News and Analysis
BOOM: The Hard War in Hardware
You may occasionally find an independent hardware store in your neighborhood. However, they are becoming rare as “the big five” dominate. They are (in no particular order): Home Depot Lowe’s Menard Ace True Value Over the next five years, the total hardware industry revenue is projected to grow from $59B to $75B. Home Depot and […]
Harris Poll : OOH Ads Yield Strong Results
The Out of Home Advertising Association of America (OAAA) conducted a Harris Poll and found that—surprise—the channel delivers desirable results across various product and service verticals. Job recruitment, beverages, personal care, real estate, and fine dining ads all perform well in OOH and DOOH, the report said. Some 86% of adults reported taking action after […]
Retail Media Networks: Perspectives from John Gomez of RPM Labs
John Gomez is a former Trader Joe’s executive and is now the CEO of RPM Labs. This new technology company is bringing retail media capabilities directly to mobile devices. We recently sat with him to better understand today’s retail media landscape and what to expect in the months (and years) ahead. How many retail media […]
Commentary
Jordan Blakesley Answers the Question: Do You Really Need PR?
Jordan Blakesley is the founder of B Public Relations (BPR), a company that manages 24 PR professionals in five cities. In addition to SMB boutiques and independent hotels, destinations, and restaurants, the company works with many multi-location brands, including Snooze, an AM Eatery, Next Level Burger, and King’s Seafood Company. We have observed at Street […]
To Scale or Not to Scale? 10 Factors for Brands to Consider
Multi-location (MULO) brands are complex and sometimes filled with risks. In the retail sector alone, more than 3,000 stores have closed so far this year. However, establishing a brand in one region and scaling it to multiple geographies (sometimes even global) can be very profitable in the long run. But with that complexity comes a wide […]
Career Moves: Locality, Uberall, Duda, Yext, DevHub, Moz, Vcita and more
In Street Fight’s biweekly roundup of career moves, Kelly Benish looks at new faces at Uberall, Moz, Devhub , Wix and more, anniversaries at ReachDesk, Botify and beyond plus numerous opportunities at companies including TikTok, Snap and Seismic Locality announced the appointment of industry expert John Brohel as their new Chief Financial Officer. Brohel brings […]
Latest Posts
AdLib and Kargo Partner to Democratize High-Impact Ad Creation
Today, AdLib Media Group, known for providing accessible DSP (demand-side platform) solutions for independent agencies and in-house programmatic teams, announced a strategic partnership with Kargo, a leader in creating breakthrough ad solutions for the world’s top brands. This collaboration aims to bring Kargo’s innovative advertising technologies and creative formats to a broader audience, significantly enhancing […]
How Can IHOP Become an International House of Profit?
Fluffy pancakes are not the only thing being served at IHOP these days. Formerly known as International House of Pancakes, the MULO (multi-location) brand, run by California-based Dine Brands Global, Inc., has about 1,800 restaurants worldwide, including outposts in all 50 states, two U.S. territories, and 13 countries outside the U.S. The parent company also […]
Do Stores Need Walls? Wayfair Seems to Think So!
While some retail brands (like Lord & Taylor and Bed Bath & Beyond) have transitioned to online-only models, others are heading in the other direction, building physical locations. The latest example is Wayfair, which will open its first store later this month in Edens Plaza in Wilmette, Illinois. The 150,000-square-foot outpost will take a page […]
What’s New at The Cheesecake Factory?
We’re not talking menu items (although that ahi tuna salad looks pretty amazing). The company had a great first quarter ($891.2 million compared to $866.1 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2023). Fortune also named the Cheesecake Factory a “best company to work for” for the 11th year running. Cheesecake Factory’s performance is especially […]
Apple, McDonald’s, and Disney Lead Rise in Q1 OOH Ad Spend
As the upfront presentations wound down, and negotiations began in earnest this month, it’s worth noting that a recent news report signaled a distinct set of diminishing media spending returns in linear TV. The article also said the beneficiaries of TV’s decline are social media spend and OOH ad spend. The Out of Home Advertising Association […]
Weight Loss Centers Firm Up
The weight management industry in the U.S. generated $90B in revenue in 2023. Fed by demand for weight loss drugs (contributing close to $12B in sales), trimming down seems timeless, although brick-and-mortar centers have evolved over the years. Weight Watchers was founded in 1963 by Jean Nidetch and grew to thousands of locations worldwide. In 2018, […]
Raptive Connects Brands to Diverse Creator Media
When Raptive, which describes itself as a “creator media” company, launched Raptive Represents earlier this month to provide direct access to premium, diverse creator media at scale, it was also part of its partnership with Media Framework’s Media Advertising Vendor Encoding & Nomenclature (MAVEN). MAVEN helps buyers understand which media are majority-owned and controlled by diverse owners and supplies certificates so […]
“Momentjacking” is the New Holiday Promotion
You may have heard of “newsjacking.” It simply means that brands and influencers plan their social media posting and content around current events and consumer trends. However, as the world (and social media feeds) move faster than ever before and people jump on a wide range of “fauxlidays” (contrived holidays meant mostly for marketing purposes), reality […]
Pizza Industry Tech
“Let’s order a couple of pies!” … “Let’s grab a slice!” … Those suggestions are alive and well, as evidenced by Americans eating an average of 156 slices each year. The pizza industry is estimated at $46B. Local single-location pizza shops still exist, but the MULO (multi-location) giant Domino’s tops the list in terms of […]
MULO Outposts are In Vogue
What do we mean by a MULO (multi-location) outpost? It’s a brand that’s located within a “non-traditional” venue. For example, Hudson News is a standard airport tenant that sells magazines, treats, and travel-related incidentals for travelers to grab en route. They have more than 1,000 stores now in 37 states. Imagine this writer’s surprise when […]
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