Party favors from the NAP Project Runway Condom Fashion Show

Did that title get your attention? This is not your average blog entry and this was not your average fashion show.

Just recently, I was involved in a Project Runway Condom Fashion Show Fundraiser for the Nebraska Aids Project along with another member of my design team, Carrie Ratcliff and fellow designer/friend Adrian Hardisty-Horsley. It was hands down THE most challenging design project we have ever been involved in. And we were so glad to be a part of it.

Step 1: Find a sponsor. We were lucky enough to be sponsored by the greatest tattoo parlor this side of the Missouri: Liquid Courage (who just happened to celebrate their 10 year anniversary).

Step 2: Find a model. Again, we were VERY lucky to be introduced to a professional model who was not only the most gorgeous model at the event, but was extremely patient and chill. She didn’t complain once about how hot our coat made out of condom wrappers was to wear.

The Team: Adrian, Carrie, Jill and Christina

Step 3: Design something out of condoms. We met once over coffee with inspirations and sketches and ended up collaborating to create our dream “raincoat.” Forget the fact it would be made out of condoms – it will be very well designed, and everyone will want to wear it. They will look past the fact that it is made out of condom wrappers and tape. (keep reading for more about the actual fabrication.)

Step 4: Engineering the design. We purchased every kind of glue and tape possible. We hunted down a dress form and was able to borrow one from our friends at the Creighton Fine Arts Department. Which, by the way, was an invaluable asset. I cannot imagine designing and completing a clothing design without a dress form. Especially when condom wrappers need some major work to get them to lay flat and appear seamless.

Christina, our model, demonstrating the working hood on the condom coat during the after party.

After working through the design sketches, which had to remain flexible since we had no idea how the condoms and wrappers would work as a physical material, we got together to test the functionality of the wrappers and the condoms themselves. How easy we could get them to stay together. The winning combination: staples and packing tape! Yes…you heard that right. It took a total of nearly 18 hours (and a bottle of wine) to complete the design and fit our model. The first time she put the coat on, we all got goosebumps. It looked like an actual wearable! Which was precisely our main goal. We didn’t want our outfit to look like a costume or the obvious: a bunch of condoms glued together.

Christina, our model, rocking the condom coat with grace and style during the after party.

The event was a great success and raised dollars and most of all awareness for the Nebraska Aids Project. It was such a success that NAP will most likely make this an annual fundraiser. Even though it was a major challenge (Literally, we all suffered staple wounds and mylar condom wrapper cuts – Band-Aid should have been our sponsor), took hours of our time and energy – we would still do it all over again. Because that’s what Creatives thrive on: BIG challenges for a great causes.

We can’t wait for 2011’s Condom Fashion Event and are ready to throw down!

The outdoor portion of the runway. The entire runway was over a block long and wove its way through the Magnolia Hotel.

There’s an amazing amount of communication going on these days. We can call from anywhere using our mobile phones, get and send emails from those phones, text people, IM people, post to Twitter and Facebook, and blog from anywhere and everywhere we are at.

There are also a tremendous number of tools out there that help us to manage, review, schedule and automate these communications. What’s important to remember is that while these tools are great for helping you manage your inputs and outputs, there’s still no substitute for true, authentic communication.

The introduction of all these convenience tools is what makes it increasingly apparent when you’re seeing an honest, real message versus an automated, robotic one. This was most recently illustrated to me by two responses I got to a tweet I made regarding my receipt of the book, “Delivering Happiness” by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh.

I said:

I received two responses from that tweet. One from @Zappos_Service and one from @FedExDolores. Here’s what they said:

Guess which one was (most likely) automated? Sorry, Dolores, you lose.

If you look at the full Twitter stream for both the Zappos account and the FedEx account, it is immediately apparent which one is either manned by a human or at least manned by a human who doesn’t have a standardized response template. Zappos, you win. You can also see that the Zappos account is typically signed off by a person at the end of a day and then re-signed into at the beginning of a new day by announcing who is at the helm. FedEx has tried to embody a specific “person” into each named account instead of having a singular customer

I’ve experienced this with FedEx’s Twitter robots before. I posted a photo in which I used the term, “FedEx” and got a robo-response:

Given the excellent usage of spacing in that message, I felt it was safe to assume a human didn’t do it. Sure enough, when looking at the full tweet stream of FedExLina’s account, it looked very robotic to me.

