Welcome back to this week's Social Mashup! We're here to kick off the short work week with the launch of Google's music store, Facebook's recommended people list and Foursquare's badge updates.

Google Music Store Launched

  Last week Google launched the much anticipated Google Music to the public. The service was released in private on an invite-only beta basis this summer. Through the service users can upload their music library and stream it to all of their devices.   With word that Google Music would be offered on a premium basis when launched to the public, it looks as though it will be free of charge. Users can listen to 90 second previews of songs and purchase them from the Android Market.   As Google continues its attempt in taking over the world, the service will be integrated into none other than its social networking site, Google+. When a user purchases a song they can then share it to Google+ where people within their circles can listen to the whole song in their Google+ stream. One caveat, only people within the user's circle that are also followed by the user can listen to the entire song. Otherwise if you just follow someone and are not followed back, you can only listen to a sample of the song.   Google Music is hoping it can become a major player in the online music selling arena. To get people to try out the service, Google Music has secured exclusive music from the likes of The Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Busta Rhymes, Shakira, Pearl Jam, and Dave Matthews Band.   Are you going to give Google Music a try? If you have already let us know what you think.  

Facebook Recommended People List

  Much like Twitter did with a list of suggested accounts to follow, Facebook will be adding a similar feature recommending "People To Subscribe To." The list will be generated off the Facebook pages you currently "like" and will pop up on the column to the right of a user's active page.   If you like the Wall Street Journal for example, a list of writers or editors may appear on the list of people to follow. Additionally, people your friends follow will also populate the list.  

The list of subscriptions to follow will organically grow as it will introduce Facebook users to the feature they may not have seen before and help them find people they would be interested in hearing from.  

Foursquare Badges Now Level Up

  Foursquare has overhauled its badge system for all of you power users. The change was put in place to encourage exploration and increase engagement with the check in platform. Starting today, all of Foursquare's main 24 category badges will level up based on your checkins. For each of these core badges a number will appear at the bottom right of the badge showing how many checkins related to that badge the user has had.  Foursquare's Head of Product, Alex Rainert, said,  

It’s rewarding exploration and awarding expertise.  It’s a platform to showcase tastemakers and get their content exposed.

  To unlock the first level badge, users must check in five times to places with the specified badge category or by checking in to three unique places. Once you get your first level badge, each additional level up is obtained by checking in to five unique places within that category. The max level is 10, achieved by 48 checkins in for the category.     The revamp also unveils the users with expertise in a specific category and they are likely to be more credible than someone with a lower-level badge. Foursquare is hoping that these "experts" will be more motivated to provide tips.

Late Monday afternoon, the New York Red Bulls (RBNY) launched a Foursquare check in sweepstakes on their official team Facebook Page.  The promotion is in an effort to highlight a season long grassroots program conducted in partnership with the NYC Parks & Rec called New York's Got Wings.

  With three games left in the Major League Soccer (MLS) season for RBNY, the sweepstakes takes full advantage of fans attending tonight's sold out game at Red Bull Arena  against the LA Galaxy who is #1 in the league standings.   Here's how the sweepstakes works:

• 3 weekly entry periods from Monday, October 3 through Sunday, October 23
• Opportunity to win by simply registering for the NYGW Parks & Pubs sweeps
• Gain up to 10 additional entries per day via check ins on Foursquare
• Check in to "Park" venues in NYC, select RBNY pubs, or Red Bull Arena
• Prizes include team autographed soccer balls and a pair of tix to 10/20 season finale

   

Calling all golf aficionados and Foursquare badgers! The PGA Tour has recently partnered with the world's check-in leader to offer an exclusive FedEx shipping discount on golf equipment, merchandise, and apparel as well as a limited edition foursquare Partner badge.       • With the conclusion of the summer comes the end of the professional golf season for players on the PGA Tour and a competition called the FedExCup, a special four event playoff series across the United States in August and September. You can read here for full details.    For those unfamiliar with the current format which was started in 2007, the trophy is decided by a points race. The top 125 on the "regular season" points list qualify for the first of the four playoff events - The Barclays. The field is cut again to 100 for leg two, the Deutsche Bank Championship, and then to 70 for the third event, the BMW Championship. This event has no cut and the qualifiers here go on to the final elite 30-man field which contest the Tour Championship in Chicago and battle it out for the FedEx Cup trophy.  

