If the chatter is accurate, the two tech titans are competing to invest in Foursquare rather than cooperating on a joint bid, Bloomberg reveals.

The  hugely popular mobile check-in platform is simultaneously negotiating with venture capitalists in possession of convertible debt about “turning their holdings into equity.”

The discussions suggest that potential investors are more bullish on Foursquare’s prospects after it began reaping the benefits of a new advertising approach that lets brands target users when they’ve checked into a locale.

For Microsoft, Foursquare would give the software maker a larger role in both mobile and social media. American Express, on the other hand, is believed to be chiefly interested in competing with credit-card rivals through improved marketing and better loyalty programs driven by social media platforms.

“I think we’ve proven our business model,” Foursquare Chief Revenue Officer Steven Rosenblatt said in a recent interview. “Our business model is very clear and it’s working, doing what we thought it would do, if not more. It’s all well ahead of what we anticipated.”

Apparently, Microsoft and American Express agree.

The post Microsoft, American Express Fighting for a Piece of Foursquare appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

This week, Adobe announced that users of the marketing platform will now be able to run campaigns across Flickr, Foursquare, Instagram and LinkedIn – greatly expanding on a social network list that already includes Facebook, Google, Reddit, Tumblr, Twitter and YouTube.”The analytic features of Adobe Social help merchants track conversations amongst consumers across the web,” explains Jason Campbell of DDM.

“This, in turn, allows merchants to tailor their marketing campaigns towards the needs of consumers.”
Users of Adobe Social can store data online for 24/7 access via Adobe’s Marketing Cloud interface.

So far, leading brands are already warming up fast to the platform’s online marketing tools. That much has been confirmed by Adam Broitman, Vice President & Senior Business Leader for Global Digital Marketing at MasterCard.

“Adobe Social [enables us] to seamlessly engage with local markets around the world, building trust through online listening, conversation and community,” Broitman admits.

Not even a year old, Adobe Social is now one of five media products –  Adobe Analytics, Adobe Experience Manager, Adobe Media Optimizer and Adobe Target – offered by its parent company.

The post Adobe Social Gets Deeper Into Social Networks appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Funding in this latest round came from private equity fund Silver Lake Partners and venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz, Union Square Ventures, O’Reilly AlphaTech Ventures and also Spark Capital.

The bulk of the money is a multiyear loan from Silver Lake; the rest is convertible debt that can eventually be swapped for shares. By taking on debt, rather than giving investors equity stakes, Foursquare delays a public debate about its true worth.

According to Bloomberg, early investment rounds valued the company at $600 million – not bad considering that Foursquare only generated $2 million in revenue last year, according to unnamed but knowledgeable sources cited in the report.

“This will be a very important public company one day,” says Bijan Sabet, a general partner at Spark Capital.

The post Foursquare Secures $41 Million Investment for Expansion appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

With businesses now playing a more critical and active role in the Foursquare ecosystem, this app should go a long way toward cultivating this relationship even further.

“Get more customers walking through the door with Foursquare’s free app for businesses,” Foursquare says, adding that the app lets managers post local updates, activate and deactivate specials, and even track analytics.

All told, the free app lets you:

• Attract customers by posting beautiful photo updates.
• Share Foursquare updates on Facebook and Twitter.
• View your location’s recent check-ins.
• Drive traffic to your stores with Foursquare specials.
• Learn more about your recent and most loyal customers.

For the time being, the new Foursquare for Business app is restricted in use to US-based merchants.

The post Foursquare Debuts New App for U.S. Businesses appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Domino’s has utilized mobile technology and social media to drive foot traffic into its stores for a while now, with success on nearly all fronts. Through innovative campaigns using Foursquare, to going back to basics with SMS, Domino’s continues to leverage mobile to its advantage.

Two years ago, the popular pizza chain’s use of a Foursquare checkin and rewards campaign helped to boost revenue by 29%, or an extra $26 million in the UK. The campaign was unique in that it encouraged patrons to check-in at their locations, even though none of them offered dine-in services. Looked upon as a way to drive foot traffic into their locations, the promotion did drive pick-up orders and helped eliminate costs associated with delivery, as well as offer a viral effect when a user would check-in at a Domino’s location and all their friends would be exposed to the domino’s brand.

Though simple in nature, the low-cost campaign proved extremely effective. And it’s one of many such brilliant marketing lessons that stand to be learned from the emperor of pizza pies.

Similarly successful this year have been the company’s email promo codes which have inspired countless patrons to embrace digital ordering in its new Domino’s Dollars campaign.

“Some people still aren’t used to or haven’t tried yet the idea of ordering anything online let alone their dinner and pizza,” Domino’s spokesperson Chris Brandon recently told DMN in an interview. “What we’re trying to do is make sure that people are aware that we offer online ordering, and then we hope that they give it a shot because generally people that try it stick with it.”

“We launched online ordering just over five years ago, and it’s already making up over a third of total orders in the U.S.,” Brandon adds. “Obviously we still take orders over the phone and do carry out and the good old fashion ways. I think people really enjoy the experience it offers.”

