News and Analysis
Shein, Temu Pull Back on U.S. Ads
There aren’t many surprises in Tinuiti’s Q1 Digital Ad Report, but retailers will be interested to know what Temu and Shein are up to. Both seem to be playing possum when it comes to digital ads in the U.S., according to Tinuiti. The performance marketing agency recently released insights around Temu’s sudden pullback from Google Shopping […]
The MULO Dozen: April in Review
In April, Karla Jo Helms of JOTO PR Disruptors called our media outlet a “must-read for MULO (multi-location) brands navigating the fast-changing terrain of local, digital, and retail.” To that end, we bring you 12 top stories of each month from the retail, restaurant, service, franchise, hospitality, and convenience store ecosystem. What these brands are […]
“Consumer Discovery is Now a Free-for-All” Declares SOCI in New Study
The SOCI 2025 Consumer Behavior Index (CBI) reveals that marketers need to shift gears when it comes to search, declaring the industry’s state “the marketing crisis you didn’t see coming.” The study has enormous implications, as traditional search is evolving rapidly. According to their late-breaking announcement based on the index, the strategies that MULO (multi-location) […]
Commentary
Shuttered Forever or Transformed? 12 Storefront Businesses That Went Poof!
Is this about nostalgia or a MULO (multi-location) business lesson? Probably a bit of both. In our ongoing BOOM and BUST series, we talk about MULO retailers, restaurants, and service businesses that declared bankruptcy or became obsolete because of management issues or blindness to consumer trends and technologies. Let’s walk down memory lane and reflect […]
As DMPs Face Extinction, It’s Time for Marketers to Adapt to the New Advertising Landscape
There’s a seismic shift happening in the advertising landscape as privacy takes center stage and the era of cookies slowly fades away. Yet, somehow, there are still those who cling to cookies as their primary means of audience targeting and measurement in online advertising. Despite roughly 60% of industry leaders foreseeing the consequences of losing […]
The Branding Implications of SEO: Why Franchise Brands are Embracing CMS
In the dynamic world of brand marketing, the digital experience is paramount. Historically, the speed of a website’s load time was not just a technical metric, but a reflection of franchise brands promises to consumers. Today, with the advent of Core Web Vitals (CWV), the narrative has evolved. It’s no longer just about speed; it’s […]
Latest Posts
And the Oscar Goes to…
No, this isn’t a big reveal of the Oscar for the best of MULO (multi-location) advertising and media. No ad spending red carpet here. (But watch for our “Dozen” reports each month for key news highlights.) A recent article in Ad Age noted that ad spending on awards ceremonies is still a “star,” despite the […]
Caffeine and Commerce: MULO Coffee Perks
Starbucks and Dunkin may be the giant-size MULO (multi-location) players in the brew space (with 38K and 13K locations respectively). However, coffee is a staple of many consumers’ routines and represents a market size of close to $500B. Many regional and national players are heating up the field and coffee brands are offering a wide […]
Birdeye Social : Insights into Social Media Management
The significance of a robust social media presence cannot be overstated, particularly for multi-location brands aiming to connect with local audiences. Acknowledging the complexities of managing social media across diverse locations, Birdeye, a leading reputation and customer experience platform for local businesses, has just introduced Birdeye Social. With this move, the company is aiming to […]
BUST: Multi-Location Movie Theater Chains Struggle
With Oscar season around the corner, let’s examine the silver screen (or lack thereof). A 100-year-old movie theater MULO (multi-location) operation just declared bankruptcy. Founded in the day of silent films, Metropolitan Theaters has 16 theaters and 87 screens, including two IMAX auditoriums in California, Colorado, and Utah. The pandemic and the rise of the […]
As Cookies Crumble, Lotame Launches Solution to Help Digital Marketers
In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, the ability to harness and utilize data effectively is becoming even more important. Lotame has taken a significant step forward in enabling data collaboration with the launch of Lotame Collaborate and Lotame Onboarding. These innovative solutions, available through their data collaboration platform, Spherical, promise to change how digital […]
BOOM: Industrious Brings Hospitality to Work
This year, about 5M people will use co-working spaces as their offices and meeting places. The concept of shared space has expanded to include podcasting and warehousing/shipping. The concept of co-working is about 30 years old and it is now a cornerstone of the “sharing economy.” As the media was filled with stories of WeWork’s […]
Subscription Fatigue: How Streaming Services Can Keep Customers Happy
Streaming is big business, and looks to only keep expanding in 2024 and beyond – with more players, more dollars to win, more subscribers, and a proliferation of new ad tiers. Eighty-three percent of Americans have at least one streaming service subscription and the average American subscribes to four services. For streaming platforms at first […]
A MULO Brand Scales With a Shark
CEO and Founder of Crispý Cones Jeremy Carlson is on his way to a total of 300 stores across the country. Shark Tank Barbara Corcoran gave him $200K for a 20% interest in his company, which he runs with his wife Kaitlyn. Their back story is a true inspiration to other MULO (multi-location) brands that […]
Navigating the Evolution of Digital Advertising: Merging Innovation with Privacy
Digital advertising is undergoing a seismic shift. Traditional methods no longer capture consumer attention or drive brand impact like they used to. This decline is exacerbated by the increased focus on privacy across platforms and publishers. However, one of the promising byproducts of this change is the emergence of new tools and channels that big […]
The MULO Dozen: February Brands in Review
It’s that time again! Every month, we report on new developments in the MULO (multi-location) space. We cover brands, trends, and the agencies and technologies that serve the MULO (or aspiring MULO) business. Love and the Super Bowl were in the air in February. And we saw our usual range of management and product changes. Have news? […]
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