Location Based Gifts

Giftrocket is a location based gifting service that uses your phones GPS and the PayPal service to redeem rewards for a specific location. Here's how it works via mashable:

"...the giver picks a place in a specific region, as sourced from Yelp’s business listings, via the GiftRocket website. Let’s use Peet’s Coffee in Marina Del Rey as an example. The gift giver then builds the GiftRocket by filling out a few key details like amount ($20), recipient name (Scott) and email, and a personal message. Finally, the buyer pays for the gift with his credit card.

Our lucky recipient, Scott, is notified via email of his new gift. The next time he visits Peet’s, he can press “redeem” on his smartphone (no app required) to cash in his gift card. After verifying Scott’s exact whereabouts, GiftRocket will approve the request and automatically deposit $20 in Scott’s PayPal account. Scott’s next lattes are on the house, theoretically."

On a similar vein gifting giant Groupon have just announced Groupon Now a location and time based version of their coupon system. How it works:

"It's only 11 a.m. Mason clicks the "hungry" button, and his phone transmits its location to Groupon's servers and then displays a list of deals from nearby restaurants. Across a bridge spanning the Chicago River, the Asian fusion restaurant Thalia Spice is testing Groupon Now by offering $20 worth of food for $12. A block to the north, an eatery named @ Spot Café is dangling a $10 coupon for $6. Each restaurant has specified that its discount is good only during select hours on that particular day, when a few of their tables would otherwise be empty."

Both projects indicate that location based services that offer real world rewards, not virtual ones (see last weeks post on the future of Foursquare) will become the direction the technology moves in. For brands, the idea that customers will generate their own gift card for a brand (Giftrocket) or that they can instantly generate one for their own (Groupon now) is a very exciting development.

Retail stores could offer time based discounts creating a sense of urgency and introducing an element of gaming to the shopping experience.


A location based "treasure hunt" that has time built in: each "clue" has to be solved and found within a certain time.


Or simply making sure that when a user is "hungry" or "bored" that their brand is present.

The Future of Foursquare: Is There One?

This video was shot by Mashable at this years SXSW festival. I've been skeptical for some time now about Foursquare and it's future, and I know others share my skepticism. I clicked on this link interested in seeing exactly what Foursquare had in mind for it's future, and to be honest I'm still unsure.

When Pete Cashmore of Mashable asks Crowley what the unique selling position of Foursquare is his answer is far from convincing, saying that scale is what's on his side. Considering facebook has a user base of over half a billion people and they launched their own check-in service "Places" last year it just doesn't seem that unique to me.

He mentions how Foursquare could be used to encourage people to go to the gym or visit a museum. These are interesting applications indeed, but if the only reward for checking-in at a gym is a virtual badge will people be bothered? Gaming mechanics are interesting, but when they're confined to the virtual world do they work? If a check-in at the gym was rewarded with money off membership, virtual currency for e-commerce sites, or exclusive offers it suddenly becomes a lot more appealing. If this is what Foursquare intend then great I think there is a future there for them, but as facebook begins to introduce facebook credits globally my prediction for their future is bleak.

Facebook Places

What is it?

Facebook Places was released in Ireland this week. Places brings location based services to the worlds largest social network, allowing people to use the GPS on their phones to "check-in" to their location and tag other facebook friends who are there with them.

Privacy

As with most facebook applications these days the feature does raise some privacy issues. Mister Zuckerberg says that the service is not about broadcasting your location to the world; it's about discovering and sharing new places with your friends. Your check-in is posted to your wall however, and you can tag any of your friends without asking their permission - not the greatest idea if you've gone for a sneaky few with work colleagues. This setting can be changed in your privacy settings under "Customise Settings" and the “Include me in ‘People Here Now’ after I check in.” section.

What it means to advertisers

Places is an exciting development for us advertising folk. For the last few years Foursquare and Gowalla have been pushing location based social media services, but take-up has come mainly from early adopters and not the public at large. By introducing location to facebook's huge user base location based social media will enter the mainstream and it's popularity will explode.

Brands can begin to offer rewards for check-ins. Some possible uses:

Coffee shops could use places as a loyalty scheme and offer a free coffee to anyone who checks-in 10 times. (They'll save money and the environment by not printing loyalty cards too)

Retailers could offer discounts to customers who check-in.

Group buying schemes could be encouraged by offering group discounts for checking in to a store with your friends.

Music stores could offer iTunes previews and downloads to customers while they're in the store. If the store was big enough they could provide bespoke content based on where they check-in i.e gaming information for anyone who checks in in the games section, and music to those in the music section.

As you can see the possibilities are there, now it's time to take advantage of them.

DonEat.at

Don't Eat At sends you a text when you check into a restaurant in NYC that is at risk of being closed for health code violations. The app uses Foursquare's API.

Brilliant, simple idea.

Thanks to Ro for the link.

Foursquare Door Opening Hack

Developers Erin Sparling and Nicholas Hall have hacked foursquare's API to use a check-in as a way to open their apartment door. A very clever idea and a nice real-world use of the check-in.

There is a nice video here that I can't embed for some reason. Grrr Flickr / Yahoo!

via the ever excellent PSFK

Gaming and the Web

2000 - 2010 was the age of the social web.
The prediction is that  2010 - 2020 will be the age of the gaming web.

You can see its manifestations already: Foursquare, Gowalla, ARG's (that's alternate reality games Ger), groupon etc.

It's an area worth keeping an eye on and principles worth considering when doing awesome work for our clients.
It's also an excuse to play loads of computer games.

And in case you don't believe me here's a TED talk about the subject, and what the good people over in Weiden + Kennedy London think about it.

Morality and Computer Games

Gamasutra has written this very interesting article on morality in gaming and it's well worth a read. I'm not a big gamer myself, but I believe as advertisers it's an area we need to learn more about. Foursquare and Gowalla are two examples of how gaming, advertising and social media have combined to form something quite impactful.