I like Foursquare. I do. Big fan. And it seemed off to a great start, but I can’t help but notice that even with impressive growth, its sails aren’t quite as taut as they were a year ago. Checking-in to places isn’t as fun as it used to be. Chasing mayorships has become somewhat pointless. Not to mention that most of us have run out of interesting badges to earn and collect.
Granted, Foursquare did announce a bunch of new badges this month, mostly geared towards institutions of higher learning. This emphasis on university partnerships (and its associated under-30 demo) is a good start, but slow-moving and fairly limited. Ski resorts are also getting some attention, as are several major brands. And it is worth mentioning that Foursquare has been releasing a slow trickle of hobby/interest badges like Yoga Masters, Handmade Hero, DIY, and Black History Month. These are encouraging signs, as more badges (new badges) will help drive adoption and participation. And yes, with enough funding to last through 2011, Foursquare will make payroll and continue to push towards growth. (The service expects to almost double its reach by June with 10 million users.) Its net growth in 2010 was also impressive (measured in new accounts): 3,400%, with more than 380 million check-ins (for an average of just over a million check-ins per day).
Note: If you are interested in Foursquare’s growth statistics, check out their fly 2010 infographic here.
But here is the problem: While those numbers are nice, I can’t help but sense that many of my peers are losing interest. Some have even jumped over to other services like Gowalla, whose broader selection of badges has helped keep users interested and entertained. And then there is the question of revenue (which, even in this sequel to the first internet bubble, is kind of an important component of any business). Sooner or later, companies have to find themselves in the black, pay back investors, and turn a profit.
I could be wrong, but it seems that aside from being carried by its own marketing momentum, Foursquare is in danger of falling short of the market dominance it will need to ensure its own survival, profitability and longevity. Just as there can’t be two Facebooks (MySpace used to be a big deal) or two Twitters (remember Plurk?), Foursquare can’t really afford to engineer a stalemate with competing services like Places or Gowalla. Whomever scales the fastest, whomever recruits the most users and figures out its revenue model first will win this race. Unfortunately, my beloved Foursquare seems to be on a different timetable altogether, and that worries me. From a recent story in Information Week:
To differentiate itself from its larger competitors, to continue its growth, and to add to its coffers, Foursquare plans to forge more partnerships with local businesses and artists, as well as offer recommendations such as where to eat a meal, see a concert, or attend a show. In addition, Foursquare hopes to attract more musicians so fans will have the opportunity to follow their activities online, he said at the music-focused event.
“I’d love to get a lot more artists onto Foursquare, that’s an easy one,” said [Foursquare co-founder Naveen Selvadurai] in an interview. “Getting a lot of artists onto the system and seeing the world through their eyes is a very powerful thing. What better way to engage with people you admire than something like [Foursquare]? I hope in a year’s time that we’ll be able to do that with a lot more artists. That’s something I find immensely exciting and very valuable.”
Foursquare also is developing tools to further help local businesses, in addition to its existing national client base such as PepsiCo and Zagat Survey, tap the social media site for advertising, loyalty programs, and other incentives, said Selvadurai. And the company continues to develop the concept of Foursquare itself, he said.
What I don’t see anywhere yet is a plan to accelerate adoption and develop a solid revenue model. I don’t yet see the clutch strategy. So… why don’t we look at a simple little idea that could be plugged into Foursquare’s current business model – an idea that would get things rolling a little faster for my favorite little smartphone app – and perhaps more importantly: a solution that would help me and other marketing folks sell all of our clients on the virtues of incorporating Foursquare into their marketing and business development programs.
Okay, so here is how simple the idea is:
Step 1 – Build a badge store (actually more like a badge marketplace) where companies looking for ways to incorporate Foursquare into their marketing programs can partner with designers to create their own unique custom badges.
Step 2 – Allow these companies to plug their new badges and marketing programs into Foursquare’s account management dashboard. Create different levels of management and reporting service, from free to enterprise-class, to give different types of customers and programs the flexibility they need.
Let’s run through how this would work:
1. Company XYZ creates an account, visits the badge store, identifies a designer it wants to work with, and orders a custom badge. Once the order is placed, Foursquare’s badge store collects its cut (illustrated below as 30%). The designer collects his cut (illustrated below as 70%). Badge prices are determined by market forces, so a badge could realistically fall anywhere between $50 to $500 depending on the designer. (Foursquare could set minimums like Amazon, to keep the marketplace viable.)
See what happened here? Several things:
- Foursquare just generated revenue.
