Category Archives: Location-Based Cause Marketing

Radio Shack Shows Nonprofits How to Succeed on Foursquare

Written on December 6, 2011 in Location-Based Cause Marketing
7 Comments

Radio Shack reminds me of a lot of the local, scrappy nonprofits I work with. The Shack is big – nearly 4,500 company-operated stores – but it has a local feel to it. Maybe it’s because you’ll find them in local malls, strip malls and downtown business districts.

With competitors such as Best Buy, Walmart and Amazon.com, Radio Shack is certainly an underdog. It’s like saying your competitors this holiday season are St. Jude Children’s Research, The Salvation Army and Toys for Tots. Radio Shack knows what it’s like to be constantly competing against the big guys to eke out a profit.

One area in which Radio Shack is winning big is on Foursquare. It started the summer of 2010 when Radio Shack joined the location-based service. It accelerated over the holidays that year with its Holiday Heroes campaign on Foursquare.

In just 60 days Radio Shack went from zero followers to 20,000.… Keep reading

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Walgreens Checks-in to Controversy with 4sq Cause Marketing

Written on September 22, 2011 in Location-Based Cause Marketing
2 Comments

This is a guest post from the Center of Social Impact Communication at Georgetown University. It first appeared on their blog. I’m reprinting it here with their permission because it’s an excellent case study on the trouble cause marketing can stir and how to deal with it.

I faced a similar reaction when I wrote here and on The Huffington Post on JDRF’s partnership with Kentucky Fried Chicken. 425 comments later, people are still sending me hate e-mail!

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Last week, Walgreens kicked off a month-long social media cause campaign to donate 200,000 flu shot vouchers (worth $6M) to uninsured and underinsured individuals.  Donations are triggered by store check-ins on Foursquare and Facebook Places, and Facebook fans can vote to determine the proportion of vouchers distributed to each of five organizations (Feeding America, American Diabetes Association, League of United Latin American Citizens, National Urban League, and Americares).… Keep reading

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Check-in to Cause Marketing for Dummies Today & You Could Win a Copy!

Written on August 3, 2011 in Location-Based Cause Marketing
2 Comments

[Update 8/4: We had three winners yesterday. Thanks to everyone that participated!]

Are you in Boston, New York or Los Angeles today? Well, it’s your lucky day! Check-in to “Cause Marketing for Dummies” on Foursquare in Boston, New York and Los Angeles–today only–and one person in each city will win a copy of my first book Cause Marketing for Dummies.

You’ll learn something checking-in because each location has a special connection with cause marketing.

Two things to keep in mind.

  • You don’t have to go to the actual location to check-in to “Cause Marketing for Dummies.” (Shhh…just for today, we’ll set Fousquare’s rules aside!) If you’re in Boston, New York or LA today, whip out your smartphone, hit the check-in button on Foursquare and type in “Cause Marketing for Dummies.” Hit check-in here and presto you’ll be entered into the contest to win a copy of my book.

    • … Keep reading

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Foursquare, Cause Marketing Find Home with Housing Charity

Written on July 25, 2011 in Location-Based Cause Marketing
9 Comments

I love this cause marketing promotion from a UK housing charity that brings together eight Edinburgh thrift shops with the leading location-based service, Foursquare.

It capitalizes on a physical location. Shelter Scotland helps people with all sorts of housing problems from homelessness to poor living conditions. 16 percent of Shelter’s annual donations come from its two dozen thrift shops throughout Scotland. Not all nonprofits are destinations for shoppers or visitors. But the ones that are should follow Shelter’s lead and tap Foursquare, which just isn’t for nonprofits that are cultural institutions and museums. What about thrift-store giant Goodwill or a busy historical attraction like the Freedom Trail in Boston? Foursquare should be part of their [cause] marketing too.

Shelter jumped in with both feet. They launched the program in eight stores to start and created a great video to educate supporters about the campaign and how to use Foursquare.… Keep reading

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Is Your Road to Success Paved with Location Based Services?

Written on March 21, 2011 in Location-Based Cause Marketing
3 Comments
 

Thanks to everyone who came out to our breakout session on Saturday at the 2011 Nonprofit Technology Conference in Washington, D. C. We had a blast, and thanks to some good questions afterward, I think we all learned something.

Here’s a summary of the key points from my presentation.

Action-Triggered Donations (ATD). Most of the major location-based cause marketing programs have been ATD’s. Your check-in triggers a donation from a retailer. This was the case in January with SCVNGR and American Eagle when an “action” in Time Square triggered a donation to Big Brothers Big Sisters.

Badges. I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of a cause marketing badge! An attendee at our session from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital reported that their longtime partner Chili’s Bar & Grill explored getting a badge for its annual cause marketing program for the hospital but the $15,000 fee Foursquare wanted to charge was hard to justify.… Keep reading

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