Time and time again, Domino’s has succeeded in its online and mobile marketing efforts because it keeps simplicity and customer feedback at the center of its promotional and customer service objectives. Brandon, for example, says Domino’s might use additional emailed promo codes in the future. But that all depends on what consumers demand.

“It’s something that I think shows that we’re continuing to evolve within the digital space,” Brandon admits. “We’re excited as anyone else to see how it goes and how our customers and fans respond. If it’s something that they respond to well, we’ll figure out ways to continue doing it.”

How much of your digital and mobile marketing strategy is shaped by consumer or client feedback? Based on Domino’s ability to deliver the goods on digital, it’s obviously a research effort that pays off for business over time.

The post What Can Your Mobile Strategy Learn From Domino’s Digital Dominance? appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Although, in this matter, there shouldn’t be too much subsequent controversy.

For starters, Foursquare will now require users to reveal their full name with each check-in. Nothing too groundbreaking there.  Other changes include:

• When you check in at a location, it’s like telling a friend where you are. Your check ins are ONLY shared with others when you proactively decide to “check in” to tell Foursquare you’re at a particular location.
• A business owner (say, a restaurant manager) can see their top customers on Foursquare, just as they could identify the people who walk through their door most often.
• Foursquare can tell you who is at a location (we call this ‘Here Now’), but we make the visibility match what happens in the real world:
• You always can see where your friends are if they’ve checked in, just like if they’d texted you to let you know.
• We also give you a glimpse into which other Foursquare users are currently checked in at nearby locations. Since we realize some folks may not want to appear on this “Here Now” list, you can opt out of this feature on your account settings.

The changes it will take effect January 28th, 2013. To review the full announcement on the Foursquare webpage, click here.

The post Foursquare Revamps Privacy Policy as 2012 Draws to a Close appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

With Apple chief Tom Cook promising major improvements to the less-than-adequate mapping service Apple unveiled last fall, it’s clear what Apple may be up to with Foursquare.

Sources close to the talks say that Apple is looking to integrate local data from Foursquare into its mapping application.

The talks, which took place in recent weeks and involve Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue, are the latest sign of Apple’s plans to more tightly integrate local services into the iPhone and iPad.

If a formal partnership is reached, the deal will contribute nicely toward Apple’s ongoing efforts to collect data from more than 100 million business listings around the globe.

Industry experts believe that Foursquare and Apple both have much to gain from a mutual working relationship. In addition to helping remedy Apple’s mapping woes, the four-year-old Foursquare has seen growth and user interest slow this year. A coupling of the two powerhouses could make both much more powerful together and individually.

The post What Are Apple and Foursquare Really Up To? appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Some social media startups are finding investors a lot less friendly in the wake of Facebook Inc.’s messy initial public offering.

Before Facebook went public in May of 2012, venture capital firm Spark Capital Partners LLC “bought $30 million of Foursquare Labs Inc. stock from the startup’s employees in a deal that valued the four-year-old company at $760 million,” sources tell the WSJ.

Well, what a difference seven months can make. These days, Foursquare is finding it immensely challenging to convince investors that it has retained that degree of value. According to today’s report, Foursquare is presently finding it difficult to pull in as little as $50 million in a new round of funding.

“We are coming off the hype and sliding into the trough,” says Todd Chaffee, general partner at Institutional Venture Partners. “Companies will have to come to the realization that the valuations of the social and mobile boom are starting to fall.”

The post Foursquare’s Woes Continues as Investor Interest Subsides appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

“With today’s iOS update, we’ve made finding the best place on-the-go even easier,” Foursquare announced on its official blog.

In short, now when you search for somewhere to go in Explore, you’ll see a score from 1 to 10 next to the name of a place.

The platform says this is preferable to Yelp’s mode of operation.

“Instead of other sites where every place gets 3.5 stars, we come up with our scores using the same foursquare magic that powers Explore,” Foursquare brags. “We look at signals like tips, likes, dislikes, popularity, loyalty, local expertise and nearly 3 billion check-ins from over 25 million people worldwide. And, with every check-in and Explore search, our scores will get smarter and better.”

For now, Foursquare is asking users to download the update and find “some new places to try.”

To check out the update for yourself, click here.

The post Foursquare Gives Yelp a Challenge on Ratings appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

At the BlackBerry Jam Americas event, RIM confirmed that it will have apps from the big four social networks for BlackBerry 10 at launch. The “big four” include Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, and LinkedIn.

According to All Things D, the company demonstrated the Facebook app and “it looked very similar to the iOS app.”

Later in the keynote, Foursquare took the stage to demo its BlackBerry 10 app, which looks much more like a native BlackBerry 10 app, complete with the “cards” and sliding panels that make up the Cascades framework.

Twitter or LinkedIn were not demonstrated on platform.

As of this writing, BlackBerry 10 is scheduled to debut in the first quarter of 2013.

The post Social Networks Facebook and Twitter to Support BlackBerry 10 appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.