The way many of us view tech changed in 2018.

In 2019, consumers will ask for more from the products and tools they use every day, and demand empathy and excellence from the companies in their orbit. They will want companies to take a stance on the issues that matter, and to foster a more direct and open relationship with them. It’s my belief that the best and most responsible tech companies will be the first to respond to this demand.

At Foursquare, we have always believed it’s important to lead by example. We do this by devoting ourselves to data quality; to transparency and privacy; and to fostering a close connection with our clients and consumers.

Last year, we were rewarded with big wins:

• Several of the biggest and most innovative brands in the world, including Tinder, TripAdvisor, Hilton Honors, and AccuWeather, selected our Foursquare Pilgrim SDK to give their apps location awareness and real-world context. We continue to set the bar for precision and accuracy at more than 105 million places around the globe.
• Our Attribution measurement product took off. It now measures ads across TV, digital, search, and other formats for more than 250 partners, including publishers, networks and platforms such as Twitter, Spotify and iHeartMedia. Since launching in 2016, Attribution has measured over $2 billion in media spend.
• In the past year, industry-leading brands like Subway, CKE Restaurants, LL Bean, TJX and Office Depot have all chosen Foursquare for our singular understanding of how people move through the world — one of the most reliable ways to understand consumer behavior.
• We secured our Series F financing co-led by Simon Ventures and Naver, the South Korean search giant, as well as our longtime champion, Union Square Ventures. This list of strategic investors illustrates the power of Foursquare and the belief that our tech will transform industries spanning retail, dining, advertising, and so much more — in the U.S. and globally.
• We are thrilled to have been named #10 on the Ad Age Best Places to Work 2019 ranking! This is the third year in a row we’ve made this prestigious list.

Beyond our own success, it’s an exciting time for location technology. Here’s a quick take on what to expect in 2019:

For Marketers:

Where Matters
In today’s landscape, marketers are increasingly responsible for revenue as well as branding. One of the fastest growing areas is location-based advertising, which can be used to help tie campaigns to real-world spend. Per the U.S. Census, over 90% of consumer spending still happens in the offline world. And yet many brick & mortar brands are stuck with the legacy viewpoint that digital advertising drives online sales, while traditional media drives traffic to storefronts.

Needless to say, in categories where sales remain heavily offline, such as Telco, grocery, retail, and auto, digital media clearly influences offline business. So measurement and internal metrics need to catch up to the new reality. We’ve seen over the last few years that marketers have been tapping into the additional layer of real-life insights they can access about their consumers to create more personalized, contextually-relevant and ambitious campaigns. In fact, BIA/Kelsey predicts the location-based advertising market will grow by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of more than 17 percent through 2022.

Accurate data will separate good from bad marketing
The marketing industry is crying out for more transparency. Simultaneously, the number of bad location actors is on the rise.

We know it’s confusing to separate the wheat from the chaff. Foursquare powers location experiences for over 1 billion people globally. We also throw out more than 80 percent of the third-party data we consume as not meeting our accuracy and quality bar. Our extensive network of over 150,000 registered developers using our tools lets us evaluate which third-party data sets are full of false claims and spotty data. No other independent location player has the kind of privileged first-party data view and billions of human-powered confirmations to test and train accuracy down to individual visits.

We see a big theme that marketers need to demand “true stops” from data sources — how do you know a consumer was not driving or walking nearby a particular venue? Most third-party data is very sporadic and can’t separate true stops from passing by. Also, is the data based on a “multi-sensor” view? Only multi-sensor can handle instances when a consumer is in a mall or multi-story building, or a dense urban shopping area where GPS is distorted by tall buildings.

Precision and accuracy are necessary for targeting and for measurement. There is greater pressure than ever on publishers to bring in independent measurement services for more transparency into campaign impact. Sophisticated companies are realizing that legacy KPIs such as click-through rates are outdated and have a poor correlation to real incremental business results. Last-click attribution is far weaker than tying brand view-based exposure to actual consumer behavior like offline store visits and sales.

For developers and their consumers:

Context is everything in apps and services
Technology players are leaning into opportunities to leverage location for enhanced experiences, notifications and personalized content — both to encourage deeper engagement and meet app store requirements.

Tinder Places is a great example. Tinder makes the dating experience better with location awareness, but it’s up to the consumer to opt-in to the enhanced service if they see the value.

A location layer is now expected for tech giants like Apple, Samsung, Uber and Twitter, and it will be a bigger focus for rising players too. Companies can’t afford to get it wrong, yet it’s nearly impossible for companies to get data accuracy right on their own.

In 2019, developers will continue looking to — and licensing from — location tech experts to ensure quality and accuracy. Nationally, Foursquare’s location technology and machine learning methodology is up to 30x more accurate than traditional cartographic methods, particularly in challenging contexts like dense urban areas or malls.

In the past year alone, our commercial coverage has improved by nearly 300 percent, all the while maintaining accuracy and improving precision. In addition to some of the marquee-name clients that have chosen Foursquare, more than 100 start-ups and growing companies have registered for our new Start-Up API tier (a step up from our free offering to developers, and below our Enterprise-grade license) since we launched in April 2018, ranging from artificial intelligence companies to ride-sharing apps to home delivery services.

Privacy and ethics will drive tech regulations
When it comes to regulating the location technology space, not all location tech is created equal. Regulation will address privacy issues.

In Europe, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) set new standards for how companies can use people’s data and the user consent that’s required to do so. Similar legislation has been proposed to regulate user data in the U.S. We go above and beyond what is required by implementing GDPR consumer rights such as portability and the right to be forgotten not just in the EU, but to all our users globally. We support smart privacy regulations, and we set a high bar for privacy in our industry.

Security and compliance conversations will — and indeed, should — continue to be at the center of every discussion. At Foursquare, we’ve introduced ethics training for all our staff and we are passionate supporters of a Hippocratic Oath for data scientists — a commitment for data-driven tech companies like ours to “do no harm”.

Apps should be required to capture informed consent particularly for location awareness, and it’s necessary that disclosures are not buried in long terms and conditions, but instead appear separately from the basic terms, written in plain language. And the consumer should always be in control.

