News and Analysis
The Drive-Thru Keeps Growing (Literally)
A new Chick-fil-A concept store offers six-second meal prep and a four-lane drive-thru. After all, we live in a fast-paced, impatient world, and getting your food faster without leaving your car is a common practice these days. During the pandemic, the drive-thru became a regular part of our lives. Operators now realize that this model […]
Why is Waffle House So Successful? An FSR Conversation with Danny Klein
Danny Klein is the Editorial Director of FSR (full-service restaurant), a media company covering the food industry. A recent study on the top brands in the FSR world has implications for any MULO (multi-location) brand—restaurants, retailers, and service businesses. The study, created in partnership with Datassential, ranks the brands based on their number of units. The […]
AI in Advertising, According to Criteo
Romain Lerallut, VP of Engineering at Criteo, believes that AI will play a fundamental role in advertising for MULO (multi-location) brands. Enabling marketers to “speak” directly to consumers at all stages of the decision-making and purchase process, AI will not only result in more effective campaigns but also save companies advertising dollars and resources. What […]
Commentary
Data is the Key to Knowing What You Don’t Know About Consumers
As businesses turn to what’s readily available to them, first-party data strategies have emerged as a powerful tool for understanding the buyer’s journey. But the challenge is effectively collecting, managing, and driving the most value from this data in order to understand both known and unknown consumers.
Latest Posts
Marketers, Time To Tame Your Data For Good
As marketers, you already know the value of data. It’s a powerful tool for any organization to understand its customers, guide its strategy, and make informed business decisions. But, just like any powerful tool, if you don’t tame your data, it will do more harm than good. The conversation around marketing data tends to focus […]
More Drugstores Are Pushing to Incorporate Phygital Experiences — Here’s Why
They’ve got the data, and they’ve got the customer loyalty. With those key components in place, more retail drugstore chains are looking at how they can blend physical and digital marketing to create personalized and contextualized phygital experiences. The idea behind “phygital” marketing is simpler than it sounds. Phygital combines physical and digital experiences to […]
Career Moves: Craveworthy Brands, GM and Botify
In this biweekly roundup of career moves, we look at new faces at Craveworthy Brands, GM and Botify and more, anniversaries at Spectrio, Audigy and beyond and numerous opportunities at companies including Vendasta, Birdeye and Scorpion The one and only Lisa Crowder just made the move from AVP, Mobile Apps – Product Management & Development […]
BUST: Multi-Location (MULO) Restaurants & Retailers Declaring Bankruptcy in 2023
Although we all watched in dismay (and perhaps fear) as Bed Bath & Beyond and Jenny Craig took nosedives this year, reports of other brands facing the multi-location (MULO) “apocalypse” may contain more than a little hype. Here are some facts: More than 2,100 retail locations are expected to close in 2023, but Bed Bath […]
These 5 Retailers Are Investing In Virtual Try-On Tech
Virtual try-on is becoming a key differentiator for e-commerce brands, and an opportunity for traditional retailers to bring the in-store try-on experience into the comfort of their customers’ homes. When Parfums Christian Dior launched its virtual try-on solution at Viva Tech 2023 earlier this month, the company joined a growing list of luxury brands leveraging […]
In-House vs. Outsourced Marketing: Pros & Cons for Multi-Location Businesses
When it comes to marketing for multi-location businesses, a constant debate is whether or not to outsource your marketing or run it in-house. Since both come with a cost, deciding which marketing route is best can’t be determined by a simple coin toss or guessing game. You want to know for sure that you’re maximizing […]
Whose Job Is It to Explain Why Consumers Should Consent to Share Data?
Everybody is talking about user consent and privacy. Days after Swedish regulators fined Spotify more than $5 million for violating the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and failing to inform consumers how their data was being used, and months after Meta saw an even greater fine of $414 million for forcing its users […]
The Oldest Franchises in the U.S. That Are Still Going Strong
Keeping a business alive and thriving for 50+ years is no small feat. Many of us get calls and LinkedIn messages asking, “Have you considered investing in franchises ?” It may be a valid question because the franchise industry is growing at a rate of 4.2% and is expected to hit a whopping $460B in […]
Vistar Verify: DOOH Needs Quality Inventory Standards
Vistar Media wants to help establish quality inventory standards for the DOOH market. To that end, it has launched Vistar Verify. The program creates a shared definition of quality inventory in the Vistar marketplace using manual and automated checks. The objective is to ensure inventory is represented accurately and meets a collective set of standards […]
Study: ‘Ghosting’ Customers Leads to $2.4 Billion Loss in Retail Sales
Even if you haven’t heard the term “ghosting” before, you’ve almost certainly experienced it. Ghosting, or ending a relationship by suddenly withdrawing from all communication, is the exact opposite of what brand marketers are going for when they work to cultivate and deepen their relationships with customers. And yet, according to a new study, by […]
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