Gap leveraged the LBS craze over the weekend to launch a unique one-day-only mobile coupon offer for those who used Foursquare to check-in to a retail store anywhere across the country.
The offer, good to those who check-in on Saturday only, was part of the company’s “BlackMagic Event,” and was also offered to users of Twitter and Facebook — although Facebook users had to print out a coupon to redeem and Twitter users had to offer up a discount code at the cashier.
The campaign was unique in that it was a rather valuable offer offered on only one day, even though Foursquare has been utilized by other retailers for similar offers. Ann Taylor recently launched an offer of 25% off to Foursquare mayors and 15% off to each customer on his or her fifth check-in for example. These types of offers are exactly what Foursquare envisions for its future business models. The company has even began sending out stickers to retailers that remind patrons to check-in.
It should be interesting to see some redemption numbers or the overall success of this campaign, as the novelty of check-ins at retail locations is still a very new concept that only early-adopters are a kin to. Still, we’ll undoubtedly be seeing a lot more of this concept in the near future, especially as Foursquare continues making a name for itself with both users and retailers alike.
Hi Justin,
It seems like a lot of retail stores are jumping on the Foursquare bandwagon. It's a great way to promote their store and offer discounts to loyal customers. My coworker at March Communications, a PR agency in Boston, did some research on the other reasons people check in to Foursquare. Her blog post can be viewed here –
http://www.marchpr.com/blog/2010/08/a-deeper-look…
I think we are going about this the whole wrong way. First the kids need to pick it up and use it, then advertise and commercialize the hell out of it till the kids find something new. No one wants to join a network that is already overly used for commercial purposes.
use some of your ideas!!