Consumer Marketing News & Views: June 22, 2021

With the arrival of summer, life under Covid is looking better after a tough year-plus. So as consumers return to shopping in person, eating at restaurants, and releasing all that pent-up demand, we dig into what’s new, what’s trending, and what’s happening in franchise consumer marketing and related news. MARKETING TECH, TRENDS, TOOLS, & REPORTS Potential Replenishment of the Restaurant Revitalization Fund in the Works?

Exercise Caution with Covid-19 Vaccine Incentives To Avoid Running Afoul of Gambling Laws Restaurant Sales Continue Improvement in May, But Guest Traffic Worsens (Black Box) Revenge Spending Will Drive Consumer Trends this Year Post-Covid: The Impact of Lockdown on the Foodservice Industry in the U.S. & Canada Q+A with Greg Creed, Ex-CEO of Yum Brands, on How To Market a Business How a Sales & Social Media Partnership Helps Brands Win More Business 5 Easy Tips To Maximize Gift Card Sales Webinar, June 23: Digital Transformation – Have Gift Cards Been Left Behind?

Research Reveals Consumer Sentiment Around Social Media Post-Covid 5 Universal Customer Frustrations – and How To Fix Them Opinion: I Just Watched McDonald's New AI Drive-Thru and Lost My Appetite Generational Marketing (Cartoon) Account-Based Marketing Initiatives: A Research-Based Guide for Marketers IBM: What Is Conversational Marketing and Why Do Brands Need It Now? 5 Critical Skills All Marketers Must Develop McDonald’s Coffee Cups, Times Square Billboard Join Vaccine Awareness Campaign from Biden Administration Twitter Launches “I Wish I Knew” Podcast To Provide Insight into How It Uses Audience Research Emailers, Beware: Gen Z Is Far from Loyal to Brands Google Is Changing How Ads Track People Around the Internet: What You Need To Know 9 Restaurant Companies Tackling Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion in the C-Suite COMPANY NEWS Luby’s Sells 92-Unit Fuddruckers to a Franchisee for Approx. $18.