Google+ City Experts

Anyone who knows me knows I love Google. Not as much as I love Apple, but there’s still a lot of love there. In fact I’ve just finished reading ‘The Google Story’. So when I came across a Google branded igloo at Sydney’s ‘Winter Wonderland’ recently (or their best attempt at a Winter Wonderland when it’s 25 degrees..) I got excited. 

After queuing up with a bunch of kids to get our photo taken with the logo, we discovered they were there promoting the new Google+ City Experts service. A recently launched programme that allows users to create their own reviews of places they visit, encouraging higher quality Google+ local reviews. 

In order to make this task more desirable, let’s face it- who has time these days to post a load of reviews in their precious free time.. Google reward users with heaps of cool perks such as exclusive access to local events, free Google branded gear (I want!), and ‘special online recognition’. After speaking to the Google Community Manager in the igloo, she said past events in Sydney included a free boat party during Sydney’s Vivid Festival, ice cream master classes with my favourite ice cream brand Gelatissimo, and free ice skating. City Experts are also invited to join an exclusive Google community, where they can meet up with other City Experts near by to discuss top tips and tricks. Pretty cool hey. 

There’s only one catch. To start reaping these awards, users need to post a minimum of 50 reviews, then 5 reviews every month from there on. Each review must be of ‘quality’ meaning it is made up of a minimum of 4 sentences, include photos and be a balanced review. With these strict guidelines in place, it means it should eliminate business owners posting ravishing reviews of their own business, or destroying competitors reviews.
The programme was quietly launched on New Yorks Google+ Local page, and has since expanded to select cities in US, UK, Australia and Japan. 

I think this is such a great initiative from The Google powerhouse, especially for google fanatics like me. Who wouldn’t want to get invited to cool and exclusive local events, and all for free. What I find fascinating is the combination of the online world with the offline world. Something that brands need to keep at their forefront if they want to keep the savvy 21st century consumer engaged and excited about the brand. An excellent example of brands nailing this integrated strategy is Mr Porter. Another favourite brand of mine. 

Google are taking over the world, (if they haven’t done already). And this is just one more well thought about, cool service that’s going to help them get there.

#cityexperts