The Magazine

RadioShack makes you a Holiday Hero — complete with badge and discount

32

By on November 10th, 2010

RadioShack is offering a Holiday Hero badge for holiday shoppersThis holiday season, RadioShack is aiming to make everyday customers into Holiday Heroes by being the place to shop for great gifts. As part of the promotion, they’re anointing Holiday Heroes on foursquare with a special badge and offering a discount to anyone who unlocks it.

Starting Tuesday (11/16), you’ll be able to earn the Holiday Hero badge by following RadioShack and checking in at two Holiday Hot Spots. They include gyms (where superheroes stay fit), coffee shops (where they recharge), transit spots (where they can zoom to unknown destinations) and then you can unlock it at your local RadioShack store. You’ll be able to show the badge at RadioShack stores nationwide for a 20% discount.

This matches the 20% discount they’ve been offering for mayors since August. The mayor discount will drop to 15% during the promotion, with the 10% discount still available just for checking in.

The Holiday Hero campaign plays off superhero imagery, turning regular folks into heroes when their loved ones open gifts from RadioShack on Christmas morning. Here’s one of the spots they’ll be running that gives you a feel for the campaign:

This marks the first time a retailer has offered a badge that’s tied to a discount in their stores. These kinds of rewards tied to badges have been a focus of foursquare’s lately and offer a great incentive for users to follow the brand and unlock the badge. This badge should be a fun one to earn and redeem.

What do you think of the Holiday Hero badge?

  • http://twitter.com/SpamSpam Spam

    Hopefully RadioShack will do a better job of informing their store employees about the promotion; a number of people have had trouble redeeming Foursquare discounts with them in the past.

    • JR

      I told this to Allan (ack) already, but I went in tonight to buy some rechargeable batteries that I actually had been needing, and the cashier flat out told me that they didn’t honor ANY discounts whatsoever – foursquare-related or otherwise. I threatened to just shop at a different RadioShack and even asked him to call nearby locations to verify whether or not they’d accept the discount, and they guy was too lazy to call so he gave in and gave me the discount.

      Unfortunately, he gave me a 10% discount (even after I showed him the badge unlock text saying 20%). I realized this on the receipt as I was getting ready to take off so I came back in and questioned him about it. He called his manager over, who mumbled something in a different language multiple times and eventually told the cashier “just give him whatever the discount is” as he walked away to the back room of the store.

      If it wasn’t for the foursquare discount, I wouldn’t have even purchased the item. Now I realize why I hardly ever shop at RadioShack’s.

  • Hickory33

    Do all of these checkins need to occur on the same day? or just any point after 11/16?

  • http://www.allankintz.com ack154

    I’m not sure what I would ever actually buy at a Radio Shack… but I suppose I could go browse one for a few minutes if a badge is involved.

    I wonder if the Gym/CoffeeShop/Transit things are retro active? Theoretically I should only have to check in at RS to get the badge.

    • http://twitter.com/SpamSpam Spam

      That crossed my mind too, but I’d have to think that Foursquare would be smart enough to steer RadioShack away from including past check-ins.

  • http://twitter.com/SpamSpam Spam

    Since there are no details about this promotion on RadioShack’s website (presumably because it doesn’t launch until Tuesday), a couple of questions are left unanswered:

    1. Can users only claim the 20% discount on the visit during which the badge is unlocked, or is it applicable for the length of the promotion?

    2. Are all gyms, coffee shops, and places of transit eligible, and do each of the two qualifying check-ins have to be in different categories?

    • JR

      1. From the badge unlock text: “Congratulations, Holiday Hero, you’re entitled to 20% off qualifying in-store purchases now thru 12/31/10 at The Shack®.”

      Sweet.

  • PK

    I’m happy to see that Radio Shack is making the check-ins category specific as opposed to venue specific. The only way an honest player will miss out on this promotion is if they don’t have a Radio Shack in their area. Good job Radio Shack.

  • lucicano

    is this badge gonna be available at Mexico? hope so!

  • http://facebook.com/theBANKABLE BANK

    it’s now afternoon of 11/16 but no one (in the world) seemed to be able to unlock this Holiday Hero badge.

    moreover, according to the excerpt from RadioShack Foursquare page, “Follow RadioShack and check-in at two Holiday Hero Hotspots like a gym (to stay in superhero trim), a coffee shop (to recharge your superpowers), or a place of transit (to zoom to unknown destinations)”, i don’t see a gym or a coffee shop as its Hotspots too.

    • Chris Thompson

      No one has unlocked it yet. The special is not posted on any of their venue pages either. I don’t think the tips have anything to do with the badge, they appear to be just for fun.

