http://www.mobile-ent.biz/news/37022/Man-City-v…

Global Social Media Checkup http://ow.ly/1D3eX Really good read : ) thanks @heleana_quartey

Keep wondering how my first blog post ended up being about social media? I blame @GaryVee (but in a good way : ) & this case study started me off…… (this is my 2nd comment & my virgin blog)

It's quite long so I put it here.

http://www.linkedin.com/groupAnswers?viewQuesti…

Hope you have time to read it,

thanks Daniel

http://www.HappinessEvangelist.com

Gary's involvement with Gowalla is most certainly not the “barrier to entry” with Gowalla. As mentioned in the case study Gowalla has made deals with other brands we are not associated with including Adobe and Sweet Leaf Tea.

To answer your question of how to kick-start it, I would recommend reaching out to Andy Ellwood from Gowalla – he does biz dev and is who we worked with on this campaign. @andyellwood – http://twitter.com/andyellwood

My question is, “If I want to do something similar tomorrow, for one of my big client, how should I proceed?”

Gary is an investor in Gowalla, and the Nets a client of Vaynermedia, so I’m sure this has “helped” setting up such a marketing promotion. But what about everyone else? Will Gowalla have the salesforce to deal with any other marketing agency out there, or will we see “Location-based media space” middlemen ? And when?

I know this industry is still in its infancy, but for those convinced of its success, how can we kick-start it ? How much does Gowalla charge? Do they charge? Is it exclusively for net-celebrities, or can any other agency give it a go?

@gary, @ajv any feedback on this?

Really appreciate your feedback and we definitely take it as constructive. This was our first campaign of this nature, and while we are incredibly happy with the success, we know we made some mistakes along the way. We've already decided that in the future, we have to give the winner a bit more information up front.

That being said, it wasn't our intent to have people know about the campaign ahead of time. It was more of a test as to whether people, who were seemingly randomly rewarded with a ticket to an NBA game, would then take the initiative to attend the game.

Again, thanks for your comment, and will consider your advice for future campaigns!

all i got was an email from a “no-reply” address, saying to go to wherever the game was on a date and get tickets from the gowalla table (or something along those lines). no link, address, telephone number, or any specific contact information regarding the promotion. what if i had been a 15 years old user unable to claim a prize?

i actually had to ask a friend of mine at espn where Nets games are held in order to find out they took place out in new jersey. then he told me not to bother because their season had been so terrible (who could have predicted that they would have had that crazy night the day after).

also for the record. i had totally been unaware of the campaign until after i had won the tickets.

i hope this can be seen as constructive sharing of my experience. and if you guys want a hand in the future, i have been working in interactive/marketing/advertising/promotions since the 90's.

None of the winners who came to the game did so because of Gary & AJ. While their credibility & influence is unquestionable, they did not have an impact on the campaign. They did tweet about the partnership, but only to create awareness. The people who attended were simply random Gowalla users who checked in to targeted locations in the NYC/NJ area and found virtual tickets.

Next to none of the tweets referenced Gary, AJ, or VaynerMedia. And next to none of the winners even found out about the event from the Nets, the NBA, or Gowalla. The process of winning tickets was completely independent of whether or not people were aware of the campaign (through AJ, Gary, or anyone else).

Hope that clears things up!

A 15.2% rate of return is positive but how much of that is because of the brand equity of Gary and AJ? Both have an enormous amount of credibility and influence in social media.

I'm curious, AJ, how many of the tweets did not reference you or Gary? How many people found this event organically through either the Nets, the NBA or Gowalla?

We are very early in this geolocation “game.” The fact is, we've been able to see a clear ability for geolocation to drive business / generate revenue very early on. The platforms will continue to improve and the smartphone audience will continue to grow. We're excited about the future & glad to help the conversation move along.

I appreciate you bringing up this argument. It's a very interesting debate!

I don't think we would ever tell a brand to rely their marketing tactics solely on an application. This is an instance where a brand (the Nets) had expiring inventory (tickets) that were going to give them zero value. Instead, they utilized a platform that exposed them to a new audience, brought some business to the arena, and got them a ton of brand mentions and brand awareness (pre-campaign, during the campaign, and now post-campaign).

Like we said in the blog, this type of campaign is applicable in a lot of different manners (e.g. amusement park, fast food chain, etc), and the results will only continue to get more impressive as we move forward. So, when will companies be comfortable with trying? Who knows? Many companies still aren't comfortable with the idea of Facebook pages or Twitter accounts. Progressive brands will start using geolocation very soon (e.g. NBA doing it for the playoffs) and it will grow from there!

