Keeping a finger on the pulse of Social Media.

Yesterday on Mashable there was an article posted about Pepsi’s latest foray in Marketing & Social Media. The article was entitled: Pepsi Vending Machine Lets You Gift Drinks to Friends Via Social Media.

The other day I had an in-depth conversation with Robert Caruso aka @fondalo regarding an idea for an amazing Social Media / Social Networking business that could prove lucrative and forward thinking. I blink for a moment and a major corporation / worldwide master of Social Networking has beaten me to the punch. Am I sullen for not receiving proper acknowledgment? Believe it or not; No. I actually feel vindicated that an idea that I had / predicted awhile ago is now happening. In fact to the contrary, it proves that my ideas and thought processes are perfectly in tuned to what is really happening out there in the Social Media stratosphere.

During the course of the conversation, Robert and I went back and forth about the pros and cons to such an idea and the overall cost, ROI, Social Media value, etc. What is interesting is that we both agreed that only a handful of companies on the planet would be able to currently acheive this concept; lo and behold yesterday Pepsi reveals their concept. This is an incredibly epic leap forward for not only businesses, but for Social Media in general.

The main similarity to what Pepsi is going to do and my overall idea is the use of Social Media at the point of sale. There are a whole slew of things that Pepsi didn’t even consider that would make this campaign so much more effective, that I will not reveal in this article for obvious reasons. (If Pepsi wants to hear my ideas…I’m certainly open to talk to them, but by no means am I going to just give that out.)

As as Social Media Consultant, I’m convinced that this seriously very tip of the iceberg of what is truly possible for small, medium and large businesses. In this rapidly changing environment of new forms of media and advertising, it behooves a business no matter how big or small to stay on top of what is happening around them.

Byte Back!

Tags: Facebook, foursqaure, geosocial, geosocial networks, LinkedIn, social, Social Media, social media marketing, social networking, socialmedia, Twitter
Posted in: Facebook, Foursquare, Future Social Media, LinkedIn, Social Media Consulting, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Posts, social networking, Twitter, Video |

Comments: 980 Comments

FootFeed: The Ultimate GeoSocial Checkin App?

I love the entire concept of GeoSocial apps. I really do. For me the fascination begins with the truly amazing connections you can solidify with your friends & the world. They have this intangible quality to increase the importance to the location itself. Also, let’s not forget about the implications for the future of Social Media and mobile marketing industries. But for all the really great things about GeoSocial checkins, there are a few of things I’ve got to get out of my system.

The first thing I can’t stand is: Playing favorites with my location based apps. Between Foursquare, Gowalla, Brightkite, Latitude, etc. there’s a veritable forest of apps & services to choose from out there. Call me crazy, but I want to be the mayor, build up my points, and connect with all my friends in all my networks in one shot. I hate checking in more than once to a place using separate networks. Secondly, It takes way too long and kills your battery power from all the notifications that your phone sends and receives to stay connected to all these different networks. The last and worst aspect is that it takes away from the experience of being outdoors or with friends, the show, that song, that building, that moment of realizing you’re in love, etc. It insulates you as if you are still in front of the computer at home.

SHOCKER ALERT: It makes you look anti-social. GASP! The irony…

Think about it, if your spending a good 5-10 minutes trying to get that damn WiFi signal to work, so that you can checkin to that really awesome bar/restaurant/art gallery/dentist office/bar-mitzvah, that you forget you have someone talking to you or worse you’re on a date! I honestly try hard NOT to be THAT guy. (Am I successful at it? If you ask my fiancé, I’m sure she would have some choice words to say on the subject.)

But all kidding aside, location based apps rock and we all love to use them, but I don’t want to play favorites and I don’t want to be THAT hipster douche-bag guy, pretentiously holding his hand-made wooden covered iPhone, completely absorbed and isolated from reality. I want to engage the moment, not a machine. Microcosmic dilemmas call for uber-solutions. Enter: FootFeed.

FootFeed is a location based app that allows you to checkin to a whole bunch of GeoSocial networks at once! When you checkin, you still get credit as if you checked-in by logging in to each network individually. Currently, you can add 6 networks, plus FootFeed, equals 7 networks in 1! It has API integration with Twitter & Facebook. It’s pretty much the ultimate GeoSocial checkin app. It’s not quite perfect, just yet! As some networks do not have certain locations on file and you have add them to your checkin. If they had integration w/ SCVNGR, Loopt, and many other minor networks, this could really be a great tool for any Social Media Consultant.

But overall, BRAVO to the fellas over at FootFeed! No more wasted battery life. No more 5-10 minute checkins to 7 networks or having to make the decision of which one to choose. Most importantly, no more douche-bag behavior! My fiancé will love that one the most.

Download it for free for your iPhone, here.

(Question: Because of my new found affinity, does this mean I’m now a FootFeed Fiend?)

Byte Back!

Tags: api, brightkite, checkins, foursquare, geosocial, google latitude, gowalla, iphone, iPhone app, latitude, loopt, SCVNGR, Social Media, social media consulting
Posted in: Facebook, Foursquare, GeoSocial, Social Media Consulting, Social Media Marketing, Social Media Posts, Twitter |

Comments: 62 Comments

Why GeoSocial Networking sites could soon be a thing of the past.

GeoSocial Newtorking Sites such as foursquare, Gowalla, and Brightkite could soon be the fad that came and went. If you are not familiar with GeoSocial Networking, you might have seen them on occasion on someone’s Facebook update or twitter feed. They are geotagged status updates that pinpoint (with a small margin of error, IMHO), the location of where you are in context to your update. So say if you are at Yankee Stadium and update that you saw an amazing play, your feed would tell everyone where you are at a certain time.

Recently, the popularity of these sites has increased tremendously, however with the advent of Facebook starting their own check-in addition to the plethora of features for mobile users, it’s becoming clear to me that I see what may happen next. Even as I write this, my presumptions have been coming true. I have said for a long time, that as soon as the bigwigs of Facebook or Twitter come up with their own solutions, that the beginning of the end of GeoSocial sites is all but imminent.

Think about it from a realistic point of view. Why would you use a third party service when you can do it all from one spot? When more and more people are connected with Facebook and Twitter…the idea of using yet another social networking site takes up more time and more effort to keep up. You might say, well the effort is a few seconds or a few clicks on your iPhone or BlackBerry, but reality should dictate the easiest and simplest solution should and will prevail. If you are already on Facebook…why wouldn’t you use Places to check-in? If you say, I check in on foursquare for the Mayorships and badges, then I say give Facebook time and effort and they will create something even more intrinsic to their overall experience.

It pains me to say this, as I am personally a HUGE fan of foursquare and GeoSocial Networking sites, but the end is near. It’s may not be today, or tomorrow, or next month, but will wind up happening is that some other social networking site will purchase foursquare as their geosocial network of choice. Reasoning behind this is simple, to gain market share. Currently Twitter & Facebook have their own Geotagging, but what about Linkedin? Linkedin is more of a professional social media network, but it’s a thought.

Think about it…in the long run I’m pretty sure I’m right. What say you?

Tags: brightkite, Facebook, facebook places, geosocial, geosocial networks, geotagging, gowalla, LinkedIn, Places, Social Media Posts, social network, social networking
Posted in: Facebook, Google, Social Media Consulting, Social Media Posts, social networking, Twitter |