Location-Based Marketing Association: Uber Launches In-App Entertainment Booking

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In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association discusses Uber launching in-app entertainment booking, AT&T using street lamps to ramp up 5G coverage, Narvar picking up returns from customers’ homes, and Area launching geo-location NFT platform.

Why Yelp’s Local Data Keeps Popping Up in Unexpected Places

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Since the debut of Yelp Fusion in 2016, thousands of platforms and experiences have added Yelp search and local content. Integration partners can choose which attributes to show on their platforms, with millions of business updates coming in each month.

As Delivery Market Consolidates, Affiliate Marketing Gets Sophisticated

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Uber’s recent decision to acquire Postmates for $2.65 billion was just the beginning. As the delivery market consolidates, there will almost certainly be rising demand for pay-for-performance marketing products that help these companies strike a balance between volume and profitability.

One of the latest examples of this is the launch of Actionable Intelligence, a product by Button that gives marketers the ability to target and test high-value audience segments with personalized offers.

Location Weekly, Featuring Co-Founders of Geofencing Platform Bluedot

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In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association covers Fit:Match teaming with Brookfield for virtual fitting rooms in malls; Walmart, Cadillac, Fairview, and others transforming parking lots into virtual cinemas; and Uber buying Postmates for $2.65B. The team also hosts Emil Davityan and Filip Eldic, co-founders of Bluedot.

Ridesharing Inches Forward as Industry Looks for New Path

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Years of rising demand for ridesharing services came to a full stop this spring, as coronavirus spread and communities across the globe were put under lockdown. Now, as ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft begin inching their way forward toward a new normal, they’re looking at how to adapt to the completely new environment in which they find themselves.

In Times of Crisis, There’s Still Value in the Gig Economy

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The pandemic-driven economic shutdown is also affecting the estimated 57 million Americans who make their living, or supplement their income, as members of the gig economy. While some freelancers and side hustlers may feel secure, full-time gig economy drivers certainly do not. Covid-19 has numerous implications for the gig economy, including some that will last even after all the dust settles. Let’s sort through them.

Tech Companies Respond as Workers, SMBs Face Covid-19 Pressure

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Google’s sister site Verily launched a site, albeit with logistical difficulties, to help Bay Area residents find testing options, and Verily isn’t the only tech company facing or alleviating coronavirus concerns. As a possible recession looms, consumer spending dips, and employees are sent home for public safety, some vendors are stepping in to help workers weather the storm. Others are boosting small businesses, hiring and increasing pay for workers, and suspending precarious services.

What California’s Gig Economy Law Means for Worker Flexibility

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We can expect continued pushback to AB5 from companies across the gig economy. But regardless of whether the pushback leads to legislative changes, we’ll begin to see even more innovative approaches for managing flexible labor pools and flexible schedules. In the meantime, though, how can companies stay compliant, provide stability, and still preserve the flexibility that appeals to gig workers?

Location Weekly: Puma Brings Hologram Ads to Car Tops

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In this episode of Location Weekly, the Location-Based Marketing Association covers Pearl Jam releasing a new single via AR over the Moon, Outfront’s Valentine’s campaign that blends Instagram AR and OOH, Puma bringing hologram ads to car tops at the NBA All-Star game, Uber letting seniors use their phones, Dwise partnering with Digital Element for ad targeting, and IKEA letting customers use time as currency.

LBMA Presents Location Weekly: One Nation, Tracked; Uber Works; Smart Home Synergy

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Location Weekly Episode #445 is ready to help you keep yourselves up to date over the holidays. Starting with a discussion on the New York Times article “One Nation, Tracked,” we also discuss Uber Works launching in Miami, the team-up of Amazon, Apple, and Google to make smart homes interoperable, and Goodwill reaching 1.4M mobile devices with location data via Teemo.

Mobile Trends Set to Hit the US in 2020

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2019 was a hectic year for many in the social and technology spaces, and we expect that theme to carry into 2020: the “new normal” will become just “normal.” We are optimistic about this new year but also foresee some systemic changes as to how mobile technology will continue transforming our lives while allowing us more control.

Is Uber Local Advertising’s Duopoly Killer?

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While Amazon is challenging the duopoly, when zeroing in on local advertising and commerce — Street Fight’s hallmark — as opposed to driving eCommerce, another challenger may loom: Uber. In fact, we have a longstanding prediction that it will blitz local advertising by strategically building from the Trojan Horse that is “in-ride mode.”