I also know that if someone wants to find you, they'll figure out a way to do it without you giving out your location info. At the same time, why make their job easier? I just think, The Law!!! will kick in, and someone's going to get hosed. Or worse.

What an amazing case study. Plus, the presentation of it was superb!

While reading through the case study, I jotted down some ideas that I think would redefine how churches and organizations can leverage geolocation marketing to market their events, services, and products.

You guys have uncovered what I believe to be the future of marketing, advertising, and consumer engagement. You're one of the first to offer valid market research on the success of geolocation marketing.

Thanks for sharing your insight and experience with the world.

Great job with the campaign.

How do you think a similar campaign would work with a b2b event, like a professional conference for 200 or 500 people. Do you think the buzz generated to give away 10-20 tickets at the last minute would make sense? Would it devalue the brand of the event (make us look desperate?)?

Don't get me wrong – I think from an exposure perspective it's awesome. I just think that's not enough these days. I thought about the concessions and merch, but I didn't think the Nets got any revenue from that, rather other companies (that's been my experience anyway working with some minor league teams).

Phil

Acquire / Retain
LBS has so much potential not only in acquisition and retention. I love the idea of giving away inventory that would potentially be lost (almost like a free priceline model) in order to promote another revenue stream. Hotels, buses, airlines, car rentals, restaurants with perishables (like sushi, meats, etc), package stores (IPA should be enjoyed fresh), supermarkets etc can all take advantage of this technology to try their products or services for “free”. [Imagine combining checkins with actual revenue streams (via passive streams like blippy) to see what people buy after they come to your event or place?]

Extension of Revenue
How about also giving them further incentives if they take pictures of the property or event. I think the picture aspect of Gowalla is so important. It gives you a sense of what people think is important about an event or place. Imagine I take a couple pictures of the resort and you offer me further incentives, particularly if I share them on other networks. Does the “reward” aspect of LBS have to stop after the PCP (post checkin page)? What would be the impact of offers on an already captured customer?

Adoption of the Technology
I think right now that it's just as important to make sure that all of our campaigns promote the ease of adoption of the technology as well as its benefits. The more people we get using this stuff, the more effective it will be. Look back to the SICK deals we got in the early days of eCommerce. Those were the hook. We cannot forget the hook.

Love to get together for a LBS summit to talk about ways to use this stuff as well as ways to get people to adopt certain technologies. Say the word and I'm in NY. I love the potential of this stuff.

I see your point on both counts, thanks for the well thought out response!

-Matt

(as to what kind of radio show, I was thinking about local sports talk radio, in fact I you repeat this exercise, I'd probably encourage you to include the local radio shows, extra exposure is always good, no?)

Also I'm not 100% sure there ARE local radio shows that follow the Nets, I lived in Boston for a long while where there are 2 full time talk radio sports stations now.

If your boss has the mentality that he looks things in a negative view point like you noted- this specific type of service offering (or any for that matter) will never fly. IMO why would you continue to engage with someone that narrow minded – but that's a whole other scenario – I do agree that geolocation services are in their infancy and companies taking chances like this will pave the way for other forward thinking companies follow suit.
It frustrating that the majority of people think that if there isnt a path to “Clear success (as they define it)” they wont even partake. it takes guts and a fair amount of risk (always knowing that failure is probably going to happen in most scenarios) to do these types of endeavors.
and it's very cool to see the vayner guys promoting and showcasing their insights into this type of evolving scenarios…

And thank you for the kind words!

AJ

That being said, I've never seen or heard about anyone being hurt / harmed because of letting others know of their location. While you bring up a legitimate point, it's just not fair to pinpoint social media & geolocation platforms as dangerous for personal use. We have to understand the risks associated with telling others where we are, and live with them.

One thing I'd really like to see in Gowalla is the ability to exchange badges redeemable for real goods between users, if say they play a mini-game together, perhaps.

Again, nice job – keep the info coming.

You're very right. Geolocation is in such an early stage right now, we are only beginning to see a fraction of its potential.

Hadn't seen Rummble before you passed it along. Looks really interesting. Appreciate you passing on the other links as well. You're clearly passionate about the space and considering how different elements of social media can benefit business.

Best of luck getting that wheat free sandwich to Putney!

