Foursquare has announced the availability of Foursquare Pages for companies, brands and other organisations. While still buggy since it was made public yesterday the concept will focus on having a one-stop Page that will allow users to share tips, reach new fans and gain new followers on this location-based social networking platform.
Geo-marketing is a concept that has been around for many years and focuses on using geolocation ‘in the process of planning and delivering marketing activities based and tailored on the location of the audience.’ Foursquare adds the concept of the community to the marketing to enable organisations to tap into and benefit from recommendations that our own social communities share – best table at this restaurant, great shop for vintage, great customer service at this shop, etc. The problem though is that after over 2 years since Foursquare was unveiled it is still seen as a game and an experiment by many businesses. It has not been adopted, yet!
The opportunities for businesses though are enormous. After all, the theory goes that if you reward your customers then they should recommend the business to their own community. Some brand specific Foursquare campaigns have yielded interesting results, but the use is still restricted to those that are connected, are social networking enthusiasts and have smartphones – not your average consumer.
From my experience, I see that local businesses in South East Asia have taken to geo-marketing with more individuality than in Western European cities. In London the standard offer is a discount for the Mayor of a venue – bar, restaurant, shop. That is it. Rare to see the rewards for ‘checking-in’ that you see in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Jakarta, such as discounts and free gifts just for visiting and ‘checking in.’ Perhaps it is a cultural point.
Customer facing businesses will only gain the benefits from geo-marketing if they develop suitable rewards that encourage customers to develop their loyalty. After all, the technology alone won’t improve the bottom-line, for this you have to look at the business from a consumers perspective.
Foursquare and other services are ideally placed to help small and medium sized businesses (SME’s) because it isn’t just about rewards, but about accessing the recommendations from members of our networks.
#Londonriots – Fuelled By Mobile, Not Social Media
Monday, August 8th, 2011Social media sites Facebook and twitter were blamed today by Government and Metropolitan Police spokespeople for fanning the UK #Londonriots and looting over the weekend. Fingers were pointed at these social networking sites for the fact that they enable people to send out calls for people to gather together.
The disturbances happened after the fatal shooting of Tottenham father of four Mark Duggan who was allegedly killed in a minicab on Thursday by police firearm officers.
Blaming these sites is just placing a distraction for the real reasons for the unlawful behaviour that took place, highlighting a lack of understanding or will to understand of how people use social media today.
In fact, as Partner at Engine group Jonathan Akwue points out in his blog, it wasn’t Facebook or Twitter that fuelled the riots, but most probably BBM – BlackBerry Messenger. BlackBerry is the phone of choice amongst a young demographic that took part in the riots, primarily because of BBM is virtually free (You just need a BlackBerry data plan) and unlike Facebook and Twitter, which are both open, it’s truly private.
BBM messages are encrypted and run through Research In Motion’s Canadian servers, and issue that has created many problems for the firm in India and the UAE, where they were threatened with being banned unless their encrypted communications were ‘opened-up’.
Emirates247 reported on 26th July that Abu Dhabi Police have warned that ‘spreading malicious rumours and fake news through BlackBerry messenger (BBM) is punishable by law and offenders could by jailed up to three years.’ The question now is if the UK Government is with it’s tarring of social networking and the recent extension of the #phonehacking judicial review going to push for something similar given that BBM is in all sense a private forum that is difficult to listen in on.
Blaming social networks is just a distraction, facilitating a reason for a possible change in policy that could be rushed through without understanding how these communication channels work. But think about it, why would anybody wanting to do a crime share it on an open network? Why not use a private channel? Why can’t lawmakers understand this simple fact?
During the weekend riots Twitter was the channel used to report what was unfolding in Tottenham, Edmonton and Brixton. A channel that captured in real-time what was organised on the locked-down BBM network. If you wanted a real-time update you went to Twitter and used relevant search terms.
As Omar said in The Wire, “the game’s out there, and it’s play or get played. That simple.” And at the moment the authorities are getting played. Blaming social media confirms the distance that exists between them and the reasons that trigger the unrests.
*** UPDATE ***
BlackBerry UK have released the following statement in response to the use of BBM, ‘As in all markets around the world where BlackBerry is available, we cooperate with local telecommunications operators, law enforcement and regulatory officials. Similar to other technology providers in the UK we comply with The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and co-operate fully with the Home Office and UK police forces.’
Tags: #londonriots, bbm, blackberry, facebook, government, london, met, police, policy, research in motion, rim, riot, social media, social networking, socialmedia, socialnetworking, twitter
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