CorpComms Magazine

It seems no sooner have people got to grips with a new social media platform, be it Facebook, Twitter or YouTube, then along comes another - a new place for consumers and fans to share, recommend or criticise and another platform where brands and organisations need to ensure that they are listening.

The era of smartphones has added a new dimension to the social networking phenomenon, bringing physical location into the mix. Mobile applications such as Foursquare, Facebook Places and Gowalla, to name three of the most popular platforms, allow users to interact with their location, by 'checking in' via the GPS technology on their smartphone.

'Checking in' makes use of a function known as geotagging, which in layman's terms means adding geographical information (in the form of coordinates) to a message, photo, video or other form of media. Checking in lets the application log where the user is, and then posts a message, usually on one's existing Twitter or Facebook page, with a link showing the user's exact location on a map.

Through these applications, social networkers can not only tell their friends where they are, they can also add tips and recommendations about the location and see how many of their friends have visited the same place. When arriving at a conference, for example, those who use a location-based application can check in and then see who else has arrived and checked in too.

Popular platforms

Foursquare launched in 2009 and initially was only available in certain cities in the United States. 'It wasn't a mass market,' says Drew Benvie, managing director of digital PR and marketing agency 33 Digital. 'But it was used by the right people, the people who were using Twitter five years ago.'

Because Foursquare check ins could be posted automatically onto the user's Twitter page or Facebook status update, it quickly caught on with those already using existing platforms. 'It started changing the way that people were using other social networks,' explains Benvie. 'It taps into what you're already doing.'

Gowalla followed shortly afterwards, offering a similar service, although it was quicker to move out of the main cities, and was available across the whole of the UK when Foursquare was still only available in London.

Facebook may have been late to the party, but it already had the critical mass required - its enormous membership base, which helped Facebook Places hit the ground running. In addition, its users already knew all about 'tagging' each other thanks to Facebook's photo app. The tagging option was simply extended to Places, to allow users to indicate who they were with when they checked in.

As the platforms caught on and became more widely available, smartphone users across the country began checking in, letting their friends and followers know what they were up to, and using location-based platforms to offer tips on the best restaurant, or recommend a product at their favourite retailer. On Foursquare they raced to become the 'mayor' of any given location - the person who had checked in the most times. Cue the advent of tweets which read I've just ousted so-and-so as the mayor of such-and-such place. It was not long before the retailers responded, by offering deals to the loyal customers who regularly checked in or those who became the mayor.

What's in it for brands?

Of course, reading a recommendation about a particular café, shop or museum is nothing new; consumers do it all the time using search engines or by scouring recommendation sites, such as Trip Advisor or Qype. Nor is offering points or rewarding customer loyalty - supermarkets, department stores, coffee shops and airlines do the same the world over.

But now, mobile applications mean that social networkers can interact with the places they love in real time, right from their pocket. And features like Foursquare's 'specials' and Facebook Places' 'deals' make it easy for brands to create offers for their customers, instantly updatable when the need arises. It's just one of the many ways to build a relationship with customers through a channel they are already using.

'The first company I ever noticed using Foursquare was my local coffee shop,' explains Benvie. 'It's in an area surrounded by a lot of creative and digital agencies, so people were always checking in there when they bought their coffee. The café was on Twitter, and kept seeing that people had checked in there. But they hadn't heard of Foursquare.'

The shop started listening. It replied on Twitter to those who checked in, asking what Foursquare was all about. Then they offered a free coffee to the next person who checked in. They were instinctively tapping in to the conversation.

'All brands reward loyal customers,' says Benvie. 'If you have customers and you reward them, then do it online too. It would be a shame not to use it to its fullest potential. It just suits the way that people currently use the Internet. It's a bit of a no-brainer.'

In early 2010, 33 Digital worked with Debenhams when they became one of the first UK brands to do a deal on Foursquare. At the flagship Oxford Street store, customers who became the 'mayor' got a free cup of coffee while anyone checking in on a Friday also got a free coffee.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Choo - adored and revered by shoe-lovers everywhere - invited Foursquare users to follow its new trainers 'on their stylish journey around London' in its CatchAChoo treasure hunt. The trainers checked in periodically on Foursquare at classy venues, posting a picture of themselves in the location in question. If someone could chase down the shoes to

the right location before the Jimmy Choo representative departed (taking the highly desired trainers with them), then the lucky pursuer would win the trainers.

A campaign which was simple and inexpensive to implement (albeit with a rather pricey prize) generated a significant buzz on CatchAChoo's Facebook page and on Twitter - and made an exclusive brand more accessible to the smartphone-carrying masses.

Getting creative

A Foursquare or Facebook Places campaign might be an obvious choice for brands with a physical location but what about those that do not have a shop or an outlet of some kind? The advice is simply to think creative.

