Grown Up Thinking

Simply amazing. (Yes, I had to start off that way.) Anyone who’s ever played with my phone knows that I love me a good app. I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to phone applications for marketing, but I always appreciate when someone comes up with an idea that takes marketing and entertainment to the next level. I was recently made aware of an iPhone application concept for Durex Condoms that truly takes this medium to the next level. Not only does it provide for an entertaining prank to play on your friends, but forces the consumer out to retail in order to remove the crying baby that could soon dominate their lives.

If a mobile application is not fun or functional (or both) it’s doomed to fail from the start. If it can actually drive you to retail and actually get you to see the product, then it’s destined for success. Whether or not this type of application would actually be successful is debatable, but the idea behind it is magnificently unique. Check out the video below:

Last week I stumbled upon a new iPhone app called CauseWorld, which allows users to check in to places and receive Karma points. The points can then be donated to nine potential causes including Support A Classroom, Give Clean Water, and Donate A Book. The model is basically Foursquare with a charity tie-in, allowing users to gain badges while giving back to charity through small micro actions. The app is free and sponsored by Kraft Foods and Citi. There’s also a feed via Facebook Connect which allows you to publish your donations to your Facebook wall.

CauseWorld is a great example of brands connecting with causes and amplifying their message through social media. In December, Foursquare launched a cause campaign with CampInteractive sponsored by Pepsi that donated $0.04 for each check-in. While the program was a great way to bring CampInteractive’s cause into the mainstream and align Pepsi, the CauseWorld app takes it a step further by allowing consumers to choose what cause matters most to them, and amass ‘do-gooder’ badges.

Another solid example of brands aligning with causes to rally consumer participation across social media is the Chase Community Giving program, which just announced their winners (congrats to my peeps at Invisible Children, who won a $1 million donation). The program gained over two million Facebook fans, and aligned cause with 500,000 charities that participated for a chance to receive $25k, $100k, or $1 million grants. In total, Chase Community Giving handed out $5 million to a variety of worthy organizations.

The beauty of the program is it unlocked the potential of these charities’ reach through social voting, with top charities generating over 100k user votes and rallying their fans to support their cause in a central social space. Excellent use of tying together social media, cause, community and a brand under a single campaign.

One of my Twitter friends recently posted a great article by Xavier Lur, who is a 15 year old Singapore student and also the editor of TechXav. TechXav, a technology blog written by teens ranging from 11-15, was founded by Lur in 2009 and is great site which shares news and reviews on technology from a youth’s perspective.

The article that actually caught my attention was from July, but I found it too entertaining and impressive to not share. 30+ Funny & Weird Twitter Applications give us a application-by-application rundown of Twitter’s most entertaining (yet mostly useless) add-ons.  If you have a couple of minutes, I highly suggest you read through the entire list, but below you can find my favorite 4 apps taken from Lur’s list:

Track This lets you track your UPS, Fedex, USPS or DHL package via Twitter.  Each time the package changes locations, Track This will notify you of its whereabouts.  No more waiting by the door for the UPS guy to arrive!

Foamee is Twitter’s answer to online flirting.  That special someone will be notified that you have purchased them a drink, but the kicker is, you’ll have to actually meet up with them to redeem it.  The sender or receiver can then confirm they actually purchased/claimed the drink, so all of your Twitter friends can see you are a (wo)man of your word.

Overheard.it is a personal favorite of mine, as it reminds me of one of my favorite pre-Twitter/Foursquare websites, Overhead In New York. Users anonymously tweet about silly things overheard throughout their day.  Great for a giggle or to pass time waiting for the bus.

TwitterMosaic I find really fun (especially as my News Feed was recently flooded by “My Year in Status” posts).  It compiles a collage of all of your Twitter friends and lets you drop the picture onto mugs, t-shirts, bags, etc.  Next Christmas, Twitter Mosaic mouse pads for everyone!

Finally, my least favorite application.  But only because it thought I was a dude.

You can almost hear the sound of rubber balls bouncing around the walls of Mr Youth these days, as the epic battle to reign supreme in all things #Foursquare has swept the agency. Our resident mayor recently explained the craze in an earlier post, but developments over the weekend have added a new dimension to the biggest game on the social media scene today.

I was gleefully surprised to receive an email from Foursquare notifying me that I had been upgraded to “Superuser” status based on my, well, super (over)use of the service. While the lack of a VIP card, limited edition sunglasses and other self-identifying accoutrement is slightly disheartening, I was informed that I have the ability to make  edits to the game’s venue database, like de-duplicating venues and matching venues with twitter accounts. The more I exercise my Superuser status the more abilities I’ll unlock.

Foursquare is really hitting the mark when it comes to tapping into its enthusiastic fanbase to drive and improve the game. By inviting users into the fold and allowing them to affect elements of the service, they’re fostering deeper loyalties and creating layers of exclusivity that encourage would-be-Superusers to increase their usage of the game to reach the great heights of Superuser status. Lucky me. Question is…how do I translate this into a Halloween costume?

Where my other Superuser peeps at? Holler below in the comment section.

When two old acquaintances and Facebook friends sacrificed me for a lousy Whopper, I knew Burger King was onto something big… and that my feelings were just a little bit hurt. Burger King had created a successful Facebook application called the Whopper Sacrifice, which rewarded people with a free Whopper for sacrificing 10 friends. A brilliant concept that I wish I’d thought of. It’s so great because it has everything a successful Facebook app needs. It has an incentive, it has a viral component, and it’s useful.

There’s currently an oversaturation of Facebook applications out there. Many companies see that Facebook is the new thing but they haven’t figured out how to use it yet. A lot of companies force applications or features, regardless of whether people want them or not. Part of the success of the Burger King application is that it came out of necessity to let people do some spring-cleaning to their buddy lists. Using caution to not make the application seem mean spirited, it was given a lighthearted spin with the message, “Todd likes you but loves the Whopper. Todd sacrificed you for a free burger at Whopper Sacrifice.” 184,000 sacrifices later, it’s still going strong.

ADDED: 1/22 – In a sad moment for marketers, Facebook removed the Whopper Sacrifice from their website, but not before nearly 234,000 friends were scarfificed. Facebook claimed that the application violated their policy that people cannot be notified when they are unfriended. A modified version of the app is expected to go live shortly.