News and Analysis

Home Services : A $1.2 Trillion Opportunity Street Fight Live Neighborly

Toilets, Termites, and Terraces: A $1.2 Trillion Opportunity

When we think of franchise businesses and other MULO (multi-location) operations, we tend to think of retail, restaurant, convenience stores, and service businesses like walk-in clinics and tax prep services. But a huge category exists called home services. Although many of these operations do not require brick-and-mortar locations (beyond a co-working space or small office […]

What Innovid Brings to the Mediaocean Table Street Fight

What Innovid Brings to the Mediaocean Table

Once the Mediaocean acquisition of Innovid (for upwards of $500 million) goes through, the company will have one tough tech stack. “Being able to manage everything from Meta to TikTok to Snap, to now Reddit, is the latest one,” said Mediaocean CMO Aaron Goldman. Managing ads inside walled gardens is something that Flashtalking does very […]

MULO Brands With Soul November Picks: The Holiday Season of Giving Street Fight

MULO Brands With Soul November Picks: The Season of Giving

Rather than single out one brand this month, we will focus on how several MULO (multi-location) brands are leaning into giving this holiday season with tie-ins to philanthropic efforts. Aligning a brand with a specific charitable effort can be risky, so doing due diligence before selecting a cause is imperative today. You certainly don’t want […]

Commentary

Apple’s Search Ad Business Triples in Market Share

AppsFlyer reports in its latest mobile advertising Performance Index that Apple Search Ads tripled in market share since 1H 2020. During the same period, other search ad competitors’ market share declined, the most consequential (read: billions in revenue) being Google and Meta.

Identity is Table Stakes, But There’s More Than One Table

Since first-party cookies and login-based user targeting have now become key marketing elements, and new platforms are continuing to evolve and emerge, all marketers should be identifying people across multiple platforms — not just tracking various click patterns.

The Creator Economy Accelerates

Adobe’s annual Max event is happening this week in LA, its first physical rendition since Covid lockdowns sidelined the event world. Max is all about the creator economy, the emerging crop of individuals and SMBs that create content. This has been Adobe’s target market for two decades. This all manifests in the ever-growing Creative Cloud… […]

Latest Posts

3 Tips to Help Marketers Modernize and Maximize Marketing Technology

3 Tips to Help Marketers Modernize and Maximize Marketing Technology

According to Gartner, the average marketer only utilized 42% of their marketing technology (martech) stack’s capabilities last year, a 16% drop from the 2020 figure (58%). Specifically, the research identified consistent overlap of martech elements, a shortage of marketing talent with comprehensive martech knowledge, and the overall complexity of marketing technology as key contributors to […]

‘Sludge Content’ Creates Opportunity for Brand Marketers

‘Sludge Content’ Creates Opportunity for Brand Marketers

What do you know about sludge content? The latest trend on TikTok gives viewers a split-screen look at two or more videos at once. It’s a form of escapism for consumers — and an untapped opportunity for brand marketers. As consumers’ content consumption habits evolve, advertisers are being forced to take new factors into account […]

To Market, To Market: Trends in the MULO Grocery Store Industry

To Market, To Market: Trends in the MULO Grocery Store Industry

The multi-location grocery store industry is no longer just traditional grocers. Target, drug stores like CVS and Walgreens, and convenience stores now stock shelves with household staples. “Traditional” grocery stores have expanded their product offerings to include greeting cards, flowers, and hardware items. Specialty grocers abound, and many niche brands are expanding to new geographies […]

Microsoft Advertising Honors Tinuiti

Microsoft Advertising Honors Tinuiti

Now that Microsoft Advertising has named Tinuiti its Global Client Partner of the Year for the first time. Josh Brisco, Group VP of Acquisition Media at the largest independent performance-marketing firm in the U.S., reflected on this latest recognition. Although being named Global Client Partner of the Year is a first for Tinuiti from Microsoft, […]

Data Clean Rooms Won’t End the Identity Battle

Data Clean Rooms Won’t End the Identity Battle

Since Google’s first date for the end of third-party cookies, the industry has continued to search for viable alternatives. Among the plethora of proposed solutions, data clean rooms have sprung to the top of industry-leading agendas as a potential solution for the eventual depreciation of third-party cookies. And the theory makes some sense – it’s […]

Back-to-School Shopping Is Happening Earlier Than Ever — Retailers Prepare

As kids across the country empty their desks and prepare for a long summer break, brand marketers are working overtime to solidify their 2023 back-to-school campaigns. With back-to-school sales seeming to start earlier and earlier each year, researchers at the digital insights firm Cint recently conducted a survey to gauge consumer interest around back to […]

Curb Wants Brand Enthusiasm for DOOH

Curb Wants Brand Enthusiasm for DOOH

Generating more than two billion impressions annually across 25,000 in-taxi media screens in most major DMAs, Curb (formerly Verifone Taxi Systems), a DOOH advertising and payment platform for car services, reaches “captive” audiences of millions. Its Taxi TV screens offer geotargeting, real-time RSS data integration, dayparting, and POI targeting to clients. Curb has been a […]

Hair Care for Men...Beyond Shaves and Haircuts

BOOM: Hair Care for Men…Beyond Shaves and Haircuts

Hair care post-pandemic is a rapidly-growing multi-location (MULO) category. As we reported recently, the industry was up 17 percent in 2022 and is expected to hit $41B by 2026. Women still spend more on hair care than men. They invest an average of $228 yearly on haircuts and $24 per month on hair products versus […]

Thumbtack, Scorpion Streamline Marketing for Home Services |

Thumbtack, Scorpion Partnership Streamlines Marketing for Home Services Pros

The digital martech provider Scorpion is partnering with the home management platform Thumbtack, in a first-of-its-kind integration announced just this week. With the deal in place, Thumbtack’s customer base of small business owners and solopreneurs working in the home services industry will be able to utilize Scorpion’s advertising and communications tools to get more leads […]

Simon Says "Your Product is In-Stock!" The Rise of Product Search Today and How MULO Brands Should Respond

Simon Says “Your Product is In-Stock!” The Rise of Product Search Today and How Brands Should Respond

Simon Property Group recently expanded its Simon Search technology, enabling mall-goers to determine if the brands they want are in-store,  before they head out to shop and spend. Product search before visiting a multi-location (or other) business is nothing new. Google reports that 74 percent of brick-and-mortar shoppers will do some online sleuthing before they […]