Accessing and using information about how people move through the world is an enormous responsibility — and one that we take very seriously at Foursquare. For users to feel comfortable revealing their location data, it’s essential that the tech industry adds value to their lives in exchange for that trust — a key part of our mission to build the world’s most trusted, independent location technology company.

All told, there’s never been a more important and exciting time for location technology. To join us and learn more about our company, visit enterprise.foursquare.com.

The Future of Location Technology was originally published in Foursquare on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Retailers are in the midst of the busiest shopping season of the year, and all bets are on the table as they eye an $11 billion opportunity following the demise of one of retail’s longest standing players, Toys“R”Us. With 739 store closures nationwide and 60% of their total revenue generated across the U.S., the question on everybody’s minds is: where are Toys”R”Us shoppers going this holiday season?

Big box retailers like Target and Walmart have been vocal about wanting to capture Toys”R”Us’ market share. Not to mention Amazon’s bullishness for digital domination. But still, 90% of consumer spending takes place in the real world according to the U.S. Census, and in 2017, 86% of Toys”R”Us’ revenue came from in-store shopping. This means there’s potentially more than $9 billion for the taking in real world shopping.

Looking at our foot traffic panel of 10 million US consumers who have agreed to share persistent location, we isolated shoppers who went to Toys”R”Us in the U.S. in Q3 2017 (before Toys”R”Us closures) and compared their foot traffic patterns against Q3 2018 (after Toys”R”Us closures), to examine the market share shifts that took place for key consumer segments after the toy chain shuttered its doors.

Here’s how we did it:

We separated Toys”R”Us shoppers into two segments that showed very different shopping behaviors:

• Loyalist shoppers: Shoppers who visited a Toys”R”Us location at least three times in 2017.
• One-time shoppers: Shoppers who only visited a Toys”R”Us store once in 2017.

In 2017, 28% of Toys”R”Us shoppers fell within the loyalist shopper category. 42% classified as one-time shoppers, and the remaining 30% fell somewhere in between.

We looked at the visit patterns of the two distinct shopping segments before and after Toys”R”Us closed to analyze how the foot traffic distribution changes, while also correcting for shifts in the retail segment overall. A note on methodology: Foursquare data was pseudonymized, analyzed in the aggregate, and normalized against U.S. census data to remove any age, gender or geographical bias. To collect data, we require user consent within our own apps and partner apps.

What we found:
We saw different foot traffic trends by the loyalists and one-time shoppers between Q3 2017 and Q3 2018. To start, there were no conclusive trends for one-time shoppers. They are average shoppers, seeking wide inventory, convenience and promotions without any discernible patterns. Notably however, we did notice changing shopping patterns for the loyalist group following the Toys”R”Us closures.

As loyalists made up 28% of foot traffic to Toys”R”Us, and majority of revenue was driven by in-store sales, then we’re talking about billions of dollars up for grabs. And here’s how that group has shifted its shopping since the Toys”R”Us closures:

Where loyal Toys”R”Us fans are shopping

Not so surprisingly, Walmart and Target picked up the largest overall share of Toys”R”Us’ loyalist foot traffic with 3.2% and 2.5% increases, respectively. (Don’t let the single digit increase underwhelm you; this still signals a surge for the retail behemoths.) Dollar Tree and Walgreens also picked up some of the Toys”R”Us loyalist foot traffic. In an early analysis of this past Black Friday weekend, we saw these patterns sustained, and we anticipate more of the same as the holiday season progresses.

But when we look at meaningful impact, GameStop will be the underdog winner this holiday season. After Toys”R”Us’s closures, a small but discernible group of loyalist shoppers rerouted their shopping traffic to another dedicated toy/gaming retailer — GameStop.

(Best Buy is also showing similar share shift, likely by capturing video game aficionados, but it’s a small increase for a $17.2 billion market cap company.)

So, why the focus on GameStop?
In Q3 2018, GameStop experienced a 0.4% increase in foot traffic share from the former Toys”R”Us loyalists. This may sound like a drop in the bucket, but it’s not for this specialty retailer. At GameStop, a $1.3 billion market cap company, foot traffic by Toys”R”Us loyalists to GameStop nearly doubled year-over-year.

GameStop recently reported that while video game and software sales were down, collectible sales are going up and reaffirmed as a priority vertical by the company’s CEO. We can see why, and anticipate that this continues, as GameStop successfully picks up some of Toys”R”Us’ loyal business.

Next steps? We say GameStop should add more collectible sales to its holiday promotion plans, and then leverage targeted advertising accordingly.

Closures aside, the real keys to success this holiday season comes in three forms:

1. Deploy targeted advertising: The biggest market opportunity right now is with Toys”R”Us’ one-time shoppers, who have shown no brand loyalty or new preferred retailer following the closures. Foursquare can help businesses identify these shoppers and deploy targeted advertising with relevant, personalized messaging on thousands of websites and mobile apps. Learn more about our media capabilities here.
2. Measure impact: Understand which ads — across digital, TV, and more — are driving people into stores. Foursquare Attribution factors in day of the week, messaging, targeting strategies, and so much more to determine what truly drives incremental foot traffic, enabling optimizations in near-real time
3. Build brand equity: The stronger your brand, the more likely you are to be in a consumers’ decision set in a highly competitive season. Coming soon, we’ll share our new Retail Loyalty Indexes and unveil which brands have the most loyal customer base across multiple retail categories. Receive the latest insights from Foursquare by subscribing here.

The bottom line: A chain’s closures impacts who walks in your front door. Smart marketers know to better target and speak to the customers who are up for grabs, leading to, in this case, more holiday Hatchimals and Magna-Tiles off the shelves, wrapped and ready.

Foursquare Shows Walmart and Target on Track to Pick Up Toys”R”Us Shoppers This Holiday Season was originally published in Foursquare on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

For many Americans, the past week has been spent reflecting on the things that matter most. At Foursquare, that’s also true, as we tallied up the votes for our first-ever Foursquare for Good program. In September, at Bloomberg’s Data for Good Exchange conference, we opened up a call for entries from nonprofit organizations to submit ideas for how they would use our location technology platform to create a better world. The winner is granted free access to our tech, critical engineering resources, as well as a $10k contribution towards the project. The response was overwhelming and truly inspiring.

