The first physical Facebook fan counter for local businesses | Hacker News Reader

The first physical Facebook fan counter for local businesses

smiirl.com

117 pointsGauhier91 comments

This is genius and fills a real need, here's why:

I've spent the last two years building out a customer acquisition program for a brick & mortar chain with ~50 locations.

We CONSTANTLY try to train the people in the store to ask for reviews / likes / etc which is a cornerstone of local SEO and the customer acquisition process.

The biggest issue that we encounter is that store employees have trouble figuring out how / where to have the conversation, and how to ask.

With one of these on every store counter we literally have a conversation starter and the novelty for the customer of clicking the "like" button on their phone and seeing the physical roll over is just enough bait to make it worthwhile for them.

I see two issues with the hardware:

a) €300 (~$450 US) is steep. I get this is prototype. But at $100 I would put them in every store.

b) There's nowhere on the sign for the URL / or a call to action "Like us at fb.com/blahblah" which means literally every Like you get requires a transaction / discussion w/a store employee to guide people there vs. just letting it hit organically.

Regardless I'm going to buy one, and if the devs are here and watching and would like us to knock out a case study of how well this works feel free to drop me a line via my profile -

Wow, that's encouraging for us, you totally seized what we are trying to do with this device. Let's get in touch!

You should definitely make it easy for them to "like" the store they are in while they are on their visit.

I understand that searching for he business on the mobile device would work, but if there was faster way, you should consider adding it as an upgrade.

In the meantime, people could probably print up signs with a QR code and instructions telling people to scan the code, 'like' the store, and watch the sign.

A like button on the wifi home page would work well.

Facebook should include a QR code scanner in their app to do this. I rarely scan QR codes because I would rather type in a short URL than find some QR scanning app. (I realize Google's app can do this, but you end up in an in-app web browser where you are likely not signed into Facebook.) If I could get to a business' official page in a couple of taps in the Facebook app, my chances of interacting with the page would definitely increase.

It turns out the iOS Facebook app has this feature already under the sidebar > Find Friends > QR Code > Scan Code. The URL is in the form https://www.facebook.com/qr?id=###########. Unfortunately when I scanned codes, the app did nothing even though it said it would bring me to a Facebook page, so the feature does not appear to be working properly.

It looks like it only works with other people's QR codes from the "Find Friends > QR Code > Your Code" area and not random codes. Worked for me with those codes though.

The Facebook page should also be mentioned on the receipt

Yes we will, we are working on including some NFC tags in the package but as this is still not totally sure for now we didn't publicly announce anything on that. QR Codes might also do the job but we are not totally sure that people actually use it... (Damn Apple & Android, this SHOULD be native in their camera...)

I agree that the $450 price tag is too steep. At a stretch, I think that anything more than $100 is not attractive, even if its a novelty item. Why don't you raise the money for mass scale production on Kickstarter. IMO its better to sell 10 K for $100 than a few hundred at $450.

1,000,000 sold at $100 is still ...

If it provides business value, you can charge way more than 100 bucks. My brother had a (solari?) train-station clock of a similar shape, which was dead-on-arrival, didn't have a wood finish and probably costed about 400.

Totally agree re: the price tag. Especially since most smaller stores have 100-1000 fans. They can pay $100 to get an additional 100 real fans. $400? I don't think so.

Pascal

Well done to you guys. This is a very good idea. I can see many potential extensions and applications. I was asking myself if this would have been as cool had this been just an LCD screen? Does this look cool because there is something exciting about manipulating a physical object with a simple digital signal? Is it the simplicity of this counter? I can't put my finger on it, but it certainly looks very cool to me :-) I would love to understand the philosophy that drove you to create this - if you can share. Because, you are on to something! :) I have shared this link with a friend and a cousin, both of them run their own store. Maybe you will hear from them soon. If you are interested in bringing this to new markets (e.g. India/SE Asia), drop me a note - maybe I can help.

I have to say it again - very well done :)

Why didn't you put this project on kickstarter? Also, what are those numbers/bearings made of? Wondering how much that material can withstand since it looks like the numbers flop around for every like... or was that effect just for the video?

Please, elucidate:

Is this project serious, or satire? If it's the former, we have no interest ($450? Who do you expect to use this, no major Brand Retailer will green light this, for both cost, practical application (a plug? Just how do you think retail space is planned out?), non-focus group aesthetics (97% of your market will not enjoy the '70s retro look) and the idea / concept cannot be protected at all legally - in fact, it probably breaks at least two patents I can think of); if it's the latter, you might be the top viral PR company of 2013.

