Podcast Summary

This podcast explores the gamification and community aspects of Google's reviewer program, as well as the potential impact and dilemmas of being an "influencer".

 

Podcast Transcript

This transcript is auto-generated

Charles Nixon (00:00):
Right. What are we going to talk about?

Kiran Kapur (00:01):
We are going to talk about your badge in fact, but your Google badge.

Charles Nixon (00:04):
Oh, God, no. Really? Oh, alright.

Kiran Kapur (00:07):
Yes, because it's a massive marketing story. (A) you have become an influencer, which I think is a great marketing story for our listeners. And (B), how fascinating that you are an online influencer and they've sent you a physical badge.

(00:25):
Hello and welcome to opinionated marketers with Charles Nixon and me, Kiran Kapur. Charles, we had lunch a couple of weeks ago and you were wearing a physical badge that had been sent to you by a digital organisation, little digital company called Google. And I discovered you've been hiding your light under a bushel and you are in fact an influencer. So I think this is a massive marketing story and I know you're very uncomfortable because you are a modest man, but I think we should be celebrating this. So what is it that you do? What are you influencing?

Charles Nixon (00:57):
Right, okay. I deny all claims to the word 'influencer' but essentially speaking I have been writing reviews for Google on various restaurants, places, means of travel more or less ever since it became available. My son and I go for a train travel each year and the result of which is we went to some fairly exotic places and he and I rather enjoy eating. So we would tend to eat somewhere interesting whether it happened to be a local Vena or the tramble and we would review it and of course like everyone else, one takes photographs and the result of which is one updates and uploads these and there are as there's lots of things, gamified aspects to it. And yes, I am a sucker for some of these which says, oh, only a few more to do to get this or that level. So I'm a level seven, which is not as high as many other people are, but I've been invited to various events from Google and I got a Google badge and it's quite literally a physical badge to pin on your lapel. It's rather fun. I wear it occasionally when I'm out and about. I've never yet seen anyone else wear one, but that doesn't mean that they don't. So essentially speaking, I suppose my biggest statistic is that nearly 7 million people have seen my photographs

Kiran Kapur (02:20):
Is that the level seven means that you've got 7 million. Is that how that works?

Charles Nixon (02:24):
No, the level seven is on the basis that you are a master reviewer. So you write reviews which are of a certain length or above, you comment and give information to them to improve the service that they offer, whether hotels are dog friendly, access friendly, what types of menus they offer, what facilities that they have, et cetera. You correct the maps where the maps are wrong. Sometimes places are put in the wrong location, sometimes they are for businesses. There was a local business in God Manchester who people were going to the other end of the street because the picture was wrong and Google had got it placed wrong. So I sent it up and with the correct and within two hours they corrected it, which is very good. They normally say that they could take up to two weeks. Similarly things such as local churches which have got incorrect pictures or whatever I correct on Wikipedia. So I've just been doing it as a sideline and to be honest, it's something I do as and when I get the urge to do it or I've gone somewhere, which I think is interesting to report.

Kiran Kapur (03:35):
When you said you've been doing it for almost as long as it's possible, so when did you actually start doing this?

Charles Nixon (03:41):
Probably about seven or eight years ago I suppose. Yes, possibly even longer than that actually. Maybe 10 years. Yeah,

Kiran Kapur (03:47):
We often get questions from people and I find it fascinating too. So where did you start? Do you just put them up on restaurant reviews, so like, I dunno, a table or something like that or you do have your own place. I mean how does it work?

Charles Nixon (04:02):
Right, so Google has all its own facilities. So if you were to look up something on a Google map and try to find the directions to a local restaurant, you'll see on that restaurant. Then there is a sort of details of it and if you click on that, then there is a full details on Google Maps, which includes reviews, includes location, includes facilities, includes pictures, and if you scroll down, there is the ability to add your own review. Now if you've got a Google account, it automatically logs you in as that person and then you upload those photographs and it also will probably record when you were there. If you open up the timeline so you can see exactly where you were, any particular point and you write your review and you just press upload. And it's as simple as that. It's a very simple system.

(04:51):
There are little curiosities theoretically recently I was in the top 10% of reviewers for Greek restaurants, but I don't go to Greece very often. I only go to Catalonia. So I'm not quite sure how that one actually happened. Probably there weren't many people doing Greek restaurants, but I've always looked at doing these things when they first come out. I suppose I was one of the first people on LinkedIn and remember getting a badge from LinkedIn saying I was in the first, I was in the top 5% of LinkedIn people. That was many years ago. So I like most people I suppose in marketing, like to be an innovator or an early adopter, try these things out. It's rather fun. It's nice to go and look at your own pictures and go, my goodness me was not young.

Kiran Kapur (05:37):
So the other thing that intrigues me as I said at the beginning is the fact that Google is obviously it's a slightly well-known digital company, but they sent you something physical and you've just said that you've been to Google events.

Charles Nixon (05:48):
I was invited, I couldn't go to the events because they were in America.

Kiran Kapur (05:51):
Oh, fair enough. How does that side work? You also mentioned that they do gamification, so they are on the marketing side, obviously they need people to do this.

Charles Nixon (06:01):
So

Kiran Kapur (06:02):
How does that bit of it work?

Charles Nixon (06:04):
Their levels are made up of three or four strands. So reviewer, videographer, I think it's called expert fact finder and photographer. And each of those has got a number of points allocated to it before you move up to the next level. And you've got to get all of one particular level before they move you up a level for your badge. So you might easily take the photographs and upload them. In one respect though there's no implication as to the quality of the photographs. So they put another requirement in there, which is number of facts. You may have corrected a number of reviews, written reviews over a certain length. And as you go up, the number of tasks as it were gets larger and the number of points that you require. But you do get the opportunity usually if you are active, to take part in some of the trials. So the 3D aspect, which they now make available as you want to walk from one place to another. You can watch the 3D movement on there. I was being asked to do trials of it about five or six years ago. You get to see what the new things are and it's very good. It's fun.

Kiran Kapur (07:19):
And also of course, interestingly from their perspective, it's similar to supermarkets getting you to report the wonky trolleys because it annoys everybody. You are actually, you and others like you, are improving the quality of their product free of charge, which is very, again, an interesting marketing side from what they're doing.

Charles Nixon (07:40):
Yes, it's ever been thus since the creation of the worldwide web, they loading onto the consumer or to the individual of activities that would otherwise have been part of the corporation. But to some degree, if you are clever and good at it, you game it. You make it a community, you make it fun and that way it adds to the value or the quality of life in many respects, especially as more people perhaps have more time these days to do these sorts of things. The interesting aspect though you might find is that there was a review the other day in one of the papers, which was what you should write or what you do write about your favourite restaurant, whether or not to attract other people to come to your favourite restaurant. And there's a debate to be had.

Kiran Kapur (08:33):
Well, yes, that's a really interesting one. Yes. Do I, and I've discovered this wonderful unspoiled beach. Do I want to tell the rest of the world about it is a very good point. So congratulations on your level seven, Charles, which as I said, you've kept your light under a bushel and it wasn't until I actually saw you wearing your little badge. And again interesting,, they send you a physical badge.

Charles Nixon (08:54):
Yes, I think that's a very good idea. I dunno to what degree they send them out, but they do send them to obviously people all over the world, which means that should you see someone else wearing one you've instantly you've got a reparte with them. So it's very good. It's very good indeed.

Kiran Kapur (09:12):
Fantastic, Charles, lovely as ever to talk to you and I had no idea you were such an influencer.

(09:18):
[Laughter] Thank you very much indeed, Kiran. Goodbye.