Until this year, the PGA Tour has strictly prohibited spectators from bringing mobile devices onto the golf course. In an effort to modernize the game and appeal to a younger generation of golf fans, the PGA Tour is increasingly encouraging the active use of cell phones.

  The PGA Tour recently partnered with foursquare by launching a brand page (see below) to provide tips to professional golf fans, drive check-ins during the 2011 FedExCup playoffs, and most important increase total followers. This is an interesting move by the PGA Tour to expand the reach of its brand online. Most intriguing is that golfers traditionally trend 35-64 year old males which is not the bulk demographic of foursquare users.  

 

Users who follow the PGA Tour on foursquare and check in at one of the four playoff courses listed above will earn the FedExCup 2011 Badge which presumably unlocks a special discount code related to each title sponsor. See below for details on the exclusive badge. Don't miss your change to earn it!

 

  Partner Badges / FedExCup 2011 Badge  

Congrats on unlocking the FedExCup badge! It all comes down to this: PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup. PGA TOUR fans could save up to 25% with FedEx when shipping golf clubs and important items. Signup at http://at.fedex.com/4sqFEC (use your personal code).

What do you think about the PGA Tour's partnership with the PGA Tour? Do you like the design of the 2011 FedExCup badge?

We're now less than 365 days away from the London 2012 Summer Olympics (and have been for some time now), but in case you were wondering about Sochi 2014, Rio de Janiero 2016, and PyeongChang 2018, we've got you covered with this cool countdown timer. This week’s edition of the Social Mashup features ESPN exclusive partnership with Foursquare, Skype's acquisition of GroupMe, StumbleUpon's continued rapid growth, and Google+ verification badges.  

ESPN and Foursquare

 

The champion of sports television has teamed up with the leader in geo-location check ins to supply tips on major venues across the United States.  Starting last week, when you check into certain sporting events on Foursquare, useful information such as game time, teams, venue, location, and more are made readily available plus all of ESPN's news coverage of the upcoming games.

  ESPN will provide facts, stats, and more on the brand's venue pages for major sporting events including NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL, college football, college basketball, soccer, tennis, golf, racing and more as the year continues.  ESPN now also has their own Foursquare Page, where fans can leave whatever tips they want about any ballpark, arena, or stadium.  One example of a good trivia tip about Camden Yards we saw was as follows:  

"There are two orange seats here. In right-center, the landing spot of Eddie Murray’s 500th home run. In left, the honorary mark of Cal Ripken Jr.’s 278th HR ball, the record breaker for shortstops."

  And for those Foursquare badge aficionados out there, when you check into a venue or event where ESPN has left tips, you are eligible to earn the Foam Finger Badge (pictured to the right).  We actually really dig the design of this badge ... who doesn't love foam fingers?! Totally classic.  

Skype to Acquire GroupMe

   Interesting news is now emerging from the VOIP / SMS technology space. Skype is on the verge of acquiring one year old company GroupMe, a group messaging service.    GroupMe was founded at the TechCrunch Disrupt hackathon in New York last year.  The service focuses on group messaging and conference calling that enables users to stay in touch with groups of people via mobile phones.  Users can send free text messages throughout the group as well as leave voice mails.  The potential acquisition will add group calling capabilities to Sype.    While the purchase price has yet been disclosed (reportedly $85 million), we do know that earlier this year GroupMe raised $10.6 million in funding from Khosla Ventures, General Catalyst, and several other investors.  Skype, of course, is in the process of being acquired by Microsoft for over $8.5 billion.    Skype plans on keeping GroupMe as a stand alone brand at present but will look down the line to integrate it into Skype's product seamlessly.  Skype CEO Tony Bates had this to say:  

“The group messaging space in general is one of the most important markets for Skype.  GroupMe creates a very sticky instant feeling.  Like Skype, it is an everyday interactive form of communication. Skype’s goal is to get to 1 billion users. Mobile is the place to do that.”

 

StumbleUpon's Dominance

    If you were to guess which social media website drives the most website traffic, what would you pick?  Facebook?  Twitter?  Well ... then you would be wrong.  The answer is surprisingly StumbleUpon.    According to Mashable, StumbleUpon accounted for 50.27% of all referral traffic from the top 10 social sites. Facebook was second with a 38.9% market share, while Reddit, YouTube and Twitter each garnered less than 4%.  Essentially, it's a two horse race at this point.    In case you are unfamiliar with StumbleUpon and its rapidly growing service, it can be summarized as follows (direct from their company description): "You tell StumbleUpon what you like and StumbleUpon takes you to great stuff based on your interests." In recent months, StumbleUpon has rolled out sleek new versions of their website discovery service on desktop, iPad, iPhone, and Android.  