More than 35 academics, nonprofits, and developers submitted proposals for how they would use the Foursquare Places API and Pilgrim SDK. Entries described how our tech could be leveraged to motivate young Americans to vote, to creating delivery systems that reduce food waste in major cities.

And yet, one proposal truly stood out for its commitment to solving one of the most pressing mental health issues of today. It is my great pleasure to announce our winner: Objective Zero!

Objective Zero is a mobile app and 501(C)(3) nonprofit that anonymously connects veterans to suicide prevention resources and a community of veterans, counselors, and concerned citizens. According to the VA, on average 20 veterans and active service members take their lives every day. This is more than twice the rate of non-veterans. It’s an alarming statistic and one that can be greatly reduced or even eradicated with contextual resources and timely intervention.

Objective Zero is developing life-saving technology to provide at-risk veterans and active service members with life-saving support — without them needing to ask for it. Currently, Objective Zero uses the locations of its users to facilitate connections with local peer supporters. And the company has ambitious goals to leverage Foursquare’s location technology platform to deliver even more tailored services to users at imminent risk.

“Objective Zero has developed a platform and designed a machine learning algorithm to truly preempt and respond to suicidal ideation. We seek to leverage geolocation technology to detect when veterans are most at risk and deliver location-based resources to them. We are excited for the opportunity to work with the talented team at Foursquare, and with the funding and software development they are providing, we will be able to bring our big ideas to life to best serve the needs of veterans who have risked so much in service to us.” — Kayla Bailey, CTO, Objective Zero

Objective Zero’s machine learning risk assessment methodology plans to use location and movement patterns as a proxy for assessing mental health. For example, if a veteran user who is typically very active and goes to the gym regularly suddenly becomes inactive for several days, this may indicate a growing struggle with depression. In response, the app would suggest activities that are proven to reduce depression, such as meditation or yoga, or deliver tailored messaging about mental health and PTSD. Additionally, resources for veterans can vary greatly from state to state, so Objective Zero also aims to connect those leaving military service to local community support networks designed to ease the transition to civilian life.

Understanding location and delivering contextual notifications and resources is exactly what Pilgrim SDK was built to do. In the last year, Pilgrim SDK has been selected by AccuWeather, Tinder and TripAdvisor to connect with millions of consumers at the right time and place. Our tech is more accurate than any competing technology in the market, thanks to our first-party panel of more than 10 million people which gives us our precise understanding of places according to a phone’s eye view; our industry-leading stop-detection technology; and our best-in-class dwell time understanding. It’s the Foursquare superpower, and we’re so proud to open it up to Objective Zero, where it will help provide life-saving services to individuals at imminent risk based on changes in patterns and real-world behavior.

Our panel of jurors included leaders in tech, venture funding, philanthropy, and engineering. Though it was a tight race, Objective Zero rose above the competition. Here’s what our jurors had to say:

“When we opened up our API and Pilgrim technology to the developer community our vision was not simply to enable location-aware experiences, but to build technology that helps foster meaningful connections between the digital and physical worlds and truly make the real world a better place. I love that that vision is alive and well with this initiative, and I can’t wait to see our work with Objective Zero come to life.” — Dennis Crowley, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman, Foursquare

“The work that Objective Zero is doing is a truly innovative idea that uses our technology, in combination with machine learning work on their end, to create a mental health solution that does not yet exist. Objective Zero’s use of visit data to help identify pattern-based changes that reflect mental health shifts makes perfect sense and has the potential to save lives. I am proud that the technology that Foursquare built will be supporting this necessary tool.” — Matt Kamen, Senior Vice President of Engineering, Foursquare

“Objective Zero harnesses the power of technology and location-based data to build meaningful connections between veterans and tackle a significant societal challenge. They are an extremely deserving recipient of the Foursquare for Good award and I look forward to watching them expand their platform and increase their impact through Foursquare’s location technology.” — Tess O’Brien, member of the Bloomberg Associates media and digital strategies team.

“People are often reluctant to talk about their mental health. Using location data to gather a behavioral signal provides an interesting alternative for early detection and intervention. This could save lives of veterans and eventually many others at risk.” — Albert Wenger, Managing Partner, Union Square Ventures.

“Among Americans ages 15 to 34, suicide is the second leading cause of death — and veterans are especially vulnerable. Objective Zero’s efforts to support those at risk is vital to decreasing the number of suicide deaths.” — Gideon Mann, Head of Data Science, Bloomberg

This is just the beginning of the work Foursquare will do under our banner of Foursquare for Good. If you’re interested in talking to us about our plans, next year’s competition, and other partnership opportunities, visit Foursquare.com/for-good or email ForGood@foursquare.com.

Announcing the winner of our first ‘Foursquare for Good’ program was originally published in Foursquare on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Germany might not be the first country that comes to mind when searching for the best wineries and vineyards, but the southwest region on the border of France boasts ones of the oldest and richest wine regions in the country. Established in 1935, the German Wine Route is spread throughout the “Palatinate” or “Pfalz,” the second largest wine-growing region in Germany. At the center of the Palatinate is the city of Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, the city where the “German Wine Queen” is crowned as an ambassador of the industry each year, and also the home to this month’s spotlight subject, Cordula Beisel.

Cordula was the winner of our first SU Lists Challenge this past summer, where we asked SUs to highlight 18 venues they visited over the summer with their fresh tips and photos. Her winning list, “SU List Summer ’18: Carinthia [Austria]”, showcases one of her favorite travel destinations, the state of Carinthia in southern Austria. She especially appreciates the Foursquare app for helping her remember the places she visits and reminding her of her experiences when she returns.

As a Superuser, Cordula is able to discover so many interesting venues while editing, through which she learns more about the cultural significance and local life of the different areas. She enjoys seeing venues that have been perfectly edited as she can expect to get the best tips and information for those particular spots.