Now, I know that FedEx is likely getting a lot more mentions on Twitter than Zappos is, so they have a lot more responding to do. Even so, as a customer, I really don’t feel any better about getting some message from you if it’s just some automated (or template) response. This type of communication is the same thing as a robo-call, a form letter, or anything that takes the true, honest, person-to-person factor out of a human-to-human exchange.

If you’re going to automate something, don’t try to make it appear human.

That’s where we get to authenticity. A robo-response that tries to appear as a human response is NOT authentic. A robo-response that is clearly an automated reply IS authentic. I don’t have a problem with automated responses. They can be very helpful. But when you receive an out-of-office reply from someone, it says so. It doesn’t say, “Brian – thanks for emailing me. I look forward to replying to your message as soon as I can. I appreciate you taking the time to send this to me. Have a great day!”

What I’m left with after these two simple responses is a better feeling form Zappos and a worse one form FedEx. Sure, this is little stuff in the grand scheme of things, but I believe this is the little stuff that matters. My gut reaction to Zappos moving forward is going to be a little bit better, and to FedEx, a little bit worse.

Decide what approach you’re going to take with your personal and business communication. Make sure it’s real and authentic. Just don’t try to be something you’re not.

UPDATE: I responded to @FedExDolores with:

I received these two responses approximately an hour later from my old friend FedExLina:

Seems Lina is still having punctuation and spacing problems. I’m going to ask @FedExLina how @FedExDolores sent me the first message today if she’s out of the office and see what she says. I think this helps drive my point in that it’s pretty easy to see through false authenticity. Stay tuned.

UPDATE #2: Lina is a quick responder! I also like her take on the English language. Here’s my question:

And her response:

I would be “happy to glad” if this whole thing didn’t make me feel bad for such a lost customer service opportunity.

Today Apple releases the iPhone 4 to the masses. Or, at least it’s the release date. Stories abound of shortages, long lines, and people weeping either over the glories of their new device or devastating depression at not getting one yet. That’s all well and good – and getting a lot of press – but where does this ongoing battle actually stand?

Back in March, I weighed in on some things going on with the mobile device war that’s being waged between Apple and Google. The heat’s still on. Google posted yesterday that more than 160,000 new Android-powered devices are activated every day. More than two per second. That’s a lot. And nicely timed with that announcement, Google.

Here’s what is striking me now: How similar is this current situation to Apple vs. Microsoft in the early days of personal computers?

Hear me out.

Apple comes up with the Mac. It’s awesome. A mouse. All-in-one computer. Great interface. Easy to use. Kinda expensive. Can only be bought from Apple.

Microsoft’s OS can be installed on any compatible hardware. It’s relatively easy and open to program for. It’s not quite as nice, but it works. And you can buy it anywhere.

Flash forward. Apple’s phone is awesome. Incredible technological advances and a huge WANT factor. Must be bought from Apple and used on AT&T’s network. Google doesn’t have a phone, but it has an OS. It’s available on many different pieces of hardware from a variety of carriers.

The data shows that Android is making decent gains against the iPhone. Quantcast has a nice writeup about market share and the relative growth of the top mobile OS’s in the market. This chart is particularly interesting:

Granted, this shows mobile web consumption, but that’s a good (and easy to measure) indicator of how things are going.

I think it’s worth keeping an eye on this trend. Apple makes a nice big deal about what they are doing and they get a lot of press for it. They set the standard and they set it high. But Google does a lot of things very well, too. And at a certain point, what features are luxuries and which are necessities? A screen with a resolution higher than you can perceive is really cool (iPhone 4) but a nice large display in full color is still perfectly good when it’s a little handheld device.

Ultimately for consumers and marketers, though, who wins doesn’t matter as much. What really matters, and what we must pay attention to, is the accelerating adoption of mobile devices into the marketplace. People can get their data anywhere at any time. And it’s making a difference in personal communications and buying habits.

There are exciting days ahead!

Embrace digital not as a competitor to traditional services, but as a complement.

