Lloyd's Bllog

I never got that douchebag badge

I’ve tried… I’ve really tried to engage with you Foursquare, making a commitment to “check-in” as much as possible. And, while it was fun (for a little while) to enter the “WABAC machine” and compete against my network of friends for badges and Mayoral status from my favorite places, this “game” didn’t have the same immediacy as the schoolyard version. Of course, I was 8 or 9 back in those days and nothing was more important than winning a game of four square or dodge ball… except taunting my friends about the win.

I’m now somewhere north of 9 years old… far north… like the North Poll. Millennials may be finding real world satisfaction in their digital accomplishments, but I don’t have time for that stuff. For me, rubbing my friends’ faces in my ascension to Mayor of the Center for the Digital Future can be satisfying, but the stakes are too low. While Foursquare and merit badges seem to be one of the hottest social media trends — even The Huffington Post has recently gotten into the “game” (readers can earn badges by frequently commenting on posts) — the “game mechanics” of using virtual rewards to reach out to loyal customers doesn’t resonate for me like a real reward (see my previous post on Foursquare).

I often forget to “check-in” or just don’t want my network to find out where I am — what if I am enjoying a “Double Down” from KFC? CNET’s CarolineMcCarthy points out the obvious: “The badges all mean, for the most part, literally nothing, though Foursquare is attempting to build a business model out of tying real-world rewards to in-app achievements.”

I’m a former TV executive who spent most of my career trying to capture eyeballs with a programming lineup, and I like to think of myself as being immune to marketing hype faced by mere mortals. I view Taco Bell’s new ads announcing the Tortada (“You Say Sandwich, We Say Tortada”) with a jaded gullet, knowing it’s nothing more than a tostada wrap (it also makes me think of this classic article from The Onion). Of course, I really only have “selective immunity,” as I am under the spell of Apple’s new iPad, the crispy bacon of devices. PepsiCo recently partnered with Foursquare, introducing special offers on products for loyal customers. I’m not a soda drinker so I’m not going to modify my purchasing behavior just to get a discount on a Sierra Mist, but I’d welcome a loyalty program at Intelligentsia, my coffee home away from home coffee.

We had some good times Foursquare, but it just didn’t work out. Since we’re talking about badges, one way you could counter is to come up with better iconography. You might have had me with a “defibrillator” badge when I was surreptitiously — research purposes! — enjoying that “Double Down.”