Wine, Castle and Other Local Tips

The residents of Neustadt are open-minded, friendly and always in a good mood, the latter which might be attributed to the legendary wine festivals that are held in the area each year. When the wine festival fever grips the Wine Route in southwestern Germany, people will gather at the festivals and in wine bars where everyone is welcomed. You can often find locals giving up their seats and chatting up visitors in conversation.

When selecting a winery to visit, you may have a hard time choosing because there are hundreds of vineyards throughout the region, each with their own unique specialty. If you cannot decide, Cordula recommends either Weingut Dr.Buerklin-Wolf in Wachenheim or Weingut von Winning in Deidesheim, both of which are well-known and established wineries. A winery that is close to Cordula’s heart, however, is Weingut Mueller-Catoir in Neustadt-Haardt because of her familiarity with the owners of this family estate. Indeed, the winery is now owned by the brother of her long-time classmate and friend, with whom Cordula used to spend her fall breaks helping out with the grape harvest.

For a taste of the local cuisine, Cordula recommends two restaurants frequented by locals and tourists alike. In her hometown of Neustadt, she recommends “Altstadtkeller bei Juergen,” a cozy restaurant included in this year’s Michelin guide. Since 1983, the owners, Juergen and his wife, have been the perfect hosts, warmly welcoming guests and providing a wonderful variety of dishes and wines in the menu. The hospitality is so great that almost all of the guests are regular visitors.

Another place to try the local cuisine is “Weingut Leiling,” a fine dining restaurant located near the French border in Schweigen-Rechtenbach. An insider tip is that you can immediately purchase any bottle of wine on the menu, so be sure to try a glass or two with your meal.

For a change of scenery from the amazing and colorful vineyards, there are two historical sites worth visiting nearby. First, the Hambach Castle located near the urban district of Neustadt is a symbol of German democracy and the birthplace of modern day Germany. In May of 1832, the Palatinate people marched up the hill path to the castle to rebel against the repressive Bavarian administration, and raised the black, red and gold colors of the German flag for the first time. Here, you can find the historical remnants of a considerable political movement.

Then, stroll through the narrow streets of Old Town, the historic center of Neustadt, to admire the remarkable number of half-timbered buildings still standing. Enjoy a cup of cappuccino or a glass of wine by the historic market square to relax and people watch.

To try something only locals know about, you can try to hunt for the “Elwetritsch,” a mythical chicken-like creature with antlers that exist only in the Palatinate of Germany. There is even a fountain called Elwedritsche Brunnen, where you can see multiple sculptures of this creature by German sculptor Gernot Rumpf. Although Cordula has yet to discover the creature, she is a regular check-in visitor at the fountain, and her Swarm avatar includes the image of a baby Elwedritsch.

Beyond Neustadt, Beyond Germany

One of Cordula’s most memorable check-ins was at the tower of Kaknaestornet, an old-fashioned tower in Stockholm. Opened in the late 60s, the tower is the major meeting point for most of Sweden’s incoming and outgoing signals for TV and radio broadcasts. Cordula recommends taking the elevator up to the observation deck, where you can get a unique and breathtaking view of Stockholm.

Cordula’s favorite destination of all time, however, is Madeira, a Portuguese archipelago of four islands located off the northwest coast of Africa. This picturesque collection of islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean is worth a visit anytime of the year for the breathtaking landscapes, luxurious vegetation and spectacular cuisine.

For her next big adventure, Cordula is planning to travel 12 hours by flight but is keeping the final destination a secret. Can you guess the location? If not, you can find out with her upcoming Foursquare list.

Thank you for sharing your local tips about your hometown of Neustadt, Germany, Cordula! As always, happy edits and check-ins.

Connect with Cordula: Foursquare | Twitter
Germany SU Community: Foursquare | Twitter

Want to tell your story to other SUs across the world? To be featured in Foursquare’s Superuser Spotlight Medium series, just fill out this form.

Community Spotlight: Cordula Beisel was originally published in Foursquare on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

But one point needs to be stressed: No approach will be successful if the underlying technology isn’t accurate, which is too often the case. That’s largely due to environmental factors like venue location and urban density that can impact attribution accuracy. When that happens, it means user visits simply aren’t assigned to the right location.

Imagine if you spent your hard-earned marketing budget to target visitors of a certain pet supply store — only to later learn that they were actually visiting the coffee shop next door, instead. Not only would you have spent time and money targeting the wrong users, you’d likely have annoyed those users, too, by sending them irrelevant content. And that can cause them to lose any affinity for your brand that they may have already had.

Providing that accuracy is part of the reason we built the Pilgrim SDK in the first place — but we weren’t content to simply assume Pilgrim’s accuracy was superior. We decided to subject it to rigorous real-world testing. Here’s what we learned.

Putting Pilgrim to the Test

To ensure that Pilgrim delivers reliable attribution accuracy in complicated environments like malls and cities we conducted an experiment across a variety of locations over several months.

In the experiment we found that Pilgrim Snap-to-Place performed over five times better at placing a device at the correct venue in dense cities than polygons, a manual mapping methodology. Commonly used in geofencing, polygons often struggle to accurately attribute visits in multi-story buildings. And in compact spaces like malls, where multiple stores are nested close together, Snap-to-Place was over five times more accurate than polygons. To see a relative comparison of how Snap-to-Place compares to polygons, venue radii and more, check out the grid below.

The Right Technology for Your Approach

Let’s be clear: Geofencing still serves a great purpose. You just need to be comfortable with the tradeoffs and understand which tech is best for your business.

For instance, businesses that want to detect visits faster will likely leverage geofencing as their solution of choice. A casual dining chain, for example, may want to trigger notifications for specials or coupons based on user proximity. That kind of campaign doesn’t demand a high level of personalization, which makes geofencing an effective solution.

For businesses that choose to take a primarily contextual approach — leveraging behavioral data to surface customized content based on customers’ interests and habits — Snap-to-Place’s accuracy is key. It enables marketers to gather deep insights over time, based on data they can rely on. And that’s a key ingredient for successful, customized marketing campaigns.

It can lead to increased conversions and greater brand affinity, while minimizing the risk of serving irrelevant content to users. However, that requires marketers to play the long game and develop comprehensive profiles based on multiple data points.

