Surely by now you have heard of SCVNGR, you know, the geo-location tool that allows users to check-in & complete Challenges at businesses across the country… Here at Catalyst we have written about SCVNGR quite a few times already, as we think it has a TON of potential as a marketing tool for small businesses. If you need a refresher on SCVNGR, please feel free to check out some of those past articles like, “Use SCVNGR to Drive Sales for Your Small Business” or “Corporate Chains Should Create Treks on SCVNGR“.

For those of you who are familiar with SCVNGR then you know that SCVNGR allows people and businesses to create Treks on SCVNGR. Treks are a set of Challenges across a geographic area. Once a Trek is created SCVNGR users can work to complete the Trek by completing each of the Challenges that make up the Trek. Treks on SCVNGR provide a HUGE opportunity for Malls and the stores that rent space within malls. In this article we are going to walk through how malls, and even shopping centers, should be taking advantage of building Treks on SCVNGR.

Malls are essentially made up of a group of businesses who all share a close proximity with one another. The most successful Treks on SCVNGR are the ones that consumers can complete without traveling great distances to complete each Challenge. Treks on SCVNGR have been setup across cities and local towns, but what’s better than having a Trek that you can complete without leaving one single location? Now, consumers who don’t drive (like teens under 16-17) can participate, as well as, everyone else who visits the mall.

Malls should run a Trek on SCVNGR as a promotional opportunity. Malls can have the businesses who rent space within the mall sign-up if they want to participate. It would be in the stores’ best interest to participate as a successfully executed Trek promotion can drive a TON of foot traffic to all participating stores! Malls can also create a new revenue stream out of this by charging a small fee for participants (stores).

Once a list of businesses within the mall who want to participate is created the mall Marketing Department can work with store managers to setup unique Challenges on SCVNGR for each store. After the Challenges are established then all that remains is setting up the logistics of the Trek and Trek Promotional Campaign. Things like how long the promotional campaign will stay active, the rules for the contest, and most importantly the prize details will all have to be determined. It is highly recommended that prizes are awarded to those who complete the Trek on SCVNGR. Determining what prizes to use and how they should be awarded can be accomplished in many different ways. A small prize can be given to everyone who completes the Trek on SCVNGR. There could be three big prizes and everyone who finishes the Trek on SCVNGR get entered into a drawing to see who wins the 3 top prizes. Whatever you decide is best for your mall, be sure the prizes have significant value for the participants or they won’t bother to participate in your Mall Trek Promotion.

Proper promotion of your new Mall Trek on SCVNGR is HUGELY important. Here are a few ideas for promoting your Mall Trek:

• Create YouTube videos explaining the contest and embed them on the Mall’s website, Facebook page, etc. – At least one video should be dedicated to explaining how to sign-up for SCVNGR as it’s still in the early growth stage as far as mass adoption is concerned.
• Design & print fliers about the contest. Hang them up around the mall.
• Ask participating stores to create their own promotional fliers (or even better, the mall can provide them to each store) and ask them to also promote the contest on their social media sites.
• Connect with local media for media coverage of the contest.
• Shoot videos and take pictures (be sure to get release forms signed by anyone in the footage and photos) of consumers completing the Trek on SCVNGR through the mall. Use these to entice more people to participate and for post-event promotion.
• Stores should run related Sales during the promotion in order to capitalize on all of the extra foot traffic.

SCVNGR is a really great new tool for businesses. As we always say, all that it takes is a little creativity to come up with engaging ways to use the tools effectively for driving sales. Malls should definitely look into creating Treks on SCVNGR as it will drive mall traffic and store traffic. The benefits of running a Trek on SCVNGR promotion for your mall are numerous. Here are a few of the main benefits:

• Creates engagement between local consumers, the mall, and mall stores
• Great for publicity
• Drives sales for mall tenants (businesses)
• The promotion could go viral, which will drive even more participants and media coverage
• Keeps consumers in the mall for longer periods of time than they would normally stay
• Drives consumers into stores they may not normally have entered, which might lead to new customers for those stores

There are many ways to run a Trek on SCVNGR promotion. Hopefully this article simply shows you how to use Treks on SCVNGR for promoting your mall and your mall tenants, explains why you should create a mall Trek on SCVNGR, and its benefits. If you have any questions about how to execute this promotional opportunity at your mall or if you want some help in setting it up, please feel free to contact Catalyst with your questions. Good luck and please let us know how it goes!

Starbucks, Marriott, NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, MLS, 7-Eleven, Rita’s Water Ice, Cheesecake Factory…you name the chain, and I’ll tell you that they should build a Trek on SCVNGR. Using SCVNGR for business is going to increase in popularity over the coming months, especially after the publicity from the New England Patriots SCVNGR campaign that’s currently going on. SCVNGR is a mobile game that ties geo-location into real-world activities.

SCVNGR users can create challenges tied to a physical location, as well as, create Treks, which are a set of Challenges across multiple locations. Business owners can use SCVNGR to create Challenges at their business. These Challenges help business owners keep their customers engaged, as well as, allow the customer to help spread your marketing message. If you own a chain of stores, like the companies profiled above, you should consider building a Trek on SCVNGR to promote your message, keep customers engaged, and generate buzz.

Starbucks should create a National Trek on SCVNGR, whereby customers who stop at stores across the U.S. will check-in and complete Challenges at each location. Starbucks can even create a Global Trek on SCVNGR. The possibilities don’t stop there, as local county-based Treks can be built, or Treks for a city. What I’m saying is that if you own multiple stores, you can build a Trek on SCVNGR for your business. You don’t have to be Starbucks to take advantage of this creative marketing opportunity. Perhaps you’re a chain of 3 local donut shops, a chain of 11 regional hotels, a chain of 20 gyms…whatever business you’re in, SCVNGR provides a platform for you to engage your customer across multiple locations.

SCVNGR users who complete your Treks should be awarded prizes. A local Toyota dealership gave away a car. A jeweler in Philadelphia gave away a diamond ring. The couple who found it got engaged right then and there. The story was all over the news in Philadelphia and SCVNGR is promoting it on their site as well. By getting creative, taking advantage of new technologies, and giving away a $5,000 ring (which probably cost the dealer about $2,200), this jeweler got a TON of awesome PR, numerous local prospects now know about his business, and one happy couple is going to tell their engagement story thousands of times over the rest of their life. That’s pretty powerful stuff!

The more we dig into SCVNGR here at Catalyst, the more we love what we see. It doesn’t matter if you’re the Marriott Corporation or the owner of a few motels out in Vegas, you can use SCVNGR to promote your business. Let us know if you have any questions about using SCVNGR. We can help you strategize and execute your next SCVNGR promotion.