile solutions. It will also take advantage of Accengage’s native expertise in the European market, particularly at a time when increased regulation on both sides of the Atlantic is underscoring the importance of strong policy and PR teams.

Google and Amazon Escalate Voice ‘Platform Wars’

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Mike Boland: Any entity competing for local commerce—publishers, brands, ad-tech players—has a looming platform choice for voice. Like the platform wars between iOS and Android, it’s a matter of deciding where to apply finite resources and development muscle. Maybe the answer is “both” Google and Amazon. But for now, Google appears to have the lead.

Doddle Launches in US, Pushing Click-and-Collect Forward for American Retail

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Touting the fact that 70% of U.S. shoppers have leveraged click-and-collect options at their disposal in the last six months, Doddle, which has been active in the UK, will be helping major retail partners such as Amazon create smoother buying experiences for customers who want to take advantage of one-click online ordering while avoiding the process of delivery.

Commentary

What the C-Suite Needs to Think About When It Comes to Delivering On-Demand

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Today over 2 billion local deliveries are made annually in the U.S. And every delivery company that wants to remain competitive in this space must be able to offer an on-demand experience to their customers — whether it has its own fleet of drivers or uses independent contractors to provide its service. In a complicated […]

Lessons Learned in the Email Marketing Wars About ‘Selling to SMBs’

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Constant Contact’s recent announcement that it would be acquired by EIG, got me reflecting on the past 15 years and how much the industry’s evolution has taught me about what it takes to effectively sell to small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Will ApplePay Be the Company’s Next Mega-Business?

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It is a truth universally acknowledged that Apple is currently in need of a really big new product (a la iPhone or iPad) to keep growing. I think the company has ample opportunity to turn the payments industry on its head and make ApplePay its next big product.

Latest Posts

Editor’s Take: The Apps vs. Browser Debate Is a Distraction

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The venerable apps vs. mobile web debate continues to rage on but it is largely a distraction for local merchants. Business owners do need to understand the changing media landscape to make the most effective possible use of their limited marketing budgets, but their time and their dollars are better spent on marketing fundamentals rather than investing in the increasingly difficult and crowded race to acquire, retain, and monetize app users.

Street Fight Daily: Thumbtack Is Now a Unicorn, Amazon Leverages Existing On-Demand Workforce

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Thumbtack Becomes Latest Unicorn, Raises $125 Million at $1.25 Billion Valuation (Forbes)… Amazon Taps ‘On-Demand’ Workers for One-Hour Deliveries (Wall Street Journal)… Walmart Doubles Down on Online Grocery Shopping with Curbside Pickup (TechCrunch)…

Redpoint Ventures’ Dharmaraj: There Will Be Many Different Craigslists

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“It’s about establishing trust and community. I think there will be many different Craigslists, each for your own local community. That’s where something big can be built in the local space — a Craigslist that’s organized by neighborhoods, rather than by cities,” said Redpoint Ventures partner Satish Dharmaraj about local “unicorns” waiting to emerge.

Street Culture: HR Strategies for Startups

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Hiring isn’t rocket science. It’s pretty simple to create basic procedures that turn hiring into a standard company practice. But it does takes time and concerted effort. For Cat Hernandez, talent partner at investment firm Primary Venture Partners, it starts with making sure that everyone in the company is closely aligned with whatever the company is trying to achieve.

Street Fight Daily: Google’s New Ad Targeting Techniques, Uber Launches UberEVENTS

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Google Targets Intent with Email, YouTube, and Search Matching and App Campaigns (TechCrunch)… UberEVENTS is Launching in New York (Tech.Co)… How Much of Your Audience Is Fake? (Bloomberg)…

Openings and New Hires at Yext, Acquisio, and ServiceTitan

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Every two weeks, Geoff Michener covers some of the latest job changes taking place in this dynamic industry. In this week’s column, Yext hires a slew of new executives, Acquisio brings on local marketing expert Sebastien Provencher as VP of product, and ServiceTitan appoints a new head of sales.

LBMA Podcast: Apple Buys Mapsense, Wycombe Wanderers Outfits Players with GPS Trackers, Zonetail Raises $2.3 Million

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On the show: Apple buys Mapsense; Wycombe Wanderers outfits players with GPS trackers; Pokemon GO brings game to the physical world; Zonetail raises $2.3M; Where2GetIt becomes Brandify. Plus, news from Under Armour, Sports Authority, and MapMyFitness; Socialgist and Foursquare; and AdMobilize and Verizon.

6 Strategies for Segmenting Website Visitors for Real-Time Personalization

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Marketing strategies like real-time website personalization have gone mainstream. But marketers still need help understanding the best ways to segment website visitors to get the most out of their personalization efforts. Here are six strategies from three top industry experts that detail how to segment site visitors for real-time personalization.

Street Fight Daily: Goldman Sachs’ Advertising Report, App Search Company Tests Mobile Ads

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A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Goldman Sachs: Online Advertising About to Be ‘Fundamentally Restructured’ by Apple, Google, and Facebook (Business Insider)… App Search Engine Quixey Now Taking a Crack at Mobile Ads (Recode)… Shopify Partners with U.S. Postal Service to Woo More Retailers (Reuters)…

Same-Day Delivery: The Linchpin in the Battle for the Last Mile of Commerce

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Consumers are more impatient and time-starved than ever. At least that’s the impression one could derive from the seemingly unending string of same-day delivery announcements from major retailers, restaurants, convenience-store chains, startup enablers, and technology companies. The driving force behind their renewed focus on ever-shorter delivery windows: conquering the elusive last mile of commerce.