Digital services continue to be the primary growth engine, but traditional revenue streams are expected to remain significantly larger throughout the forecast period.  Digital spending in the US is expected to account for 26% of all E&M spending in 2014, up from 19% in 2009.  

Overall US advertising is expected to increase at a 2.6 % CAGR from $159 billion in 2009 to $180 billion in 2014.  In the US, Internet advertising is expected to surpass newspaper advertising spend in 2010.  Advertising spending for Internet, television, radio, out-of-home, and video games are expected to be larger in 2014 than in 2009, while consumer magazines, newspapers, directories and trade magazines are expected to be smaller.

These projections reflect the market fragmentation and consumer behavioral changes. The advertising industry is responding to consumers’ shifting attention and migrating towards total marketing or total brand communication.  Brands are changing their focus from advertising on a medium, to marketing through, and with, content.  

Three themes that are expected to emerge from changing consumer behavior and the industry must anticipate and pre-empt the needs and wants of consumers.  

• Rising power of mobility and devices: Advances in technology are expected to see increasingly converged, multi-functional mobile devices come of age as a consumption platform by the end of 2011. By 2014, US mobile Internet access subscribers are projected to increase to 96.1 million, a 40% CAGR from 2009. 
• Growing dominance of Internet experience over all content consumption: Increasingly, the consumer has moved beyond thinking of the Internet as an end in itself, and expects all forms of media to embed the convenience, immediacy and interactivity of the Internet. People are already consuming magazines and newspapers on Internet-enabled tablets, and streaming personalized music services in preference to buying physical CDs.
• Increasing engagement and readiness to pay for content-driven by improved consumption experiences and convenience: Consumers are more willing to pay for content when accompanied by convenience and flexibility in usage, personalization and a differentiated experience that cannot be created elsewhere. Local relevance is also expected to enhance the content providers’ ability to charge.  

If engagement with consumers is the next wave of marketing, 10 companies are doing a particularly good job of it, according to brand and communications research agency Hall & Partners.

In conjunction with a new tool that measures consumer brand engagement on an emotional level, the Omnicom-owned company determined the 10 most engaging brands in the U.S.  The 10 most engaging brands are (in order): 1. EBay 2. Google 3. Amazon 4. Kraft Foods 5. Microsoft 6. Facebook 7. Coca-Cola 8. Pepsi 9. Yahoo 10. Dove

Coca-Cola and Pepsi have employed many marketing tactics over the years to build strong brand communities, using everything from experiential marketing to forays into social media.  And while Kraft may be initially surprising as a brand with high consumer engagement, the company’s recent efforts to broaden its image “beyond the refrigerator” — particularly with newer tactics.

Source:  MediaPost Communications

Lauritzen Gardens, a 100-acre botanical garden, is an urban oasis of beauty and tranquility. With an average of 162,000 visitors per year, Lauritzen Gardens serves as a major environmental resource to the Omaha area.

The annual Antique & Garden Show is the largest fundraising event for the Garden. For the 2009 event, their objectives were to increase awareness of Lauritzen Gardens, drive ticket sales to the preview party, speaker events, and luncheons and increase antique purchases and general admission ticket sales.

Bozell has partnered with the Garden since the inception of this event, six years ago. Every year, we incorporate Spring into our creative marketing. Created in Florence, Italy, Spring is one of four antique statues that depict each season. Spring represents both the garden and antique aspects of the event. The 2009 color palette incorporated natural earth tones to reinforce the fall season, while the ornamental flourish adds life and energy. Pieces produced included the letterhead, save-the-date, invitation, event program and the print campaign.

We chose to target two main audiences. The first included working women, ages 35+ that do not normally collect antiques but embrace culture, enjoy their homes and wish to be engaged in their community. The other target audience included former attendees. In addition to the event’s 30 antique dealers from across the country and the U.K., speakers were chosen that would increase the number of attendees from these target audiences. The speakers included Susan Jacques, Borsheims President and CEO; Charles Faudree, a well-known interior designer and author of “Charles Faudree Interiors;” and P. Allen Smith, a gardening expert, TV host, and author of “How to Get More From Your Garden Than a Backache.”

