Media Coverage

Navigating the world became a whole lot easier 13 years ago when Google launched Google Maps. Now, Google is getting even more social and Yelp-like. At Google’s I/O developer conference, the company announced a slew of new Google Maps features such as the incorporation of augmented reality.

Someday we are going to look back at how we once used Google Maps and laugh at how rudimentary the experience was. The idea of using an abstract map to navigate the real world will seem preposterous. We will wonder how we ever endured completely unintuitive directions such as, “Proceed 1,000 feet, and then turn north on Elm” while we squinted at street signs, mentally estimated the distance of 1,000 feet, and wondered which way north is. That day is coming sooner than you think.

Healthcare watchers and participants, including myself, often talk about the consumerism of healthcare. Former SIM CEO Jon Schepke recently wrote in Street Fight about how hospitals can and are becoming more responsive by applying healthcare practices. One point Jon made that especially resonated with me was the way healthcare providers are teaming with technology firms such as Apple to give patients more control over their personal data.

The great location marketing roll-up is in full swing. In recent months, we’ve seen a flurry of merger/acquisition activity from location marketing vendors (including mine) across North America. Significant M&A activity has ranged from Snapchat’s acquisition of Placed to Gannett/ReachLocal acquiring SweetIQ. The location marketing roll-up is more than a story of vendors increasing scale. It’s a sign of the location-marketing sector becoming more valuable to businesses.

Reputation.com founder Michael Fertik discusses the importance of your brand’s online reputation, how to generate positive reviews and the best way to handle negative ones. When choosing where to shop, most consumers now start their buying journeys online. Research shows that 90 percent of shoppers look up online reviews of businesses when deciding where to spend their money.

A trio of companies—Walmart, Target, and Macy’s among others—make big announcements at Shoptalk, while FedEx earnings give us further insight on the 2017 holiday shopping season. Also, Five Below accelerates growth plans while boosting their bottom line. Our interview guests are Mark Lange and Jean-Francois Carton of Reputation.com, who discuss methods by which retailers can evaluate their social media presence.