Foursquare helps you plan your dream date on Valentine's Day

For all you procrastinators out there who still haven’t solidified Valentine’s Day plans, Foursquare can help you get your act together. The location-based social networking company rolled out the festive microsite Foursquare Dream Date to help people plan for the holiday. Powered by Foursquare Explore, Dream Date directs visitors to locations where they can fulfill all their Valentine’s Day needs. Feeling romantic? Let Dream Date lead you to a flower shop, a candy store or an enchanting date-night destination for you and your sweetheart. For more cynical visitors who would prefer to spend the evening wallowing in self-pity and cheap liquor, clicking the “BOO! I don’t care!” button in the upper right corner redirects to Foursquare Dream HATE. Rather than lovey-dovey locations, Dream Date’s alter ego suggests searching for a variety of bars to help you plan your perfect “night of misery.”

This is a fun, creative and cost-efficient way for Foursquare to promote Explore. Many people still think of Foursquare as a social networking site used primarily to check in at your favorite locations. The Dream Date/Dream HATE campaign provides an opportunity to showcase the useful Explore feature, a more recent development for Foursquare. These visually simple microsites were well-executed; the Dream Date page is cute but not sappy, and the Dream HATE page is humorous but not overly offensive to romantically challenged visitors. This combination of design and creativity makes visitors want to share with friends, ultimately increasing traffic to Foursquare Explore more than a traditional promotion likely would.