- Graphic designers have found a new way to generate revenue and gain exposure. (Yes, there is an affiliate element to this.)
- Foursquare didn’t have to hire and pay in-house designers. All they had to build was a design engine and a marketplace.
- The badge store eliminates Foursquare’s design capacity problem.
- Companies of all sizes (not just major brands) can now begin to take full advantage of Foursquare on their own schedule.
Still with me? Okay…
2. When Company XYZ registers its badge with Foursquare through the marketplace it can select from a variety of campaign and program management dashboards if it is new to the badge store, or add the badge to an existing account:
New badge creation and registration
Selection of back-end Foursquare services
In this step, Foursquare gets a chance to generate revenue a second time, through monthly subscriptions to premium back-end management and analytics products.
Company XYZ selects the type of dashboard, management and reporting that seems most adequate for its new badge and the marketing/loyalty/rewards program it aims to build for it. The free service would be helpful for small businesses but obviously limited in its capabilities. Gold would be a full suite of enterprise-level tools for brands with large footprints and complex databases – like McDonald’s, Delta Airlines, Best Buy, Target and Barnes & Noble, for example. Bronze and silver could be anything in between. Company XYZ can upgrade or downgrade at any time, based on its needs.
3. Equipped with custom badges, custom rewards programs and management tools, Company XYZ can now roll out its new badge with all the fanfare it deserves:
Business adoption + Cool Factor + Value to consumers = Consumer adoption.
To recap the basic intertwined mechanisms that make this all work:
Custom badges + back-end tools = Accelerated business adoption.
Business adoption + Cool Factor + Value to consumers = Accelerated consumer adoption.
Consumer adoption + Competition + Ease of Enrollment = Accelerated business adoption (again).
As the cycle then repeats itself, it begins to scale:
Consumer adoption + business adoption = momentum
That’s basically it. It’s pretty simple, but that is the beauty of it: Businesses just need to be motivated to adopt and use Foursquare. Likewise, consumers need to be motivated to do the same. No new badges or rewards programs for consumers = no motivation to participate. No access to custom badges and user-friendly campaign management tools = barrier of entry for most businesses. This is a compounded problem that threatens to stall Foursquare’s growth. The service shouldn’t be shooting for 10 million users by June. It should be looking at 20+ million by now.
The solution: Create a mechanism that eliminates barriers of entry. One that will drive business adoption and the creation of new badges, which in turn will drive consumer participation. The more businesses participate, the more consumers participate. The more consumers participate, the more the business long tail will be motivated to check out the badge store and test Foursquare. That is the basic adoption acceleration engine.
The revenue side of the solution:
Foursquare skims a % off custom badge orders through the badge store (similar to Amazon’s KDP program).
Foursquare also charges a monthly fee for premium analytics and management tools.
Authorized designers generate revenue through the sale of custom badge design on the badge store.
Companies enrolled in the program can track the ROI of their Foursquare-enhanced campaigns and programs with Foursquare analytics (the point of the investment being to drive more business by either acquiring new customers through foursquare, increasing the frequency of participating customers’ visits to a store, or developing customers over time to increase their average purchase volume).
Simple. Effective. Worth a try.
Nothing against creating badges for universities, hobbies and artists. That still needs to happen. But this might be a nice way to speed things up and outpace the competition. It could also potentially eliminate the need for any further funding well ahead of schedule. Something to think about.
Cheers,
Olivier.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by William Toll, prblogger, Jeffrey Blake, CEE UNIRAZAK, Brand Lifestyle and others. Brand Lifestyle said: Improve Your Brand: Fixing Foursquare http://bit.ly/dLyLtS [...]
Wow a business model for B2B relationship for each party to make some scratch while providing benefits to their consumers jointly, oh and the consumer is now involved in the process, umm that sounds like social business strategy, planning, execution, and operations talking.
Couple ideas to maybe bolt onto to the business case and plan, is a consumer bill of rights or something along those lines. The consumer to opt into and hook in actual purchasing data with the checkin & badge. The checkin then becomes tied to the campaign as well as the bottom line of sales. The businesses need permission, but the business has to do this right to build up the trust and keep earning it along the way.
This program should be able to tie actual purchases to the badge acquisition, so the checkin isn’t just for the badge and I dont buy anything. Then maybe with this purchasing information your badge acquisition expands to get a secret badge not in the “badge marketplace” based on being an investor in the success of the company you are buying from.
What do you think?
Hope this generates a good discussion and foursquare maybe drops by to read and join the conversation!
