Burger King's 'Whopper Detour' campaign drove 1.5m app downloads

"Burger King boosted downloads of its mobile app by 1.5 million with its "Whopper Detour" stunt campaign that offered 1-cent Whoppers to smartphone users who were near rival McDonald's locations. José Cil, CEO of Burger King's parent company Restaurant Brands International (RBI), revealed the results as part of a quarterly earnings call with analysts on Feb. 11.
Customers had to download the upgraded Burger King app and get within 600 feet of a McDonald's restaurant to activate the offer. After customers placed an order, the app navigated them away from McDonald's and toward the nearest Burger King to pick up their food within an hour.
The campaign made the Burger King app the most downloaded app in Apple's App Store for several days in a row and the most downloaded QSR app in the U.S. among direct competitors in December, Cil said. RBI also owns Popeyes and Tim Hortons."

Source:  Mobile Marketer, 12th February 2019

Foursquare supplies location technology to over 125,000 developers

"While the unbundling effort was a risky bet, it seems to have paid off for the company. Both apps have over 50 million monthly active users as of 2016, which has allowed Foursquare to put their foot on the gas with enterprise products.
For example, Pinpoint by Foursquare (an advertising product) now boasts more than half of the Ad Age 100 as advertisers. Attribution by Foursquare lets those brands measure how effective that advertising is. Attribution more than doubled revenue in 2017.
Developer tools are also an integral part of Foursquare’s business. The Pilgrim SDK and Places API “grew substantially,” according to a post by CEO Jeff Glueck, and now provides location tech to 125K+ developers.
Foursquare added 50+ new roles over 2017, including positions in engineering, sales, creative, business development, marketing, and ops. In 2018, the company is opening a new engineering office in Chicago, and plans to grow the team by 30 percent over the course of the year."

Source:  Techcrunch, 19th January 2018

Amazon's price cuts at Whole Foods boosted footfall by 25%

"Amazon.com Inc.’s splashy takeover of Whole Foods, complete with deep price cuts, did more than bring a surge of publicity to the chain: It boosted customer traffic by 25 percent.
That’s the finding of Foursquare Labs Inc., which compiled location information during the first two days after Amazon completed its acquisition of the grocer. The data, culled from shoppers’ mobile devices, was compared with the same period a week earlier."

Source:  Bloomberg, 11th September 2017

Pokémon Go generated an estimated $950 million in revenues in 2016

"Pokémon Go generated an estimated $950 million in revenues in 2016, according to a report by market researcher App Annie.
Niantic Labs launched Pokémon Go on July 6, 2016, and it became a smash hit. Within a couple of months, Niantic announced that it had been downloaded more than 500 million times.
The game got people off the couch and prompted them to walk around outside in search of Pokémon creatures. It flooded parks and other landmarks with players, and some of them made in-app purchases of items such as Pokémon balls so that they could keep on playing."

Source:  VentureBeat, reporting data from App Annie, 17th January 2017

Mobile location data in the US is accurate to about 30m

""PlaceIQ commissioned independent research from Findyr, a global technology company that provides brands with custom data and analyses, to conduct the study. The new study consisted of an independent, third-party analysis of more than 150 physical locations across five U.S. cities and found that on average, location data obtained via mobile smartphones is accurate up to 30 meters.
In addition, the average finding for location data accuracy varied in each of the five U.S. cities analyzed, which included Boston, MA (21 meters), New York City, NY (27 meters), Austin, TX (28 meters), Washington, D.C. (29 meters), and Chicago, IL (38 meters).
These findings are demonstrative of the complex relationship between multiple factors that affect location data accuracy, such as signal source (GPS signals, Wi-Fi, cell tower triangulation), environment (area density, skyline view, indoor or outdoor location), and personal use (location data access enabled, type of mobile app used, operating system usage)"

Source:  Yahoo, 25th May 2016

Ads on Waze led to a 53% uplift in likelihood to visit a location

"Brands such as Wells Fargo and Dunkin’ Donuts are discovering that users of navigational application Waze are more likely to drive to a retail location after seeing associated Pins or Takeovers.
Waze has released its first set of efficacy studies and also found a lift in ad recall for users exposed to brands’ Pins and Takeovers, two marketing offerings available on the app. One advertiser, Wells Fargo, found that Waze users exposed to an offer for a free credit report were more likely to visit a branch.
“For Wells Fargo, the bank wanted to reach consumers close to Wells Fargo locations, and track branch visits by Waze users,” said Sara Hall, product marketing manager for ads at Waze.
“Waze showed a huge lift in navigations to branch in the exposed group vs. a control,” she said.
“We were also able to test for ad recall, showing that Waze users remembered seeing the Free Credit Report offer.”
[...]
Waze compared the driving behavior of a group exposed to a particular brand’s ad to those were not exposed to the ad.
Specifically, Waze compared the frequency with which users searched for and navigated to the advertiser's locations before and after ad exposure in the case of the exposed group and before and after the start of the campaign in the case of the control.
The average navigational lift was 53 percent for those exposed to the ad. In multiple cases, exposed users were more than twice as likely to navigate to a business as a direct result of seeing associated Pins and or Takeovers."

