News and Analysis
Just Salad Tosses in AI & Personalization
We know that consumers are okay with personalization and targeting, providing it adds value to their lives and saves them time. A whopping 64 percent of consumers report liking custom-tailored experiences. Just Salad was founded in 2006 and now has more than 90 locations. I remember being excited when the fast-casual chain opened in New […]
More Than a Comfy Bed: What Makes a Great MULO Hotel Brand?
We may not think of a hotel or a motel in the same light as retailers and restaurants. However, they are still MULO (multi-location) brands. Consumers search for them, consider their ratings, and make selections based on a wide range of factors. NerdWallet just published its list of “best hotel brands” for 2025. The criteria […]
Move Along, TikTok; Gen Z Is Growing Up
With the fate of TikTok in the U.S. changing almost daily, Gen Z is moving on. As generational demographic groups age, their relationship to the Web changes. This generation, those born between 1997 and 2012, has reached the stage of wanting deep learning and reliable information that is less about entertainment and more about life […]
Commentary
A Bird’s Eye View of Digital Ad Trends in 2023
What’s in store for 2023? The key word is adaptation: across devices, tools, and channels. Brands and their partners will rely more on first party data, artificial intelligence, and tools to meet the ever-present demand to measure marketing effectiveness.
Marketing in a Recession: How 2008 Can Inform 2023 Strategy
By being creative with your marketing budget, listening to your customers, and taking advantage of data, you can do more than just survive an economic recession; you might even grow.
The Influence of Reviews on Conversion
Can the influence of reviews be quantified? This is one of the questions addressed by SOCi’s new State of Google Reviews report. The report examines the Google profiles of approximately 31,000 chain and franchise businesses, who together earned 4.9 million reviews from January 2015 to July 2022.
Latest Posts
Fan Frenzy: The Rise of Merch in MULO Restaurants
Merchandise (merch) has long been part of the music scene. You love the band…you see the live show…you buy the music, tee shirt, and hat on the way out of the venue. But now, multi-location (MULO) brands are picking up on the beat and incorporating creative and varied branded merchandise into their offerings. Whether consumers […]
Snack Brands Lean Into Nostalgia this Back-to-School Season
The dog days of summer have arrived, and all around the country, parents are preparing kids for back-to-school in just a few short weeks. For snack and specialty food brands like General Mills, Conagra, and Nestlé, it’s go time. Despite often being overlooked during the back-to-school rush, when attention is generally focused on backpacks and […]
Snoop Dogg’s Munchie Meal and Celebrity-Inspired MULO Brands
We live in a world of stars — big, small, and on the rise. From singers and actors we watch on stage and screen to reality TV celebrity to previously-unknown consumers who make a name for themselves on TikTok, we exist in a world where everyone can be perceived as “talent.” Celebrity endorsements are certainly […]
6 Influencer Relationship Management Platforms for Brands
Just about anyone can call themselves a creator these days, and that makes it harder than ever for brand marketers to cut through the noise when putting together their influencer campaigns. With the creator economy on track to become a $100 billion industry, more brands and agencies are searching for tools to source potential brand […]
BOOM: Cookies
We’re not talking about tracking cookies. We’re talking about the kind we eat. Despite the healthy food trend, people still like a sweet splurge now and then. The snack market is up and estimated at $300B in 2023. The average American eats three or more cookies daily and 35,000 cookies throughout their lifetime. That’s a […]
Why Emotional Marketing Offers Greater Resonance Now Than Ever
With the economy in a state of flux, and federal interest hikes constantly on consumers’ minds, it’s no surprise that marketers are choosing to be more selective about where they spend their budgets. One area that isn’t facing a downturn is the e-commerce app industry, where marketing spend for attracting new shoppers to apps is […]
Impossible? How to Actually Get a Return on Your Technology Investments
Technology investments have been a priority for most companies since before the pandemic, which brought new urgency to the implementation of new solutions. However, fully implementing a digital transformation is surprisingly uncommon – a new study found that only 15% of businesses with digital transformation programs have completed them. That low success rate is concerning because […]
UserTesting Integrates with Contentsquare, Links User Feedback to Actual Experiences
UserTesting, a technology firm that helps businesses get rapid customer feedback, is partnering with the digital experience platform Contentsquare to make it easier for businesses to gauge the performance of their digital experiences. The partnership, announced just this week, allows UserTesting and Contentsquare clients to unlock additional customer experience insights across all digital properties, and […]
Multi-Location Marketing Mistakes That Could Tank SEO Success
As a marketing professional, you probably know how to avoid common industry pitfalls. But even if you think you’ve got a foolproof strategy, you can always count on Google to throw another curveball your way. And if you’re not thinking ahead, you could easily fall behind. With that, consider these five commonly overlooked marketing mistakes […]
The Halo Effect: Prime Day Success Leads to Retail Boom
It works. That’s the main takeaway from the latest round of Prime Day data from Criteo, which shows that sales during Amazon’s annual promotional event were hotter than ever in 2023. The role of Prime Day as one of the premiere shopping events of the year, led only by Black Friday and Super Saturday, in late […]
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