Power to the SME

are SME leading the geo-localization revolution?

A few weeks ago, I wrote an article about FourSquare, and how the innovative approach of a theatre near our offices surprised me.

Today, I’m even more surprised. When I got at the office andwanted to check-in on FourSquare, I noticed 8 specials nearby! Knowing that the influence of my article could never be that important, I wondered what these specials were.

When examining the offers I received through FourSquare, it suddenly struck me that all of them came from smaller independent shops. This has gotten me thinking.

Normally you would expect big brands, with big budgets, to be able to invest more in these new initiatives. However, in real life it aresmall independent shops that take the advantage over the big international brands.

After some time, I realized that it’s normal: the chain of command and decision in an SME is very short: only one or two persons will decide whether to invest the time or not. Because let’s face it: it’s not about the money…

FourSquare offers a complete set of free tools to manage your venues and promotions. Yes, in plural: even big brands with multiple venues could manage them all in one profile.

So, how come the big and international brands haven’t tapped into this potential in Belgium yet?

• Is it because their advertising agencies don’t have the know-how?
• Is it because they aren’t convinced about geo-localization?
• Is it because they don’t dare to innovate or even ‘try something new’?

Maybe larger brands can learn something from these small entrepreneurs that explore and try new things to get closer to their customers. Because finally, that’s what it’s all about.