Mimeo Lounge

Hyperlocal Marketing

Posted on September 28, 2007 at 10:34am, written by Jeff Grill, VP Marketing

One of the more recent developments in marketing is the move to the hyperlocal web - online information and experiences that are relate to your specific location.  The best example of the trend is marketing on mobile devices where the goal is to tie advertising information to the exact location of the phone.  For example, if you are on a street corner in Manhattan, your search home page should show a Google Maps street map of the neighborhood, search results of local businesses and a calendar of events for the local theater. 

The issue for a company like Mimeo is that we virtually exist everywhere, but physically exist in very few places.  When someone is searching for online printing or overnight printing, they are not likely to have Mimeo come up in the organic search results.  Luckily, paid search can compensate, but the search engine itself may decide that Google Adwords from local establishments take precedent in the hyperlocal world.  The July issue of Wired Magazine has a great essay called Dispatches From the Hyperlocal Future. and another by Bruce Ratliff called Google Maps is Changing the Way We See the World.

The solution might be a cross between Second Life and Google Maps.  A place where the virtual and the real meet.  If anyone has thoughts on the issue, please send me an email.  Maybe we’ll have to build it ourselves.  Hmmmm. Now that’s an idea.

Tags: 2nd life, bruce sterling, evan ratliff, google earth, google maps, hyperlocal marketing, hyperlocal web, mimeo, wired magazine