Tag Archives | Motivation

Gowalla and Incase Team Up For Location-Based Sponsorship

Gowalla, a location-based social network, and Incase, an Apple accessory manufacturer, have teamed up to create one of the first ad campaigns to live exclusively on a location-based social network. (They’re calling it a ‘collaboration’, but it’s still a proof of concept even if Gowalla isn’t getting paid for it.) The campaign features six Incase-branded virtual items which are modeled after actual Incase gear. When Gowalla users check in at any Apple Store around the world during the promotional period, they receive one of those six virtual items, and a few lucky users will even receive an actual Incase Slider case in addition to their virtual item.

This ‘real prize’ functionality debuted during Gowalla’s 10 and a Half Days of Christmas promotion, but this is the first time it’s been sponsored by another company.

Lastly, if a user collects all six virtual items, they receive a special ‘Incase Pin of Glory’ to mark their accomplishment. (Pins are one feature of Gowalla’s system.)

Since Gowalla, Foursquare, Loopt, Whrrl, Brightkite and the rest of the location-based social networks are all relatively new, they’re all still trying to figure out how to monetize their service, which should make this an interesting space to keep an eye on in 2010. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that location-based social networks will be the space to watch in the coming year, as they have the potential to revolutionize how companies advertise to consumers on a highly targeted and hyper-local level.

Currently the two leaders in the space (at least in terms of buzz) are Foursquare and Gowalla, and each service is trying slightly different methods of advertising to their users, with each method having unique advantages and disadvantages. Gowalla gives users items related to the locations that they check in at, such as Incase items at Apple Stores, and a digital icon of Gary Vaynerchuk’s Crush It book at all stops on his book tour. Foursquare on the other hand shows users sponsored locations that are near their check in location, offers users coupons and specials based on check ins, and also counts the number of times that a user checks in at a location, turning Foursquare into a hosted loyalty rewards program. Regardless of which advertising method comes out on top though, expect to see each service adopt parts of what works well with the other services as each continue to refine their offering.

To test drive this campaign, I visited the Apple Flagship Store in San Francisco and checked in on Gowalla. The first time I checked in however, nothing out of the ordinary happened, so I returned later that day and checked in again, and received an Incase Slider Case item in return. There wasn’t much more to it though, which left me feeling like they could have done so much more with the idea. (Note: I did receive a tweet the next day, shown above, which said that I was the winner of an actual Incase Slider case. While I’m excited to have won, I think the points below are still valid.) A few potential ideas/changes that crossed my mind:

Explain the campaign in the item messaging. Had I not been actively reading the Gowalla blog, I would not have known that the Incase item was any different from a normal item that you receive when checking in on Gowalla. At the very least, Gowalla should have included some information about the campaign and the fact that you can receive a special pin for collecting all six limited edition items, as this would go a long way towards increasing the repeat engagement of each user, and highlights the specialness of the item. Taking the sponsor integration a step further, if Gowalla included a web browser in their app, they could include a link to the Incase product page in the message, and if a user wanted to find out more about the featured product, they would be just a click away from detailed information and potentially even an online storefront.
Turn each item into a coupon. If Incase wants to convert Apple Store shoppers into Incase customers, they should use the message attached to each item as an opportunity for them to give Gowalla users a special deal on Incase products. The timing is perfect, since they’re reaching a very targeted audience at or near the point of purchase, and they’re also able to specifically target early adopters and heavy social network users who are the most likely to be using Gowalla at this point, and are also the most likely to help spread the message to others. Even better (for Incase at least, though maybe not for users) would be to turn each item into a small coupon, and allow users to combine the six items together to create a larger coupon, creating an incentive to collect all six items that has more real-world value than a virtual Gowalla pin.
Get users to share. Encouraging users to collect all six items is a great way to motivate repeat visits, but if Incase wants to spread the word from the initial group of influencers to a larger audience, they need to incentivize the sharing of items with others. Perhaps it’s a coupon that is only activated when one user gives an item to another user, or a contest where the person whose item is subsequently picked-up and dropped-off by the most users wins a prize from Incase, but a little motivation can go a long way toward the spread of information from user to user.

As the Gowalla/Incase campaign shows, advertising on location-based social networks can be integrated into the experience in a fun way that adds to a user’s enjoyment of the service, rather than detracting from it. And while Twitter continues to struggle to find the best way of monetizing their service without angering their users, Gowalla and Foursquare have both introduced advertising very early in their growth, which should help users accept ads and other promotions as a part of the user experience. As they continue to grow however, the key will be for location-based social networks to work closely with sponsors to help create campaigns like the Incase sponsorship that integrate ads in a non-invasive and additive way, so that users welcome and respond well to these ads, since they will ultimately provide value to both the sponsor and the user.

Skittles Embraces Social Media In A Big Way

Most brands have at least dipped a toe into the waters of social media, but earlier this week, Skittles sent the online world into a tizzy by being the first brand to jump head first into the deep end. They did so by turning Skittles.com into a social media portal, and turning their brand and brand message over to the fans through the user generated content that’s been placed on various social media channels.

