The Voice Revolution: New Wave of Call Assistants
There’s a quiet revolution underway in the world of business communication—one that I find impossible to ignore. The humble phone call: an interaction so often overlooked or underappreciated, has become a hotbed for innovation. At the center of this shift? Voice agents and call assistants, tech that’s quickly moving from novelty to necessity. We need […]
Locality Launches Audience Engine
Has Locality re-engineered the foundation of local advertising to deliver performance, precision, and transparency, at scale, for advertisers? That is certainly the objective of the local video solutions provider, which launched its Locality Audience Engine in collaboration with Lovelytics, Newton Research, and Databricks. Locality and its strategic partners seek to engage local audiences by integrating […]
Content Marketing in the Era of AI Fatigue
AI wants to help you with your content marketing. In fact, it wouldn’t mind at all being at the center of your content marketing strategy. Tell it what you need, giving it as many or as few details as you’d like, and it will crank out content for you nonstop and freakishly fast. And if […]
Buckle Up for the OOH Ad Gravy Train
Starting next year, the United States will be the center of am OOH sports bonanza. In 2026, the annual Super Bowl game kicks off in February. Then, FIFA World Cup matches will be played in 11 locations. And last but not least, the Summer Olympics returns to Los Angeles in 2028. DOOH advertisers and platforms are […]
Streets Ahead: YELP’s AI Transformation, TikTok Search and Generative Optimization
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses Yelp’s AI transformation, TikTok’s search revolution and why Generative Optimization misses the point. Yelp’s AI Transformation: From Static Listings to Living Conversations The News Yelp’s 2025 Fall Product Release signaled a major leap toward an AI-driven future in local discovery. The update introduced more than 35 new […]
How Agencies Can Protect Multi-Location Brands from AI Visibility Gaps
For years, agencies helping multi-location brands with local SEO have wrestled with the same challenge: keeping potentially hundreds of listings, web pages, and other digital assets consistent. A few mismatched hours, conflicting service descriptions, or outdated images and reviews could cause one location to outperform another in local search. But in the AI search era, […]
Genius Sports Limited’s New-Found Audience Granularity
Who are your fans? More specifically, who is your fan? Genius Sports Limited’s recent acquisition of Sports Innovation Lab, promises to make both scale and granularity possible when building an audience. Sports Innovation Lab is a data, analytics, and insights leader. Its research on fan behavior through its Fluid Fan™ Graph has helped global brands, […]
In-Game Ads Play the Long Game
Just because someone is an avid gamer doesn’t make them impervious to DOOH advertising. In fact, it’s a great channel in which to reach them via geotargeting and complements the in-game advertising experience across devices. As always, DOOH is non-intrusive. So why does only 5% of ad spend target the immersive, highly focused user platform […]
MULO Brands With Soul Fall Pick: Neighborly
What’s soulful about having a toilet unclogged or dust bunnies removed from under your bed? Neighborly, the fastest-growing home services company (with 19 brands in North America and $4B+ in revenue) prides itself on offering services along with soul throughout their business, building out a culture of caring and community. In fact, their recent convention was […]
Keen and Accretive: OOH Drives Hidden Growth
In a media landscape dominated by search, social, and streaming, a new analysis from Keen Decision Systems and Accretive suggests marketers may be missing one of their most efficient levers for growth: out-of-home (OOH) advertising. The joint study reveals that OOH delivers a marginal ROI (mROI) of $7.58 … well above the average media mROI […]
Authentic Storytelling: Real-Life Scenarios Showcase Brand Values and Build Trust
When consumers question what to believe, brands that show (not just tell) who they are will stand out. Authentic storytelling isn’t a marketing trend but a strategic approach that builds trust through clarity, action, and proof. The strongest stories don’t come from scripts. They come from real people, real moments, and real values in action. […]
The Digital Ceiling Is Here – OOH Advertising Is Breaking Through
For years, marketers have been told to chase efficiency, driving budgets deeper into digital and social media. And for a while, that made sense. But efficiency has a ceiling, and today’s marketing ecosystem is hitting it hard. Digital feeds are oversaturated, audiences are fatigued, and the once-reliable growth engine of online marketing has plateaued. With […]
Andy Wiederhorn Returns to Fat Brands
Sometimes stepping away from a role for a while gives leaders a whole new perspective on their company and its future. Andy Wiederhorn, CEO of Fat Brands, spent more than a year as an outside consultant and strategic advisor to the company. It allowed him an opportunity to focus on long-term strategy and capital allocation. […]
Spectrio and Screenverse Partner to Monetize Brand-Owned Screens
Spectrio announced a strategic partnership with Screenverse, one of the fastest-growing players in the programmatic digital out-of-home (DOOH) space. The collaboration, announced October 15, 2025, expands Spectrio’s capabilities by introducing programmatic ad monetization directly into its enterprise signage ecosystem, turning brand-owned screens into scalable media opportunities. For Spectrio, a long-time leader in digital signage and […]
Has the SWAS (Store-Within-A-Store) Model Hit the Brand Wall?
Retail brand partnerships are nothing new. Big-box retailers seeking new ways to drive traffic were drawn to the SWAS (store-within-a-store) model. In other words, retail brands that had their brick-and-mortar stores set up “outposts” in other well-known stores to bring new consumers through the doors and boost sales of the co-located brand, without the full […]
Translation Needs the Right Turn of Phrase
Phrase is a language technology platform that combines advanced AI translation tools, workflow automation, and creative collaboration within a single environment built to answer the need for any and all global content needs across a business. Phrase has released a new wave of product innovations across global markets. Capabilities like Auto Adapt, Phrase Studio, the […]
Scaling Seasonal SEO Across Locations With AI Insights
For multi-location brands, adapting to highly localized, seasonal shifts in consumer behavior is key to maximizing revenue. But when it comes to local SEO, it can be incredibly complex to manage strategies at scale across locations numbering in the double or triple digits. For marketers managing dozens or hundreds of locations, tracking these hyperlocal patterns […]
MULO Dozen: Fall Brands in Review
Never a dull moment in the MULO (multi-location) brand ecosystem! And this fall has been no exception. From leadership changes to tech innovations, the retail, restaurant, service, and hospitality worlds are ever-changing! Private equity ownership of MULO brands is nothing new. As revealed in a recent press release, Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers has been […]
BUST: No Cure for Rite Aid’s Ills?
Sometimes businesses, like people, simply don’t respond to health “treatment.” Rite Aid may, sadly, be among those brands. Founded in 1962 (under the name “Thrift D Discount Center”), they were once the third-largest drugstore chain in the U.S., operating 1,200 locations. The category of health and wellness itself is still going strong, but in 2023, […]
Streets Ahead: Whitespark Local Ranking Factors and Local Lists in GBP
In this week’s Streets Ahead update, SOCi discusses 2026 Local Ranking Factors from Whitespark as well as local lists in Google Business Profiles 2026 Local Search Ranking Factors: Engagement, Credibility, and Connection The News Whitespark’s Local Search Ranking Factors report remains one of the industry’s most trusted indicators of what drives visibility in local search. […]