No-one in 2013 can produce retro-1970's SF Geek-chique like this and not being framing a viral hit, especially with Face Book as its target. And yes, we do mean "hit" in a dual sense.

If you've not even seen the latter, I'd strongly suggest quickly (ahem not going to use the usual buzz word, but you should know it) your start-up, mulling over your skills, and seeing how much money you could make in an alternative market.

[Edit - I re-read the FAQ, I will remove complaints in lieu of a serious question, and alter the tone; unprofessional of me, and I apologize to the longer-term member base]

Since this was disliked, would the person responsible kindly explain their reasons? I'm 100% certain my critique is true in business terms, and any start-up should be 100% considering the retail market they're attempting to sell to.

I did not mean to be overly critical, however any Start-Up should surely brain-storm these basic questions immediately?

I am still 50-50 on this not being run by a professional PR team, however, I lack the motivation to really investigate their background at this point[1].

Am I too cynical to imagine that HN is popular enough to be targeted by K-street professionals? I'd have imagined that HN was a far more lucrative target than other social media, however, I apologize if this is not the case (and I have no knowledge of how the HN founders police this, so again, I do not wish to step on toes).

[1]http://www.bloomberg.com/quote/FB:US

Since the polite version didn't work, here's the scoop:

The CEO[1] of this start-up has a long back ground in the Advertising and Media Relations industry[2] and still works in his this field on current projects[3].

In this light, asking if this was viral marketing was entirely valid, and could have brought him work. Instead, abuse of the "down vote" system occurs (my second post removed this complaint, as the FAQ stated it shouldn't be referenced: however, I feel it should be acceptable to do so now).

shrug I'll ask a third time: is this really a product, or is this viral marketing?

[1]http://fr.linkedin.com/in/gnadaud/en

[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BETC

[3]http://vimeo.com/37597427

Hey Helpful_Bunny !

I'm Gauthier, the CEO @Smiirl & I can confirm you that it's a real product, the fact that I've worked in various companies in the Advertising Industry is indeed linked to this project, I had the idea by working closely on social media campains & issues for great brands...

Don't understand though why you've been downvoted...

Thank you for the answer: in developed / high culture markets (i.e. fashion, or targeting boutique++ markets) it's often hard to tell when someone is pushing an aesthetic trend (through prototype or catwalk) over a real product.

I loved the retro-chique of it, but it didn't appear HN was grasping the references. Since you seem happy to respond, I guess (and hope) you'll understand the humor of my replies (in that, I really don't think you're targeting WalMart with this, or would that be unfair? Yes, that's rhetorical)

Anyhow - I wish you the best, you have a unique style. (I still think you'd make an expert viral marketer over product, but that's only my opinion). As an uninformed guess, look into how the MENA market responds to it (aesthetically), as I could see this having more impact in elite stores (where the personal like is more connected to social / economic status).

Bon Chance! (groan)

CTA is a good point. I'll cast my vote for a QR code also - as much as they're apparently hated, they do tend to work, and are usually easier than punching in a URL (plus, they should be able to open the FB app directly). Or NFC / Android beam would be awesome, but there aren't too many phones that support it yet.

Sorry, but the SMS generation is more likely to search for your brand than use a QR code. And since this is a display, you won't always be able to reach it to tap for NFC.

Just show the Facebook URL of the store.

>the SMS generation is more likely to search for your brand than use a QR code

I keep hearing this. I keep seeing the opposite. Have data, or...?

I'm at the tail end of the generation and am surrounded by these people. Maybe it's different geographically. But the effort to type two words is usually easier than finding that special camera app you might have (plenty of people still don't know what app they need to read the codes).

QR Codes might be useful for a complex URL with some sort of novelty behind it; a prize or whatever. But your brand shouldn't be that hard to find.

It's a Facebook sign. Get them to use Facebook to find the store. Same goes for Twitter. Accessory apps are a hurdle.

as much as they're apparently hated, they do tend to work

Working at a marketing agency, I have plenty of data that shows that, no, they do not.

By the way the Euro isn't that strong against USD anymore; €300 is $390.

Retail stores could hold "Be the Nth person to WIN!" contests all the time.

Once you've saturated the local businesses market, you can also sell this to narcissists.

For those who are charisma blind, something portable like a Bluetooth lapel pin that dynamically displays Klout score/Twitter followers.

