3 ways to get started with branded location based content

Jul 08

3 ways to get started with branded location based content

by Dirk Shaw
Category: Digital Influence

layar

People are broadcasting their whereabouts thru a variety of location-based platforms. With the emergence of any new consumer behavior brands quickly follow and seek news ways to engage. We are seeing brands and media companies tagging locations within Foursquare and serving up nuggets of information for their followers.

If you are thinking about integrating location-based interactions into a customer engagement strategy here are three options for getting started.

1. Leave content that can be discovered via location platforms:
This simplest way to get started is by partnering with one of the location-based platforms to create branded messages at specific locations. A good example is The History Channel. They will use foursquare to promote America the Story of Us. Foursquare users who check in at select locations across the United States that are associated with American history will receive “Fun Fact Pop Up” messages with historical information about that location.

2. Create a custom layer on Augmented Reality browser:
Layar is an Augmented reality browser that allows people to point their phone’s camera toward location and it can tell you the latest check-in’s who is the mayor and any display branded content. The good thing about a layer is that you are able to overlay images as well as text. Recently Walt Disney launched the augmented reality outdoor campaign for the new ‘Prince of Persia’ movie. As you get closer to one of the ‘Prince of Persia’ outdoor posters and open the layer, the movie-character Tamina speaks to you and explains that you should watch the trailer and enter the augmented reality game to answer 3 questions.

3. Build a custom app on top of location platform:
Brands can take advantage of the location platform API’s opening up by creating a branded experience. Dick’s Sporting Goods launched RunnersUnite which lets you find popular running spots in your area, and see where people are running near you right now.

Each of these options has varying degrees complexity but before picking any path here are a few things to consider.

Does your audience even engage in this activity?
What portion will be brand generated content versus CGM?
What is the purpose of the app? (Entertainment, Utility)
Why will people keep using it?

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 8th, 2010 at 12:52 pm and is filed under Digital Influence. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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TAGS: Tags: branding, campaigns, Content Strategy, foursquare, location-based

6 Responses to “3 ways to get started with branded location based content”

Cory O'Brien Says:
July 10th, 2010 at 7:56 pm
Leaving tips is key. We helped set up the San Francisco Giants on Foursquare (http://foursquare.com/sfgiants) and a big part of the initiative was enhancing the experience of fans while they’re at the game. It’s a process that just takes a bit of upfront time, but the payoff is huge, and it doesn’t need as much maintenance as a Twitter Profile or Facebook Page.
dirk shaw Says:
July 13th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Hi Cory..

I totally agree. the up front investment also has more shelf life than most tweets etc..

thanks for commenting. next time i am in SF i will check out the SFGiants tips.

thanks dirk
Bret Clement Says:
July 16th, 2010 at 1:33 pm
Seems like a lot of the mobile augmented reality stuff is coming from Europe, including the Walt Disney example you give above (seems to be running in the Netherlands?). Was looking for freelancers on the Layar partner site, none are in US:
http://publishing.layar.com/publishing/devadvert_list/

I’m a bit of a non-techie. Wondering if there a technical issue with doing cool mobile augmented reality stuff in the US beyond the basics you see here now?

When Layar/Kooaba image recognition partnership done in 4Q, that will be cool too.
Bret Clement Says:
July 16th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
Sorry, thinking outloud. Guess by “cool stuff” I’m thinking specifically image recognition. Like Ben and Jerry’s did. So that works with iPhone iOS 4.0 and metaio’s Unifeye Mobile SDK.

I need to check out metaio’s browser more indepth:
http://docs.metaio.com/bin/view/Main/UnifeyeMobileTrackingConfiguration
Bret Clement Says:
July 17th, 2010 at 6:13 am
My comment above was a follow up to another comment I made that appears to be stuck in moderation and was not published - which makes my second post appear more random that it already was.

My first point was to wonder outloud why so much of the innovation and cool stuff you read about with mobile augmented reality is coming from Europe. Wondering if is based on particular wireless technologies they have (particularly GSM).

Regardless, lots of fun stuff happening around branded location based content these days!
dirk shaw Says:
July 18th, 2010 at 10:43 pm
Hey Bret..

We are behind in terms of mobile applications and adoption which is why so much innovation is happening over there. Another challenge i see is like the browser wars in the early days.. There are very little if any standards across platforms which means you are building/maintaining multiple versions which is not very desirable.

thanks for commenting. dirk