News and Analysis

Dr. Soon-Shiong and His New ‘Patient,’ the L.A. Times: Will His Rx Be ‘Local’?

My hunch is that Patrick Soon-Shiong will find that applying advanced technology to local news is not as challenging as conquering cancer, especially if he listens to what Angelinos say is their biggest concern by a wide margin – getting from their home to work or other day-to-day destinations.

Street Fight Daily: Facebook Sheds Young Users, Brands Move Marketing In-House

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology… Facebook Is Shedding Those Coveted Gen-Z Users… 56% of Brands Plan to Move More Marketing In-House… What It Would Take for Amazon to Become FedEx or UPS…

#SFSW18: Street Fight Announces Winners of the 2018 Local Visionary Awards

Street Fight has announced the winners of the 2018 Local Visionary Awards. The awards were presented in a ceremony at Street Fight Summit West. The 9-category competition honored the very best campaigns, companies, ideas, and individuals working in the local marketing and commerce ecosystem.

Latest Posts

What’s Apple’s Mapping Shopping Spree Really About?

Moreso than the features, Apple’s post-Mapgate acquisitions are all about what’s behind the scenes in this age of big data. This goes back to what a lot of people don’t realize about Apple Maps: it’s is actually a pretty slick mapping tool. But what it has in dazzle, it lacks data; things like place listings, navigation and public transit…

6 Tools for Targeting Brand Influencer Look-Alikes

The type of word-of-mouth marketing that once took place inside coffee shops and around water coolers has moved online, as “brand influencers” — social media users with a significant reach — play an increasingly important role for companies of all sizes. Here are six tools that companies can use to identify and target “look-alike” consumers…

Street Fight Daily: Facebook’s Bet On Gift Cards, Foursquare’s Data Appeal

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technologyFacebook Ditches Physical Gifts To Double-Down On Digital Codes And Its Own Brick-&-Mortar Gift Card (TechCrunch)…. Why Yahoo and Apple Want Foursquare’s Data (Fast Company)…

Without Seamless, Fewer Customers and Higher Margins (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Why Your Consumer-Oriented Hyperlocal Startup Is Going to Fail

I’m sorry to say it, but if your hyperlocal, consumer-focused start-up’s business model is driven by local business sales and marketing dollars, it’s most likely going to fail. I know this because I have spent the past several years dissecting and analyzing every consumer-focused, hyperlocal app imaginable. In an effort to build my own “awesome” hyperlocal app, UPlanMe, I was not only figuring out our own business model, but I was analyzing all of the potential competitors and their business models’ around us…

DataSphere’s Cowan: Still A Big Opportunity In Coupons For SMBs

The online coupon space would seem tired, over-saturated, and too fragmented. Yet DataSphere is making a big push into the local-business coupon space, launching a consumer-facing site, LocalSaver. Gary Cowan, SVP or product and marketing at DataSphere, talks about the company’s plans to become “the RetailMeNot of local business coupons” and drive customers through local companies’ doors…

LBMA Podcast: Millenial/JumpTap, Placed, and Siamese Systems

On the show: Google launches Carousel visual search; Renew London smart recycling bins are sniffing your MAC address; Millennial scoops up JumpTap; Tour Sicily with the San Pellegrino robot; Placed trying to morph into the ComScore of the real world; Riding the payment waves without batteries; Special guest Alex Kottoor of Siamese Systems talks mobile CSI…

Street Fight Daily: Apple Acquires Embark, Uber’s Huge Valuation

A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal content, commerce, and technologyApple Acquires Embark, Another Mapping App With Transit Information (TechCrunch)… Uber’s Breathtaking Valuation: Is It Really Different This Time? (Forbes)… Yelp CEO Insists The Site’s Reviews Are Accurate (Forbes)…

Survey: 52% of SMBs Still Don’t Have a Website

Yodle has released the findings from its first Small Business Sentiment Survey, which recently asked 306 small business owners nationwide for their perspectives on a variety of topics, and found some interesting results when it comes to SMBs and technology. According to the survey, “many small business owners are still not adopting modern technology and marketing approaches.”

What Comes After Local TV?

Let’s assume that local TV, like local radio did before it, will have to morph into something different. What would that look like? How would it make money? What content would it or could it produce that would accumulate an audience that it could sell? Is one-to-many still an advantage of any sort? Will the new model in any way resemble the old?

Strategies for Overcoming Privacy Concerns With Indoor Navigation Apps

When it comes to the widespread adoption of indoor positioning and navigation tools among retailers, technology isn’t nearly as big of a barrier as consumer pushback. To help answer the question of how indoor navigation providers should help their clients deal with these issues, we reached out to experts in the industry. Here are their strategies for success…