The Antique & Garden Show drew almost 5,000 attendees. While that number is not considerably larger than the year before, it is indicative of an important milestone the Garden has begun to meet: they have known that the continued success of this event lies with the ability to draw antique-lovers and enthusiasts from around the region to support the show and the exhibitors. 2009 was the first year this occurred in an significant way, drawing visitors from Des Moines, Kansas City, Sioux Falls, Lincoln, and even a few from Denver. The materials we prepared were the tools used to entice this regional audience.  Because of this success the Garden anticipates a major push in marketing this year to those regions as well as to their core constituency.

In the publishing world, there are two main ways to get a book published: self publishing and traditional publishing. Self publishing is when the author fronts all the costs and has to market the book to sell it, but in the end – they reap all the profits. Traditional publishing is when an author pays an agent to shop their manuscripts to publishers. When, and if, they get published – the author may earn up to 15 percent of profits. In either case, it is a costly and time consuming process for the author.

WriteLife, LLC is a collaborative online publishing company. Its mission is to offer anyone and everyone the opportunity to write, publish, share and sell their literary works of art. WriteLife sets itself apart from other more traditional publishers because they agree to pay authors royalties equivalent to 50 percent of all net profits received from the sale of their content. (Net profit is the money generated after all WriteLife’s expenses for publishing the book.) They provide an advance to authors in the form of pre-production and production costs of editing a manuscript, creating a book and placing it in distribution channels such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble. There are no purchase requirements, and every WriteLife author receives a complimentary copy of their published book.

WriteLife came to Bozell and requested a proposal for a campaign that would achieve these objectives:

1) Establish a category name for publishing that separates WriteLife.com apart from self publishing and traditional publishing.

2) Establish WriteLife.com as a recognized name in the publishing world.

3) Increase traffic to WriteLife.com.

4) Increase number of manuscripts submitted to WriteLife.com for publishing.

Category Name

Establishing a category name was the first task at hand. We had to make authors aware that there are more options for publishing and only one (that we’re aware of) that can earn authors 50 percent of profits from books sold. Since WriteLife works directly with the author, provides professional editors at no cost and holds the author’s hand throughout the entire process – we came up with the category name of Collaborative Publishing.

Online Advertising Campaign

Our strategy was to develop an online advertising campaign to increase traffic to WriteLife.com which, in turn, would lead to increased manuscript submission and WriteLife name recognition. We secured over 12 million impressions over a two month period and negotiated over 2.4 million bonus impressions.

Our target audience consisted of adult authors in either the general interest (broad audience) or professional writer categories. We wanted to reach these authors in truly relevant environments where they would be receptive to WriteLife messaging, so we placed this messaging on arts and literature as well as academic sites in order to reach creative as well as academic writers. We also placed display ads on national sites that offer literary content, such as www.barnesandnoble.com, which have strong brand recognition and deliver significant traffic on a monthly basis, these sites are trusted and gained a national audience for WriteLife. In addition, we placed messaging on sites that have educational content to target the academic writers.

For further national and focused targeting, we placed WriteLife on writing and publishing specific sites. These included PublishersWeekly.com, WritersDigest.com, WriterMag.com, PW.org (Poets & Writers), and MediaBistro.com. We also utilized high impact units where 100% exclusivity is available, including exclusive sponsorships, such as page takeovers, and content sponsorships, such as e-newsletters.

Results

Prior to the September online advertising campaign launch, WriteLife.com site traffic per month (over the last 12 months) averaged 4,821 visits/month. On average – WriteLife.com received 4 manuscripts per month.

In the first two months of the campaign – WriteLife received 9,291 unique visitors to the site, 24 new manuscripts were submitted and over 180 new users registered on their site. In addition to online advertising – we secured print insertions, a webinar and email marketing campaign to further increase awareness, site traffic and manuscripts for WriteLife.com.

According to the latest edition of The Nielsen Company’s Three Screen Report, over the last two years, ownership of HDTVs, DVRs and smartphones have increased at double and triple digit rates. More than half of US TV households now have HDTV, up 189% from the first quarter of 2008, and more than one-third now have DVRs, up 51%.  High-speed broadband Internet access, now in 63.5% of homes, has created a better user experience for watching online videos.