Better Location Technology — Right Now

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to marketing for any business. But with Pilgrim, you can leverage the advantages of both geographic and contextual strategies to find the balance that’s best for your business. Snap-to-Place automatically recognizes more than 105 million points of interest. Plus, it works exceptionally well in dense, urban environments and is accurate even in multi-story buildings — so businesses can reach and engage audiences with confidence. Meanwhile, geofencing provides instant, configurable coverage as well as event-based triggers, for faster notifications.

Pilgrim’s data can also be integrated with marketing automation tools like Braze, Urban Airship, Localytics, mParticle and more. That makes building location-based segments easier than ever before. Pilgrim can deliver immediate value for virtually any industry. For restaurant chains, the classic “order ahead” feature can be improved by setting the boundary for the restaurant lies out from the actual location and providing an alert once a customer enters the boundary. Meanwhile, brick-and-mortar retailers can track foot traffic over time to develop a deeper understanding of users’ preferences, lifestyles, affinities and paths to purchase. The options are truly limitless.

To learn more about what Pilgrim can do you for you, contact us today.

Methodology

To test Pilgrim’s accuracy, we measured Pilgrim’s venue attribution accuracy mapped by venue radii, polygons and nearest venue across cities, malls and sparsely populated areas over the course of 90 days. The locations we used were:

• Malls: Westfield San Francisco Centre, in San Francisco CA; The Shops at Columbus Circle in New York, NY; and The Galleria in Houston, TX
• Cities: Chicago, Los Angeles and New York
• Large retailers: Walmart, Costco, Target, Home Depot, Whole Foods, Safeway and Kmart

With user input (e.g., check-ins and confirmations) as our source of truth, we analyzed how each strategy performed on the venues in question. We also created polygons for malls and city blocks to test how Pilgrim’s venue search compared to other strategies in dense urban areas. Then, we created polygons for large stores to compare how venue search performed on locations that should be “easier” for other strategies.

How Improving Location Accuracy Leads to Superior Results was originally published in Foursquare on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Unfortunately, however, much of today’s location technology has distinct limitations. Namely, short of building an expensive and complicated tech stack, it requires businesses to rely on a single, inflexible approach to location marketing — one that may not be ideal for their customers or their business needs.

But what if there was a single solution that enabled your business to be flexible in its approach to location marketing? What if one technology allowed you to leverage multiple approaches at once — without the need for building a cumbersome tech stack?

This isn’t a hypothetical question. It’s possible right now. And to help you understand how it works, let’s walk through two of the most common location targeting strategies today before exploring how an innovative new technology can bring them together.

A Geographic Approach

“Geofencing” is the term marketers use to describe any location-based targeting that uses GPS, RFID, Wi-Fi or cellular data to identify when users enter or exit specific boundaries. This approach allows companies to create invisible virtual perimeters around physical spaces like stores or restaurants. It enables companies to receive real-time information about when users enter or exit a given location.

From a marketing standpoint, companies that take this approach are generally focused on generating awareness related to a specific location or set of locations — for example, a big box retailer might want to trigger notifications about a coupon or a sale when potential customers are close to a store.

The primary focus for these companies is usually to trigger the mobile devices of potential customers when they are near, as opposed to at, the physical store location. In general, these companies are also willing to sacrifice a few false positives if it means a big spike in overall foot traffic.

A Contextual Approach

Conversely, other companies take a more contextual approach. That means leveraging multiple data points to surface customized content based on customers’ unique interests and habits. These companies, unlike those that exclusively take a geographic approach, are less concerned with a few specific locations and more interested in building personalized experiences for their users based on general patterns of engagement.

Taking a contextual approach confers some distinct advantages for companies. For instance, it enables them to deliver an “always on” user journey that constantly learns and evolves based on user behaviors over time. It also considers every stop along users’ paths in order to develop a deeper understanding of their preferences, affinities and more. Armed with this critical contextual information, marketers can leverage mobile marketing automation tools to amplify their marketing efforts and drive loyalty and engagement.

For example, let’s say you see that a user goes to a rock climbing gym daily and eats at a build your own salad restaurant regularly. In that case, it’s a safe bet that he or she is interested in healthy, active living. By taking a contextual approach, you can serve that user products, services or offers relevant to his or her interests. And that not only helps drive conversions, but can also foster loyalty and greater brand affinity. In fact, according to Salesforce’s State of the Connected Customer report, consumers are twice as likely to view personalized content as critically important in the customer journey, versus unimportant.

The Best of Both Worlds

Helping marketers take advantage of both geographic and contextual approaches — at the same time — is precisely why we developed the Pilgrim software development kit (SDK). It enables businesses to engage with users at key moments, such as when they enter stores, visit restaurants or leave work. That means they can leverage contextual as well as geographic approaches to drive user engagement — and engagement is the most important metric when it comes to location technology.

Pilgrim’s secret sauce? It’s called Snap-to-Place, an innovation found exclusively in our SDK. By combining signals from GPS, Wi-Fi and other sensor readings, it can tell exactly where users are as they move through the world, allowing marketers to employ both geographic and contextual approaches in creative and effective ways.

Pilgrim also knows when someone has actually stopped near a venue, as opposed to simply passing by it. By tracking changes in rates of movement over time, it can even tell the difference between an actual visit to a location and, say, a traffic jam that happens to be near that location.

By giving businesses the flexibility they need to deliver maximum value to potential customers, Pilgrim brings the best of both approaches together in a single streamlined solution. That means marketers have new opportunities to reach and engage users — without building a cumbersome and expensive tech stack. And that’s a win–win for users and businesses alike.

To learn more about how Pilgrim’s superior accuracy leads to exceptional results, click here.

Why Flexible Location Technology is Powering the Future of Marketing was originally published in Foursquare on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

In 2018, more than 90% of consumer spending still happens offline, according to the U.S. Census. Layer onto that fact how more than $70 billion was spent on TV advertising in 2017, and you can see why the ability to measure the impact of linear TV advertising on driving in-store customer behavior is the holy grail. But it’s one that has always been a challenge for marketers.