Source:  Mobile Marketer, 27th March 2015

World Cup Checkins on Facebook

Data from Facebook

Post by Sports on Facebook.

Or, as a summary

Most fans at #WorldCup based on Facebook check-ins: #USA #MEX #COL #CHI #ARG #ENG #ITA #GER #FRA #AUS http://t.co/51gnGi5Opp
— Alberto Nardelli (@AlbertoNardelli) June 27, 2014

What Americans do on their mobile phones

Click to enlarge

Source:  Pew Internet & American Life Project, Cell Phone Activities 2013, 19th September 2013

Foursquare has 160 employees

"Foursquare’s CEO and founder Dennis Crowley told [FastCompany's Austin] Carr that his company has 160 employees. The old rule of thumb was that you could mentally budget $100,000 per employee in yearly costs, after taking into account rent, insurance costs, and the like. However, given Foursquare’s split profile between San Francisco and New York, I think that the old rule is outdated and far too conservative. Let’s be polite and assume that the figure is $150,000 per worker, giving Foursquare costs in 2013, for personnel alone, of $24 million."

Source:  TechCrunch, 6th August 2013

Approximately 30% of Google searches have some component of location

"ScienceOmega.com journeyed to Bletchley Park to attend the Map Maker launch. Speaking at the event was Jessica Pfund, Maps Product Manager at Google. She began by explaining why geography comprises such an important component of Google’s overall strategy.
"Knowing where things are is very important to our users," she began. "Approximately 30 per cent of Google searches have some component of place: ‘backpacker hostel in Kathmandu’, ‘surfing at Bondi Beach’ – people want to know where these things are. Unsurprisingly, when you look at statistics for mobile devices, this figure rises to about 40 per cent. Oftentimes, people are outside with their phones and they want information about their surroundings. It is really important, therefore, for Google to know where places are.""

Source:  Science Omega, 12th April 2013

Frequency of activities like texting carried out on smartphones and mobiles in the UK

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Source:  The Deloitte Consumer Review - Beyond The Hype: The True Potential of Mobile, June 2013 (UK data only)
Note - lots more stats in the full report - although I'd treat their assertion that 72% of the population has a smartphone with caution

Google bought Waze for $1.3 Billion

"In a bid to outsmart traffic, Google has bought the crowd-sourced navigation app Waze, a Tel Aviv-based start-up.
The search giant reportedly paid $1.3bn (£835m), according to Reuters, although the firm did not disclose the financial terms for the deal.
The Waze app combines online maps with updates from other users about traffic jams, road works and accidents.
It is believed that Facebook and Apple were also interested in purchasing the Israeli firm.
The takeover could help Google improve the accuracy of its own navigation system, Google Maps."

Source:  BBC News, 11th June 2013

Social traffic & navigation app Waze has 45 million users

"For those who don’t know, Waze is a social traffic and navigation app that is based on a large community of tens of millions of drivers around the world sharing real-time road info and more to everyone else’s benefit.
When the Apple rumors first started surfacing back in January, Waze had around 36 million users and was on track to double that number this year.
The company is said to have roughly 45 million users today, up from 40 million back in February.
In 2012, drivers shared 90 million reports as they drove 6 billion miles (9.66 billion kilometres). Also last year, 65,000 map editors made a total of 500 million map edits and updated Waze’s map to reflect 1.7 million changes on the ground.
All this community-driven editing took place in 110 countries.
Waze has raised $67 million in venture capital to date, from investors like Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Li-Ka Shing, Blue Run Ventures, Magma Venture Partners and Vertex Venture Capital."
Source:  The Next Web, 9th May 2013

Grindr has more than 5 million users

"It is easy to write off Grindr — a location-based dating application for gay men — as a hookup application because, well, that is what it is.
But the company, which is approaching its fourth anniversary, has amassed more than five million users who spend on average 90 minutes each day using the application. Billions of messages fly across the service every year, and 76 percent of the company’s revenue comes from money generated by Grindr users who fork over cash for the service’s premium features."

