A few months ago, I wrote a post about Foursquare and how retailers should use it as a tool to drive customer loyalty on the social web. This is kind of a no brainer and I have actually experienced minimal buzz on a tweetup I put together last summer; a book signing with Brian Solis.
On my way to the office this morning, I stopped by Starbucks and did what I normally do when I arrive at my destination – check in on Foursquare. I was surprised to see the following:

Foursquare has been offering this (or similar advertising) to many local businesses for quite some time but this is the first time I have experienced it firsthand. Of course I clicked and this is what came next:

The SparkAwards used Foursquare to drive awareness to their first multi-level design competition here in San Francisco at the Autodesk Gallery on November 4th. They even offered VIP tours to all who checked in on that day. After minimal research, I found that there have been 12 total check-ins with 10 unique visitors to the venue. Not the greatest set of metrics of course; but I am sure glad to see local businesses trying new things and experimenting on the social web.


