We learned yesterday that SCVNGR, a direct competitor to Foursquare, is being used by Coke to target teens in Simon Malls across the United States on Black Friday.
SCVNGR is a location-based mobile game platform that allows players to collect points, complete challenges, earn badges and broadcast to what they are up to on Facebook and Twitter. By completing challenges, players can unlock badges and earn real free items or discounts.
This offers some serious value for companies continuously looking for new ways to connect with the consumer. Teens and college-aged young adults represent the core of the SCVNGR user base, and we all know the high regard marketers hold for this target demographic. Coke is the only the latest big brand to join the party, with Hollywood studios, NFL franchises, Media companies including the New York Times, US cities, and just about any University Campus you can think of already offering up varying degrees of SCVNGR reward-based challenges.
SCVNGR boasts a modest user base of 500,000 users and they have recently announced that they have reached $1.5 millon in reward redemptions.
"The reaction that we’ve gotten to rewards on SCVNGR, both from players and businesses, has been phenomenal," says CEO Seth Priebatsch. "Not only have businesses found a fresh way to engage with customers that goes beyond the typical location-based check-in, but let’s face it, consumers are looking for something a bit more fun to do than just hit a button..."
With a huge brand like Coke joining the fray, so much room for growth, and mobile marketing gaining more and more prominence, are we are witnessing a potential powerhouse disruptor in the making?
Good post. I think we're not talking about much more of a bang in this than we have seen with foursquare. foursqure is no slouch. but I don't think anyone can call it a disruptor.
Posted by: Jeff King | 11/20/2010 at 12:34 PM