    • Chris (FoursquareHelp)

      Based on this tweet (http://twitter.com/#!/RadioShack/status/4661922523779072) I think both those venue categories and the venues listed on their page will count.

  • mike

    I’m in the same boat as BANK.

    1) I was following RadioShack
    2) I actually had a need to stop in there today (11/16) and checked in.
    3) I even checked into Starbucks (to recharge)

    and no badge…

    any thoughts?

  • Chris (FoursquareHelp)
    • http://twitter.com/oneramjac JR

      haha. I like how the girl that RS responded too tried checking in to a bunch of RadioShack’s in completely different and far off US cities trying to unlock the badge.

      At least she got her Ellen Riff Raff badge. #cheater

  • Xander

    Look for one with the address in all CAPS. They top loaded them all and created duplicates.

    • Chris Thompson

      That’s the case for many of them, but some were properly merged and others have since had their addresses changed, so it’s not a foolproof way to find the official ones. The only way to tell for certain is if Alphonse is listed as staff.

      • http://charlieholder.com Charlie

        That, and all of the “official” locations seem to be the ones offering a special. The special even talks about the Holiday Hero badge.

        Look for the RadioShack locations with specials for your best chance.

  • http://www.billyburgwick.org/boss toonmonk

    Redeemed my badge for 20% off.
    Employees quickly checked the in-store messages and found a mass email from HQ detailing how the promotion worked… Took them a minute to figure out how to ring things in but had a great conversation with one of the staff (a fellow 4SQ addict)..
    Seems the mass Venue edit got all the specials up also that detailed the basics as well.

  • Sherry

    Today I went into Radio Shack and could not unlock the badge, which was frustrating. I checked into a travel related place and gym last week. I even went to Starbucks today. The manager knew about the Foursquare badge but wouldn’t give me the discount until I could prove it with a badge. So I frantically checked into 15 Radio Shack locations via the Mobile application but to no avail. This Radio Shack badge sounds bogus to me. Anyway, I was about to leave the store because I was so frustrated but then the manager gave me the 20% discount because he saw that I was trying so hard!

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  • Spike-A-Rooney

    I was following Radioshack yesterday, I checked in at a gym, and at a coffee shop today, and no badge. What am I doing wrong?

    • DannyS

      Same problem. Sheesh.

      They say that the thrill is in the hunt. If so, all of us who enjoy hunting for Foursquare badges know that part of the enjoyment of earning a badge is in following the necessary steps. But there is no thrill whatsoever in trying to decipher obscure and incomplete rules and processes to earn a badge. If you follow the published steps, you should earn the badge. Period. Every time someone posts a message that they believed they followed the steps correctly but failed to earn a badge means (a) the steps were poorly explained, (b) the system is experiencing a glitch, or (c) all of the above. These are all bad outcomes to putting in the effort to earn the badge.

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  • DannyS

    I have tried to get this badge twice: gym, coffee shop, RadioShack, repeat the next day. No badge. I can no longer tell if Foursquare is “playfully vague” about how to earn these badges, “woefully twisted”, or if their system is actually broken.

  • Sherry

    I definitely unlocked the badge and earned the 20% discount last week, so it is legitimate. Here is what I was doing wrong: I checked in unofficial RadioShack sites (the ones that have a space between Radio and Shack). I eventually checked into a RadioShack with Alphonse as the staff. That is the official RadioShack check-in. When I did that, I unlocked the badge.

  • DannyS

    Thanks, Sherry. I appreciate the advice, but it appears that I, too, am checking-in at an official RadioShack site: http://foursquare.com/venue/1499510. I’ve tried it twice and still no go. :(

  • Sherry

    Sorry to hear about this, Danny. I also checked into a travel related site along with gym and coffee shop. The travel was a total fluke though. I checked into a Shell gas station and someone incorrectly categorized it as a travel stop and there was that suitcase icon. When you checked into the gym and coffee shop, were the icons like the ones described above (picture of a cup and barbel)?

    • DannyS

      Hi Sherry. Yup: a cup and a barbell. I have actually tried this twice at a RadioShack in Ithaca NY where I live and a third time at a RadioShack in NYC. In both cases the check-in at RadioShack (no space, official locations) cam after a visit to a coffee shop (cup icon) and a gym (bar bell icon). No go. :( Well, there another week or so to figure this I think as the badge is available until the end of December.

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  • http://charlieholder.com Charlie

    Went to RadioShack and the cashier had never heard of Foursquare. I had to call their 1-800 number and complain to get my 20% off.

    Be prepared.

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