Now we are wrapping up our Second Edition. Our seven independent judges have just completed their work, and the finalists in three key areas — Innovation, Sales/Revenue and Strategic Use of Digital Marketing — will be highlighted at the start of Day 3 of our Dallas NATIONAL show next week. The finalists include:

Innovation

• “Sears’ Online Social Review Innovation” — Yext
• “Local Video Ad Campaigns Deliver Results for Wendy’s” — Sightly

Sales/Revenue

• “Bill Luke Dealership Increases RAM Truck Sales” — Haystak Digital Marketing

Strategic Use of Digital Marketing

• “Lead Generation & Social Audience Engagement” — G/O Digital
• “PowerChord STIHL Southeast First Watch YouTube” — PowerChord on behalf of STIHL
• “ShopRite Store Opening Promotion via Bucks Happening” — Happenings Media
• “UMB Bank” — Placeable
• “Just Said Yes Campaign” — WeddingWire
• “Inspiring a Mobile Audience to Take Action” — xAd + Goodwill Industries & Ad Council
• “Nationwide Just Say YES — Digital Marketing for Maytag” — Nationwide Marketing Group, Netsertive and Maytag by Whirlpool

Sponsoring the Awards is Where2GetIt, which is one of our leading sources and advisors in NATIONAL, working with over 500 brands. CEO Manish Patel tells us that “The finalists represent the tremendous talent and diversity we are seeing every day in our work with national brands in this incredibly fast-growing space.” Come to the NATIONAL event in Dallas, and cheer ’em on! The top three winners will be announced at the end of the session.

The post GOLOCAL Award Finalists Set for BIA/Kelsey NATIONAL Next Week appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Chief Marketing Officers will become “Chief Location Officers” if Where2GetIt CEO Manish Patel has any say about it. Patel is a featured speaker at BIA/Kelsey National in Dallas March 25-27 appearing on a platform leaders panel with Netsertive’s Brendan Morrissey, Yext’s Christian Ward and LocalBizNow’s Todd Webber.

Brands have made a lot of progress in localizing their efforts, says Patel. But they are still playing catch up with their local targeting efforts, considering all the opportunities they have at their disposal.

Patel, whose company works with over 500 brands, emphasizes that “Local needs to take center stage.” To do that, the industry can’t have every feature or channel in a silo. “You can’t have a mobile guy, a review guy and a social guy,” he says. “Someone from the marketing team needs to know someone at the location” who can tie together reviews, competitive intelligence, search and mobile advertising — as well as the brand executives who handle real estate and operations.

“Everything is tied into the ecosystem,” adds Patel, who will discuss best practices during his appearance at NATIONAL. “When a customer search is not successful they don’t blame Google. They blame the brand. Accurate location information is paramount.”

Where2GetIt CEO Manish Patel

The post BIA/Kelsey NATIONAL Focus: Where2GetIt’s Manish Patel on ‘Chief Location Officers’ appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Chief Marketing Officers will become “Chief Location Officers” if Where2GetIt CEO Manish Patel has any say about it. Patel is a featured speaker at BIA/Kelsey National in Dallas March 25-27 appearing on a platform leaders panel with Netsertive’s Brendan Morrissey, Yext’s Christian Ward and LocalBizNow’s Todd Webber.

Brands have made a lot of progress in localizing their efforts, says Patel. But they are still playing catch up with their local targeting efforts, considering all the opportunities they have at their disposal.

Patel, whose company works with over 500 brands, emphasizes that “Local needs to take center stage.” To do that, the industry can’t have every feature or channel in a silo. “You can’t have a mobile guy, a review guy and a social guy,” he says. “Someone from the marketing team needs to know someone at the location” who can tie together reviews, competitive intelligence, search and mobile advertising — as well as the brand executives who handle real estate and operations.

“Everything is tied into the ecosystem,” adds Patel, who will discuss best practices during his appearance at NATIONAL. “When a customer search is not successful they don’t blame Google. They blame the brand. Accurate location information is paramount.”

