By Nick Johnson - September 21st, 2010
Hi again everyone. I'm getting back into the swing of things after a holiday. Sorry it has taken so long. Anyway , I don't know whether you noticed - in al the furore about the revelation that the...
Hi again everyone. I'm getting back into the swing of things after a holiday. Sorry it has taken so long.
Anyway , I don't know whether you noticed - in al the furore about the revelation that the Pepsi Refresh Project garnered more votes than the last US Presidential Election - but Foursquare have just put out a new version of their app for the iPhone.
It's an important time for Foursquare, after the launch of Facebook Places in the UK. They have decided to push hard to promote their 'To Do' and 'Tips' features in the new iteration of the app.
But how is this going to affect business?
Well, apparently Foursquare users will be able to tag 'To Do' items from across the web (an Italian restaurant in Soho, a new gallery opening in the West End - perhaps a big sale on Oxford Street) which will then be highlighted to them next time they're in the area.
For the Foursquare user, it seems like a valuable addition. For the social-media-aware company, it could be a gamechanger.
Imagine - you're a coffee brand, and rather than spending millions on awareness-building branding and advertising, you put together a social media campaign that encourages people to add your coffee shop as a 'to do' on their Foursquare account. From there onwards, every time they log in to Foursquare, they'll receive a handy hint pointing out they can get one of your cups of coffee only 20 metres from here. Useful?
OK, so this is all very much retail-business oriented. I'd be keen to hear whether you have any interesting examples of non-footfall-oriented Foursquare campaigns...?