Marketing Artist L.L.C.

Corporate Communications Consulting by Andrew Tytla

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Location-based Social Networking

What’s getting real  attention at SXSW 2009? Foursquare — this year’s breakout mobile app. TechCrunch, via WaPo:

Before this year’s SXSW event kicked off, a number of bloggers suggested that this year’s breakout hit might be foursquare, a new location-based social application with a gaming twist that was created by the guys behind the now-defunct Dodgeball service. As the ‘interactive’ section of the festival winds down, I think it’s safe to say that foursquare was not the must-have app of SXSW the way Twitter was two years ago. But it had a strong showing, and once I actually figured out which of my friends were using the service (which is more difficult than it sounds), I found foursquare to be an indispensable app during my time here.

foursquare’s primary function is to help you figure out where your friends are. Users frequently ‘check-in’ with the app to update their current location, which is then broadcast to their friends. At this point the service primarily operates from its recently-released iPhone application, though users can also check-in from the foursquare website .

More detail, via Mashable:

Foursquare is essentially a re-envisioning of Dodgeball, Twitter’s precursor and a cult phenomenon until GoogleG left it for dead, and actually hails from one of the guys that worked to build that app. Foursquare, which offers an iPhone app or mobile browser experience, works by letting you tell the app where you are and then lets your friends know where to find you. All you need to do is check-in via SMS (text to 50500) or mobile app.

Using the Foursquare iPhone app, you can automatically check-in and post shouts based on where you are and what you’re doing. You can also find your friends, search venues, earn badges, and add friends.

Since you can add your favorite Twitter friends and auto-post your checkins to Twitter, Foursquare provides a convenient way to connect your Twitter network with your every on-the move activity. You can even allow Foursquare to send your friends DMs when you check-in.

Foursquare is also a game, so each check-in earns you points, with interesting check-ins earning you badges (awards), and the more you check-in the more Foursquare features you can unlock.

We really like Foursquare’s fresh approach to location-based social networking, and definitely hope to see them have more staying power than their Dodgeball predecessor.

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Executive Habits

As many as 1 of 5 senior executives are clueless, according to a new study released by the Financial Times and Doremus, the B-to-B agency.

Conducted in the fourth quarter of last year, the study was based on an online survey of 338 global senior executives.

It found that 55% of senior execs are “tech-savvy,” 15% are “technophiles” and 20% are “Luddites.” (The remainder did not answer all the questions and therefore could not be classified.)

Technophiles own an average of 8.7 electronics devices (such as cell phones, PDAs and MP3 players); tech-savvy execs own an average of 5.3 devices, while Luddites own an average 2.5 devices.

“While technophiles skew a little younger, there are still a lot in the 45-to-55 [age group],” said Hope Picker, director of strategic research at Doremus.

Interesting study — especially the conclusion that print still matters (click here for the PDF). Then there’s the age thing…

The older they are, the less likely to … Use of streaming video, RSS feeds, social networking sites, community sites and social book-marking sites decreases with the age of the respondent.

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