Technology’s Next Wave of Trends – Heart, Presentness and Proximal Community

It’s great to pull out an old project and idea you loved back in the day and see how it has evolved and how it would be described in modern day’s technology terminology.  I was helping a fellow CBS Grad with some introductions on his awesome project to help people find dishes that are healthier through Food Konnect (https://restaurant.foodkonnect.app)

His description reminded me of my own concept back in 2013 called Foodie.  I have attached the concept I crafted below that is unedited.  After reading it, I find it incredible to see how much of it is coming to fruition under different names and slightly different execution strategies.  From Wix to Shopify, FB Causes to Instagram, CPA and affiliate based advertising to blockchain to cryptocurrency, it’s all seeds of unpolished ideas below.

It’s great so see how these seeds have sprouted.  And so too, my refinement of new ideas–although there are still plenty of bad ones thrown at the wall.

The one major thing I see missing today is our sense of geographical based community.  Coming from running the Operations and Digital side of community newspapers, this was a keen focus and desire to maintain that is the perspective the feature set takes.  We seem now to be an interwoven web of disparate networks living next to each other who are more connected to people thousands of miles away based on similar digital habits and likes than our neighbors who share similar physical spaces.

If I’ve missed a well used app or technology that focuses on fostering community and relationships based on geographic proximity that is successful, please let me know.  It seems tech is really great at helping amplify the connections of ‘doing’ things together and not entirely there yet on helping amplify the act of simply ‘being’ together.

How can we infuse the heart and connections of being in a shared space?  Especially with those who may not share the same interests and ‘doings’…

To the next evolution of heart-based technology!

8/29/13

MyCommunityFoodie Feature Set

 

Overview: This system utilizes a Point of Sales process with an advertising process, a loyalty process, and individual applications.

 

Scenario: A Business utilizes a SwipeZine to create and publish its own application. On this application is general information such as location, hours, contact, about us, menu, deals, and coupons. It also utilizes one of the many point of sales systems that we create or have teamed up with to record sales from the customer. A customer syncs their phone number as a loyalty number when placing an order. This order can be done in person (or online in future iterations). The POS machine will ring up the transaction and record which items that unique customer ordered. These items are then inputted into our loyalty system. A loyalty system tracks what that user purchases from that restaurant and delivers customized coupons to incentivize loyalty and return customers through our “coupon and incentive” templates. These templates are setup to drive customers back to the store with incremental loyalty rewards. The more often you go, the better the discount/deal is. Further, to connect with these customers, the businesses will also create unique content that they push through their application (an addition or alternative to their “newsletters”) This is the first use of this system.

 

Each business that utilizes SwipeZine will have this same process in place. SwipeZines will then push to our servers the updated content and coupons. The user will then download a Swipezine’s deal aggregator that records all the participating SwipeZine Businesses discounts in one location as well as keep track of the ones that the user has utilized for those better deals. This deal aggregator then becomes a marketing platform for all the participating SwipeZine Businesses and allows them to promote their businesses as “Featured.” This process will be gamified in which the user earns SwipeDollars to redeem at participating places, and certain deals can be unlocked and others after a certain amount of time (but they can be purchased)

 

There will also be a SwipeZine News which is Presently News. The updated content that each SwipeZine creates is then pushed to our server and aggregated to the application based on the user’s past purchasing information and location. Following, there will be Presently News sponsored community events and charity donations much like Nike, in which separate, these businesses could not do it on their own, but combined they could put on these types of events.

 

Benefits:

1. Loyal Customers: By controlling the individual line item at the POS machine, brick and mortar companies are then able to take advantage of the big-data that online retailers have been able to leverage. By knowing not only where and when a customer purchases, but exactly WHAT he purchases, the business is better able to target the customer to return. Combining this is the loyalty system which incentivizes these customers to return.
2. Engaged Customers: By aggregating content from businesses that might only update a newsletter/blog/etc once a month or week, this application provides a content platform already tied to a purchasing action. This allows businesses to reach out to customers, connect, and provide additional value thus furthering the loyalty.

Psychological Tactics:

1. Pavlovian Reward training: the instant a customer purchases something, he gets rewarded by incrementally always saving just a little bit more
2. Social Proof: utilizing the draw and power of communities, once one business joins in, it will encourage others to leverage new markets/potential customers
3. Loss Avoidance: the money is not paid out up front or tied to a system that doesn’t guarantee revenue; this system pays only once the customer has purchased something, it is merely a commission based system
4. Commitment and consistency: by constantly going to the same places a customer will be that much more loyal, further by utilizing the platform a few times, the customer will rely on it for further options when in unfamiliar areas
5. Authority: by having business owners who are passionate in what they do and committed creating the content, that content is even more reliable, so when one recommends a product from the store, there is more weight
6. Association: there is a movement to bring back communities, this platform is all about communities and so supporting communities means supporting this system and its businesses
7. Reciprocation: by receiving special discounts and offers unique to that person from a business, that customer will more likely buy more items in the store

 

Revenue Model

1. The first model is to create a SwipeZine for a company. This will be a ridiculously low monthly fee, or could even be free
2. Commission on a sale. For every customer that uses the platform, we take a small percentage, for each recurring customer we take a different amount
3. Promoted and targeted discounts on our ad platform will be sold for a fee
4. Partnership alliances with the POS and merchant services accounts
5. General Ad revenue on their website
6. SwipeDollars can be purchased
7. Special Discounts and Loyalty packages can be purchased
8. Community event sponsorship/participation

 

Strategy and Distribution

The first phase will be to target those restaurants and businesses that are just opening up, are early adopters of technology and would naturally want the ability to process payments on the go. This is why we will target the Food Trucks with these mobile payment processing. The SwipeZine will also track their location and these trucks hit the most popular locations and will spread the word. Next comes new businesses that would utilize new technology such as those in Malibu, Silicon Beach Area, and by the Universities. The growth would focus on one community and another. We will utilize a highly concentrated area of businesses to approach as they have committee, such as a Main Street or Third Street Promenade. For approaching them will allow us to obtain a core group of businesses in a local area.

 

We will also pursue chains that are looking to be more connected in the community. Rolling this out for McDonald’s, Papa John’s, or another type business that aims to improve its community perception. This concept applies not just to restaurants, but all businesses that sell a product: grocery stores, supply stores, service providers, etc.

 

Features:

 

1. SwipeZine
   1. Layout
      1. Home page
      2. About us page

• Menu

1. Order
2. Blog/Content
3. Contact Us/Feedback

• Deals

1. Features
   1. Images, video, text
   2. Ability to send content to our servers to monitor

• Interfaces with POS software for ordering

2. Point of sale (POS)
   1. Foody interface Dano Designed
   2. Interfaces with square or iProcess or .Net Authorization
3. Loyalty System
   1. Business Side
      1. Login Screen
      2. Template deals (like a SwipeZine) that business can pick, take/upload photo, set discount amounts, time to redeem, etc.

• Analytics of who redeemed what

1. Social Media Integration for pushing discounts/deals/content

1. Consumer side
   1. Login Screen
   2. GPS Based items
      1. By Category
      2. By loyalty plan
      3. By discount amount
      4. By trending/popular
      5. Featured

• My loyalty places and levels

1. Unlock rewards
2. Exclusive time rewards (for loyalty, set time, combo loyalty of certain businesses)
3. Social Media Push

• Reward currency
  1. Current level
  2. Purchase more

4. Presently News
   1. Login Screen
   2. Social Media sharing
   3. Tailored News Feed
   4. Other news feed
      1. Related
      2. Featured

• Trending

1. Around you

1. Comments