SXSW Dispatch, Part 7: Welcome to the Year of Location

According to Jason Finkelstein at Wavemarket, 55% of all text messages are some variation of the question, “Where are you?” That means that in 2009 there were at least 650 BILLION text messages asking for location information, without even counting what was happening on apps, maps, and the mobile web.

If you’re still wondering whether location “matters” in the mobile environment, I think you’ve got your answer.

So, let’s just call it already: 2010 will be the year of location. That’s right. We just went there.

Let’s be clear, though: this isn’t just about foursquare vs. Gowalla. Location will become a ubiquitous feature of all online (and much offline) media in the very near future; even the heads of today’s leading location-based services are keenly aware that they don’t have a monopoly on location. In fact, the founder of SimpleGeo argues that we should start building web experiences with the assumption that we have location data for every user.

Great! So what does that mean for your brand? It means everything you do will be tied to a place. It means that consumers will want your brand to connect differently with them depending on where they are right at that moment. It means you’ll need to figure out how to best apply the increasingly specific data your consumers are providing about their lives.

The takeaway: location what will enable mobile marketing to become more targeted, more relevant, and more engaging for consumers than perhaps any medium that’s come before. As mobile marketing continues to grow, location will provide context for how consumers interact with goods, services, their hometowns, and their peers.

Now, we just have to figure out what to do with all this location data.

For starters, we can map it. SimpleGeo’s Vicarious.ly was one of many services mapping check-ins during SXSWi, so even non-attendees could see which places were filled to the brim with dorks like us. They’ve just released the video above, which shows how these check-ins unfolded throughout the course of the conference. At a very basic level, brands can learn a lot about the attendees of this conference just by watching how these patterns shift over time. Granted, most of us don’t care too much about where SXSWers are partying, but we do care about where consumers are shopping. That’s why the creators of the ShopSavvy app are now selling “UPC/GPS intent pairs,” which is a horribly clunky way of saying that they’ll provide data about where consumers were when they scanned your item and tried to find a better price. Ahhh, now you’re seeing the point, aren’t you? Map that out and tell us that’s not some actionable data!

Brands can also start comparing data across various locations. We’ll skip over the details for now (but you can read more here), but we can see how this could be applied using Starbucks’ Barista badge from the last post. While we weren’t too keen on the badge itself, we did think that the brand is smart for saying they would use the check-in data to improve targeting and help them understand their consumers’ behavior (i.e. who goes to which Starbucks when). If the Barista badge is just the carrot they’re dangling to get that info, then we’ll concede that it’s a clever way of gathering consumer data.

But, we can also turn these maps around and use them to show consumers the information that they need to know. Throughout the various SXSW conferences, Pepsi’s Zeitgeist compiled live data from foursquare, Flickr, Twitter, and more to show a real-time stream of what was happening around town. A huge spike in information for a particular location could mean that Quentin Tarantino had shown up somewhere, or one of the panels was filling up fast, or one of the parties was especially worth attending (or, if you’re crowd-phobic, avoiding). Organizing the whereabouts of these masses of people brought the conference to life, showing the ebbs and flows of how attendees were congregating. Consider the possibilities for all kinds of events; for example, at this summer’s Pitchfork or Lollapalooza festivals, attendees can see which of the bands playing head-to-head are drawing bigger crowds, and choose their shows accordingly. Furthermore, folks who aren’t attending the shows can see this data online, and draw their own conclusions about whether Lady Gaga or Soundgarden is the bigger ticket.

Moreover, we can do a better job of giving consumers what they’re asking for when they’re engaged in mobile search. Google knows this, claiming that one-third of all mobile searches have local intent. In other words, when a user is searching for an item online, they’ll want to know if a local retailer has that product in stock. Hence, Google is now tying in local inventory data to their shopping search results. Not to be outdone, Microsoft’s Bing is now enhancing their maps with location-specific tips left by foursquare users.

To go a step further, when you start combining location data with augmented reality, the latter suddenly becomes a lot less gimmicky and a lot more game-changing. We previously told you about Yelp’s augmented reality feature, but now were seeing things like a Beatles-specific tour of London or a browser that helps you find the nearest subway station (see the video above). Then there’s Block Chalk, which lets you leave (and read) virtual notes for and about your neighborhood. Post that you’ve lost your kitty (aww), found a great restaurant, or just vent about that unidentifiable scent coming from your neighbor’s house. (We’ll cover more augmented reality in an upcoming post – we’re about due for another roundup.)

Whew. Let’s give you a second to digest all this info. But don’t get overwhelmed by the details; the one thing you need to take away from this entry is that location absolutely matters. Let’s start marketing with that in mind.