I know, right? A clean revenue model that doesn’t require 50 years and hundreds of millions of dollars in additional VC funding to launch? Something that requires virtually zero marketing and advertising? Something community-based at that?
I’ve never had a job where I was told “don’t worry about putting us in the black anytime soon. We’ll just keep funding you for the next 5 years while you figure it out. Take your time.”
I like your ideas. Tying purchase tracking (CRM) into the system is pretty vital. Different discussion from what I want to focus on in this post, but yes. It comes up all the time. It’s what every retailer I talk to ends up asking about. The analytics platform has to be able to interface with the client company’s CRM database. Without this, determining the full effectiveness of a foursquare program will be pretty difficult. This is less important for small retailers, but get into any outfit that manages more than 5 locations, and it becomes an indispensable feature.
On the business side, there are so many things we can tack onto this that we could go on like this for months. I can think of worse problems to have.
Here’s to hoping that Foursquare will be inspired by all this.
Two months ago, I called Foursquare a dud – and Fred Wilson called this notion in a comment “premature”, as 4sq is building a social network which takes time:
http://wolpers.posterous.com/foursquare-is-a-dud-dave-mcclure-is-right-and
Issuing new badges in my eyes is symptom that something is seriously flawed with Foursquare’s concept. It reminds me of a failing state, that’s printing tin medals to honor the remaining supporters.
However, most users are not in for the cause, but the beef–and there is none. Foursquare is a good example of over-gamification and is losing contact to its vibrant market. Google now allows check-ins via Latitude, too, not to mention Facebook Places & Deals. Other players allow checking in to products & services instead of locations.
And Foursquare? Being on the cover of TIME Magazin seems to suffice Mr Cowley. I doubt, that the investors see it a similar way…
That’s why I think it’s important for Foursquare to start building value back into the model. As much as a DIY badge will look clutch in my badge collection, it only works once and provides no real lasting value/incentive.
Businesses need to be given a chance to inject foursquare’s model with marketing innovation. They also need to be given a reason to. The ones that manage to use the platform to activate their customers (changing their behaviors in a way that benefits everyone involved) will lead the way.
Otherwise, yeah, you’re right: The piecemeal release of relatively pointless badges won’t cut it.
Badges, schmadges…I could honestly give to hoots about badges. Maybe it’s just me, but I’m kind of tired of companies thinking we users are like over-zealous boy scouts who will stop at nothing to earn a badge (and unlike with the boy scouts, these online badges are rather pointless). I can’t share or trade them…or even state with pride to my significant other that I worked hard to earn one. Three quarters of the adult population don’t even know what you’re talking about anyway…they just look at you like you have lobsters crawling out your ears in the first place.
Here’s what I want: I want utility. I want an exchange where that by using Foursquare or Gowalla, I’m getting a substantive value. Fine, keep the gaming format, but they need to quit thinking that a silly badge for standing on a boat is going to make me want to continue using the service. Show me new places to eat. Even better, show me where to eat in cities where I’m unfamiliar with the surroundings. If Foursquare can keep me from having to eat at a McDonalds because it’s the only recognized restaurant, then I’ll love it that much more.
And for the love of all things holy, they’ve got to stop worrying about getting more users and start worrying a whole lot more about getting businesses involved. And not just the megabehemoth businesses, but the smaller local ones, as well. The problem is – and I can say this from experience of trying to introduce Foursquare to business owners – many just don’t see the connection to their own business success. But sell the benefits to them and make it downright irresistible (and insanely easy) to be a partner. Like you, Olivier, I believe that if they can get businesses involved and people who are unfamiliar with Foursquare will likely check it out.
Unless there’s a strong factor of utility, it’s just a game…and a game that gets pretty boring the more you play it.
I agree. One issue with your Badge plan Olivier is that it automatically FLOODS the market with Badges, which is going to have immediate impact on the current model: limited uniqueness and therefore desirability to end user.
But I think we’re all saying the same thing – whether badges or bozo buttons, the goal is some sort of reward and brand engagement system that profits all parties – end user, brand and Foursquare. Your plan would alter the current user landscape – it no longer would be about seeking to share a “I’m on a boat” badge with 20,000 people countrywide, but seeking out that local badge your friend just got yesterday that’s getting him insider rewards, networked recommendations and a free pint for every ten. Right now, it seems that sort of pivot has to come sooner or later, or Foursquare risks user boredom.
I’ve thought about that. On the one hand, yes: Badge management will become an issue. On the other, it is an opportunity to add depth and even fun layers of interaction with the service for users.