  What do you think of StumbleUpon? Have you ever spent a few hours simply Stumbling across the internet? If so, have you ever tried other niche content discovery services like Pinterest, TasteSpotting, and Foodgawker?

Google+ Verification Badges

Impersonation of celebrity profiles, fake business accounts, and spammers fronting as public identities have long plagued the internet since the inception of MySpace and the social networking boom. In fact, nearly all successful social media services which offer public profiles incur this growing pain.    Now the folks at Mountain View, California have made the decision to roll out Verified Badges to high-profile celebrity accounts on Google+. This is clearly a move toward increased authenticity across Google's new and redesigned social platform and a necessary offering to compete with Facebook and Twitter in the celebrity arena. Say what you might about celebrity accounts, but mass buy-in from Hollywood, music, and sports personalities is a guaranteed ticket to quicker adoption of a service.  

From a management team's perspective or a brand's marketing strategy, Google+ represents a major headache ... simply one more major social account to consider and most likely an afterthought (for the time being) other than syndicating existing updates from Facebook or Twitter for the vast majority of already overloaded and understaffed social media managers.

 

  Verification Badges are of course not a new concept and already exist on other social media services like Twitter which slowly (but surely ... if you know the right person) verifies high profile accounts. Something that Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube offer which Google Plus does not yet offer is vanity URLs which coupled with verification badges make it a little easier to identify official accounts.  Google is also not removing fake celebrity profiles, at this time, like their competitors Facebook and Twitter. Take a look at Lady Gaga's profile below as an example of how difficult it is to tell.  

  One aspect unique to the Google+ verification process is that Google is considering a move toward a verified system for all users. Lack of a verified presence for all members of an online social community has long been a contentious point for many and also a service offering that creates much jealousy among B-List, C-List, and D-List celebrity personalities that are passed over for not knowing the right person at Twitter or Facebook.

 

Verified Accounts show a grey check mark. When a user hovers over the check mark, ‘verified name’ displays on the browser.  One criticism and piece of feedback that we have for Google is to make this badge more prominent. Why display an official mark when it's not a focal point and easy for users to spot?

 

Obviously this is tailored primarily to verifying public figures, celebrities, and people who accumulate a large number of Circles but it's possibly it could be expanded in the future. We'd love to hear your thoughts on Google+ and verification for all users.

 

10 million? 10,000,000? 7 zeroes? We’re impressed.   Social media has always had strength in numbers, and 10 million users or consumers of any product or service is a big deal as far as we’re concerned. Foursquare recently announced they have officially reached 10 million users, and when you step back to think about this feat, it becomes even more impressive when you consider the obstacles the NY start-up has faced to date.   Starting with the idea of a mobile check-in, team Foursquare had to 1) convince people there is more utility to the service than simply having fun and 2) fight the big dogs (we'll come back to this later). As advanced a platform as competitor SCVNGR has built to date (as the name indicates it was never simply a check-in service), CEO Seth Priebatsch has referred to his mobile platform as the "gaming layer" of the web but arguably to a detriment. While the average mobile user might think of Foursquare as a game too (because it is a game at its core), many digital marketers turn to Foursquare in lieu of SCVNGR because of it's simplicity and concentration on the art of the "check-in".   The other major obstacle to Foursquare's major success to date is the omnipresent competition of giant web platforms like Facebook and Google which offer similar services—Facebook Places and Google Latitude. The good news for the NYC start-up is that founder Dennis Crowley has gone down literally the same path before and was prepared for Google's reaction in the marketplace. Crowley founded dodgeball.com, one of the first mobile social services in the United States. It was acquired by Google in 2005 and then left out to the pasture to die.   Despite it all, Foursquare continues to grow and outpace competitors Whrrl (recently acquired by Groupon), Gowalla, and SCVNGR while working toward "fulfill[ing] their larger vision for the future." In the meantime, Foursquare has released an infographic on their company blog to illustrate the growth of the young technology company.   A few things that caught our eye:

• Hitting 1,000,000 users in late 2010, they've grown 10x in size in less than half a year
• 358 million check-ins outside the U.S.
• 6,230 Snake Bar checkins in Japan
• 6,350 checkins at Weddings in City Halls, Churches, and Parks
• 6 to 1 “Yay” to “Ugh” ratio, (Foursquare users are happy!)

