The Intersection Between Mobile and Social Just Became Much Blurrier
Facebook announced “Places”, a tool that allows Facebook subscribers to essentially “check in” to locations and serendipitously discover friends who happen to be nearby. Momentum continues to build in location-based services, Geo-fencing, mobile social media etc.
Why this will work.
Facebook is the all-powerful Borg (for those non Trekkies out there – they assimilate, adapt and propagate). With 500 million subscribers (and reports that 150 million of these are mobile), sheer size makes Facebook the clear favourite. In my opinion, Foursquare, Gowalla, My Town, etc. are officially the underdogs (if they weren’t before). Naturally, Facebook is faced with the issue of privacy, and provided they allow users to self-provision and dictate terms, then chances of success are high. Reaching eyeballs via Facebook Places substantially increases the efficiency of ad dollars and brings us another step closer to the perfect delivery of WHEN and WHERE.
What does this mean from a marketer’s point of view?
The ecosystem has added a slew of new terms that strategists, planners, brand managers, and CMOs,must be aware of for water cooler chats. This announcement could mark the dawn of Facebook mobile monetization where ad products and services will emerge. I suspect Places may be the final straw that pushes those brands that don’t have a mobile friendly destination to get one, as those brands can leverage the open graph API to ensure their brand communities can enjoy a seamless mobile experience. Who knows? Facebook could be the first organization to really marry mobile commerce and social platforms – they have a great Trojan horse model to explore with other products and services. In the near-term, Vortex is anxious to socialize mobile properties and mobilize brand communities. New DIY tools and APIs will strengthen the value proposition for our partners, some simple use cases include:
• Consider a beer or spirit company that uses experiential marketing. Imagine a promotion where X number of people that check in win, or 1 in X who check in to a restaurant/bar are entered to win a trip. Participants earn bonus ballots for socializing their whereabouts via Places and ta-da, we have next generation swarming. Amplify this experience by posting user generated content (such as pictures and video) and let your Twitter followers and Facebook friends see your world on demand.. When boiled down, many marketing fundamentals still apply: LOCATION, EMOTIONS, LTO(limited time offers)/SENSE of URGENCY, SHARED CONNECTIONS and WORD OF MOUTH.
Carriers (and OEMs) could be X-factors in mobile/social media
There is no doubt that carriers and handset manufacturers want in on the action. Geo-fences and location-based alerts are on their radar, as they battle the perception that their place within the mobile ecosystem is simply as dump pipes and dummy terminals. Arguably carriers and manufacturers have some tricks up their sleeve. A Canadian trial called OneAPI could allow carriers to get in the game by providing client-side information all accessed through a web API. OneAPI has the potential to be a total game changer as it offers SMS+ MMS aggregation, billing services, and targeting, and with the right partnerships, could offer a location-based experience that is as seamless and accessible, if not more so, then one offered by Facebook. (Click HERE for more details about ONE API.) http://www.gsmworld.com/oneapi/
Brady Murphy










