Maverick Digital

Marketing • Social • New Media

Is Foursquare the next Facebook?

Caroline McCarthy of CNET News provides an interesting perspective on all of the hype around Foursquare.  Foursquare is one of several location-based social networking sites that have popped up in the last year.  Google has been aiming for this space with Buzz; Loopt and Gowalla have been competing for users as well.  

With Yahoo aiming to buy Foursquare for as much as $125 million, April 16th being declared Foursquare Day, and nearly one million users across the country, it's no wonder the media has been paying attention to this service. 

McCarthy, though, questions whether this phenomenon will hit its limit soon.  Unlike Twitter and Facebook which can be used by all kinds of people no matter place or location, Foursquare is targeted towards a niche user - a person who lives in a metropolitan area with a high density of options and who frequently goes out to new places.  Part of the appeal of Foursquare is the ability to unlock badges and you won't be able to collect too many if you live in a small town.  Most college kids or soccer moms won't be able to take full advantage of the services of Foursquare for that reason.  

Yet, this service is changing the landscape of social networking.  It's bridging relationships between small businesses and consumers.  It's taking social networking out of the computer room and onto the streets.  And, its popularity is still growing.  

Will Foursquare be the next Second Life or the next Facebook?

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Google Promotes QR Codes - A Push for Mobile

Google has clearly been embracing the mobile trend over the last year, with their introduction of the Google Phone and a push for the Android operating system.  

Back in December they started mailing out window stickers with two-dimensional QR Codes to business around the country.  Maverick Digital's office has one, too. 

The idea: you take a picture of the QR Code with your phone, and all sorts of information about that business will come up.  

Google's latest trick involves adding the ".qr" to the end of a "Goo.gl" shortened link.  You can create your own shortened links through the Google Toolbar.  And by adding ".qr" to the end of your link, Google will automatically generate a QR Code.  For example, this shortened link to Maverick's site http://goo.gl/szmi generates the QR Code seen below when you type in http://goo.gl/szmi.qr

While QR codes have become very popular in Japan, they have yet to pick up in the United States.  With Google actively pushing this technology, do you think people will join in?  

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When It Comes to Social Media, Stick with the Professionals

The New York Times recently highlighted the blunders of companies who have failed to manage their brands in the social media world.  Haphazardly delegating your "tweets" and "status updates" to interns can be incredibly damaging to a brand and turn customers away.  This is why Business Schools across the globe are now incorporating social media courses in their curriculums.  Schools like the London Business School, Harvard Business School, and Insead are training their students on how to build marketing strategies within social networks.  

The article continues to highlight the importance of industry experience when managing a brand, as many companies interviewing younger graduates assume that their experiences within social media might be enough.  

Do you think these classes will prepare students for brand management in the social media world?  

 

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Advertisers Spending More on Digital than Print for the First Time

It was just a matter of time before this finally happened, but advertisers are now spending more of their marketing budgets on digital communications than on print media.

According to Outsell, who surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. advertisers, companies will spend $119.6 billion on online and digital strategies.  This will include everything from SEO, webinars, and website enhancements to leveraging social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.   

While print isn't completely out the door, marketers are finding that a cross-media strategy is the most effective way to increase brand awareness and ROI.  And a heavier hand in the digital arena is needed to stay competitive.  

How do you think companies should spend their digital marketing budgets?  

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Trendsmap: Mapping Local Twitter Trends on a World Map

Following trends has always been a persuasive topic in past data visualization, ranging from the famous Google Trends, Text Trends, Baby Name Trends or Web Trends.

Trendsmap [trendsmap.com] is yet another trend visualization project, with an (almost) real-time mapping of Twitter trends across the world. The interface is very minimal and easy to use: one can either follow a geographical region and explore the rising trends in that location, or one can follow a trending topic and observe the literally moving impact of the trend on the globe. Even though that it does not really show any content in my city (Linz) at the moment, it is a promising idea for the future. Thanks to the project for rising up the discussion about the benefits and problems of seeing the trends in my particular region.

Next to Trendsmap, there are several other Twitter trends data visualizations around. Most probably one of the best one is Twitscoop Tag Cloud. One can also check out the post about TwitterVision and TwittEarth, which also map Twitter messages on a 3D world globe.

This guest blog post was written by Mahir M. Yavuz. Mahir is an instructor at Interface Cultures in Kunstuniversität Linz and researcher at Ars Electronica Futurelab.

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