That would be brilliant. Insta-filter for avoiding people!

I assume you are being a bit naughty there, and your comment did raise a smile, but I do think people would buy them. I mean, lets face it, deep down, don't we all have varying degrees of narcissism?

Cool idea. It would be nice if this was generic and hackable. For example, I have a mailing list, and it would be cool to see the # of users on the mailing list, or website subscribers, etc. It would need some type of API to go along with it, I'd purchase it, if the price was around ~100.

Branding, maybe just send along a pack of stickers, so if someone wants a facebook tracker, they just apply the facebook sticker, etc. Maybe just a template that people can print their own branding, etc. then you don't need to print anything on your end!

It was a really smart decision to eschew a LCD or LED display. The old-school flip display really humanizes the numbers.

What happens when a business makes a bad choice and people "unlike" en-masse? Does the counter go backwards?

Probably this has not happened much, but I do "unlike" businesses when they start to get quite spammy.

I'm pretty sure those flip things don't like to go backwards. So I'd assume an unlike would just freeze the number and absorb the next like.

The digits can spin independently. The computer driving the display can go "backwards" by just advancing the digits until the correct one is shown.

Instead of saying on the page 'pre-orders are coming tomorrow' you should have an email collection form there. You're likely getting a large amount of traffic and could be losing out on a lot of potential pre-orders because people will forget to go back to your page tomorrow. Just toss in an email collection form saying you'll notify people when pre-ordering opens. Otherwise, neat product.

Done! Thanks for the insight!

I once used to lead 20 telemarketers. I would create all sorts of board games on a whiteboard, using magnets and a marker. 1 Sale would equal 1 move.

Adding bonus fields, and a finish line, Those who made it to that where allowed to go home for the day.

Believe me, it did wonders to sales

Is everyone really serious saying this is amazing? I really do not understand the price tag being stated and what the product actually does? - Just to be clear this shows a particular business's facebook likes? with an added bonus for real time and turning numbers. Maybe I just do not get it.

Bringing the virtual back into the physical world is kind of an interesting thing. See also: 3D printing.

Interesting. My local chipshop has had a like us on Facebook sign up for the past year. They have 13 likes.. The only use for this I can see is in an office so everyone can see the count going up.

Putting it on the shop front of a small business would be a bit embarassing as the majority of small businesses have a miniscule number of likes..

I don't think a minuscule amount of likes is embarrassing. People expect that for a small local business. The big difference is that those likes really count for something - 13 likes at a local chip shop probably means 13 people who go there once a week.

Or the 13 employees who work there.

There's a Chinese restaurant near me, and whenever I walk past it's always empty, with the owner/manager standing there with a long, sad face. I feel guilty about always looking in and never entering, but part of my brain tells me there must be some reason that nobody else is in there.

Am I the only one who thinks this is stupid beyond any reasonable limit?

you're not alone

No, this is the perfect point that shows Face Book is over. Retro 1970's style physical counters, with a plug lead only 2' foot long, for "I LIKE THIS". This is satire so perfect, I suspect this is a viral insert for the FB replacement[1].

If this team isn't the newest, hottest AdBusters viral team, I'll be disappointed. This crew is pitch perfect.

[1]http://www.tech.sc/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Doomsday-Clock... (Please note, this is no longer correct: we are currently at 5 minutes to midnight, not 7)

I just want those split-flap modules. Those would be fun to play with.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYhlQDS03KM This fellow built a controller for some, looks pretty simple

The controller part is pretty simple. The hard part is finding these modules. Most were made by Solari in Italy, Omega in Switzerland, or Salient in Australia. All are either out of the business or won't sell to consumers.

Like the youtube like you posted, the modules are surplus or salvaged ones. I've seen kickstarters for little cardboard replicas, but nothing more durable than that.

I've also found one guy that built his own module and put his designs online:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-based-Split-Flap-gam...

In the Taipei Hackerspace we had a number Facebook Like Counter designs a few months ago, and in the Maker Faire Taipei there were a bunch of others too, so this is definitely not the "first". Looks nice, though, and finished up.

Arduino+Wireless Routers+7-segment displays: https://plus.google.com/b/100085911445404984901/100085911445...

PyMCU + computer + LCD display: https://plus.google.com/b/100085911445404984901/100085911445...

Is the counter in _real_ realtime? I mean, updated every seconds?

Do you have backend layer or your device is directly consuming the Facebook API?

