STUDIONASH

Although Facebook Places has a pretty limited launch base, I can see the somewhat frantic and misguided early adopters ruining it before it’s even got to its full potential.

As an advertiser location based marketing is pretty sexy stuff:

“You mean we can influence near by shoppers, when they are actually shopping and defenseless to a 20% off voucher” Bingo. 

Well its not that simple, but you get the idea.  The mobile is the single most persuasive piece of technology; subtle nudges from our computer in our pocket at the right time, can have a massive impact on our decisions of where to eat, drink and what to, and what not to buy.

However, like most Facebook tools, Places launches with little explanation to the mass public on what it should be use for, here is a few tips I have compiled:

DO: check in at pubs, bars and restaurants, rate and give them reviews so your friends can have ideas on where they should go.  Check in at shops and boutiques, where you may unlock vouchers.

DONT: Check in 8 times on the way to work (the Auckland harbor bridge is an exception), do not check in at your house, or you’re mum’s house, or your friends’ house.

As cool as it may be to check in to ‘My Couch’, you will soon see a steady fall in your friends list as you SPAM them with unnecessary updates.

For us advertisers the original measure of good advertising is, “is this ad good enough that someone would talk out it, tell someone else about it”.

I think this could be a filter all of us should apply to places.  Is this place interesting enough that my friends would benefit from hearing about it? So interesting they might go there, in fact when they are there, be so pleased that I have been there, and have recommended never ever ordering the fish! 
If your check in fails the meet the above criteria, then do the right thing, be a good friend, put the phone down, go somewhere much more interesting, then check in.

Tell me, conference after conference, industry meet up after industry meet up, do speakers think jumping onto slide share, grabbing a few slides, dropping an agency logo on it - makes them an industry leader.  It doesn't.

Why would you not approach your presentation like a pitch, add some theatre, some mystique.  Do what we all do best, create excitement and entertain.  We do an amazing job of this with our clients and their brands, but when it comes to our own personal brand and the agencies brand, we seam content with grabbing a few of the latest tweets on foursquare, some facts on Facebook (yes we all know it has 500+ million users) a quote from Mad Men and talk about it as the Holy Grail, with no depth.  No facts.  No insight.  Sit down.

Every one of these presentations ends with, "The most important thing we need to remember is, without great creative we are dead in the water".  Err thanks for that, what a revelation.  Surly this tells us one very important thing.  Think about the tools and channels last.  It may be TV, it may be Facebook, it may be a waterskiing hamster with a moustache.  Whatever it is, think about the tools last.