Philippine Long Distance Telephone’s (PLDT) internet and mobile subsidiary Smart Communications is dubbed to be the very first company or brand in the Philippines to get a Partner Badge from location-based social networking website FourSquare. The “Smart Live More” exclusive badge will make its debut during the first day of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way Ball” Concert at the SM Mall of Asia Arena tonight and the second part tommorow.
The custom FourSquare badges for brands are unique and rare, and the company require a minimum charge of $25,000 per month for its use – Smart secured a 3-month of use agreement. If that is the case, Smart may have paid at least $75,000 just to get this Live More badge (around Php3.15 million). Brands purchasing the badges have to agree with a commitment of a minimum of three months, Technofierce have learned. But the fee will normally be waived when a non-profit organizations requests a badge, such as the World Wildlife Foundation (WWF) or the New York Public Library. FourSquare offers up to 5 custom badges inclusive in the commitment of the said rate so we may be seeing four more badges from local telco in the coming months.
FourSquare users will be able to check-in at the Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Ball concert starting from 6PM to 2AM the following day. Fortunately, anyone from location can still check-in to get the badge once it reaches the SuperSwarm or 250 check-ins.
“Two winners at each night of the concert will be selected from everyone who unlocked the badge to win Samsung Galaxy Nexus phones. People who are not in the SM Mall of Asia Arena can still check-in and join the promo. We allow jumpers and we like to share our badge to everyone — even if you’re just at home while we are dancing with Mother Monster!”
The said Php3.15 million investment for a customized Smart Live More FourSquare badge is the first time we’ve heard a local brands to have partnered with the location-based social network company and its the badge is indeed expensive.