After confirming your date of birth (which seems a little silly since you can see everything that appears behind the pop-up window before entering a date anyways, and because all of the individual channels are available freely to anyone of any age) you’re taken directly to one of the Skittles channels (Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter or Wikipedia) where you can view it in all its glory, plus an overlay to help you get from one channel to the next. As can be expected, some people used the opportunity to spam the Skittles fans with NC-17 messages and randomly tagged junk, but eventually the novelty wore off and things returned to normal. (Or normal, plus the tons of extra traffic and chatter from the increased awareness that the campaign created.)

For a brand that had little to no online presence (admit it, you hadn’t been to Skittles.com in the last six months either) they managed to go from zero to hero in less than 24 hours. Sure, they have done some fantastic TV spots recently that garnered a few views on YouTube, and people occasionally uploaded a picture of a design they created on their counter with a bag of Skittles onto Flickr, but there was no compelling reason for anyone to visit Skittles.com. After this campaign went live however, every blog, every news channel, every pundit, and every person with an opinion about the campaign and the Skittles brand was sharing it with others, and Skittles became not only the hot topic of the entire Internet for a day, but a buzzword for the rest of the week as well.

Now obviously this isn’t a model that would work well for any brand, since no one wants to visit the Wikipedia page for Joe’s Finger Traps and Staple Removers, but it does show that with a little effort, you can take the conversations and interactions that are already happening about a brand and amplify them through the use of social media. In addition, Skittles realized that these conversations and interactions are going to happen anyways, so they could either try to ignore them, or they could embrace them and participate in them as a way to regain some control over them. (Ironically enough, they gained back that control by going through the motions of giving up that control all together.)

In addition, when you look at the Return on Investment for a campaign like this, the numbers are phenomenal. The overlay itself doesn’t cost a lot to design and implement, the buzz spreads the word automatically, and Skittles was creating and designing their own social media channels anyways, so this just gave them a chance to show off their work and share a bit of the spotlight. Plus, once everything is in place, the users are the ones making the content, so Skittles can just sit back and relax with their hand on the moderation key for the occasional fan mis-step.

(This does bring up a good point however about moderation and a brand’s willingness to let go. For Skittles, they made the choice, either intentionally or accidentally, to give users full control, and I think it was the right choice to make. If you try to control the message, anything that slips through will be blamed on the brand, but when it’s obvious that the fans have full control, the message gets attributed directly to the creator and doesn’t send shrapnel towards the brand if anything off-brand makes it through. Plus, users tend to police themselves, so the detractors eventually get bored and move on while the true fans stick around to create content and promote the brand.)

So what are the lessons to be learned from the Skittles campaign, and how can a brand begin to adapt them into their own online strategy?

Stop worrying so much about controlling the message. Users are out there talking about your brand anyways, and they’re doing it in their own words and their own way and without your influence, so trying too hard to control the message is only going to upset them and discourage their contributions. Instead, embrace customers that are evangelical enough to talk about your brand with others, and encourage and motivate them to do so through rewards like the social justification of appearing on your website or the physical rewards of a contest or giveaway. If you do need to retain some control, do so by supporting the positive and ignoring the negative, because the system will naturally monitor and correct itself over time.
Integrate user generated content into your website. Rather than trying to segment everything into its own little area (Videos go on YouTube, Photos go on Flickr, etc.) create a central location for customers and potential customers to see it all together. Potential customers are going to seek out the opinions of current customers anyways, since we naturally trust other people the most when making a decision, so brands might as well embrace that exchange of opinion and make it happen on their own turf. Plus, it keeps development costs down, and helps keep a site relevant and fresh.
Focus as much attention on the leading social media channels as you do on you own website. Gone are the days when a user went to a company’s website to find out more information about that company. Instead, they’re looking for that company in the places that they’re already visiting, and chances are, if the company’s not there officially, they’re finding someone or something else that’s there in its place. To capitalize on this, embrace the power of social media, and put simple and cost effective work into creating a place that people want to be and that motivates them to share.

The Good:

Total integration of social media encourages participation and consumer interaction.
Novel approach increases buzz and drives huge spikes in traffic.
Development and upkeep costs are kept low, increasing ROI.

The Bad:

Users can abuse the privilege with spam and inappropriate messaging.

The Future:

Companies put some (or all) of their brand into the hands of their fans, and let social media shape their message in a public way.

Skittles

Burger King Lets People Sacrifice Friendships For Whoppers

How much would a company have to pay in order for you to publicly denounce ten of your friends?

As Burger King has discovered, there are plenty of people that are willing to do just that for a surprisingly small amount: Less than $3, or the price of a Whopper. (In less than a week, more than 45,000 friends have already been sacrificed.)

