The Future of Local is a recurring event gathering digital marketing professionals to discuss trends, opportunities, and case studies around geo-digital marketing. This particular Future of Local event took place during and as part of Internet Week New York, 2010. The event consisted of 3 brief pitches on startups catering to local marketing, either for consumers as in the case of
- lokast (a media-sharing app on android and iPhone geared toward sharing music and other media, often at gigs) or businesses as in the cases of
- postling (allowing local business to broadcast their offerings) and
- mobilemeteor (providing a quick and easy solution to local business who want their site to be more user-friendly on smartphone apps)
Erick Shoenfeld (@ErickShoenfeld) of Techcrunch then moderated a panel on the Future of Geo-Digital-Local Marketing:
Ian Shafer:
CEO of Deep Focus, Blogger, Social Media-ist, Jukebox Hero.
Web: http://www.ianschafer.com | Twitter: @ischafer
Mike Schneider:
DigitalStrategist
Web: http://bit.ly/smblog |Twitter: @schneidermike
J Karph
Digital media manager at PepsiCo
Web: http://www.pepsico.com |Twitter: @jkarpf
Mark Guhneim
Web: http://www.linkedin.com/in/ghuneim | Twitter: @MarkGhuneim
Ian Spalter
R/GA Mobile & Emerging Platforms.
Web: http://ianspalter.tumblr.com/ | Twitter: @ianspalter
3 Key Takeaways from The Future of Local Event:
1. There are not enough usage/case studies. One thing everyone seemed to agree on was that geo-mobile marketing has a bright future but because it’s in its infancy as a marketing channel, there simply isn’t enough data out there yet to spark meaningful dialogues for advertisers. With 1.3 million users on Fourquare and 300k on Gowalla, usage is too limited and biz-dev resources (at Foursquare) are limited. Foursquare is still in the process of local business verification.
2. Who will benefit more from Geo-Mobile—Brands or Local Businesses? There are efforts in both areas. J Karph of Pepsico provided details on some of their experiments including there own app, Pepsi Loot, which rewards users for purchasing Pepsico products at local retailers. The bar code and its future in marketing was discussed. Stickybits is a new app that allows people to tag photos and videos to products by scanning the bar code. Imagine the data that could be collected if adoption were there…. Keyword: Adoption. @Erikshoenfeld seemed to think that the real opportunities was with local businesses rather than brands.
3. Facebook will be a Major Key to Making Geo-Mobile a Real Channel but Not the Only Player. There was much discussion on Facebook being the Holy Grail to push Geo-Mobile into our daily lives but that considering their recent debacles with privacy, it has to be done right. Facebook’s current age demographs are trending in the 40′s. Will they adopt geo-local? Or will Facebook simply make it more understood to the masses and more adopted by millennials and genx on Foursquare, Gowalla, etc.? Many on the panel appreciate Facebook’s push for less privacy and agreed that it doesn’t matter to most people. What seems to matter more is awareness and opt-in.
Videos from The Future of Local Event at Internet Week New York, 2010:
Video 1: Mike Schneider and J Karph Talk about the Need for More Case Studies on Geo-Mobile Marketing.
(Apologies for a bit of shakiness and zoom sound)
Video 2: Question about Consumer Tolerace for “Checking In” to mobile/digital apps like Foursquare, Gowalla, etc.
Video 3: J Karph talks about Pepsico App (Pepsi Loot) Driving Traffic Into Retail Customers.
Video 4: Question about Scalability of Geo/Local Apps. Facebook Key?
Photos from The Future of Local Event at Internet Week New York, 2010:
I didn’t video the whole presentation so if you have any links to any other great videos or photos, please leave them in the comments section.
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