For the team at Foursquare, it’s a challenge that we’ve been chipping away at for years. Small-scale panels and surveys have been the historical go-to, but they suffer from limited sample size, slow reporting, cumbersome setup, and dubious results. Today, marketers and agencies simply don’t have the time for that headache. They need a solution that can tie TV ad exposures to in-store visits — at scale.

That’s why today we’re excited to announce that Attribution by Foursquare, our real-world attribution tool, can now measure the effectiveness of linear TV ads at driving consumers to stores, restaurants and other key retail locations.

This news brings together the best in opt-in TV viewing data with our industry-leading location technology platform. Thanks to our new partnership with viewing data provider Inscape, we have created a new product offering that gives marketers a more complete picture of their advertising ROI when it comes to real-world behavior (from measuring audience affinities, to visitor loyalty and optimal exposure frequency).

Since launching in early 2016, Attribution by Foursquare has introduced a steady drumbeat of new functionality, and to date we measure a diverse range of digital advertising mediums spanning programmatic, OTT, search, digital audio, social, and CTV. Thanks to our recent announcement with iHeartMedia, we’re also measuring terrestrial radio. Adding TV measurement was a big priority for us and a crucial need for advertisers, as TV advertising represents about half of all U.S. ad spend.

Here’s how it works: Attribution by Foursquare already leverages cutting edge, machine-learning methodology. It’s built on Foursquare’s core location technology, which has a unique and precise understanding of where people go. And it looks to our growing, measured audience of 70 million consumers for a precise understanding of the impact that media has at driving audiences to businesses.

Meanwhile, Inscape, the leading provider of automated content recognition, takes glass-level insights from more than nine million smart TVs in the U.S. Foursquare matches these TV spot exposures to our panel, enabling marketers to deterministically measure the impact of TV advertising, not just at the household level, like Nielsen, but at each stage of the individual consumer journey. (Data collected and shared by Foursquare is always clearly opt-in, and if a user doesn’t find value, they opt-out and we don’t collect any data. We believe in privacy by design, and we have limitations in place that ensure data protection and safety.)

The bigger picture: TV advertising doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Network ad buys are typically just one piece of an omnichannel media strategy. Our multi-touch attribution (MTA) approach measures TV in concert with digital, search, and social simultaneously to tease apart the impact of each medium, and more importantly, measure the combinatorial effects of multiple touchpoints. (Pro tip: TV + digital works better than digital alone. We’ve measured up to 2x in-store visit lift from consumers exposed to both TV and digital formats, over those exposed to only one medium.)

Client approved:
The Subway® brand, a forward-thinking force in the advertising space and a longtime Foursquare partner, is one of the first brands to sign on for Foursquare’s newest offering. Subway will be measuring TV campaigns running through the fall and into the holiday season, looking for insights on a wide variety of creative campaigns and broadcast partners. For example, we’re measuring the effectiveness of their ‘Raising the Steaks’ campaign, across various programs, networks, channels and dayparts.

“We’re excited for the new and innovative measurement capabilities we can leverage thanks to Foursquare. A deep understanding of how TV commercials can drive incremental visit lift is so crucial for our industry. As a brand, we’re focused on integrating fresh, new technology to help our Franchise Owners across the country to be successful. Integrating this tool into our marketing efforts and the ability to accurately thread together the impact of digital ad exposure and linear TV exposure with restaurant visits is a game changer for us,” said Melissa Sutton, Director of Media, Subway.

“We’re working closely with Foursquare and Subway to build a strong, data-driven approach to Subway’s media strategy. Together, we’re inventing new ways to use data to drive ROI for Subway across all of their marketing efforts and Foursquare’s new TV attribution capabilities will bolster these significantly,” added Stuart Ketelsen, SVP, Managing Director, Carat.

Want to learn more about how your TV ads are driving foot traffic? Email ads@foursquare.com or click HERE for more product information.

Connecting the Small Screen with the Real World was originally published in Foursquare on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Foursquare knows travel better than most. Of course we do! Nearly a decade ago, Foursquare ushered in a new era of mobile exploration: first with our own consumer apps, Foursquare City Guide and Swarm, and in the years since, as the gold-standard location partner for travel apps outside of our own four walls.

To put it simply, Foursquare tech is what allows your phone to know where you are and what’s around you. It gives brands and marketers the ability to connect with you at the right time in the right place. Our platform makes your apps smarter and more contextually aware — and that’s precisely what travelers need as they explore the world.

Today, Foursquare is proud to announce that TripAdvisor is joining our valued list of travel partners, including recent additions Hilton and Condé Nast Traveler. We’re thrilled that these industry leaders have chosen to leverage our enterprise capabilities in unique and differentiated ways, exemplifying what’s possible with the Foursquare location platform. These brands and so many others are using Foursquare to personalize and augment every step of the traveler’s journey, from Dreaming through Planning, to Booking and Experiencing.

Dreaming
Thanks to the powerful analytics that come from Foursquare’s consumer panel — a measured audience of more than 70 million in the U.S., with more than 10 million opting in to persistent location sharing — airline, hotel and cruise partners have insight into brand-specific travel trends to create relevant experiences and content for consumers. This is why some of the largest travel companies turned to Foursquare’s media and measurement solutions, Pinpoint and Attribution, exceeding engagement benchmarks by up to 3X.

Imagine knowing that the majority of hotel guests for a particular chain have an appetite for Omakase and live music — how might that influence a travel brand’s creative strategy? Understanding these trends is akin to a superpower: a recent Salesforce research report suggests that consumers are 2x more likely to view personalized content as critically important in the customer journey. But there’s even more we do…

Planning + Booking
Travelers are hungry for centralized info that makes trip planning and booking easier. (Without it, you could lose up to 88% of customers, according to a study by Google and Ipsos Connect.) Plus, according to the same study, customers are spending more than 40% of the booking process in a map view, meaning that it’s more important than ever to bring personalized and local context to the decision-making process.