This theory is based on the fact that Uber has your captive attention during rides, given in-app utilities like mapping and ETA. Furthermore, it knows where you’re going (think destination-based promotions). In the aggregate, it has lots of behavioral data for a richer mosaic of audience-targeting gold.

The Power and Shifting Meaning of Local

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Urban, suburban, and rural residents have different shopping habits in their “local” areas. Many marketers are investing in mobile location-based ads — BIA/Kelsey predicts US spending will top $26 billion this year — yet as a retailer your goal isn’t just to reach consumers but to connect with them by acknowledging their different perspectives.

Talking to your customers requires a customized strategy that prioritizes location and takes their everyday lives into consideration. Harnessing the power of local starts with knowledge: where your customers live, what they want, and how to deliver it on behalf of your brand.

Uber, Lyft, DoorDash Fight Gig Economy Law in California

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Ride-hailing giants Uber and Lyft are teaming up with restaurant delivery service DoorDash to fight California’s AB 5, a law that would force gig-economy companies that survive on contractor labor to register their drivers (or dashers) as employees and offer them benefits, Vox reported.

The coalition, the Protect App-Based Drivers and Services campaign, is attempting to place a referendum on the 2020 California ballot that would give voters the choice to exempt ride-sharing services from the law. That would presumably include DoorDash, which is not a ride-hailing service but essentially iterated Uber’s business model, employing drivers to escort food instead of passengers from A to B on demand.

LBMA Vidcast: Verizon Media Turns to AR; Uber Testing Essential Grocery Delivery Down Under

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On this week’s Location-Based Marketing Association podcast: Verizon Media goes AR, Pared app for restaurants, Veeve re-invents the shopping cart, Uber testing milk/bread delivery in Australia, Albert Heijn piloting their own Amazon GO, Apple quietly adds UWB to iPhone 11.

California’s Gig Economy Bill Becomes Law

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The landmark California gig economy bill that may force companies such as Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash that employ thousands of drivers as independent contractors to hire those people as employees became law today. Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom signed the bill.

If the bill does ultimately affect Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, and other companies in the so-called gig economy thriving on venture capital for the last decade, it will severely disrupt their business models, which rely on cheap labor. 

Uber Pledges to Fight California Contractor Bill

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Uber and Lyft are already losing billions of dollars, and long-term concerns about whether they will ever hit profitability have endured, making for relatively weak runs on the public market. If the companies cannot come close to profitability with cheap labor forces without benefits, having to treat drivers as employees could pose an existential threat. At the very least, it may require Uber and Lyft to slow down expansion and rein in their ambitions, suggesting that the heyday (or hallucinatory days) of Web 2.0 could be coming to a close.

What’s a Cloud Kitchen? Amazon’s Next Move to Revolutionize a Major Shopping Sector

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Jeff Bezos likes to say, “Your margin is my opportunity.” Like with Whole Foods and grocery, Amazon moves into new verticals and applies its logistics-first approach to carve out margins, then undercut competitors. It is even getting into shipping, in a move to own its delivery infrastructure.

The next local conquest could be restaurants. For Amazon, it’s not just about serving food, but doing so in a way that aligns with its forte: delivering things to your home. The biggest clues and synergies lie in its established delivery and logistics playbook as well as its recent $575 million investment in Deliveroo.

Enter the cloud kitchen.

LBMA Vidcast: Facebook’s Libra, Carrefour Tests Facial Recognition

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On this week’s Location-Based Marketing Association podcast: Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency, L.L. Bean and Uber for Backyard Campsite, Carrefour tests facial recognition, 7Eleven delivers Cheetos AR experience, Kyruus + Brandify partner, PromoRepublic raises 2 million Euros.

Brand Safety is a Brand Authenticity Problem

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Marketers know that in a world of globalized competition, consumers are one click away from choosing a different product or service. Taking a stand can help brands appear righteous and earn consumer loyalty, which is why brand safety scandals necessitate a massive and speedy PR response. However, responding to or apologizing for such scandals can only be perceived as authentic the first time around—not the second time, and definitely not the third. The endless cycle of brand safety scandals reveals one of two things about today’s brands—they’re either lemmings, or they don’t really care about brand values.