Altman thinks the virtual loyalty card concept is a better model for local advertising than search engines.

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Advertising was based on a simple funnel concept called the Hierarchy of Effects.

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But in concept, hashtag targeting is fairly similar to search advertising, and search ads most certainly do ring up sales.

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It wanted to change that by investing in marketing, advertising and industrial design, a then foreign concept for the company.

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The team is collaborating on a concept that opens the network to developers through services such as messaging, location, payments and advertising accessible via HTML5.

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The duck concept, which has helped the Aflac brand become more widely recognizable, was created by the New York-based advertising agency Kaplan Thaler Group.

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