That’s because Burger King’s new Facebook application, called Whopper Sacrifice, which follows closely on the heels of their highly controversial Whopper Virgins campaign, asks users to take on an equally controversial task: ending 10 Facebook friendships in order to receive a coupon for a free Whopper. Faced with low adoption numbers and high abandonment rates however, this type of application may be just what advertisers have been looking for in order to break through the social networking walls and actually see some success. Plus, a reward (even one as small as a coupon for a free Whopper) goes a long way towards getting users motivated to support a branded and/or sponsored campaign.

To date, most branded applications have relied on the standard practice of forcing virality through friend requests and gift exchanges, and users are encouraged to grow and nurture their online friendships (a marketer’s dream; ever increasing spheres of influence!) by companies that give them the tools to do just that. Unlike an offline friendship however, which is supported by years of relationship building and has strong feelings attached as a result, many Facebook friendships are formed over weak bonds, and these ‘happy go lucky’ campaigns quickly loose their effectiveness after the tenth random knickknack exchange between part-time friends in order to earn points towards an even more worthless achievement or reward. In fact, it’s these applications and their constant encouragement to build up a friend network by inviting new users that may have caused the condition that Burger King’s app relies on in the first place: A friendship glut where a person has more Facebook friends than they would prefer to, but no easy way to get rid of them once they’re there.

Enter: Whopper Sacrifice.

By incentivizing an action that many users are looking to do anyways, Burger King is providing a service that may help their application achieve what other branded applications have struggled with: Quick and sustainable adoption. Users looking for an excuse to clean out their friend list of old and forgotten friendships were in need of a little motivation, and a free Whopper from Burger King may be just enough to move them to action.

As is often the case with Facebook apps, users have a low barrier to entry, but are flooded with so many choices that they have no need to go looking for new applications, and especially ones that feature the branding of a large company. In this case though, Burger King doesn’t want users to stick around, so the success of the campaign is judged by impression numbers and one-time interactions (rather than continued use of the app) much like a typical ad campaign would be. (In fact, once they’ve sacrificed 10 friends and earned a free burger, users may as well remove the app since they will no longer have any incentive to use it.)

According to AdWeek: Crispin Porter + Bogusky thought of the app after many of their staffers were faced with the too-many-friends scenario themselves on Facebook:

“We thought there could be some fun there, removing some of these people who are friends, but not necessarily best friends,” said Jeff Benjamin, executive interactive creative director at Crispin. “It’s asking the question of which love is bigger, your love for your friends or your love for the Whopper.”

Now I know what you’re thinking, and yes, users can probably just remove 10 real friends and then add them right back, or use the app as an opportunity to trim down their list of semi-friends that they once added only to regret at a later time, but either way, sacrificed friends will see a publicly displayed message that their friendship was exchanged for a free Whopper, and feelings are sure to get hurt along the way. (When Facebook says sacrifice, Facebook means sacrifice, and in order to receive your Whopper, the application actually tracks your friends, and only gives you credit towards a free Whopper when you permanently remove people from your list of friends.) In addition, and despite what you might think, Burger King isn’t tricking people into using the app by downplaying the severity of the action. Instead, it says right on the main page and next to the list of potential sacrifices that “Each friend will be notified so choose wisely.”

It’s this no-holds-barred approach that has resulted in a large amount of the press coverage that this campaign has received, so it could be argued that this campaign was a success just based on that fact alone, but even for those that say there’s no such thing as bad publicity, it’s hard to argue that Burger King would want to be painted in the light that many of these articles have shined upon it. However, by commoditizing our online friendships and giving out free food in exchange for morally ambiguous actions, Burger King has managed to spark an intense debate about the value of online relationships, and received more attention than they ever could have imagined as a result.

Update: Apparently Facebook wasn’t thrilled about the way Whopper Sacrifice notified those that had been sacrificed of their sacrificial status, and shut down the notification feature:

“After extensive discussions with the developer, we’ve made some changes to the application’s behavior to assure that users’ expectations of privacy are maintained. The application remains active on Facebook,” a Facebook spokesperson told Inside Facebook. “We encourage creativity from developers and brands using Facebook Platform, but we also must ensure that applications follow users’ expectations of privacy. This application facilitated activity that ran counter to user privacy by notifying people when a user removes a friend. We have reached out to the developer with suggested solutions. In the meantime, we are taking the necessary steps to assure the trust users have established on Facebook is maintained.”

Never one to miss out on an opportunity for some additional free publicity, Burger King altered their landing page for the app to indicate that the Whopper Sacrifice had itself been sacrificed because “your love for the Whopper sandwich proved to be strong than 232,566 friendships”. At the time of the shutdown, more than 82,000 people had used the app to sacrifice at least one friend.

Now I just hope Burger King takes this one step further with a final stunt like a fake press conference featuring The King addressing issues related to the app and its privacy concerns versus people’s love for the Whopper. It might be a risky move, but the potential to blow this up and turn it into a mainstream media story is definitely there and ripe for the picking.