Today's Mashup reviews three top stories from the past week in the world of sports, entertainment, and social media marketing. Headlines include Monster.com's new Facebook job network application, the IOC's decision to allow 2012 Olympic athletes to post social media content during the games, and the brand new partnership between American Express and Foursquare.  The Activ8Social team would also like you to check out the world's newest viral videographer, this seagull. American Express Partners with Foursquare Geo-location giant Foursquare has announced it’s largest partnership to date with charge card giant American Express. Founded in 2009, Foursquare now has 10 million registered users loving the mobile check-in software. This coupled with the fact that American Express accounts for 24% of the total dollar volume of credit card transactions could mean a very profitable partnership.   Noah Elkin, an analyst with eMarketer said that, “In 2010 it was all about the check in. Now it’s about checking out.” Checking into places that give exclusive promotions to mobile users is part of the novelty of the check-in that has been taking over cities like New York and DC. Partnering with American Express allows Foursquare’s services to gain credibility over the similar check in services offered by Google and Facebook.   Sports Authority and H&M will be the first business to offer deals through American Express along with a few select restaurants in the New York area. Spending $50 or more will earn people checking in at Sports Authority a $20 credit and people who spend more than $50 at H&M will receive a $10 credit.   The service was tested at this years South By Southwest music festival and people with AmEx who used the program spent 20% more than other AMEX users without the program. Foursquare will not be receiving revenue from the deal, but it certainly should give them a significant bump in users with the potential to profit from it down the line.   Professional Network on Facebook Last week, Monster announced they were changing their job search function to be compatible with Facebook in a new product called BeKnown.  The new site, which went live today, enables Monster users to import their profiles to Facebook effectively setting up a professional network on the world's largest social platform. Facebook currently has around 700 million users and Monster gets about 38 million unique visitors a month.   BeKnown will not only be targeted at those who wants jobs but potential employers as well.  Matthew Mund, global vice president of product for Monster said “This is the path of least resistance, you can manage your professional identity and your social identity in one place.”  The offering comes as the recession has hit Monster’s bottom line pretty hard. Monster’s net sales have dropped 11% (annualized since 2008) and its stock price has declined 8.9%.  However, the company did post a 23% jump in revenues in its first quarter, which ended March 31.

Obviously Monster’s biggest competition is going to be the professional social networking giant LinkedIn which currently boasts over 100 million members and recently went public at an IPO price of $45. Similar to Monster's application, BranchOut recently launched on Facebook and currently has over 800,000 users.

BrannchOut is a similar enough application to BeKnown that Monster has added a few special features to their product including Foursquare-like badges for accomplishing milestones in the professional world such as  getting your first job.  Users can also follow companies and get endorsements a la LinkedIn, features not yet available on BranchOut.   Monster is still the premier job finding website and putting their product on Facebook could result in, for lack of a better word, a monster hit.  It’s reasonable to expect people who want to use Facebook for everything to give this product a shot.  BranchOut has no name brand recognition and LinkedIn, while incredibly useful for networking, is still not quite as good as Monster for finding jobs.  We say that now, but LinkedIn is getting a lot better at this as we speak.  The bottom line though is that if marketed and run correctly, BeKnown has the opportunity to be a popular tool for those looking for a new job. Allows Athletes to Tweet and Blog The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is allowing athletes to post, tweet, and blog during the London Olympics in 2012 but not without a few stipulations. The posts must be in "first-person, diary-type formats," that do not tread on journalists' reporting grounds. Athletes must also be sure not to post "vulgar or obscene words or images" which could result in removal from the Games.   The IOC released its social media guidelines for the 2012 London Olympics stating:

"The IOC actively encourages and supports athletes and other accredited persons at the Olympic Games to take part in 'social media' and to post, blog and tweet their experiences."

This is quite different from the 2008 Beijing Olympics where the IOC denied the right to upload videos and restricted picture uploads to prevent copyright infringements. Twitter was also relatively new at the time and did not have the same presence that it currently does.  Video and audio taken from inside Olympic venues is still banned by the IOC, but anything outside is free game. The restrictions are mainly to protect the IOC's intellectual property, as television and media rights make up a large portion of its revenue.   Athletes are expected to respect the Olympic Charter or could have their Olympic accreditation removed, barring them from competing in the Games if they violate the charter.  As part of the charter, athletes are prohibited from participating in any political, religious or racial demonstrations and according to the social media cannot "promote any brand, product or service within a posting, blog or tweet on any social media platforms or on any websites."  To read the IOC's full set of Social Media, Blogging and Internet Guidelines for the 2012 London Olympics click here.

