It may sound obvious but most local media companies don't do it: "Have the local business owner's interests at heart," says Jef Biesman. As VP of Customer Marketing and Acquisition at YP, he has perhaps more perspective than anyone in local…
The oldest millennials are 36. In addition to making me feel old, that means that millennials now wholly occupy the coveted 18 - 34 consumer demographic. Among other things that makes them a core consideration for all marketers. In localized…
Transforming ad sales from legacy media to digital aint easy. This can be seen in the relatively low success rate among media companies that sell both. This was the topic of a panel at the recent BIA/Kelsey ENGAGE (video below).…
Conversational commerce is the rage. And most tech giants are jumping on board, as seen at Microsoft Build, Facebook F8, and Google I/O. We also tackled the topic -- zeroing in on its many local implications -- at BIA/Kelsey ENGAGE (video below). As background, messaging…
In business, odds are stacked against any company when navigating growth, competition, disruption and cultural maintenance. An edge can be gained from being better informed... sort of like the Moneyball approach. But it's much more that, as author and luminary…
Search, social, content marketing and local ad sales... these are just a few of the rapidly evolving topics within the Local Commerce Universe. Where do they all stand and what should you be doing and thinking for each? This is…
Yesterday at BIA/Kelsey's Engage pre-conference Women Leading In Local session sponsored by Advice Local, Nancy Shenker, media strategist and CEO of TheOnSwitch spoke about her new initiative, SheBoom, and offered advice on career development for women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. She…
Next week at BIA/Kelsey's ENGAGE conference in Austin, Texas, four companies representing different elements of the Local Commerce Universe will present 10-minute sponsored case studies. The following synopsis previews GotU's case study. GotU is a white label digital advertising platform operated by…
The Brand-to-local playbook is constantly changing in a multi-screen and millennial-impacted world. This was one of the prevailing themes at the recent BIA/Kelsey BRANDS. But to reach all of those screens optimally, it's all about informed marketing... which all starts with good…
The Brand-to-local playbook is constantly changing in a multi-screen and millennial-impacted world. This was one of the underlying themes at the recent BIA/Kelsey BRANDS. One of those screens continues to be television. In fact, it's not just one screen: TV itself…
Sales transformation is all about people, process and product. That's according to BIA/Kelsey sales transformation guru Stacey Sedbrook. As discussed last week, people is a big one and sometimes requires hard decisions. But product is also critical. "Product is really the issue…
Transforming ad sales from legacy media to digital aint easy. This can be seen in the relatively low success rate among media companies that sell both (i.e. newspaper). Meanwhile the debate rages on: separate or combine digital and traditional ad sales…
The Brand-to-local playbook is constantly changing in a multi-screen and millennial-impacted world. This was one of the underlying themes at the recent BIA/Kelsey BRANDS. But what about the "monday morning" action items to begin to implement right away? Consumer data collection,…
John Allan was brought on to reform the Australian directory company Sensis into a business that could survive in a future that demands nimbleness and efficiency across the enterprise but particularly in the sales organization. Directory sales organizations were always seen as a great asset. Countless solutions providers…
Jeff Biesman knows it sounds cliche, but local companies still don't do it: "Have the local business owner's interests at heart." As VP of Customer Marketing and Acquisition at YP, he has perhaps more perspective than anyone in local about selling…
The Brand-to-local playbook is constantly changing in a multi-screen and millennial-impacted world. This was one of the underlying themes at the recent BIA/Kelsey BRANDS. But making this perennial challenge more complex is the need to establish or track down brand advertising…
One important trend we've followed closely is the compression of local search. Instead of search queries, results pages, links, listings and reviews, we're seeing an end-run directly to the action. Driven by macro-factors like smartphones, immediacy-oriented millennials, and the on-demand movement,…
BIA/Kelsey's ENGAGE conference next month in Austin, Texas, is about innovating and executing in the local and SMB digital marketplace. The local and SMB space isn't just about creating tools, it's also about building audiences in order to drive engagement, leads and transactions.…
Even as messaging apps and chat bots take over the world, people still have a biological urge to communicate by voice. This applies to commerce, especially where there is complexity. And complexity tends to happen in high-consideration, high-value products like…
Abid Chaudhry and I discuss the fall of Shuddle, the Bay Area-based "Uber for kids" startup that closed its doors today after raising $12.2 million. What does this suggest for high-value vertical on-demand services? Can they differentiate enough to separate…