Nearly a quarter of households have smartphones, enabling consumers to “place shift” and watch video wherever they are.  Despite the common perception that viewers of videos on mobile phones are predominantly teens, more than half are adults aged 25-49. While mobile online video viewing is still fairly limited, year over year growth is notable at 51.2%

Video viewing across all major media platforms continues to be fueled in part by the adoption of technologies that improve the consumer experience whether it be quality or convenience. Penetration of HDTVs, DVRs, broadband and smartphones increased at double- or even triple-digit rates during the last two years.

• HDTV: More than half of US TV households now have a high-definition television and receive HD signals; between Q1 2008 and Q1 2010, HDTV penetration grew 189%

HDTV’s rapid growth is important for a number of reasons. First, high-definition raises the bar for programmers and advertisers and increases consumer experience expectations on other platforms. Second, HD sets still tend to be found disproportionately in high-income, highly educated households that are often characterized by lower viewing. HD-capable households actually watch 3% more primetime TV than  HD-non-capable households, which may help drive viewing among segments of audiences marketers find most important.

• DVR: More than a third of homes have a digital video recorder, up 51% from Q1 2008 to Q1 2010, making it possible for more viewers to watch TV programs on their own schedule

Timeshifting, including DVR and Video-On-Demand, is another technology which appears to be bolstering consumption. The timeshifting audience increased by 14%, to more than nine and a half hours per month. As timeshifting increases, the rate of commercial viewing during playback remains steady. On average, viewers watched 45% of commercials during timeshifted playback in Q1 2010 compared with 43% in Q1 2009. At the same time, the continued growth of timeshifting is creating more opportunities for viewers to catch missed programs or try new ones.

• Broadband: 63.5% of homes now have broadband Internet access, with high-speed connections that improve online video delivery

Beyond the TV, technology is helping drive video use on the “second” and “third” screens. The proliferation of broadband access is bolstering online video, creating an alternative mass outlet for distributing television content and “timeshifting” long-form TV.

• Smartphones: Nearly a quarter of households (up 38% year-over-year) have smartphones (mobile phones with advanced operating systems), making it easier for consumers to “place shift” and watch video wherever they are

Source:  Center for Media Research June 20^th

Struggling social network MySpace is gearing up for a relaunch of the site later this year, but the question remains is the site worth saving?

Once upon a time, MySpace was THE social networking site on the Internet.  Back in June of 2006, it was the most popular social networking site in the United States.  In April of 2008 however it was overtaken by its competitor, Facebook. 

There has been an interesting shift in who uses the sites. MySpace began with a big preference for teenagers whereas Facebook was designed specifically for college students.  As the two sites have grown up, their users have changed.  These days teens, professionals, moms, dads, grandparents, etc. all make up online communities. 

MySpace has a lot riding on the relaunch and branding campaign especially with the fierce competition of Facebook & Twitter.  

I have to believe that the days of MySpace are numbered.  The cool kids have  jumped ship and established new homes elsewhere leaving MySpace a virtual wasteland.  

The social networking site has simply run its course with the overwhelming majority.  Where MySpace might be able to shine is with music and this niche audience but will this be enough I don’t know.  Facebook does not have a music player or the customizable layout options that MySpace does prompting many music enthuasists to travel to MySpace. 

For me there are two paths that MySpace can take: Integrate into TV and mobile devices or fade into irrelevance like Friendster.

R.I.P Friendster

Thomas Salme was a maintenance engineer who decided to be a pilot. He didn’t go to flight school, however. He simply printed out a flying permit on 8.5 x 11 computer paper at his home, then trained for a few hours in a flight simulator, got into a Boeing 737 and started to fly. For 13 years, he flew thousands of passengers without incident. A couple of months ago, he was finally arrested.

Here’s a question: if you’re getting on a plane tomorrow and Thomas Salme is in the cockpit, do you stay on the flight knowing all of the information above? My guess is that you don’t, and my grandmother testing around the office seems to bear this out. But here’s the real question: why not?

This is a guy with more than a decade of successful flying time who takes part in the same intensive annual training of his licensed counterparts. He has the experience. He has the aptitude. Why not trust him to jet you off to a weekend in Luxembourg?

