Foursquare and Starbucks missed it by...that much

In the words of Major League's Harry Doyle, the inaugural Foursquare-Starbucks campaign was "Juuust a bit outside..."

Brand marketers take note: The mobile-digital paradigm requires more integration, relevance and consistency than ever before. It is not about repurposing the same old campaigns through a different channel like you were flipping between TV networks.
You will have to work harder, do more research, and "connect the dots" between technological capabilities and consumer expectations. This ain't easy...and blowing it is also much more difficult to hide.

This is a good review and reminder from MediaPost as they disect the recent Foursquare/Starbucks campaign.

"...the companies may want to consider lessons learned from this initial rewards offer, which ends June 28, before jumping into the next one. The Frappuccino promotion has come under criticism on various counts, laid out in a recent post by Forrester analyst Augie Ray.

"For one thing, he points out that becoming mayor of a Starbucks location isn't so easy -- he estimates it may take 30 check-ins or more during a two-month period to gain that honor just to get $1 off a $4 Frappuccino. Woohoo. That's not even on par with an old-fashioned punch card offering a free java after 10 trips."

"[Foursquare and Starbucks] would be wise to heed such suggestions to provide more diverse and worthwhile offers. "If Foursquare and other geo-location platforms (are you listening Facebook and Yelp?) want to build long-term success, it's going to take unique, customized and relevant offers, and not the same 'Please check in here a lot and we'll give you 100 pennies' offer," wrote Ray."