That’s why we are thrilled to power the new Explore feature in the Hilton Honors app, where Foursquare’s Places API is fundamental to the user experience. Hilton Explore allows its guests to tap into personalized suggestions from locals who know the area best — Hilton Team Members. Now, Hilton guests can read up on top spots and tips in advance of arrival, based on locally curated content by Hilton’s own team. Using Foursquare, Hilton has found a way to build personal connections between its Team Members and guests, giving access to a world of personalized, local recommendations for activities, restaurants and attractions.

When Condé Nast Traveler came to Foursquare in the early stages of a website redesign, the team was in search of a partner who could bring accuracy, freshness, and context to venue detail pages so that readers got a better sense of a place in advance of their journey. Today, Condé Nast Traveler relies on Foursquare’s database of over 105MM places as a source for up-to-date address info, hours, and phone numbers, in addition to displaying subcategory data and amenities. Now anyone can easily tell if a destination has outdoor seating, Wi-fi, live music, and more as they plan their trip.

Experiencing
As articulated by Skift earlier this year, personalization of the traveler’s customer experience is the name of the game to staying competitive. It should come as no surprise that the overwhelming majority of consumers use smartphones when traveling, with 60% of them expecting that the travel experience be enriched through the application of artificial intelligence based on past behaviors and personal preferences. In fact, partners leveraging Foursquare’s SDK have seen above-average opt-in rates: up to 60% of consumers choose to share location in exchange for more personalized experiences.

That’s why there’s never been a better time to leverage the powerful benefits of the Foursquare Pilgrim SDK, which uses our industry-leading stop-detection technology and multi-sensor map of the world to allow for real-time notifications, segmentation, and analytics.

These industry-leading benefits are just some of the reasons why Foursquare is helping to improve contextual awareness for TripAdvisor and their new socially assistive app experience. The Foursquare Pilgrim SDK, when paired with TripAdvisor’s robust data and community content, is driving in-destination and social travel recommendations.

The Points Guy will also be re-releasing its app in January 2019, powered by location awareness and the Foursquare Pilgrim SDK. Here’s how it works: app users are notified when they should use a certain credit card, so they can start racking up rewards and redeem them to book their next trip. And then the dreaming, planning and booking starts all over again.

Oh, The Places We’ll Go!
With the travel industry on the cusp of a profound digital transformation, competition for brand allegiance grows more and more fierce. And these are still the early days! Travel brands that rise to the top will do so by continuously creating new, engaging customer experiences that complement and enrich core offerings. We’re here to partner with hotel brands, airlines, OTAs, cruise lines, and other companies as they make our future travels more personalized, and full of those intangible feelings you get when you’re out in the world — inspiration and awe.

Embark on a journey with us by visiting enterprise.foursquare.com or emailing ask.enterprise@foursquare.com.

Oh, The Places We’ll Go! was originally published in Foursquare on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Mardi Gras may be the most popular time of the year for a visit to the Big Easy, but there is plenty of fun to be had all year round and you may even catch one of the many parades that take place in the city (the Halloween parade, called Krewe of Boo, took place just last weekend). From the birthplace of jazz music to the abundance of traditional creole and cajun cuisine, New Orleans is one of the most sought after destinations in the U.S. for its great food, culture and a live and let live attitude. It is a city where you can be whoever you are, even if it means dressing up in a costume for no apparent reason.

Pricilla Marie is a Superuser Level 4 based in New Orleans, Louisiana. With 2, 538 edits and counting, Pricilla is actively seeking out the latest local hidden gems and the many other places she travels to as a makeup artist in the feature film and television industry. As a Foursquare Superuser, Pricilla enjoys weighing in on her experiences at different businesses — both the good and the bad. Pricilla hopes to promote fairness with her fresh tips and photos, keeping the businesses and its employees to higher standards and providing visitors honest reviews of the venues.

Pricilla would describe the larger Foursquare community in New Orleans as “small but hopping!” In fact, the competition to be the Mayor of certain landmarks is steep and thus, a lot of fun. They also heart each others’ check-ins as a way to say, “Hey, I see you!”

New Orleans Local Guide

From beignets to po’ boys, diversity of cuisines is one thing New Orleans is ubiquitously known for. The Ruby Slipper is a solid breakfast spot to start off your day, but be sure to make reservations in advance if you do not want to wait. Pricilla highly recommends ordering the Catfish St. Peter, which is a pan-seared catfish served over cheesy grit cakes and topped with poached eggs, sautéed spinach, tomatoes, a skewer of grilled shrimp and finished with a Creole mustard hollandaise sauce.

For a non-traditional meal, Pricilla’s favorite restaurant is Hana Japanese Restuarant in Uptown for the quality sushi rolls you can get there. Her favorites are the Mango Salmon Roll and the Blackjack Roll. The fact the business has been around for over 30 years must mean they have a fairly loyal following! For dessert, be sure to go next door to SNO-LA Snowballs for a taste of the original stuffed cheesecake New Orleans Snoball, a local delicacy of shaved ice covered in syrup.

Pricilla’s tips:

• We call New Orleans NOLA, which is the abbreviated version of New Orleans Louisiana.
• Snow cones (shaved ice with flavored cane sugar) are called Snoballs.
• The ground in-between the streets are called Neutral Ground.
• The trolly, which is the most popular way to get around the city on public transportation, is called a street car. (You can get a day pass for $3 so you can hop on and off throughout the day).
• Pin $1 on your shirt on your birthday. This will signal for friends and strangers to give you more money to pin on for the day.

Nightlife in New Orleans is vibrant to say the least. According to Pricilla, New Orlean’s best kept secret is to go out on Frenchman Street, not Bourbon Street, for a true local experience. This is where you will find everything, including true New Orleans jazz, impressive local art markets, art murals, dive bars and the best tattoo parlor in town called Downtown Tattoos. For a local bar to check out, Hobnobbers is a great dive bar to drop by to grab a drink on your way into the French Quarter via the popular Bourbon Street. Of course, Bourbon Street is also worth a stroll but it has become inundated with tourists over the years, spiking up drink prices and filling the shops with souvenirs (“I got drunk on Bourbon St t-shirts”).

Strangely enough, the craziest place Pricilla checked into happens to be Bourbon St—a bar called Ye Old Original Dungeon. Here, you will find a gothic oasis full of skulls, cages to sit in, loud metal music and the bathroom behind a bookcase.

