News and Analysis
MULO Brands With Soul December Pick: Hummingbirds
Our previous Brands With Soul have all been retail, restaurant, service, and CPG brands with multiple locations (MULO) and millions of dollars to spend on rewarding their teams and giving to charities. But soul isn’t just for those brands. In fact, starting a business that serves MULO brands can be in the hands of an […]
‘Tis the Season of Predictions: The Rise of Data Networks, According to Perion
We’re at that time of year again. We’re not just talking about holiday spending. It’s the season where industry experts have future thinking dancing in their heads like sugarplums. Daniel Aks, President of Undertone by Perion, predicts the rise of first-party data networks across financial and transportation sectors. He anticipates major ad tech mergers and […]
How Will You Advertise in 2025? Here’s What 3 Industry Leaders Predict
As part of our 2025 predictions series, we reached out to three companies that specialize in new (and refined conventional) ways to advertise to consumers. They are all relevant to MULO (multi-location) brands, along with targeted creator marketing, retail media, and other new (and old) forms of marketing. As streaming media becomes a more significant […]
Commentary
Open-Source Data Is a Risky Gamble for Businesses
While open-source data is free, it can cost a great deal of capital in the long run. For some companies, especially those with robust engineering teams, these costs might be acceptable. For others, however, it might be wiser to dedicate spend to an initial data purchase to avoid ROI headaches down the line.
Where Will the Latest Economic Slump Take Technology?
Are we on the cusp of the next technological revolution that will come to define our globalized planet in the next few decades or more? From the printing press to the telephone and the electric light bulb, to the television and personal computer, each of these paradigm-shifting inventions took hold during economic depressions or deep recessions.
AI Can Bring the Fun Back to Advertising
Long ago, the advertising industry lost its key ingredient — fun. With an overabundance of campaigns to optimize and oversee, marketers have no time to tap into the creativity or strategic thinking that persuaded many to pursue a career in the industry in the first place.
Latest Posts
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 […]
Google Third-Party Cookies, Adds LiveRamp to Data Clean Room Lineup
One year. That’s how long Google says publishers have to test — and raise any red flags on — the cookie alternatives in its Chrome Privacy Sandbox. In a recent announcement, Joey Trotz, director of product for Google’s Privacy Sandbox Ecosystems, all but guaranteed the company would finally be depreciating third-party cookies in the second half […]
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