Comments on Loyalty Marketing Blog - Sage Words: The problem with foursquare...

It's interesting that you focus so much on the...

2011-07-22T05:50:43.242-07:00

It's interesting that you focus so much on the game aspect of foursquare. I wonder if the real challenge for foursquare is in convincing folks to shift from using foursquare in game mode (e.g. badge, check-ins, mayorships) to using it simply as a discovery tool for local deals a la groupon. When I first tried out foursquare there were few "players" and very few deals near me so I gave up on foursquare pretty early. Re-opening it recently I was shocked to see over 30 deals near me including some at my most frequented restaurants.

It's not the game that should keep you involved but the deals. That's why the types of specials have expanded so much including a loyalty program as opposed to just mayorship deals.

But maybe foursquare have painted themselves into a corner with the gamification.

A related issue is that Foursquare players are bas...

2011-07-20T06:44:25.247-07:00

A related issue is that Foursquare players are basically in the dark about what it takes to earn badges. I can't set my mind on a goal (achieving badge X) if I don't know what behavior is expected of me. One might argue that the "discovery" of what it takes is part of the game, but I think they would do better to create a mix of badges with easily understand achievement tasks and those that are more secretive.

That aside, totally agree with the argument you are making about the overall design of the Foursquare experience, as well as loyalty programs in general. I've often thought that the idea of fixed membership levels is way too limiting. We should take a page from modern game design where such limitations seldom exist -- World of Warcraft continues to add new levels as the most dedicated players master the current ones, and think about how many times Angry Birds has expanded that game to provide new levels of challenge (and pig busting).

I recently took my HTC to be repaired and it came ...

2011-07-20T05:36:03.043-07:00

I recently took my HTC to be repaired and it came back stripped of all apps - including Foursquare. I had been a super-active Foursquare user - with close to 2,000 checkins, and I have not bothered reinstalling it. Why not? For many of the reasons you outline in this post. I feel like I've "done" Foursquare, out of 2k checkins I generated a single glass of wine for my wife at random from a restaurant in Covent Garden, and other than that I have had opprobrium heaped on me from my Facebook contacts that noone cares where I've been. So, all told, Foursquare need to change things up somewhat in order to get me re-engaged - they sent an email yesterday urging me to come back. What would make me come back is more free stuff, put bluntly.