Street Fight Live – the return of the Street Fight Live event series after a 6-year hiatus – concluded yesterday in Chicago. The one-day show featured a mix of speakers with a rarely-seen balance of real-life brands. Attendees got to hear directly from the source about what’s working in localized marketing.
The focus specifically was multi-location (MULO) marketing. This involves brands that have several locations, and the unique challenges they face in promoting themselves. It often involves logistical rigor in making sure that the marketing mix (social, search, etc.) is both globally consistent and locally unique.
The takeaways from Street Fight Live are many and, having attended the event, we’ll be drilling down into sessions, themes, and ah-ha moments in the coming days. For now, here are easily-digestible top takeaways. And just for fun, we also captured zingers and one-liners that flowed from the stage in Meta’s Chicago event space.
Select Takeaways
– MULO isn’t immune to the laws of the attention economy. Brands have to be vigilant to not only adopt emerging marketing strategies, but also aggressively differentiate their products.
– That translates to lots of experiential evolution, seen in emerging subsectors like eatertainment (think: Dave & Busters and Top Golf).
– Similarly, traditional categories like convenience stores and gas stations are standing out with local flavor (think: country location shaped like a barn), and other clever ways to stand out.
– There’s also increasing demand for experiences over products. Not only is that endemic to millennials but in a post-covid world, people are eager to get out and live.
– So we’re seeing multi-location brands expand into complementary/adjacent partnerships and shared spaces that appeal to the entire family (think: pickleball + kids attractions).
– Consumers’ sources of information are also evolving and fragmenting, so marketing strategies have to move with them.
– TikTok is becoming a leading search engine for Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha.
– Meanwhile, ChatGPT is siphoning off Google’s traditional engagement as a front door and go-to source of information, including local search.
– This all means that brands need to be adaptive to these quickly-moving media trends…
– But more importantly, they need to have their marketing and customer data organized and optimized so that they can be nimbler and move quickly when such trends emerge.
Choice Quotes
TikTok is [kids’] source of truth
– Brooke Henderson, VP of Strategic Partnerships, Yext
Today, we literally use the Internet to call strangers to get in their car.
– Jason Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer, Publicis Groupe
Emotional connection equals volume… equals revenue… equals unit-level profitability.
– Paul Mangiamele, Owner, Chairman and CEO, Legendary Restaurant Brands
AI can uncover the invisible to achieve the impossible.
– Michael Chachula, CIO | CTO, Fat Brands
You can’t let your primary category define you. Gas stations don’t want to be known as gas stations, which is a commodity.
– Mike Templeton, VP, Digital Strategy, NexChapter
Nothing replaces the human touch. The social interaction with a server or bartender is a personal connection that keeps people coming back.
– Paul Mangiamele, Owner, Chairman and CEO, Legendary Restaurant Brands
When I say that I Google something, my kids laugh at me.
– Brooke Henderson, VP of Strategic Partnerships, Yext
With AI, the tool is only as good as what you’re putting into it.
– Michael Chachula, Chief Information Officer – CIO | CTO, Fat Brands
When value is received, price is less and less of an issue.
– Paul Mangiamele, Owner, Chairman and CEO, Legendary Restaurant Brands
Hospitality without vitality, is just hospice, and that’s a dying business.
– Michael Chachula, CIO | CTO, Fat Brands
Trust in institutions has declined precipitously. Trust has declined in brands. The same is not true for [UGC and] trust in people.
–Joseph Perello, Founder and CEO, Props
Kids think in 30-second TikToks.
– Aaron Goldman, Chief Marketing Officer, Mediaocean
The restaurant industry as a whole are the dumbest people in the world. We only price up. With grocery stores, milk price goes up and down with costs. After we raise prices, we keep it there. This time, it bit us in the butt because consumer income didn’t go up with it.
– Gregg Majewski, CEO and Founder, Craveworthy Brands.
