News and Analysis
Not Your Momma’s Market: The Grocery Store Embraces Technology
Like all other MULO (multi-location) industries, grocers or more correctly the grocery store sector is amplifying its use of technology to aid the shopping experience, increase consumer preference, and streamline buying and inventory management. Swiftly, a leading integrated retail technology platform trusted by grocers like Target, IGA, and Save Mart, recently announced a major expansion […]
Going Local with Paige Sawin of Sparkcatcher Media
Paige Sawin, President of Sparkcatcher Media, won our virtual scavenger hunt at Street Fight LIVE 2024. She knows the local search space intimately and works with brands to ensure that when people search “near me,” her client brands, products, and services can be quickly and effectively found. We sat down with her to discuss the […]
Yext Scout: AI-Powered Search & Competitive Intelligence Agent
Yext officially launched Yext Scout, its new AI-driven search and competitive intelligence agent, designed to help multi-location brands navigate an increasingly complex and fragmented search landscape. With consumers turning to a mix of traditional search engines (Google, Bing) and AI-powered platforms (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok) to discover businesses, brands must understand where they appear, how […]
Commentary
Tinuiti Sees Real Bright Spots in the Digital Ad Landscape
Tinuiti, the largest independent performance-marketing firm that measures across Streaming TV as well as Google, Facebook, and Amazon, has published “Q1 2023 Digital Ads Benchmark Report”. This report looks at trends across the digital ad landscape of paid search, paid social, digital marketplaces, and video and display advertising. Tinuiti has nearly $4 billion in digital […]
BOOM: Multi-location Target from 1902 to the Future
We have no shortage of companies that go BUST. Just in the past few days, we covered the demise of Bed Bath & Beyond and Jenny Craig. The failure of multi-location brands cannot be attributed just to digital options, consumer trend shifts, and bad hires or financial bets. More complex factors seem to go into […]
BUST: Walk-In Weight Loss Jenny Craig Trims Down (and Disappears?)
Jenny Craig once had more than 600 locations and nearly $500M in revenue. But, like many industries, digital communications have been part of its downfall. The company announced this week that, after 40 years, they are shuttering all their locations. What are the factors that precipitated the massive change? New solutions for weight loss are […]
Latest Posts
Life Beyond the Storefront: Breakthrough Branding
What constitutes a brand these days? Some MULO (multi-location) brands are known for their shopping bags. We often see Ikea bags in use for moving or other heavy lifting. The iconic blue carry-alls are even available on Amazon. The concept of “bag as brand” has been around for a while. Grocery chain Fairway used to […]
Chatmeter Advances Multi-Location Reputation Management with Pulse AI: Signals
Chatmeter, a leader in reputation management and multi-location intelligence, unveiled Pulse AI: Signals, a tool that leverages AI to provide real-time, actionable insights from customer commentary. This recently released solution marks a shift in how multi-location businesses can approach reputation management, setting new standards. Real-Time Insights for Multi-Location Businesses Traditionally, multi-location brands relied on keyword-matching […]
Interest in Alternative Currencies Grows, But Legacy Currency Still Reigns
The U.S. joint industry committee (JIC) granted “conditional certification” to three alternative ad currencies for cross-platform negotiations: Comscore, iSpot and VideoAmp. The certification of these alternative currencies suggests that the industry is more open to the usage of alternative currencies, and that there is room for multiple currencies to transact against. Our insights back up […]
Pinstripes Goes Public
Eatertainment (the combination of dining and entertainment) is ringing the consumer bell these days, as multi-location (MULO) brand Pinstripes became a publicly-traded company under the ticker symbol PNST. The business deal with Banyan Acquisition Corporation (which changed its name to Pinstripes Holdings. will allow Pinstripes to expand to more locations. The brand currently has 14 […]
Navigating the Fragmented CTV Landscape: Strategies for Brands and Agencies
2023 was a year of exploration and education. As the industry begins 2024, agencies and brand marketers will continue to gain a better understanding while leveraging necessary campaign elements like transparency, incremental reach and co-viewing to navigate the new challenges and opportunities within the CTV (Connected TV) landscape. Today’s brand marketers are confronted with crucial […]
Is the Digital Agency Dying?
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal quoted Forrester Research as saying that the “digital agency” will face its demise in 2024. As in the direct mail era, talent that specialized in a new medium was in demand, but then mail campaigns were replaced in part by digital marketing and most full-service agencies began […]
Snack Tech: The Ultimate Brand Loyalty App
Cookies and chips are tech terms. But now digital meets dough (both kinds) as one MULO (multi-location) bakery brand is getting noticed for its loyalty app. Crumbl (a 700-location brand) has been shouted out in food and beverage media as having one of the top 10 apps. It is #6 in the top 10 most […]
Industry Changes Ahead for Marketers: Cookie Deprecation, Dirty Data, and AI
With 2024 here, marketers need to prepare for a few big industry changes. The deprecation of third-party cookies and the death of the traditional customer journey will greatly impact marketing strategies, transforming how businesses engage with their customers. Marketers also must tackle the elephant in the room: dirty data. Accurate, unified data is the vital […]
BOOM: Tutoring & Learning Centers
It’s a (sad) fact. About half of students in 2023 started the school year behind grade level.The pandemic, combined with digital distractions, has had an impact on how kids are performing in school. But MULO (multi-location) tutoring centers are coming to the rescue. The private tutoring market is expected to grow to $106 billion by […]
Breaking Boundaries: Microsoft’s App Store and the Epic vs. Google Ripple Effect
It has been an earth-shattering few weeks in the app ecosystem. First, in a groundbreaking move that has sent shockwaves through the tech industry, Microsoft has announced its plans to launch an app store within the Apple App Store – a move that holds significant implications for app developers, especially those in the gaming industry. […]
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