Tag Archives: foursquare

UK Foreign Office checks in to Foursquare

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A few months ago at Gov Camp (big thanks to  Dave Briggs for making it happen) I had a discussion with someone from the Foreign Office about how the rise in geo-location social media (i.e. Facebook Places, Foursquare, Gowalla etc) could potentially be used to help spread travel information to UK citizens whilst they travel.

I’m delighted to say that  the Foreign Office is now the first UK government department to join  Foursquare. As you travel around the world, you can ‘check-in’ your location – be it at the airport, train station or tourist attraction – and view ‘tips’ about the venue you are at or venues nearby.

In his latest blog, Head of Digital Diplomacy Jimmy Leach said:

“…we’ll be using Foursquare to make as many as possible of the 8 million people already on there aware of where our embassies are, for when they need help, and to distribute information where we think it’s useful – at airports, major tourist venue and hotspots. And if the last 6 months have taught us anything it is that the sort of advice the Foreign Office produces can be invaluable to British nationals (and others) as they live and travel overseas.”

I really like the fact that the Foreign Office is trying new ways to communicate with users and shows that whilst there may not be much money in government these days the spirit of Gov 2.0 is well and truly and alive. Just think what else could be done if there was a bit of cash

What do you think? How else do you think the Foreign Office could reach more people and send them relevant travel advice. 

Chasing Jimmy Choo Trainers on Social Media

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Last week at the New Media Age Live event in London Matt Rhodes from Fresh Networks presented a fascinating case study of how the agency came up with a unique way to promote  Jimmy Choo’s new trainer.  Here’s a summary of the campaign and Matt’s slides.

The concept:

• Using 4Square Jimmy Choo trainers checked-in to different locations throughout London  that Jimmy Choo customers would be likely to visit – e.g Expensive restaurants and art galleries. Fans then had 5mins to get to the location to win the trainers

Background:

• Years were spent building up the 250K Facebook ‘Likes’, but more important than the number is the fact that engagement from fans on the Page was higher than on any other UK based brand, apart from Burberry

Results
• Wide online coverage quickly became led to stories in national newspapers
• Sales of the trainer increased by 33%

http://static.slidesharecdn.com/swf/ssplayer2.swf?doc=jimmychoopepfoursquareweb-100702100522-phpapp01&stripped_title=jimmy-choo-pep-foursquare-web-4667255&userName=freshnetworks

Dallas restaurant offers free food via social media…and reaches 2million

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Chili’s Grill & Bar claims to be the first national casual dining chain to offer a free item for a check-in via a mobile social network, a tactic designed to drive foot traffic into its restaurants.

At participating locations nationwide for a limited time only, Foursquare subscribers who check in at Chili’s will receive a free order of chips and house-made salsa. Participating locations will be demarcated on Foursquare with a “special offer” flag whenever a guest is within 200 yards of the restaurant.

“Chili’s Grill & Bar wanted to capitalize on the popularity of Foursquare to offer a cutting-edge incentive with our guests,” said Nicole Cochran, director of marketing at Chili’s Grill & Bar, Dallas, TX. “Additionally, our Foursquare offer is a unique way to leverage mobile marketing that is current and relevant.

“We also utilize our bloggers and advocate program to help promote this offer and encourage Foursquare’s 2 million users to take advantage of the deal.”

Chili’s Grill & Bar is the flagship restaurant brand of Dallas-based Brinker International Inc., which specializes in casual dining.

Chili’s has 1,499 locations in 30 countries and two territories.

To unlock Chili’s chips and salsa offer with a coupon for instant redemption, guests check-in on Foursquare at participating Chili’s locations.

Here is a screen grab of the Chili’s offer on Foursquare:

chilis-foursquare-offer-screen-shot-wide-07281

Ms. Cochran said that with more than 2 million users and counting, Foursquare has given Chili’s a simple way to engage its tech-savvy brand fans.

“Additionally, if someone checks-in near a Chili’s location, they will receive the same notification about our offer as those who check-in at the restaurant,” she said. “This is a great way to drive traffic for people who are seeking dining options in the immediate area.”

Full story on Mobile Commerce Daily

Financial times teams up with Foursquare

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If you’re already compulsively playing Foursquare and find yourself notching up points at, say, LSE, you’re in for a treat. The Financial Times new deal with a handful of leading business schools is the first major deal for the location service Foursqure in the UK, and demonstrates both the kind of marketing campaigns we will be seeing much more of, and how mainstream casual gaming has become.Foursquare users at the cafes in Cass, LSE, London Business School, Harvard and Columbia will be able to earn secret codes that will give them access to premium subscriptions for FT.com. More venues will be added as the campaign continues.

For Foursquare, this is an opportunity to promote itself to a wealthy and entrepreneurially minded userbase, while the FT gets a very fashionable marketing campaign. “We’re conscious we need to engage with readers in different ways,” said Rob Grimshaw, the FT’s head of digital operations. This is just one of a range of initiatives that are pushing the FT brand in social media spaces in ways that allow a different relationship with us, and there and tangible results.”

As I wrote last week, there is considerable potential in ‘funware’ for the news and publishing industries, and in incentivising a loyal community through a competitive points and rewards system where editorially appropriate. Grimshaw said that Twitter and Facebook are important tools in bringing people to the FT site, and though Foursquare is unproven as yet it is important to engage and experiment. As for the FT’s own in-house developers, Grimshaw wouldn’t give absolute figures but said no organisation trying to reshape its business for the digital age could ever have enough. “You could double the developer resource and still not have enough.”