360DigitalInfluence

This past week social media showed users a little bit of everything – from the serious to the silly. If you’re anything like me, your Twitter and Facebook newsfeeds are continuously populated with link sharing from friends (and them adding their own commentary, which is always logical). Here are some of the most common serious and silly links shared among my friends this week. What was shared most in your feeds?

The Serious

Obama joins FourSquare

President Obama becomes one of the most high-profile people to join Foursquare. So far more than 27,000 followers are receiving his tips as he checks in across the Midwest on his bus tour. His tips are different than mine and yours as he’s sharing how to improve the economy and not what his favorite item is to order off the menu.

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Summer officially starts in one day, and I’ve got travel on the brain. Given the outrageous airfares and hotel rates I’ve seen of late, I’m looking to rack up as many points as possible through travel and hotel rewards programs. If you want to maximize point-earning opportunities or you’re in the travel or hotel business and looking for ways to expand your loyalty program, start taking advantage of location-based social networks.

Several loyalty programs are already in on location-based rewards. Intercontinental Hotels Group’s Priority Club® Rewards, Hilton HHonors®, and Caesars Entertainment’s Total Rewards® are among the rewards programs on Topguest, a platform through which users can connect their Facebook, Foursquare, Twitter, Gowalla, and Instagram accounts to earn points, rewards, and discounts.

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Definition: Badge fatigue – noun. c. May 2010

• a reduction in the effectiveness of mobile loyalty programs that use status or icons as incentives
• being so over the idea that you’ll be rewarded with some intangible thingy for identifying yourself as a fan

About a year ago, the discussion around “badge fatigue” began. Fans and followers were starting have trouble seeing through the clutter of countless gaming programs that offered incentives. So, plans were hatched to reinvigorate the model before it became another fad.

In the initial format, a user was given the incentive to go to an establishment because he or she would be rewarded with an intangible prize: a title (e.g. “mayor” Foursquare or royalty titles on Yelp!) or an icon (e.g. “badges” on Foursquare or “pins” on Gowalla). Users competed with their friends and unknown competitors to get the best status and personal gratification. As users achieved higher status and left check-in competitors in the dust, they got an even greater incentive: a discount or something for free.  This discount wasn’t targeted to the individual’s tastes specifically, but more so, whoever got the reward first.

The model grew and companies began to experiment; people gained VIP access to parties (Internet Week 2010) and points for existing rewards programs (Top Guest). And this is where we stand today – with a lot of great experiments, but also a lot of clutter.

So, what will happen next?

There seem to be three (somewhat nebulous) schools of thought:

1. We continue along the same lines with this gamification model that has a broad reach, because, in all honesty, it has worked. These indicators of status in the “game” continue to get people in to the cash register even without targeted (and often intangible) incentive. (Note: Some are questioning the impact on business)
2. We move on. Since the market is becoming saturated with these types of programs, it is worth the effort to focus efforts elsewhere.  “Call me crazy, but I say that Foursquare badges go the way of POGS, Tamagotchis, and Farmville – interesting ideas that captivated our attention for a time, but ultimately lost out,” hypothesizes Colin Slasheimer.
3. We repurpose and rebuild these programs a highly relevant, laser-focused marketing tool. Two examples of how this can happen include finding a way to hyper-locate down to the layout of a store or revaluating how the data is used (see pilot launched by Foursquare).

I fall in the third group. I want to be found where I already need to go and told about specifically what I want with hyper-relevant offers. I want to check into the toothpaste aisle of the drug store, and be told what toothpaste brand sale right now.  (Ok, I know this probably isn’t possible right now, but could be pretty cool.)  If I go to the hairdressers, I want to come across an incentive in 3 months when I need my next haircut, instead of right when I check-in.

So, what do you think?  Have we jumped the shark?

Photo courtesy of lululemon athletica via Creative Commons.

For those of you into healthy living, you have likely witnessed the merger of your fitness and digital worlds. I am no exception.

On my Facebook newsfeed, my spin instructor friend has announced an open spot in her 6:30pm spin class. When I check Foursquare, I can see that my friend Mike just checked into the Whole Foods, and is still the mayor of the organic restaurant across the street.  And even though I want to make an excuse to skip a yoga class, the Mind Body yoga app on my i-Phone shows me that there are still 74 yoga classes happening before the day is done. And not to mention the various Facebook posts from friends who are “hitting up the gym” or “out on a long run.”

In my digital world, signs of healthy living are inescapable.

Hence, the fitness and wellness crowd is a great example of using social media to communicate, collaborate, motivate, and create community in a landscape that might otherwise be occupied by silos.

But what does this mean for brands? The adoption of social media by the fitness and wellness worlds benefits businesses in at least four ways: continue reading

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?

I recently came across an interesting study that declared mobile web will be the leading trend in 2015. This is a pretty bold statement but believe it or not there is truth to it. This year we’ve witnessed an explosion in mobile and location based content with cool location based social applications like Foursquare, Gowalla, and BrightKite. Location based services are one of the most powerful ways to personalize one’s mobile experience which can be even more amplified with the integration of social networks such as Facebook and Twitter.  An increasing number of brands are experimenting and trying out mobile marketing strategies as a result. Last month, Gowalla partnered with Travel Channel to integrate some of its dining content from the show Food Wars.  When Gowalla users check in to venues visited in Food Wars, they will be able to read show-related information about the restaurant and collect passport-stamp rewards. This is a great way to engage fans and build strong brand awareness and loyalty. Gowalla says users have checked in at 600,000 locations in more than 165 countries to-date.

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This week, sightings of mysterious links for users to View QR Barcode or Generate Status QR Code popped-up everywhere but no one knew what was up. Today Tech Crunch got more information: Facebook is rolling out location-based check-in for late April’s f8 conference that will allow users and Pages to have these codes. Imagine you can snap a photo of the QR code with your iPhone and it will post your status update as well as link to a map of which Starbucks you’re at. Having taken this long to get into the location-based world, I expect Facebook’s offering to be thoughtful and uncomplicated- hopefully I’m right.

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Over the last year, location-based social networks such as Foursquare, Gowalla and Brightkite have exploded among early adopters. It’s no question—with increasing adoption of smart phone usage, location-based social networks are rising in popularity every day.

Recently covered in GigaOM, CNN, Ad Age and The New York Times, Foursquare is currently one of the most buzzed about location-based mobile social networks. Intel and Ogilvy recently used Foursquare to drive traffic to and create buzz around Intel’s offline events and activities at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this month.

For CES, Intel created a branded Foursquare page, featuring locations where Intel had activity and tips for Las Vegas visitors. Intel also rewarded check-in’s to key events with branded badges, paired with the chance to win an Intel-powered netbook for all badge recipients.

This exclusive collaboration allowed Intel to track and build relationships with online influencers active on Foursquare at CES. With more than 400 cumulative check-in’s to Intel-affiliated locations and events, the collaboration was a breakout success and proved to be an interesting event-based model for brands looking to work with Foursquare.

We interviewed Tristan Walker, head of business development at Foursquare, to learn more about their vision for what’s to come for brands, businesses and Foursquare.

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