There’s really no reason. Some people mention his ethics. And while those are obviously questionable, ethics don’t safely land a 737. What makes most people nervous about Thomas Salme is that he doesn’t have a real pilot’s license. They want that piece of paper.

Stop for a second and take a look around your office. Think about the people you trust to do a great job. Then think about the people you don’t. In today’s corporate environment, all of them have at least one piece of paper that says they’re capable. Many of them probably have a second piece of paper with the prestigious letters M.B.A. But I bet you didn’t think much about those pieces of paper when it came to who you trusted.

Now think about yourself. Why should people trust you to do your job? Because of your piece of paper? Unless you’re a heart surgeon or a NASA engineer who accidentally stumbled onto this post after googling “weekend in Luxembourg,” probably not.

If you’re in marketing or advertising, people trust you because you have a history of success. You did something. Perhaps you did a lot of somethings. You got noticed. And because success breeds success, someone chose you to help them become more successful. Then someone else. And finally you were the one making the choices.

But again: did all that success have anything to do with your piece of paper? Did your Marketing 201 class really help that much? It may have helped you get into a door, but it didn’t make you successful. Experience and intuition got you where you are today. (That, or you knew whose buttocks were worthy of your lips.)

A lot of us are Thomas Salmes. We have a piece of paper that means very little to our practical, day-to-day jobs. We’re not really cut out for our jobs, because there’s no template. How many times have you made a million-dollar decision on a moment’s notice and thought: “Phew. If it wasn’t for Professor Higgenbotham’s sage advice on embracing the cultural zeitgeist while concepting, I probably would have just tried to sell a client a multi-year campaign based on a loose combination of Cop Rock and Homeboys in Outer Space“?

Because of this reliance on earned wisdom and first instincts, it often feels like we’re faking it. And by any academic definition, we are. But people keep getting on our plane and we keep flying. And why not? We have the experience and the aptitude. They have the increase in sales or brand recognition.

So why not get on Thomas Salme’s plane? I could see why you wouldn’t have been thrilled to knowingly be on his maiden voyage. But after thirteen years of success, the guy obviously knows what he’s doing. In fact, I’d sumbit the only reason I might not fly with Mr. Salme is because of that success. When you’ve gone thirteen years without incident in your job, you’re overdue for a decent-sized failure. And a downed 737 is a much bigger catastrophe than greenlighting Homeboys in Outer Space. (Although, I can’t be as definitive about the disaster that was Cop Rock.)

Foursquare is dealing with a landslide of queries from business owners and marketing agencies that want a piece of the fast-growing service. It has already developed integrations with a range of brand advertisers in various verticals, including Starbucks for retail, Bravo in entertainment, Pepsi in packaged goods, and Bing for technology and online services.

What is Foursquare?

Foursquare is a service that helps find where your friends are hanging out and offers tips from other users on what to do once you get there. You use your phone to “check in” at different places you visit, from bars and restaurants to parks, museums and even the grocery store! Foursquare rewards you for checking in with badges, points and mayorships.

Foursquare is just one of a number of new mobile social networks — Gowalla, Loopt Star, Where, Buzz, Dream Walk, BriteKite, MyTown, PegShot — that use GPS-driven location tagging to allow users to check in, post tips and, more importantly, share that information with their friends. Each check-in rewards the user with a badge, passport stamp or points.

There are also social good-focused geo location services such as CauseWorld and Scavnger that allow users to check in and redeem their points for causes they support. And, more recently, Yelp and Facebook announced that they, too, will join the fray with their own location-based service.

How do I get started?

Download one of Foursquare’s mobile apps on your phone. They provide apps for iPhone, Android, Blackberry and Palm phones.

Register for an account on Foursquare’s website or through the mobile app. Be sure to upload a profile picture so you can be eligible for mayorships! Link your Facebook and Twitter accounts to make it easy to find your friends and share your current location on your favorite social networking sites.

Check in at the places you visit

Checking in lets your friends know where you are. To check in, open the mobile app on your phone and Foursquare will use your phone’s GPS to find your current location. Click the “places” button or tab to see a list of nearby places where you can check in. If the place you’re looking for isn’t in the list, add it directly from your phone.  You’ll have the option to share your location with your Foursquare friends and with Facebook and Twitter.

