I like Foursquare’s newest badge strategy.
Five new badges can be unlocked using the location based service – all centered around activity on college campuses. This goes after the college niche user, who Facebook may already have lost, while creating newer experiences for students. Another angle is the marketing exposure created by the schools pre-selected as participants – especially for the college stadium check-ins.
I see the annual Foursquare Championship Bowl in our future. Here’s the list of participating schools.
I’m sure more will be added. Here’s my plug for RIT, UofR, MCC & all of the SUNY Schools.
New Foursquare Badges:
Campus Explorer: You’ve travelled far and wide to explore every corner of campus – all without getting scurvy. Magellan’s got nothing on you!
Munchies: That’s 5 check-ins at campus dining halls. You must be a Grilled Cheese connoisseur. You deserve a TV Show!
Smells Like School Spirit: Woah! That’s your 5th check-in showing your school pride. You’re a super fan! Now remember to wash off that face paint before you go to bed – huge mistake!
Quad Squatter: That’s your 10th check-in at the Quad. Either you’re majoring in Botany, or you just gave up on class altogether.
Bookworm Bender: Looks like you’re throwing a late night bender at the library. Ain’t no party like a Pythagorean Theorem party!
So much buzz building on the anticipation of Facebook’s new location based services feature. Ooooh, what’s it gonna be? For some reason, people have speculated about it being a Foursquare knockoff. Facebook’s guys are smart. They don’t need to copy something as simple as this. I think.
I’m guessing they have something most of us haven’t even considered yet. Much like 99% of the stuff we see. And use. And bitch about.
Which is really my point, people will bitch about anything – especially something they’re not using, weren’t involved with creating or even worse, is better than something they may have though about but were too lazy to act upon it themselves.
Monday morning quarterbacks. Monday morning web designers. Monday morning developers. Besides, aren’t all of these services free? For both the individual and the business to use how they see fit? (Within the TOS of course)
Don’t like your information being pushed out to the universe? Then don’t share it. Oh, and here’s a shocker, nobody is truly interested in your location on a mass scale, EXCEPT for the LOCATION where you just checked in, or you’re someone important and you just became the Mayor of a cool bar while hanging out at the World Cup. (I find that interesting, others may not, but I do)
Why do I use them then?
- I’m curious how consumers respond to the activities within these spaces (badges, updates, check-ins, rewards, pings, shouts, tips, to-do’s, recommendations, etc)
- They help my business
- They’re fun to use
- And yes, I know nobody cares about my check-ins. My check-ins don’t create Justin Bieber-like riots and stampedes. Although two older women once commented on my shiny new “phone-thingy.”
Once these services become paid services, that’s when their creators will really pay attention to what we have to say.
Until then, keep in mind: Its free. Don’t like it? Don’t use it. You’ll killing the buzz from my newly earned David Hasselhoff badge.
So what’s twitter been working on recently?
1st item – Location Based Tweets. (The meh choice)
This is probably the only location based marketing feature I don’t even notice. Why? Users can put their location in their bio. Sure – it may not represent their current location, but of all things location, this is not a concern. And, I’m fairly confident nobody else cares where my message originates…
I’m sure this is simply the raw form of something bigger to come – say, integration into a specific service like Google maps; real-time tweets within a check-in based platform a’la Foursquare or Gowalla may be more interesting & relevant. Knowing where someone is when they shriek about Justin Bieber in a tweet is not important to me. Or the rest of the country over 17.
2nd item – Recommended People to Follow. (The excellent choice)
A sharp conversation with my friend Mike Johansson got me thinking about this deeper. Twitter now provides suggestions as to who you may want to follow. Why show recommended choices? And why does it work? Mike & were in agreement that it played more on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. This level of the Needs Pyramid would be Esteem; the need to respect others or be respected by others.
Yes – the whole debate over Maslow and twitter’s success has been played out over the years. But – this finally provides a new visual motivation for users. It could be the face of someone they are intrigued by, someone they have heard of or better yet – a brand they may not have thought about seeking out via twitter – but are now aware.
Either way – I find this element fascinating. Yet, their location…not so much. Hopefully the brands will embrace it though. Location based marketing strategies will continue to drive new life into otherwise lame consumer experiences.
What do you think of these new features?
When it comes to location based marketing, the landscape is getting more complicated. And a lot more fun.
Check out Layar. It’s Augmented Reality software is positioned as the “Layar Reality Browser”
As more businesses join the location movement, a new level is being created – an augmented layer – in which additional information can be viewed in real time, all around you.
Put simply, the camera in your smart phone talks to the internal GPS device to find and display restaurants, bars and even people – anything that can be tagged online can be identified with this technology. (privacy squawkers will have a whole new bucket of complaints I’m sure.)
What’s the point? Much like other location based check-in software (Foursquare, Gowalla, Loopt, etc) businesses will have the opportunity to get creative with the information people can see – based on the layer they’re viewing. Special events, cross-promotional activity, tours, scavenger hunts…who knows?
I used this recently on an out of state trip to find a grocery store. I found it easier & faster than a text based browser search. And again, it was a lot more fun.
Other search option Layars include: (most free, some paid)
- Bars
- Food/Drink
- Local Search
- YouTube videos posted
- Weather
- Transportation finders
- Gowalla spots
- Crime spotters
- Ticket finders
- Walt Disney Tours
Here’s a screen shot showing the Layar local search of tweets within a 9 mile radius of me. Did I mention its fun?
And no, it doesn’t let you see inside someone’s house. And Yes, someone asked me that.
What type of uses can you imagine?
Websites, tech. & cars. That's what keeps me busy. I'm the Internet guy for Auction Direct.