Source:  New York Times, 8th March 2013

90% of national advertisers on the xAd US mobile network take part in 'conquesting'

"I had an interesting catch-up call with xAd this morning. We discussed a number of trends and metrics that the company is seeing in display campaigns running on its network. One of them, which really surprised me, was that “9 out of 10″ of its national advertisers are engaged in “conquesting.” That’s where geofenced messages are shown around competitors’ locations.
Marketing VP Monica Ho told me that national advertiser campaigns on the xAd network often feature one type of ad creative to reach people around the companies’ locations and a different approach and ad creative targeting consumers around competitors’ locations.
This can be highly effective, especially if the campaign creative is really strong."

Source:  Screenwerk, 6th March 2013

Foursquare users have checked in 3 billion times

"Foursquare has seen phenomenal growth over usage of its service. This week, it announced that it counted its 3 billionth check-in. Not bad for a service with just over 25 million users worldwide.
Two years ago, the location-based check-in service said it had experienced its biggest growth in history which was marked by more than 380 million check-ins, the Rally to Restore Sanity, and a single check-in from space. Now, 24 months later, the number of check-ins has increased exponentially — the company recorded its 1 billionth check-in September 2011, just 9 months later after its 380 millionth check-in.
Last September, the company stated that it had 2.5 billion check-ins counted. In that three month period, it averaged 167 million check-ins, or around 6.2 million per day. To get this number, TNW found the difference between November and September numbers and divided it by the days since (81) and that resulted in 6.2 million daily check-ins."

Source:  The Next Web, 21st November 2012

Earlier - 1.5 billion announced in February 2012

More than a million businesses use the Foursquare merchant platform

"Community: Over 25 million people worldwide
Over 2.5 billion check-ins, with millions more every day
Businesses: Over a million using the Merchant Platform (more information at foursquare.com/business)
Employees: Over 100 between headquarters in New York, an office in San Francisco, and a lovely outpost in London."

Source:  Data from Foursquare, 'updated September 2012', retrieved 5th October 2012

There were over 600,000 check ins at London 2012 Olympic venues on Facebook

This just in. 623,957 check ins to Olympic venues during the Olympic Games on Facebook. About 10% of that number on Foursquare.
— Alex Balfour (@AlexBalfour2012) September 2, 2012

Note - Alex Balfour is Head of New Media, London Olympic and Paralympic Games 2012

19 million drivers are covered by 'black box' car insurance

"Google recently announced huge steps forward with their self-driving cars, and while we may not have reached the future automobiles envisioned in films such as Minority Report, we can see some of that technology on the horizon. With more than 30 vehicle manufacturers launching telematics services in the US, China, and Europe; over 19 million drivers covered by telematics-impacted insurance policies; and over 15% of all new passenger cars in Europe being smart-key fitted, some parts of the future are already here."

Source:  Press release from Global Information Inc, 11th September 2012

53% of smartphone users are buying with their phones

"The study found that over 71 per cent of smartphone users across all four countries (YK, France, Germany & Sweden) are researching potential purchases via mobile, and more than half (53 per cent) are buying goods and services other than downloads on their device.
Survey results for tablet owners demonstrate the immense power of this new platform, with 40 per cent of users researching a potential purchase and 33 per cent going on to complete a transaction.  Tablet users are also among the highest mobile spenders, with the average highest amount spent quoted at £185 compared to £113 on mobile.
The ‘portability’ of mobile devices encourages anytime, anywhere research and purchasing. Even when smartphone users are in-store, retailers cannot rest easy: with 42 per cent of users comparing prices and 13 per cent switching stores after spotting a more attractive offer elsewhere. Location-based offers or vouchers, however, help to secure the interest of a fifth of potential buyers. Overall, one in four mobile research sessions ends with a purchase being completed on the phone itself.
The research reveals that the lack of mobile-optimised sites – ones that are clear, tailored, quick and easy to navigate - is a headache for more than a third of European consumers.  A quarter (26 per cent) of respondents said they would buy via mobile more frequently if websites were optimised.
The study shows that the UK has frequent but generally more frustrated mobile shoppers (50 per cent, compared with a European ‘frustration’ average of 33 per cent), while many users in France (38 per cent) believe mobile shopping saves them time. German consumers feel that buying over mobile is no different to purchasing via a computer (44 per cent) and Swedes are most likely to turn to their mobile phone in-store.  These national differences have far-reaching implications for advertisers looking to develop internationally optimised mobile offerings and affiliate programmes."

Source:  Research by Forrester for Tradedoubler, reported in a press release, 19th June 2012

Methodology:  "The research, commissioned by Tradedoubler and carried out by Forrester Consulting, involved more than 2,000 smartphone users in the UK, France, Germany and Sweden."