For example, The Financial Times did a deal with various business schools last year to offer Foursquare specials when users checked at the campus café. It involved places such as Cass, London School of Economics, the London Business School, Harvard and Columbia, targeting its key demographic by allowing them to unlock a code which gave access to premium subscriptions to FT.com.

When ubiquitous pop star Cheryl Cole wanted to create an online buzz about her new album Messy Little Raindrops, she turned to Facebook Places to spread the word.

'There are a number of billboard posters around the country for my new album,' said her Facebook page. 'If you see one with the Facebook logo, check in to the poster through your phone on Facebook Places. Once you've checked in come back here to enter the competition.' One lucky participant won a ticket to see the singer in concert.

Whether or not the prize appeals, it was a clever use of location-based social media, ensuring that thousands of tweets and Facebooks status updates told the world that a new album was coming out.

Meanwhile, companies who want to invest cash and creativity can work with Foursquare to create specially designed 'badges' which users can 'unlock', for example after checking into the same place a certain number of times, or after checking in to a number of different places associated with the brand. Gowalla has a similar option of 'pins'. Needless to say, these kinds of collectibles have become badges of honour among the digerati.

Earlier this year, HISTORY television channel teamed up with over 600 locations across London to offer residents and visitors to the capital the chance to find out more about the various museums, historical sites, cafés, restaurants and more. Checking in revealed historical facts and tips about the locations, while a total of four check ins unlocked the limited edition HISTORY ♥ London badge. In addition, HISTORY partnered with more than 20 of the locations to offer customer discounts and deals when checking in.

'HISTORY had already done a similar campaign in the States,' explains Paul Sutton, head of social communications at BOTTLE PR, the agency which helped launch and promote the London campaign. 'It was quite a major project, and hadn't really been done to that extent in this country before.'

The television channel, which airs documentaries and new drama The Kennedys, wanted to increase brand awareness and engage a more tech-savvy and younger audience. The response to the campaign was impressive, with 7,594 badge downloads in the first week. In other words, each of those people had checked in at least four times to locations involved in the campaign.

'Although we won't have official figures on the number of actual check ins for a few weeks, given that many of those 7,500 users will have checked in more than four times and that thousands more will have checked in once, twice or three times, it is highly likely that the total number of check ins in the first week alone is approaching 100,000,' says Kiera Doherty, digital marketing manager at broadcaster AETN UK - a joint venture between A&E Television Networks and BSkyB, home of the HISTORY channel.

BOTTLE also monitored the buzz on social media via the #HISTORY4sq hashtag. Within the first week there were around 500 tweets and more than 20 blogs covered the story.

'HISTORY wanted to create something entertaining and engaging,' says Sutton. 'They also wanted to distance the brand from the perhaps dull and stuffy perception that people have of history as a subject. When it comes to brand perception and penetration, although this is very difficult to measure, they're using the insight that Foursquare itself will give them, for example different age groups who are using the app. So they'll be able to get an idea of whether they're achieving their goals in terms of awareness among their target demographic in that way.'

The future of social search

So, what's next in the location-based social networking world? Foursquare has already provided a hint with its new Foursquare Explore service, launched a matter of weeks ago.

Rather than just browsing what their friends may be up to, users are now able to crowdsource their activities. So, instead of looking for a good coffee shop by typing 'Covent Garden latte' into a search engine, Foursquare Explore will show who has checked in nearby, and also reveal what they have said about the latte. Unlike search engines, all the content is provided by other users.

Obviously, this would only work if coffee fans had already checked in and commented. Social media experts believe that in posting tips about themselves and their locations, brands (and the aforementioned coffee shops) will encourage users to engage.

'Twitter brought people together based on common interest and common thought,' says Sutton. 'Now geotagging is bringing people together who have a common interest in common places.'

'This is the first I've seen of truly innovative social search in your pocket,' affirms 33 Digital's Benvie. 'It will change the way people look for things, shop for things, who they trust, where they buy their breakfast, lunch and dinner. Social search is here to stay.'

Foursquare Explore: How it works

1. Choose the distance you are willing to go to find what you want You can set the slider anywhere from 'very close' to '10 kilometres'
2. Choose between 'only friends' or all Foursquare users
3. Alternatively, choose 'only me' This works best for those who have made a lot of check ins - and only trust their own recommendations! It acts as a way to refer back to your own notes on a particular place
4. Choose what type of place you want to search You can eat, drink, go out, shop, or look for a hospital
5. Type in your search keyword Choose anything from 'shoes' to a rare type of food. The application will bring up check ins and tips from the relevant locations within the area you selected. Now all you have to do is go out and explore!

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