The recent spur in location-based services (LBS), such as the popular Foursquare and Gowalla, have led to innovative location-based marketing campaigns. McDonald’s, a major brand, jumped on the LBS bandwagon and launched a Foursquare campaign earlier this year. The company randomly awarded $5 and $10 gift cards to users checking into McDonald’s. McDonald’s spent $1000 in gift cards. Head of social media at McDonald’s, Rick Wion, claimed a successful 33 percent increase in foot traffic to the restaurants on Foursquare Day. That’s very impressive. As it turns out, Wion misspoke. He clarified the misunderstanding via TweetDeck and confirmed that McDonald’s saw a 33 percent increase in check-ins, not foot traffic. While McDonald’s may not have brought in new customers with the Foursquare campaign, they have generated a lot of buzz through social media.
This story is all over the Web and it only cost McDonald’s $1000, not including other possible campaign fees.
