Agreement combines editorial content with location-based social networking
Toronto, ON — January 25, 2010 — Metro, Canada’s number one free daily, today announced a partnership with Foursquare, one of the newest and fastest growing social networks in the world. This represents the first time Foursquare has partnered with a news organization in any country.
Foursquare is a location-based social network that lets players use their mobile phone to “check-in” to places in their city and announce their whereabouts to friends. It also contains a gaming component that awards points and "badges" for check-ins, and awards the title of "Mayor" to the player who’s visited one location the most often. Launched in March 2009 in New York, Foursquare has gained momentum and buzz in the social media world and is now available world-wide.
As a key component of the partnership, Metro will add their location-specific editorial content to the Foursquare service. People who choose to follow Metro on Foursquare will then receive alerts when they’re close to one of those locations. For example, someone close to a restaurant that Metro has reviewed would receive a "tip" about that restaurant and the have ability to link through to the full Metro review on metronews.ca.
"Metro has always offered readers the right information at the right time and place, and Foursquare lets us take that to the next level," said Jodi Brown, Marketing and Interactive Director for Metro Canada. "We’re now highlighting specific articles at the exact time and place that they’re most useful, which is in some ways a revolutionary idea."
To promote this exciting new partnership, Metro is running a contest to win one of five iPhone 3GS units. Over the next 4-weeks, Foursquare players who follow Metro and check-in near where they pick up Metro will unlock a special Metro Foursquare badge and be automatically entered to win. The contest is being promoted through in-paper ads across all 7 editions of Metro, and in English Canada, through Metro’s recently launched reader loyalty program, Club Metro.
Foursquare is also used by local businesses to attract new customers and retain loyal ones. For example, "Mayors" of locations are rewarded with anything from free nachos at a restaurant to special discounts. Starting on Friday, January 29th, Metro will feature foursquare Mayor Deals every Friday in the Going Out section. The Mayor Deals represent a new advertising opportunity for local restaurants and retailers who wish to promote their deals to Foursquare players and Metro’s 1.1 million readers nationwide.
About Metro Metro is the nation’s No. 1 free national daily newspaper brand and the first national daily to publish in both official languages. In Canada, Metro editions are published in: Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver. Metro targets 18- to 49-year-olds and has a circulation that now exceeds 800,000.
Metro is the largest international newspaper in the world. Metro is published in over 100 major cities in 19 countries across Europe, North & South America and Asia. Metro has a unique global reach — attracting a young, active, well-educated, metropolitan audience of over 17 million daily readers.
See Metronews.ca