Check out tips and leave them for others

One of Foursquare’s greatest features is the ability to leave tips on a venue. People leave tips about their favorite dishes, things to do, how to get a discount and even where to find clean bathrooms. You’ll find tips like “the Gyro Pizza is the best you’ll ever eat” or “avoid the hot and spicy burrito — it’s neither hot nor spicy.”

With Foursquare the primary premise is around rewarding users with three different merit systems.  Mayors, Badges and Points.

1)  Mayor – A mayor is a user who is in 1^st place on the location leader board.  First place defined as most check-ins

2)  Badges – Badges are awarded for achieving various milestones tied to either the number of check-in’s at a given location or the amount of check-in’s throughout the day or other criteria. 

3)  Points – Points are awarded at varying increments based on multiple factors such as a new venue may yield a higher point allocation. 

 Get a Discount

Some businesses have started to use Foursquare as a “digital loyalty card” to track users who visit their stores. To reward you for being a regular customer, they might offer you a free drink every fifth visit or 10% off your bill the tenth time you check in. Other places offer discounts to the mayor. You’ll see any specials a business is offering in your mobile app when you check out the list of nearby venues.

Foursquare has just hired several staffers whose job is to plow through the long queues of business requests. They’re each currently processing hundreds of such requests a day.  On the list are a huge number of mobile businesses that want to verify their listings – a process by which Foursquare confirms a person owns (or represents the owner of) a food cart, cafe, corporate office, or any other business. Verification is a prerequisite for offering specials – like, for instance, a free Italian sausage with onions and peppers on your fourth check-in.

Red Robin Gourmet Burgers has become the first major national restaurant chain to launch a checkin special on Foursquare. Any Foursquare user who shows their server they’ve checked in will receive either a Big Melt Bacon Burger or a Honey Mustard Chicken Sandwich for $6.99.

Bing joined CNN in sponsoring a badge for this year’s World Cup. Users are able to unlock the badge by checking in at world cup viewing locations in select U.S. cities like New York, Atlanta, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Seattle.

New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) has launched a partnership with Foursquare to encourage visitors to check in when they visit the museum. Foursquare users who check in twice will earn the Met Lover badge.

Six Flags amusement parks have announced a partnership with Foursquare to offer a new badge and other incentives to guests who check in through Foursquare. The Funatic badge can be unlocked by checking in 10 times at the same Six Flags park this summer.

Foursquare Benefits?

6 reasons to care about Foursquare as a business

1) Customer insight and word of mouth – You can gain invaluable insight into the behavior patterns of your customers. You can analyze visit trends as well as gain insight into their views of your brand.

2) Customer service – With the ability to get near real time feedback as users interact you can gauge the sentiment of your users.

3) Customer retention/ Loyalty Program – Forget about punch cards, track loyalty via check-in’s and reward those who frequent establishments with special offers and recognition.

4) Viral Effect – With the auto post of updates to Twitter & Facebook with badge unlocks and options to post your check-in’s the viral impact of check-in’s is amplified with this service moreso than other geo-services to date.

5) Big Brands are taking note – Starbucks & Dominos have already started campaigns with Foursquare and with various media partnerships this trend will quickly continue to rise.

6) Measurement – One of the powerful elements of the service is the analytics option that is currently being rolled out. As a business owner it is possible to track: Total checkins, unique visitors, when and if users shared their updates (twitter, facebook) as well as analysis of demographic breakdown and ability to track usage over time .

4 reasons to care about Foursquare as a consumer

• Technology powered digital memory jogger:  We are all prone to memory lapses. How nice to have a record of your travels on your phone. No need to remember the address; the geo location service automatically populates. If you use the comment section to record a note about something you especially enjoyed or despised — a bottle of wine, a helpful sales clerk, etc.

• Tips from known reviewers: I know the people who have left tips at places I check in to.

• Real-time ability to connect in real life with friends and colleagues: Each of these services offers the ability to see what’s trending at any given moment near your location — as well as where your friends and colleagues have checked in (if they enabled sharing).

• Onsite retail rewards: delight factor of receiving an on-site reward or discount for checking into a location.