Gowalla – Virtual Scavenger Hunts

Summary: A first look at Gowalla, a new service that uses Facebook Connect to bring a mobile experience similar to scavenger hunts or geo caching.

Gowalla is an interesting, new online mobile experience that ties in the magic of GPS, the compulsive nature of collecting “things” and the power of Facebook Connect to bring your friends along for the ride.

Alamofire, a digital collectibles company that distributed the popular “Icon Buffet” series of free icons that many a designer has shared online, created Gowalla to bring the experience of collecting, exploration and sharing to GPS enabled iPhone’s.  However, it is Gowalla’s Facebook connectivity which has me really excited about social gaming and mobile experiences.

I first leaned about Gowalla through my Facebook news feed. Several of my friends were checking in at different locations around Phoenix and my eye was drawn to the attractively drawn icons the application uses to distinguish various local businesses.

Gowalla Checkin

Always a sucker for eye candy, I clicked on the Gowalla link that accompanies each update to learn more. What I found was a gorgeously designed web site and iPhone application that allowed me to mark various locations around town, earn pins and collectible icons that are associated with particular types of businesses (e.g. I found a virtual taco after checking into Baja Fresh the first time).

On first glance, Gowalla is very similar to Brightkite, another mobile based experience that allows you to connect up to your Twitter and Facebook friends to coordinate meetups. Where Gowalla differs is that it actually makes this process fun. Find a new place that no one else has been to before, and you can earn a level of digital fame.

Gowalla - Baja Fresh

What is especially exciting to me from a marketing perspective is how Gowalla creates “Trips” out of multiple locations. I see a lot of potential here, especially with the tourism industry who is turning more and more to social media to help promote travel deals online. Trips are essentially lists of places that a Gowalla user must physically be present at to check in. For example, the Frank Lloyd Wright achievement requires one to see 10 different houses that Wright built along the Chicago waterfront. Completing this feat earns you a special badge for your Gowalla profile – but it could just as easily unlock special offers and discounts for travel if integrated in with a larger marketing campaign.

Frank Lloyd Wright Tour on Gowalla

Gowalla is definitely a product to watch. Currently, you can find it on the iPhone app store or you can download it directly from the Gowalla web site. Facebook users can create an account using their Facebook login’s through the power of Facebook Connect, another very smart way that Gowalla has been able to spread so virally.

Some additional ideas for Gowalla:

• API to allow developers to build Gowalla functionality into their own web sites
• The ability to create your own trips
• Meetup and scheduling functionality, perhaps facilitated through Facebook events system
• A “what’s going on near me” screen that would alert users to events nearby where they can collect special badges (e.g. a concert, art exhibit, etc)

Tagged as: Brightkite, Frank Lloyd Wright, gowalla, iPhone