3-16-2012
The earliest value of commercial radio was all about location. Advertisers valued radios ability to drive ears to a retail location. Saturdays became a new drive time as car dealers took advantage of people out running Saturday errands. Ad copy directed customers to take advantage of specials while in transit and hoped to influence peoples? plans for activities as they were in their cars. Our sales teams followed with a real focus on local business. We have always encouraged sales teams to beat the street, Looking for independent retailers who would take advantage of radios? ability to influence on the go.
The Digital world has launched more than a few assaults on our time-honored way of doing business. Location-based services represent another example of how new technologies are impacting how products and services are bought and sold.
SXSW is always a hot bed for new tech and this year location based marketing has once again been in the spotlight. Foursquare launched at SXSW 3 years ago. Now with 20 million users and tons of merchants. Foursquare has become ?the player? in the space. Gowalla their key combatant has closed its doors and there
are new players arriving. A big win for Foursquare users was the American Express tie-in that gave considerable discounts for customer checkins that resulted in a purchase. I have been an active Foursquare user for about a year. The app has been on my phone for what seems like a lifetime. The growing interest in daily deals and their hyper local nature triggered my more recent interest. Radio should, at a minimum, understand the dynamics of location-based marketing. The space creates a real opportunity to master a fast growing segment.
How can radio take advantage of this growing trend? Take a dip in the shallow end of the pool. Get Foursquare on your mobile device and start checking in. The game-like nature of Foursquare can be addictive. Discover the Foursquare brand opportunity https://foursquare.com/business/ and let me know how you think location-based services can impact radios future. The future of commerce is changing at light speed and we need to at the very least understand that change and when it makes sense, embrace it.
Dan Halyburton is EVP McVay Cook and Associates and can be reached at 214-707-7237. Follow Dan @danhalyburton. E-mal Dan at dan@halyburton.com
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