BT Sport reveals smartphone friendly PoS to lure customers into pubs

BT Sport is to provide pubs with PoS that combines traditional and digital elements to encourage customers to watch matches in the pub.

Its three channels, which launch in August, will show 38 Premier League football games (including 18 ‘top picks’) in the 2013/14 season, FA Cup games, Europa League ties and Scottish Premier League tussles, as well as 69 Aviva Premiership rugby union fixtures, and women’s tennis.

From 15 July, licensees will receive a pack full of banners, bar mats, bar runners and posters for the launch weekend.

The PoS will include a link to an app — Blippar — that brings images to life. Customers move their phone over the poster to reveal a video or image that they can interact with. This could be to show the goal of the week or for customers to vote for their favourite moment in a game.

Bruce Cuthbert, director of commercial customers at BT Sport, said: “The more you [drive the experience in the pub] the more people will go to the pub. It gives the licensee something that drives an extended stay. It’s fun, accessible, timely and engaging.”

Licensees will also be able to log into a ‘customer zone’ through the BT Sport website to download images and videos of ambassadors encouraging customers to go to the pub.

They can then use these as marketing tools by uploading them on to the pub’s social-network accounts.

John Crownshaw, senior commercial marketing manager, added: “We wanted to tap into social networking. The most important way of driving customers is through Facebook and Twitter, so we wanted to provide assets to use on these websites.”