Loopt Star Rewards with Cash and Carry

Following its record-breaking social media-mapping marketing promotion with Virgin via taco trucks and airport check-ins, Loopt recently teamed with the Sports Authority apparel retailer in its next iteration: premier retailer woos the mobile consumer.

In this campaign, Loopt Star users could receive rewards available through iTunes in two ways:

1. Check in at any pro sports team stadium and receive a $10 cash card to use on any purchase at Sports Authority. 

2. Check in at any Sports Authority store, and receive $10 off a purchase of $50 or more. 

Loopt Star calls it a mobile rewards game, as CEO Sam Altman explains, "to encourage multiple visits."

"Geosocial requires 'one more time'. Zynga taught us that with Farmville," he continues. "The reward is the key. Extending the deal past the walls of its own store, Sports Authority is casting a wide net for interactions with existing or potential customers. I can’t wait for the next baseball game, so I can squeeze in a Loopt Star reward before the season’s over.”

A second campaign rewards Broadway theatergoers. The promotion: consumers who check in at Brooks Atkinson Theatre (home to Rock of Ages in New York) on Loopt Star will get 25% off the ticket price, plus a free song download from the musical’s soundtrack.

Loopt boasts more users than Foursquare and Gowalla, and differs in its fundamental approach to geosocial: a hybrid model with live-tracking and check-in capabilities. “Most users are best served by the combination,” says Altman. 

As for basic distinctions of the Loopt service, Altman said two things: “Background tracking as an option, and the way rewards can be used and kept – in a rewards wallet – easy for the consumer and the brands. We want to help users bridge the virtual and real worlds – we’re the 'Superman goggles.'"

Asked to describe Loopt’s personality, Altman pauses before answering, “useful, entertaining, personal.” As for the Sports Authority and Rock of Ages deals - both fit that profile very nicely.

Asked about the difference in these two latest deals, Altman said: “We get smarter with every deal. Each one is the next iteration – we’re not on trend, we’re ahead of trend.”

Tell us: should mobile rewards increase brand loyalty, or make consumers more likely to be loyal to the next best mobile deal that comes across their smartphone?