News and Analysis
Google’s Soft-Power Approach to Super Bowl Ads
When it came to the Super Bowl, Google opted not to put the spotlight on flashy new products but rather to emphasize the good it can do for the world at a time when it’s “don’t be evil” slogan of yore has become prime material for parody. During the big game, ads for products as seemingly disparate as Pringles, tax software, and beer pointed to a present haunted by tech’s infiltration of domestic life and machines’ superiority to humans.
Brandify, PlaceIQ, Simpli.fi Among 2019 LSA Ad-to-Action Award Finalists
The Local Search Association announced this week a slate of 20 finalists for its annual awards celebrating the best in local and online-to-offline marketing. Among more than 80 submissions, the finalists have been recognized for their outstanding work in such categories as reputation management, SMB software, and local search.
While Sales Growth Rate Slows, Amazon Marketplace, Cloud, and Ad Businesses Point to Long-Term Prosperity
For brands hoping to compete with Amazon (and potentially looking on with relief at a sign of fallibility from their digital rival), the company’s earnings report brings the news that Amazon Marketplace, where third-party sellers can reach customers, is doing more than twice as much in sales as Amazon’s first-party retail platform. Marketplace is troubled by bad practices and fake reviews, and its prosperity suggests the growing challenge for brands to get customers to even go to their sites at a time when Amazon is essentially the homepage of the commerce-oriented Internet.
Commentary
Brands, Meet the Data Amplifiers
Data amplifiers distribute and publish your data to a broader audience than you could ever do on your own — what I call the “network effect.” Your brand becomes more visible because your business data becomes more open and accessible to the influencers who are in a position to help customers find your business.
Retailers Shift Focus to Offline Affiliate Marketing
Location analytics represent the new battleground in retail, but imagine if you could apply the same analytics for online attribution to offline purchases. Offline affiliate marketing does just that, giving retailers the tools to analyze data from in-store purchases similar to what they can do for online purchases.
Latest Posts
LBMA Podcast: Walkbase and Samsung Team up for In-Store Analytics, Localistico Makes Location Easier for SMEs
On the show: Walkbase and Samsung team up for in-store analytics; Localistico makes location easier for SMEs; Amazon creates its own Uber for packages with “Flex;” Nescafé and Google partner for 360-degree virtual reality experience; Beacons for Good. Plus, news from Best Buy, Google, Foursquare and OpenTable, and Virgin and Netflix.
Street Culture: Signpost on Being a Scrappy Startup
When you’re fast-growing startup company, the most important thing is hiring the right people. That means people who can do the job, and also, in some cases, people who are willing to build desks, said Justin Donnarumma, director of sales at Signpost, a marketing automation technology company that launched in 2010. “That’s the kind of scrappiness we look for in new hires.”
Street Fight Daily: More Google Searches on Mobile Than Desktop, Twitter’s New Video Ad Model
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Mobile Searches Surpass Desktop Searches at Google (TechCrunch)… Video Ads Could Become Twitter’s Biggest Cash Cow Yet (The Next Web)… DuckDuckGo CEO Calls out Google and Says It’s a ‘Myth You Need to Track People to Make Money’ (Business Insider)…
Ad Blocking and iOS 9: How Bad It Could Get and What Publishers Can Do
The impact of Apple’s decision to allow ad blocking apps on devices running the latest version of the company’s mobile operating system continues to reverberate across the advertising and publishing landscape. A recent report by web design and development agency 10up predicts potentially steep revenue losses for publishers. Both advertisers and publishers are closely monitoring user adoption of ad blocking apps and considering possible responses.
Rocket Fuel’s Medici: Within Two Election Cycles, Everything is Going to Be Done Programmatically
“In politics, advertising is definitely still a TV-centric world. But we’re moving in a direction where the voter is going to be a 360-degree touchpoint, and the media accessibility is going to be very easy. Everything is going to be done programmatically, and I think you’ll see that shift within two election cycles,” said Rocket Fuel national director of politics and advocacy JC Medici.
Street Fight Daily: Amazon Launches Etsy Competitor, Controversial Verizon ‘Supercookie’ Is Back
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Amazon Challenges Etsy with Strictly Handmade Marketplace (New York Times)… Verizon to Combine Its ‘Supercookie’ Data with AOL for Online and Mobile Targeting (Marketing Land)… Why a Twitter/Square Hookup Would Make Sense for SMBs (AdExchanger)…
Online Reviews Providing Insights That Help Brands Compete
The evidence is in. Reviews on social media have a material impact on the capital investments made by nationwide brands. The key is strength in numbers: A national brand will be more likely to have the critical mass of reviews required in order to move beyond anecdotal evidence and glean statistically significant results.
Report: Getting the Most out of Hyperlocal Social Media Marketing
A new report from Street Fight Insights found that many local businesses don’t feel they’re getting return on their social media efforts. That’s in spite of the fact that two-thirds of them are using social media for marketing, and many plan to increase their efforts. Companies in the connected local economy value chain looking to best serve merchants should supply them with tools and services to measure the impact and efficiency of their social media marketing programs.
Street Fight Daily: Postmates’ Super-Speedy Food Delivery, Apple Approves Native Ad Blocker
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Postmates Takes on Uber and Sprig with Quick Food Delivery Service Pop (Recode)… Apple Approves an App That Blocks Ads in Native Apps (TechCrunch)… Amazon Commands Almost Half of All Product Searches, and Marketers Are Ignoring Omnichannel (VentureBeat)…
Urgent.ly’s Spanos: On-Demand Is How Everybody’s Going to Get Service for Everything
“I’ve long been a believer that on-demand is going to revolutionize every service sector in the economy. There will be different flavors of it, based on the characteristics of particular verticals. Five years from now, this is how everybody’s going to get service for everything,” said Urgent.ly CEO Chris Spanos.
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