Page 14 - AeM_May_2014

RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

SoLoMo – how does it really work?

SoLoMo picked up speed mainly Its results are even integrated in Google Search, so
due to the fast-growing location- that they can be publicly viewed, without requiring the
based services (LBS). Through it user to log in directly to the Yelp platform, in order to
the user can retrieve information have access to its review information.
about the current location with their
mobile device via GPS (global posi- With Google places, Google offers a similar service
tioning system). What originally which allows businesses to be found on Google maps,
served mainly as navigation, now including all relevant company data and the opportunity
can be used for increasingly richer for users to evaluate these companies. Google is ex-
location-based services, which is panding such services around its core business - the
now called the SoLoMo movement. search -. To date, it is not the intention of the search
In addition to simple navigation, i.e. engine giant to displace its competition in this field, but
finding a route from your current instead it rather thankfully includes the information pro-
location to any place you choose, sights, restaurants or vided by these other platforms in its search results.
shops in the area can now be found systematically, for With Google +1 the company is going one step further
example.
in offering an all-inclusive assessment platform. In con-
junction with Google Latitude, Google Places, and
Some companies have leveraged on this and invite the
user publicly to log on (check-in) in a branch as a cus- Google Offers, the search engine group is well
tomer. After checking in, the user makes his information equipped to provide comprehensive SoLoMo services
public such as where he is currently moving around and from a single source. Google +1 can not only recom-
that he is a current customer of this particular store. mend locations to users, but in turn also individual web-
Many companies are willing to invest in such location sites and products can be recommended to the people
based recommendation marketing systems and offer associated to a specific Google account.
incentives from their product suppliers. Some compa- Since in turn these results of searches of +1 users are
nies provide incentives per each time a user checks in, incorporated, the goal is thereby a higher level of per-
others encourage customers to participate in a competi- sonalization in each search. Google Latitude enables
tion and offer only a bonus to those customers, which users to display to selected friends the current location
most frequently checked in at this specific store. This of the individual. Through Google Places companies
way, a new form of “word of mouth” is created for the are not only able to make themselves visible to custom-
store, the reach of which being strongly affected by the ers, but also at the same time provide them with special
platform being used.
offers or coupons. Again, users have also the oppor-
tunity to evaluate companies. Google Offers in turn
Depending on the platform, not only the reach and the
number of users varies, but also the offer of different brings the search engine group into the services range
applications. The previously mentioned frequency of of other coupon services like Groupon, with the ad-
check-ins at a specific store can be understood as a vantage of localized offers based on location. Google
kind of game, as seen on the foursquare platform. On it, therefore has a great potential to play a relevant role in
besides being able to show where you are currently SoLoMo, as is platforms +1, Latitude, Places and Of-
shopping to your friends, it is also possible to collect fers are able to interact seamlessly. This is besides the
additional points and virtual badges in addition to the fact that Google has sufficient capital and users, to be
function to showing which products you have bought, as able to play at the forefront of SoLoMo.
well as entering into a competition with other four Many platforms will probably suffer due to the lack of a
square platform users. The foursquare founder Dennis broad user base in order to develop a profitable busi-
Crowley introduced the platform under the slogan: ness model over time, and a consolidation in the mar-
"turning life into a game". The rapidly growing number of ket still has not taken place. Current industry giants
users seems to confirm the playful concept of geo- such as Facebook have a good starting point for this as
location services. According to foursquare, every day well. With products like Facebook Places, the largest
around 35,000 new members are added. The company social network offers a geo-location service, which ena-
speaks of "more than 250,000" companies that are reg- bles mobile localization within the social network com-
istered with foursquare and worldwide "over 2.5 million" munity. In combination with Facebook Deals compa-
check-ins every day. As another feature, the geo- nies can interact with customers at the same time.
location platform also includes reviews of the locations
visited by its users. Those providers who are still lacking the necessary
critical mass of user numbers might be able to make up
A specialist in this field where for example shops, res- for it through innovative approaches.
taurants and hotels can be reviewed, is the platform
Yelps.

14 Asian eMarketing May 2014 - Multichannel Marketing— SoLoMo