AT&T Jumps into the Mobile Location Biz

Posted Aug 24th 2010 1:00PM by Tom Taulli
Filed under: Competitive Strategy, Marketing and Advertising, AT and T (T)

AT&T logo One of the hottest categories in tech is location-based services (LBS). Essentially, this means using your smartphone's GPS capability to show friends your current location. One of the early leaders in the space is Foursquare, which recently snagged a large amount of venture capital. But other players are diving in. For example, Shopkick recently rolled out a pilot of its LBS platform to allow shoppers at Best Buy (BBY) to get discounts. And of course, Facebook recently launched its Places capability.

In fact, now AT&T (T) is getting into the game. The telecom giant has teamed up with an LBS startup, SCVNGR, which has a rewards system for the iPhone and Android. It will be in 50 AT&T stores throughout the Midwest as a trial program.

So what do people get by using their phones in AT&T stores? There are a variety of promotions, such as gift cards and discounts. Although, 15 points will mean a $50 price reduction on a Samsung Captivate phone, which retails at $199.99. That's a pretty good deal in light of the fact that it involves hitting a couple buttons or completing tasks, such as taking photos of your friends.

For a company of the size of AT&T, the LBS program is certainly innovative. Even the press release is fun, which begins with: "Starting today, AT&T Inc. customers and shoppers in parts of the Midwest will be able to mix their love of mobile games with saving some moolah by completing in-store challenges on SCVNGR, the social game all about going places, doing challenges, earning points and unlocking awesome rewards."

No doubt, the company's stores should be an effective laboratory to test things out. And the LBS approach should appeal to the younger demographic, which is definitely key for AT&T.

Tom Taulli is also the author of several books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and also develops iPhone apps for finance.

Tags: ATT, Facebook, Foursquare, inthenews, LBS, Location based services, SCVNGR, Shopkick