Hyperlocal, Fancy Phrase or the Future of Consumer Engagement

Since I can remember "Cracking Hyperlocal" has been the goal of every application, marketing company and venture investor. With so much attention to the space why hasn't anyone cracked it yet? Is it because we were waiting for the iPhone?

Radio, TV and newsprint have been targeting consumers down to the household for years. So what were they missing? The ability to target ads to individual consumers and not just area-based demographics, the content to create real neighborhood based value to consumers or the ability to reach them at a specific point in time; like with a dominoes pizza commercial during a football game.

The challenge, in my opinion, has less to do with the ability to reach the consumers and more with the ability to monetize the content most valuable to consumers. We are creatures of habit. We tend to walk the same route everyday, eat and drink at the same places, buy our favorite brand of jeans, go to see the same band every year and look for a certain level of convenience that matches our busy or lazy lifestyle.

So what do I do today when I want to know what new micro brew specials are featured at my favorite local pub, when my favorite artist is coming into town or when my favorite brand of jeans are on sale?... and on sale at a store I can walk to... Honestly, I don't do anything because I have no idea where to start or look. I could search google, maybe check yelp, go to Ticketmaster or the band's page or just call my favorite pub and ask... but I won't. You know what I will do, nothing. I won't even think about it. I will move on to the next email I need to send, Facebook status update I want to make or text my mother so she knows her son hasn't dropped off the face of the earth. Getting this type of information could drive me to make a purchase today, but I won't actively look for these types of deals. Not because they aren't important to me but the time it may take to get to the information I want isn't worth it.

When was the last time you visited a local newspaper website or even one of the 300 local event listing sites only to find the same bar, promoting the same happy hour for the 3000th week in a row... or even better nothing for the area you live in. These local media channels are constrained by their operating budgets. They list the venues and events with the real budgets. That means that all of the other information that you really want is ignored.

In other words, consumers are not in control. That is why no one has cracked hyperlocal. The content we receive is created and distributed by some product developer or sales guy who has no idea what local consumers in fairmount, the east village, south bay or the triangle really want. They have no idea because it is impossible to build a one-size-fits-all solution for a need that is individual to every consumer in the world.

So if no two consumers want the exact same content experience, how can any company provide a solution that fills the consumers highly personalized needs and generates the revenues needed to support the business?

It's not through IPhone applications...
It's not through complex technologies...
It's not through data feeds...

It is through the user experience. So what's the magic user experience? Well, that wouldn't be any fun.