Many moons ago, I wrote an ad campaign for one of the first online sites to deliver local news. I still remember the headline:

75% of car accidents happen within a few miles from home.
Come to think of it, 75% of everything does.

This truth about life is a perfect explanation for the exploding growth of hyperlocal mobile technology. If you’re new to this idea, it boils down to this: smart phones can pinpoint where you are, thereby enabling you to find news, deals, friends – you name it – within proximity to you.

The number of companies jumping on the bandwagon are too extensive to list here. Once gun-shy VCs are investing like crazy in start-ups like Outside.in and bigger fish like FourSquare, CitySquares, Gowalla and Loopt. MSNBC purchased EveryBlock, AOL bought Patch Media Group and Going Inc, and Google's unsuccessful bid for Yelp (somehow $550 million wasn't enough) showcases its desire to incorporate user reviews into its mobile homepage, already souped up with Near Me Now functionality.

For moms, who are always on the go, hyperlocal presents new opportunities for retailers to not just hit a moving target -- but to motivate that target to come in and buy. Countless companies are offering mobile coupons, crowdsourcing to give shoppers outside opinions before purchasing, and other shopping incentives which are all good, good, good.

Yet I'm surprised by how many marketers seem to write about localized couponing and comparison tools as the holy grail of mobile apps. Where my mind really gets jazzed is in thinking of ways this technology can make life better and easier for moms.

Here’s where I imagine (and hope) hyperlocal is headed:

- Find out which friends are at which parks for spontaneous playdates

- Locate restaurants/dry cleaners/pharmacies that will do sidewalk delivery, letting you stay in the car with a sleeping (or grumpy) child

- Track outbreaks of viruses in your area

- Locate the closest food bank to drop off extra food after a birthday party, school potluck or other event

- Track the whereabouts of the ice cream truck on sweltering summer days

- Find restaurants that have nut-free, gluten-free, vegetarian or kid-friendly foods

- Pinpoint the ski mountain (and runs) with the shortest lift lines so kids can ski more, wait less

- Flag down the Goodwill truck when it’s in your neighborhood, unloading that Exersaucer, crib, bike, or other large item your child has outgrown

- Check out who’s at the dog park and head over when Fido’s favorite pal shows up

- Issue Amber alerts immediately within a precise radius that grows larger as the day progresses

- Locate the safest spots to congregate after an earthquake or other emergency

- Meet up with families with same-aged kids when traveling

- Enable Amazing Race style birthday parties for older kids who check in at certain locations using FourSquare to collect points and get their next clues

- Connect mom bloggers to an entire new source of readers: others in her zip code

These are just some of the possible applications for hyperlocal. How might they enable you to reach your target consumer or create a positive dialogue with her? What other directions do you hope mobile is headed?

Labels: FourSquare, Hyperlocal, mobile

Please leave your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below, even if -- no, especially if -- you don't agree with what I've written.