1. Foursquare will need to come up with a simple badge management system for users. Probably something along the lines of categories (retail, tourism, nightlife, etc.), location (by city, state and country) and alphabetical.
2. I don’t think it will be that bad. Most badges shouldn’t be that easy to acquire to begin with. This means that as people work to earn badges (x number of visits, etc.) they will tend to become naturally selective about what badges they go after. They will prioritize. The badges they collect will likely be limited to those that are relevant to them. Though a few compulsive collectors will be running around town trying to collect them all like Pokemons, most people will keep their badge collecting to manageable levels because it mostly won’t be about collecting badges. It will be about opting-in to specific value from the businesses offering the badges/programs.
3. Foursquare could put a limit on how many badges can be active on your account at any given time. Say 100, for the sake of argument. Your account management dashboard could be the interface that allows you to select from your computer what badges live on your phone at any given moment. If you aren’t traveling to New York City anytime soon, you could decide to take your NYC badges off your phone for now, and replace them with badges that are relevant to your immediate plans (going to Starbucks, buying groceries, running around the park, getting your shirts pressed, having your oil changed, going to the movies, etc.). Users could activate or temporarily deactivate badges in one click based on their needs.
You are right to worry about the challenge of managing what could become a flood of badges and programs, but there are so many ways of dealing with it – and even making the management process part of the gaming aspect of the app – that it’s the kind of problem that can actually improve the experience for users, and even provide new avenues of revenue (which I won’t get into now).
Cheers.
I agree completely. That’s what this whole post is about. I am working with a retailer right now who could really use this. Some of the ways it would work:
Use foursquare to incite customers to increase their frequency of visits to the store.
–> Increase visits = increased interactions.
–> Increased visits = increased opportunity to drive small item sales. (Under $30.)
–> Increased visits = more opportunities to develop a customer from casual shopper to regular shopper to loyal shopper. (Increased buy rate AND yield.)
–> For this retailer, as customer development occurs, that customer shifts from beginner-level products (economy) to advanced-level products (premium). That’s a yield strategy.
But for that to happen, the retailer needs the ability to create custom badges for specific types of achievements that will drive the program, and a solid back-end to manage and track the success of the program.
All in all though, you nailed it: Businesses will drive utility innovation for foursquare. Foursquare just needs to get out of the way, create the interfaces and platforms, and make itself adaptable. Its current direction doesn’t really do that.
Cheers, neighbor.
The back end will definitely be critical – loved that part of the analysis. As we see too often in the market, it’s usually the part that’s missing. To be able to have a robust analytics set is that second leap they need to be willing to make. YES, you risk transparency on the tool and deeper traffic/attention numbers against the investment that’s being made, but long-term the results come out in the wash one way or another. And it helps with that immediate buy-in from corporations who want burden of proof. Sincerely hope they take that step too.
There’s one critical issue that has to be addressed, which is integration into current business systems. All of this is well and good, but for most companies, they’re too busy dealing with the traditional aspects of their business. Now, we’re wanting them to incorporate something very new. I agree there must be easy access to the interface and insight into ROI. But Foursquare and other similar ventures has to contend with the day-to-day reality of what a business needs to do to just remain profitable. Perhaps adding increasingly complex badges into the system for what is still a rather small segment of the population won’t be enough to encourage business adoption.
[...] to share the comment I made at Olivier Blanchard’s The BrandBuilder Blog today. His post, Fixing Foursquare, is a good one and it set off a nerve with me. Badges, schmadges…I could honestly give to [...]
Great article.
We are sitting here in Wales talking about your post. Our company is looking over our new website from Mark Boulton Design, but we got way off when we started talking about this. Most here are either entrepreneurs, design or business people and we all agree that 4sqr has sucked at creating revenue. Your idea of a place to “meet up” is not only clever, but has been used quite successfully by a number of companies, including ours.
Cheers!
Cool!
Yeah, the front end is basically Amazon, really. What puzzles me is that foursquare isn’t already doing this. Surely, someone there sees it. Right?
It’s simply a case of delayed reinforcement = no participation. If Foursquare continues to fall behind in its ability to offer valuable reinforcement to those already participating, not only will they have an impossible time recapturing those participants, but they’ll tell their friends – and their friends – and their friends. Foursquare will then have a more difficult time proving that “oh yes, we ARE adding more valuable badges, they’re coming!”. Baloney.
Timing is everything, and in a world where human behaviour and learning is the entire focus of business model – you’d better have your ducks in a row the first time. Or else.
Bingo.