Sam

2. I would agree with you on that point. Then again I think people calling into the radio provides far less word of mouth ( we saw amazing, positive tweets re: random check-ins ) and also depends on the target audience (what kind of radio show?)

Thanks so much for the well thought out comment!

I hate to sound as if I am making excuses, but I think the “conversion rate” would be MUCH higher in many different scenarios.

-Alan

What a really good article.

I think it's a shame more winners didn't make the evening but it’s more the story of the people who did & the interactions they had with other people and the 2 brands on the day. What a great photo of @bdallen s son and the Mascot, there’s 1 potential life long fan for the Nets.

These are the first steps in this direction and you are showing the potential of Location based sites like gowalia. Every one reading this knows this hasn't hit main stream and is no where near it's tipping point!

e.g. My cousin only joined facebook last week, my dad sent his 1st email last month! (to my mum saying surprise), while my mum is on her 2nd Iphone, my niece 3 and my nephew 5 got a ds lite & wii for Christmas. That's without looking at geography and affordability.

Also have to mention my great friend @andrewjscott who I think was way before his time with http://www.Rummble.com an English social network site http://blog.rummble.com/whatisrummble that's potential can now shine through as mobile technology catches up with his vision…… and also the relevant search functionality we will soon ALL demand.

What better way to get recommendations than in real time from people you know (either offline or online) and that's just the start. People looking checking in looking for part time work in real time, someone surfing the net thinking need money down load an audio file do some secretarial work get paid.

Also just read @nicktadd 's interesting thoughts on 4square and potential business uses (property amongst others).
http://propertytribes.ning.com/forum/topics/usi…

Which I think you would like and do check him out http://socialmediagraffiti.com as I think he bit like @garyvee are standing on the edge looking forward!

Also please check out http://mediasnackers.com as again on top of there game.

I @putneyproperty am trying to help people find property in putney, if you write putney on twitter I read it. Not to spam but to say hey I’m here and if I could help I’d love too (when it’s relevant). I want to promote the cool things where I am lucky enough to live and work, I feel like I’m on holiday everyday here, so of course I want to share : )

Reading this I also realise I have a geo location problem I think you can help with…….. I would like a decent wheat free sandwich in my local area and hope social media can help! http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=116985058… so will you bring a little happiness to a boy in Putney, London?

So Sam & AJ, well done and really pleased you guys are sharing, I think in the near future businesses will read your report to a chorus of nods and mutters of “of course” : )

Probably worth noting is porn using geolocations to try to get you to sign up, here's these hot lasses near “geolocation”

Copy and Pasted here too:

In our opinion a 15.2% return rate was a success. We dropped tickets all around NJ, NYC and CT and were able to get 70+ people to attend an NBA game at the Izod Center on a Monday Night. For reference, the Izod Center is a tough travel including a 45 minute commute from NYC which involves a train and a shuttle. A failure? I think if no one showed up we would consider it a failure, believe it or not, we would have been excited with 1 person showing up since this was a true test and learning experience.

Point 2: I think attendance has a correlation to the amount of people who showed up to the game. Also resorting to a traditional campaign would have not given the Nets brand all of the additional benefits of this case study and this wonderful conversation

Point 3: Super fair. I don't think this campaign would have worked everywhere, but I think as Gowalla, FourSquare and other geolocation platforms grow, than the opportunities for other cities to execute similar ideas will become more realistic.

Last point: I have to disagree. This is the first instance of this kind of campaign and the critical mass of geolocation services isn't anywhere near where it will be!

In our opinion a 15.2% return rate was a success. We dropped tickets all around NJ, NYC and CT and were able to get 70+ people to attend an NBA game at the Izod Center on a Monday Night. For reference, the Izod Center is a tough travel including a 45 minute commute from NYC which involves a train and a shuttle. A failure? I think if no one showed up we would consider it a failure, believe it or not, we would have been excited with 1 person showing up since this was a true test and learning experience.

Point 2: I think attendance has a correlation to the amount of people who showed up to the game. Also resorting to a traditional campaign would have not given the Nets brand all of the additional benefits of this case study and this wonderful conversation

Point 3: Super fair. I don't think this campaign would have worked everywhere, but I think as Gowalla, FourSquare and other geolocation platforms grow, than the opportunities for other cities to execute similar ideas will become more realistic.

Last point: I have to disagree. This is the first instance of this kind of campaign and the critical mass of geolocation services isn't anywhere near where it will be!