The Next Big Thing: Foursquare to Launch in Vancouver

– EDIT — Foursquare Launches in Vancouver Sept. 9, 2009.

I stumbled upon a new social media tool recently that I think has the legs to emerge as the most widely played mobile game ever and become the ‘next big thing’.

It’s called Foursquare and it’s taking major American cities by storm including New York and San Francisco and is coming to Vancouver soon. Foursquare developers describe it as “50% friend finder, 30% social city guide, 20% nightlife game.” I think, that with the strength of the social media community in Vancouver, we will be the first city in Canada in which it thrives.

Essentially, Foursquare allows you to “check-in” at various locations in your city using your GPS enabled mobile device. This could be at GM Place for a concert, Medina Cafe for breakfast, or the YVR airport on your way out of town. If you are at a coffee shop, Foursquare can tell you which of your friends are nearby and you can ping them to ask them to join you. If you check into the same place more than twice in 60 days you are eligible to become mayor of that spot, until someone else knocks you out. I will probably become mayor of the Yaletown Brewing Company below my office, but that’s beside the point. See example from Supper Restaurant in New York.

Beyond becoming mayor, points in the form of girl-guide-like-badges can be achieved for checking into multiple venues in one night, or multiple venues in a calendar month. There’s the “Local” badge for checking in 3x at the same place in 1 week or the “Crunked” badge for “4+ stops in one night.” There are also city specific badges, so you can imagine one like “Commercial Drive for life” for frequenting multiple places in that neighbourhood. There are also some funny tongue-in-cheek badges that we could expect such as “Kitsilano Sushi Snob.” You have to be somewhat careful where you go and the type of places you visit as you might not want to unlock the dreaded “Douchebag Badge.” My personal favourites are the “Don’t Stop Believin” badge for checking in 3 times to venues tagged “karaoke” and the one I hope to achieve, the “Gym Rat” for checking in 10 times to venues tagged ‘gym’ in 30 days.

No official Vancouver Foursquare launch date has been announced but I received the following message from the Foursquare Twitter account; “@chrisbreikss If it takes us until November to launch Vancouver, I’ll send you a six-pack of Brooklyn Lager. (hopefully it’s much sooner).” View the tweet.

There is no word as to when Foursquare plans to launch in other Canadian cities but we anticipate that they will launch in multiple locations in Canada, as well as expanding in the US. However, it would make sense to launch in Vancouver ASAP with the Winter Olympics happening in February 2010. According to Jodi Brown, the Marketing and Interactive Director at Metro Canada, the news is that Foursquare will be launching in Toronto in November; “word from @foursquare is November for Toronto!” View the tweet.

Part of the reason for the Candian launch holdup is that Foursquare is looking for a data partner in Canada. They are likely looking for partnership with a listings provider such as YellowPages or CanPages for a data feed for restaurants, coffee shops, and pubs (and other businesses), but they also need a feed of information for libraries, parks and other listings that you would not necessarily find in those directories. Doesn’t Google have that information? Maybe they are the partner Foursquare is looking for.

If Foursquare takes off in Vancouver like I am predicting, businesses that participate will have a distinct advantage over their competitors that don’t. Businesses will be able to offer location-based coupons and engage with Foursquare users in real time. Foursquare is also heavily integrated with Twitter and Facebook to further the social network reach.

Businesses will be able to offer their Foursquare customers discounts based on them checking in at their establishment and proving it by showing their status on their Blackberry or iPhone screen. Repeat business could also be incentivized especially for mayors. Foursquare has a section on their site for businesses which our company can assist you with getting your business listed, and creating a Foursquare marketing strategy. Read more about Foursquare for businesses.

We have already started planning a Foursquare Vancouver launch party, and have a tentative venue lined up, we just don’t have a date! Follow me on Twitter to stay tuned on Foursquare Vancouver updates and other related marketing tweets!

Other Resources
Mashable: Foursquare: Why It May Be the Next Twitter
TechCrunch: Foursquare and The Business Potential Of Location-Based Services
Wikipedia: Foursquare on Wikipedia
Vote for Your City: Bring Foursquare to your City

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