There’s a an opportunity here for channel retail sales as well, I think.
For example, give manufacturers / retailers the option to include 4square badges when a particular purchase comes through (thinking high-end product / luxury items. Exclusivity is the key here). Then the product manufacturers pay 4square for a badge, and collaborate with the retailers.
For example, you’ve just been to an awesome golf shop (4sq checkin) and bought the latest, greatest driver from Taylor Made or Calloway.
As soon as the transaction rings out, the system triggers a 4square badge “commendation” that the retailer is the latest provider of the hot new item “Calloway Z-X Pro” or whatever.
It seems like an interesting way of advertising how well you, the retailer, take care of your customers by getting them into quality product, while also giving the manufacturer bonus advertising through the channel.
That’s a really good idea, Steve. Brilliant.
See what happens when business thinking gets injected into a social platform? If only Foursquare’s brass would open themselves to these types of discussions…
Totally agree. I’m new to Foursquare, thinking I needed to add that channel to my SM repertoire. But I’m struggling with how to make it valuable to our small business: a winery in Niagara Canada. I can see a custom badge for our group of wineries where cumulative check ins earn loyalty benefits. I’d that is linked to a badge so be it but not just a badge for a badge’s sake. Think of a badge as having levels: more check ins = higher levels = more/better percs. That to my marketer’s brain would drive loyalty which in our competitive market is gold.
Agreed. That’s definitely a smart way to go with it.
Great read as always Olivier.
Would be interested to hear your thoughts on what (I think) is another big issue for foursquare and location based tech in general – user adoption.
I agree with the whole idea of custom retailer created badges and agree. It’s game theory ultimately and people go for that.
I’m just still not sure that there is a massive user base yet and companies just can’t see that critical mass that they can work with on location based networks.
I know 4sq grew 3,400% last year or similar, but I can probably count on my hands the number of my friends (non soc-med types) that are aware/using this tech.
It’ll explode all of a sudden I’m sure, and that’s when the infrastructure, platform and ideas need to be in place. I’m just not sure it’s quite there yet for the average soc-med user?
Right. And that’s my point: There is no value in it for most people. 3,400% growth rocks, but what does that mean in net numbers, especially in relation to the size of the potential market? It’s a drop in the ocean and a false measure of success.
Additionally, that growth doesn’t factor in churn: New accounts no longer being used, and drops in the frequency of of check-ins over time by bored users.
In order for adoption to scale and remain sustainable, three things have to happen:
1. Barriers of entry have to be eliminated.
2. You have to build value into the product.
3. You have to be somehow better or cooler than your competition.
I am not sure that Foursquare is giving this as much thought as they ought to.
This idea makes perfect sense. There’s just one problem.
Not everyone who follows you (generally speaking, of course) cares where you’ve checked in or whether or not you’ve just ousted someone as mayor of Who Gives a Shit Cafe. 4SQ updates are among the most annoying and useless tweets in our social streams.
On a certain level, the game theory lends itself to increased business, but it’s also using social media channels as one-way marketing messages. *You* might get a nifty badge or sticker or something. *I* get a pointless notice of it.
That’s not social. That’s broadcast pump and spin. That’s bullshit milkshake.
That’s my take on it.
Screw the updates. They’re basically little more than word-of-mouth spam anyway, right?
Searching for where your friends are or who is nearby has value. Being bombarded with updates doesn’t. We agree.
Remember when Foursquare just started and Twitter was an endless stream of people checking-in to banks, supermarkets and coffee shops? “I just became the mayor of the toilet paper aisle!” It sucked.
And I don’t want to be told when my mayorship of Cannes gets stolen either. Ignorance is bliss.
As a user and customer, badges bore me. I’m not really sharing them with my friends and at the end of the day, badges are just graphics on a website that I don’t own. Maybe these appeal more to others, but I don’t see a long term solution to revenue and user growth just by offering more badges.
You realize that the whole point of this post isn’t to create badges for the sake of badges, but rather to create badges that will drive marketing and loyalty programs, right?
The badges are mostly packaging. They aren’t the real value.
Cheers, Jay.
Yes, I get that. I just really hate badges.
[...] Fixing Foursquare Published: February 2, 2011 Source: The BrandBuilder Blog [...]
[...] marketing programs can partner with designers to create their own unique custom badges. … foursquare marketing – Google Blog Search This entry was posted in Mobile Marketing and tagged Blog, BrandBuilder, Fixing, Foursquare. [...]