As one of the top film production locations in the country, there are many celebrities and industry people frequenting the city. In fact, Pricilla has managed to get pictures with Will Smith, Tom Cruise and Mark Wahlberg while working on the set of Focus, Jack Reacher 2 and Deepwater Horizon, respectively. In addition, one of Pricilla’s favorite dive bars, Avenue Pub on St. Charles Ave, is very popular with the film crowd. There is a wide selection of local, domestic and foreign beers and ales, but Pricilla tends to go for the Pear Ale or Ginger Beer if she is not drinking. The bar has a large balcony and is great for people-watching, especially during the Mardi Gras season as you can catch the beads above the crowds.

Slowing Down

To take a break from the city’s festivities, you can visit Pricilla’s favorite park — City Park located in Mid City. Within the park, there is the New Orleans Museum of Art, a free sculpture garden that is full of works by well-known artists, and a coffee shop to relax amidst the beautiful trees. The “Good Spots NOLA” Foursquare list Pricilla made includes the park and other local spots to eat and hang out.

Pricilla travels frequently as a makeup artist, and loves to discover places both near and far. For her next non-work related trip, she hopes to take a trip to Denver, Colorado for some hiking, shopping, museum-hopping and hopefully a great concert at Red Rocks (Pricilla says this is “the most beautiful amphitheater I have ever seen”).

Wherever she goes next, we know Pricilla will have an amazing time checking into and leaving tips at the interesting, crazy and exciting venues she visits.

Thank you for sharing your local knowledge on NOLA with us!

Connect with Pricilla: Foursquare | Twitter
USA SU Community: Foursquare | Twitter

Want to tell your story to other SUs across the world? To be featured in Foursquare’s Superuser Spotlight Medium series, just fill out this form.

Community Spotlight: Pricilla Marie was originally published in Foursquare on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The capital of Japan since 1896, Tokyo is a metropolis not to be missed for its unique blend of the traditional and contemporary. From the Imperial Palace, the famous temples to the Tokyo Skytree and Disneyland, there is something for everyone’s tastes and preferences. To help us navigate this dazzling and busy city, we talked with our local Superuser Takuma Hashimoto for some tips.

As a SU 8 with over 150,000 edits and counting, Takuma enjoys updating the venue data and communicating with his fellow Superusers by participating in the SU Forum. By tidying up the database, he is able to improve the experience for himself and other users. To this end, the SU community in Japan holds meetups regularly to discuss the regional editing style guide and share useful ways of discovering exciting new venues.

As the home to the most Michelin-starred restaurants, it is no secret Tokyo is one of the food capitals of the world, offering plenty of things to eat and drink. For the best taste of local food, Takuma recommends TsuruTonTan Udon Noodle Brasserie, an upscale restaurant specializing in udon in the Ginza district (Udon is a thick wheat flour noodle used in Japanese cuisine, typically served in broth). You can try a variety of udon dishes, from the classic udon in hot soup to an udon pasta. No matter which dish you order, the noodles are guaranteed to be fresh and homemade. If you come at dinnertime, you can also listen to live music. There are many locations of this Japanese chain around the world, with its first international location by Union Square in New York City.

While there are endless options for food, Tokyo is a paradise for pastry and bread lovers as well. From the delicately decorated cakes to the soft and fluffy breads, a visit to a bakery is a must even if it is for the delight of seeing these masterpieces in-person. One of Takuma’s favorite bakeries and one frequented by locals is Backstube Zopf, which sells more than 300 kinds of bread every day. The Curry bread is especially popular because of its distinct flavor. Takuma likes to stop by the bakery to buy breakfast or lunch.

Each district in Tokyo is unique in its own way, and each caters to different preferences. Takuma’s two favorite districts within Tokyo are Akihabara and Shinjuku Gyoen. Akihabara is a shopping heaven for fans of anime and manga, or even for electronic geeks. In fact, Tokyo is known for being cosplay friendly. Cosplay is a practice whereby individuals dress up as characters from a movie, book or video games, and in this case, from manga and anime. The city officially supports these activities, holding photo sessions and promoting events such as the Comic Market (コミックマーケット), a well-known cosplay event held during the summer and winter (You can follow the hashtag #コミケコスプレ.)

For those seeking a more laid-back vibe, Shinjuku Gyoen is a national park featuring a spacious garden where you can enjoy the seasonal foliage. In the spring and autumn, you can see the changing colors of the trees — perfect for a walk alone or with family. If you want to get a healthy drink to complement your walk, you can also check out any of these spots on Takuma’s List of Smoothie Shops in Tokyo.

One of Takuma’s craziest check-ins is Robot Restaurant, a themed restaurant where you can watch “futuristic” shows as you eat. While local people hardly visit the restaurant, we hear it is popular among foreign tourists. In the words of our founder, Dens, “Yes, full of tourists. And yes, every one of your friends told you to go here. It’s batshit crazy in a way you won’t see batshit crazy in the US. Maybe get super cranked before you go.”

For a relaxing day trip outside of the city, Takuma suggests Kanazawa, the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture on Honshu Island. There are lots of hot springs, fresh seafood and other not-to-be-missed tourist attractions such as the Kenrokuen Garden and Higashi Chaya District. Since it is only about 3 hours from Tokyo by the Shinkansen train, Takuma visits Kanazawa often, even if it is to eat Grill Otsuka’s “Hanton Rice,” a stir-fried rice dish covered with a runny omelette and tartar sauce (similar to Omurice, a practical Japanese dish made of fried rice wrapped in a thin layer of omelette). Takuma is excited to go back to Kanazawa for this dish.

We know there is so much more to explore in and around Tokyo, but thank you Takuma for giving us the insider’s scoop! We are so excited to see our SU community grow in Tokyo.

Connect with Takuma: Foursquare | Twitter
Japan SU Community: Foursquare | Twitter

Want to tell your story to other SUs across the world? To be featured in Foursquare’s Superuser Spotlight Medium series, just fill out this form.

Community Spotlight: Takuma Hashimoto was originally published in Foursquare on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.