So, there you are having a little shopping trip in town by yourself when all of a sudden your phone bleeps! Instead of a text message or a voicemail or even a new email… this bleep is a notification of a different kind.

It’s a friend who has been alerted by their MoSoSo App that you’re in the vivcinity and they suggest meeting for a drink. Or they may not be in the area, but they have checked their MoSoSo app and seen where you are, so suggest you take a look in a certain shop. Sound scary? Well this is just one of the ways MoSoSo Apps are being used by people…

Mobile Social Software… George Orwell would have loved this idea!

It's not Big Brother... it's your friends who are watching you!

A quick look on Wikipedia provides this explanation with regards MoSoSo: The basic idea of a MoSoSo is to overlay a location and time element to the idea of digital networking. It enables users to find one another, in a particular vicinity and time, for social or business networking.

Essentially, it allows you to keep track of people you are connected with… and if you’re a little short of friends and want to see who is nearby, it can also give you a vicinity search… just in case you fancy inviting a complete stranger to come and talk to you!

There are a variety of MoSoS0 Apps out there, and not all are exactly the same. Let me introduce you to a few of them (there are many more)… I am sure you’ll be hearing more about them in the future as people get bored of Twitter and realise these are much more fun.

Meet Foursquare

Foursquare: Not currently available for the UK. Foursquare mixes Social Networking with a game… a game that rewards you for going out more. Once you have downloaded the App to your phone you can let your friends know exactly where you are (by text message, Twitter and on Google Maps), the Application also suggests things for you to do in the immediate area… like take a break at Starbucks that you are close to passing, or try a tasty Burger at McDonalds.

It’s at night-time though that Foursquare gets interesting. The more places you visit on an evening out in town, the more points you get. Visit a bar often? Well with Foursquare you’ll be regarded as Mayor of that Bar… but here’s the catch… if you then become predictable and stay in that Bar every weekend… eventually you’ll get your points taken away from you. This is a Social Application after all… and its intention is to keep you Sociable in the true sense of the word and not just sat behind a Computer updating your Facebook Status.

Brightkite: This App, unlike Foursquare, is a little simpler and is available in the UK. Basically what Brightkite allows you to do is to create a profile and inform people in the local vicinity what you are up to. And as you’re able to search for people who have Brightkite in your area, the idea is that it enables you to make new friends.

Gypsii: Gypsii has big intentions and has its eyes set on being the mobile social networking company that matters in the next few years. This Application allows you to share the places in your life with the people in your life.

Meet Gypsii

With Gypsii you can share images and videos of where you are, see if any of your friends are nearby; and if they aren’t you can see the people who are and make some new friends.

You can also read reviews of places in the vicinity, which is handy if you don’t know the City and are looking for a good place to eat or drink. And if you’re interested in keeping a digital record of your life, the PlaceMe function records all your travels to become your own online Travel Journal.

Whrrl: This Application positions itself as ‘on-the-go storytelling’ and allows you to tell your own life story through photos and text. And if you like, you can add friends to your story and suggest they visit where you have been… and if they do, they can then build on your story. And as the Application logs your position thanks to your phone’s GPS, other people who visit the same place can read what you have written.

They all sound great… but how can Advertiser’s exploit them?

The great thing about all of these applications is not just what opportunities they open up to big Brands like Starbucks and McDonalds. But also what opportunities they open up to small independent shops who wish to have another channel to get people to visit their bar, coffee shop, boutique, book shop etc.

All of the Apps above can entice you within a shop with a location based discount… but it is Foursquare that clearly has the opportunity to do some fun things and create some interesting user interaction with your Brand. Such as encourage four of your friends to visit a certain shop to get extra points, or become Mayor of McDonalds for the day if you visit before 8.30am.

Restaurants and bars could use all of the Apps to entice the lone diner or drinker. Bring someone you’ve met via Brightkite/Whrrl and one of you eats or dines for half-price. Or, if 100 people stand next to the Next Adshell, or go inside the Next store… all of them will receive a text or email with a 10% off offer code attached.

So many Apps… who’s going to survive!

It's already begun! Don't be surprised when you see more offers like this.

As with all Applications of this kind, nothing big will really happen until there is an outright leader in the field. Many people predict Gypsii will be that winner, with some people going as far as saying that it could be the first application to ‘fulfil the promise of mobile technology’… but having downloaded Gypsii, Whrrl and Brightkite I can’t really tell much of a difference between the three.

In my opinion I think Foursquare could be the one to tap into something within us and therefore become the major player… simply because it offers something different. As Foursquare Founder, Dennis Crowley, says:

“There’s a lot of people playing in this mobile social space, and when you click with these tools, this feels like an episode of Seinfeld, like it’s a scene you see over and over again–the same people at the same places all the time. And we’re looking for ways we can use these social mobile tools to kind of encourage people to do things they wouldn’t normally do.”

Not to discount the others, but as a Creative, my mind gets incredibly excited with the fun we could have with Foursquare for some of our clients. They just need to get the damn thing working in the UK now!

If you’d like to know how MoSoSo Applications can work for you, give Red C a call on 0161 872 1361 or click here

Tags: Brightkite, Direct Digital Marketing, Foursquare, Gypsii, Mobile Advertising, Mobile Social Software, MoSoSo, MoSoSo Advertising, MoSoSo Applications, New Media Advertising, New Media Marketing, Social Advertising, Whrrl

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 at 7:30 pm and is filed under Advertising, Blog, Creative Concepts, Creativity, Direct Marketing, General Interest, Interactive Media, Marketing, Marketing Innovations, Mobile Phone Marketing, Multimedia, SMS Marketing, Social Marketing, Social Networks, Social Shopping, Tomorrow's World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.