Where2GetIt CEO Manish Patel

The post BIA/Kelsey NATIONAL Focus: Where2GetIt's Manish Patel on 'Chief Location Officers' appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

It’s here! We have just announced the agenda for BIA/Kelsey NATIONAL. which takes place March 25-27 in Dallas.

The NATIONAL theme is especially important this year. Local technology and services have reached a level where they have fostered major relationships with national brands and retailers. At IAB’s Annual Leadership Meeting last year, we noted a poll by Operative that showed that local sales has now become the seventh most important revenue driver for CMOs. Our own BIA/Kelsey research shows that national players will spend more than $68 billion on local marketing by 2018.

We know this: Brands want to be part of this. Retailers want to be part of this. Franchisees want to be part of this. And so does local’s growing community of digital channel players and vendors.

All of them will be front and center at the third edition of BIA/Kelsey NATIONAL, which we are co-chairing with 3rd Act Marketing’s Gregg Stewart (ex 15 Miles, TMP and Wahlstrom).

The agenda is now posted, with an initial slate of keynoters that includes Facebook’s Jon Czaja, whose portfolio includes the national franchise opportunity, where he leverages his experience at core national local leaders such as General Mills, eBay and Walmart; “Everything I Know about Marketing I Learned from Google” author Aaron Goldman, Kenshoo‘s CMO, who shares his irreverent and critical take on search. social and mobile; and Geary LSF President and CEO Karen Kovaleski, who is spearheading national local strategies for such key brands as Bumble Bee, WD-40, Brooks Brothers and Ashley Furniture.

The brands themselves will be well represented at the show. The initial slate of brands at the event include key local targeting leaders from Brooks Brothers, El Pollo Loco, All My Sons Moving and Storage, ServiceMaster/American Home Shield and Rooms to Go.

Other speakers come from media leaders who are providing local solutions to national players, including Dallas Morning News SVP Grant Moise and Washington Post VP Ethan Selzer.

We’ll also hear from a number of top platform providers and agencies, including BizHive Chairman Dave Walker, ReachLocal VP Travis Arthur, Where2GetIt CEO Manish Patel, Simpli.fi CEO Frost Prioleau, SpeakEasy CEO Mike Orren, LocalBizNow CEO Todd Webber and Soci CEO Afif Khoury.

Anchoring the whole show is the second edition of our GoLocal Awards, honoring the best efforts from national brands and rretailers(and their agencies) in local. We’re just getting started. Watch this space for frequent updates.

The post Mark Your Calendars: BIA/Kelsey NATIONAL, March 25-27, Dallas appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.

Analytics are moving center stage for many “platform” companies previously anchored in features such as maps, search, deals, store location, directions, listing updates and enhancements.

The trend — a real one — was reinforced today by Where2GetIt‘s announcement that it has acquired Brandify, the Washington D.C. area based provider of analytics for 26,000 local businesses.

Brandify provides feedback on digital marketing efforts based on 200 + variables, including reputation, local SEO performance, social engagement, competitor benchmarking, reviews and comments, business listing analysis, and locator traffic. Where2GetIt envisions Brandify “bridging the gap between its online and offline features” with “real time local insights.”

Where2GetIt CEO Manish Patel, in a discussion with BIA/Kelsey, said that many of the company’s multi-location customers — ranging from Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream Shops to Hunter Douglas shades — have been asking for a more comprehensive solution.

“They are faced with knitting together a patchwork of point products and services to protect their brand, improve visibility, local listing management, and local monitoring,” said Patel. Brandify “scores” their effectiveness in key areas, and makes it easier for them to determine how effective they’ve been.

While Brandify will continue to be developed as a standalone service for small and medium businesses, it will also be integrated into Where2GetIt’s platform for national brands and multi-location services, Patel added.

Where2GetIt CEO Manish Patel is presenting a DEMO today at BIA/Kelsey’s Leading in Local: The National Impact in Atlanta

The post Analytics Take Center Stage: Where2GetIt Acquires Brandify appeared first on BIA/Kelsey - Local Media Watch.