[...] marketing programs can partner with designers to create their own unique custom badges. … foursquare marketing – Google Blog Search This entry was posted in Mobile Seo and tagged Blog, BrandBuilder, Fixing, Foursquare. Bookmark [...]
I think Foursquare should make your (VIC) Venture Intellectual Capitalist.
Sometimes many companies focus to much on getting more capital to work from VC’s and that does takes time out of the main objective.
Me as a small business owner I try to find creative ways to join with other people so my capital investment is minimum.
I think the framework you have showed in the slides and the post can be applied to many suffering companies with some great creativity.
I think opening it up to affiliates get other people interested. It would be great if Foursquare and other companies would take this approach.
Thanks!
I doubt that will happen.
From my interactions with Foursquare so far, I doubt that much will change over there. Companies that drink their own Kool-Aid this early in the game typically aren’t all that intellectually flexible, if you know what I mean. Foursquare seems particularly closed to these kinds of ideas.
In fact, it was made quite clear to me that Foursquare does not consider businesses to be “users.” This inability by Foursquare to understand that its market is composed of different tiers of users (consumers, businesses and municipalities, for example) is at the crux of their problem: Revenue-wise, Foursquare is a layered distribution channel. The fact that they don’t understand that (and so far refuse to think of their market in this way) illustrates the degree to which too many software engineers and not enough business development pros can cripple a company with such outstanding potential.
It’s disappointing, but what can you do.
Cheers, Raul.
Great post Olivier and the comments so far have added some great feedback and I agree with most of the above.
Yes there needs to be a viable business model, businesses need to be able to be more involved and for the consumer base to continue to grow outside the geek and new adopter stage it needs to be more than just the gaming aspect because for most of us its fun for awhile but then we lose interest.
I agree with Chris above it has to be about utility, and for me being the social butterfly that I am I want more focus on where my friends are how can I find and connect with them.
Show me my favorite places, show me when my friends are there (without having to get pings and that drain my battery)
So many times I open the app looking for a place to go and with a large number of 4sq friends, I only see one or two place “trending” with people checked in.
I want to see the trending placing in my city, listed in order with places my friends are first, if I knew that 4 of my friends where 5 miles away at a venue and I was looking for someplace to go, that would make the choice for me.
Again a lot of others made great points on other features needed as well and this is my two cents.
I agree wholeheartedly. I believe that Foursquare has already lost momentum. I loved Foursquare for a time but then the novelty wore off. There just weren’t enough new features and badges that interested me.
I even emailed them last year for a town that i’m working with to get a custom badge made and never got a response. There is/was potential there for something great. If only the heads at Foursquare would open their ears and listen. If they stumbled on this post and all its golden comments, that would be even better.
I enjoyed the write up. The custom badges are the definite sizzle of this revenue model, but the back end campaign management system is the steak. I can’t specify, but I also agree a change in business and revenue strategy is needed to hold a competitive edge.
The custom badges are the definite sizzle of this revenue model, but the back end campaign management system is the steak.” Brilliantly put, Karl.
[...] marketing programs can partner with designers to create their own unique custom badges. … foursquare marketing – Google Blog Search This entry was posted in Mobile Marketing and tagged Blog, BrandBuilder, Fixing, Foursquare. [...]
I like the DIY badge idea. Gowalla is moving in that direction already.
In terms of analytics (our business), Foursquare has done a great job for a single location case (so has Yelp). Multi-location cases, however, create a number of complexities.
Because the location business is very messy, what with all of the addresses, geocoordinates, and venue IDs. Then you have all of the other LBS platforms, not the least of which are Facebook Places and Twitter Places. Is McDonald’s supposed to have an analytics dashboard for each of these? Seems to make senese that they’d be able to manage all of this activity in one place (like our platform). Foursquare certainly can’t provide that.
When you’re building a platform company like Foursquare (and chasing platform companies like Twitter and Facebook), you have to decide what to build on your own and what to enable third parties to build for you. Because your primary objective is the user experience. Building an enterprise solution for analytics not only distracts from this, but it’s not actually what enterprises need give the fragmentation in the LBS marketplace.
Foursquare certainly has to provide a basic multi-location analytics solution (we know that they will), but when you get to the Starbucks and Subways of the world, they’ll need a lot more than Foursquare can spare in terms of development bandwidth. Those resources are much better invested in APIs that enable third parties (like us).
Consumers are Foursquare’s only true customers. If they deliver for the consumer, everything else works itself out.
[...] excellent Brandbuilder Olivier Blanchard gave you some great tips a while ago, but diminishing badges was not on that list! While Foursquare is an excellent location based [...]