I'm asking because with an intermediary layer you could provide different types of counter. In a few seconds, I could be able to choose from different sources of data for the counter. Through a simple web interface hosted by you.

Uses would becomes unlimited. Twitter followers, Foursquare checkins today/this week,...

Even number of kilometers traveled with runtastic as an example,... At max 100€ people could buy one for their home. More like a moving/interactive object for decoration. This market is potentially bigger.

I didn't found the price too high for a prototype.

And +1 for the NFC tag!

(and then you could upsell custom changeable skins for the different usages)

The counter is in real realtime, in fact we'll slow it a bit so that you have the time to see the flap going down.

We focused on Facebook for this first launch in order to stay focus on one product well designed for businesses, and to "market" it the simplest way (and as you said, it's still a bit costly for a particular).

And for NFC, we didn't announce it for now cause we have a lot to work on but our goal is to deliver Fliike with NFC tags to our clients.

Great idea, but I once tried something similar with a Raspberry Pi and a 15" cheap TN LCD panel to hang in my apartment for the amount of "likes" one of my Facebook pages received.

This is far more elegant, although far more expensive as well.

That's cool. Are you already building the Instagram, Twitter, etc... versions?

Hacker News Karma version

My inner narcissist likes this...

Nitpick, this seems to have some funky grammar: Connect you to the “Smiirl” Wi-Fi network & connect Fliike to your own Wi-Fi via your browser

Another nitpick, on the FAQ page it says to 'click here' to create a FB account but there is no link to click - http://www.smiirl.com/faq

Thanks!

Innovative idea, why was this not designed before...

because it was designed just now?

whoa. mind blown.

Because most likely there is still a niche market for that. That's why the $450 pricetag, I believe.

The bottom line is I think the killer, for now, would be that noone wants to put this with 13 likes. If I see a coffee shop with 13 likes its goes this way in my hand "damn I wish I would try but they only have 13 likes? Maybe their coffee sucks, where is the nearest Starbucks?". You see, the problem is that most people will compare this number of likes to other similar. So someone running small business does not want to show how few likes they have. Big business, on the other hand I dont think would care about this, unless its starbucks or hand of other large companies, but most likely than not you wont see your local coffee shop with the one (thats why I believe they price it so high, comparing to something reasonable like $99).

I'd love to have it in my office.

What happens when you have more than 100k likes? Our business will soon grow out of this limit...

This is a cool idea. Although isn't 5 digits a little limited?

We've build this device for local businesses such as little stores, shops, bars, restaurants...etc, it seems that the average number of fans of these types of fan pages is comprised between 0 and 99 999 fans.. Plus we are sure that Facebook pages with over 100 000 fans would prefer a custom version of Fliike.

This could be solved by adding a period and "K" flaps. That way if it got bigger it could display 212.5K... not big deal for small businesses but I could see you offering that to a bigger chain of businesses.

I like that approach too, but a big part of it is seeing the numbers change in real time. Your approach would have to wait 100 like's, but I guess at that amount it still can change fairly frequently.

is there a counter where i can actually connect to my own metrics?

Yep, we'll work on that, we wanted to make it very simple and very clear at the beginning and in the future we'll expand this device with an open api!

Does it cope with unlikes and the counter having to decrement?

yes, it does

Build in an NFC tag so users of recent Android Phones (and hopefully the next iPhone) can like by just touching the device with his/her phone.

While I may not be on Facebook anymore...this is actually real intuitive. Kudos.

I hope they implement more products similar to this...like twitter followers.

I'd love this to be more general/programmable. Great to put in an office for morale-building around a major metric.

One could also build a version of this with a Raspberry Pi, LCD screen an a little scripting for less than $60.

Or drop a bit more cash on an android tablet displaying a web page using the FB API.

The selling point of this device is the novelty aspect. You can interact with a physical device simply by Liking a Facebook page. By keeping it digital, you do not traverse mediums and it will be adding very little to the smartphone age. You can fake the flip transitions, but it is just not the same.

The website should have a webcam of one running for Smiirl's facebook page!

You should build one for google analytics too

What a great idea.

$450 per unit and they couldn't design it to run on a battery? #fail

Yeah, that's what a business needs. Charging and swapping out batteries every other day. Hey, how long does your phone battery last?

Given the price tag, this is obviously tailored to businesses, to be showcased on a front counter. Running on a battery would be counter productive in the sense of imagine running a call center with cordless phones.

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