“I never thought about breaking a record, but since there is one, they’re meant to be broken!” – Jimmy Rollins   This Monday, June 27^th, from 11:45 AM -1:00 PM, J-Roll will attempt to break the Guinness World Record for “Longest Batted Ball” at Red Bull Ball Park Cranks in Philly.   Benjamin Franklin Parkway will be closed down in Philadelphia for the record-breaking event and Jimmy is going to hit baseballs as far as he can down it.  As you may already know, Red Bull and Jimmy tried to do this last year but were thwarted by injury.  Rollins certainly looks to be good to go this year as he and the Phillies have been red hot over the last month with the Phils owning the best record in Major League Baseball.   The record currently stands at 576 feet, which is 167 feet farther than the deepest part of Citizens Bank Park where the Phillies play. Rollins will be using a special scientifically engineered Red Bull bat designed for him to his specs that will give him the best shot at breaking the record.  

"Baseball is a game of tradition, but Red Bull Ball Park Cranks is an exciting opportunity to play the baseball of the future -- just for one day -- and see what happens when modern advances in materials science and technology meet the power of today's players," said Popular Science's Matt Cokeley.

  Rollins has had an incredibly accomplished career.  He was the 2007 NL Most Valuable Player, a member of the Phillies 2008 World Series team, a three time NL all star and currently is Philadelphia's longest tenured athlete.  He also still finds time to run his own music label, Bay Sluggas, Inc.  J-Roll and Giants ace Tim Lincecum make up Red Bull's baseball division.

In order to promote the record-breaking event, 576 baseballs will be dropped around the city of Philadelphia.  If you find one of the 576 baseballs you can scan the QR code on the ball, go to the website, or text BPC to 99699 for instructions on how you can be a winner.   As a bonus, 11 limited edition BPC shirts will be hidden across Philadelphia with clues tweeted from @redbullphilly and by Jimmy Rollins on Facebook.  The first to find each t-shirt instantly wins VIP seating to the event, a meet and greet with Rollins, and autographed trading cards.   Obviously chances to meet J-Roll don't come around every day so put your game face on!  Those that find the baseballs will have a chance to win autographed Jimmy apparel as well as VIP seating but must bring their baseball to the event on Monday, June 27!  Activ8social is extremely proud and excited to be a part of this scavenger hunt and the historic Red Bull Ball Park Cranks event.   If you’re in the Philly area make sure to keep an eye out for Ball Park Cranks baseballs and be sure to come out to Benjamin Franklin Parkway on Monday!   UPDATE:

Check out a few highlights from last week's experiential social media blitz in Philly. Activ8Social raised a whole bunch of awareness across the city of Philadelphia and had a whole bunch of fun doing it too! Flip through our agency Flickr to see more photos from the event or the Philly baseball invasion!

These custom produced and limited edition Red Bull Ball Park Cranks baseballs were strategically distributed all across the city of Philadelphia to generate event awareness. Consumers and fans alike were provided three different methods—QR code, SMS text, and web URL—of accessing the mobile website which included instructions for prize redemption.

Some baseballs were laid out on street corners, parks, and storefronts for the everyday Philadelphian to stumble upon. Other baseballs were placed in the walking path of Philadelphians wearing Phillies gear. Others were given out at Citizens Bank Park to Phillies fans.

All information related to the event, contests, and scavenger hunt were custom designed and posted on J-Roll's Facebook Page.

@redbullphilly on Twitter was custom branded for the event with the background image and branding below.

This is a screenshot of the t-shirt #10 VIP prize alert on Twitter distributed from @redbullphilly.

After clicking the link in the above tweet from @redbullphilly, this is the photo and location at Citizens Bank Park that appeared on the campaign Foursquare.

Here's a cool perspective of one the Red Bull BPC clues and Foursquare check-ins courtesy of Activ8Social's super talented team member Christina Nash ... check it out!

Activ8Social also worked with local Phillies bloggers like the Fightins and The 700 Level to activate the event, raise additional awareness, and reach the hardcore fan. This included distributing special clues through the bloggers which required fans to follow @redbullphilly on Twitter, @JimmyRollins11 on Twitter, and J-Roll's official Facebook Page.