Licensed to thrill: Going for a song
Licensees are providing something for everyone with multimedia entertainment.
Multimedia entertainment is hitting the pub trade in a big way. Companies such as VidiBox and Mediatheme are offering licensees the chance to create an entertaining environment at just the touch of a few buttons.
Linked to sound systems and plasma and TV screens, the systems use latest technology to produce everything from background music to themed party nights including discos, quizzes, karaoke, bingo, virtual horse and dog racing and other interactive games.
And licensees can integrate their own ads into the show.
Since the system was installed last July, Jez Fisher makes full use of his VidiBox Playbox at Greene King's the Royal Anchor in Liphook, Hampshire.
"One of the most popular features is the jukebox people can operate by texting their selection from their mobile phone," he said. "I also run competitions with customers sending their answers by text."
Like many licensees on Blackpool's seafront, Keith Slater and partner Barbara Savage are always looking for ways to attract customers to their pub and, crucially, to keep them entertained until closing time. Keith and Barbara have been running the Pump and Truncheon, a one-room InnSpired leasehold just off the main promenade, for three years.
Competition between venues is fierce and Keith realised that he not only had to get customers into the pub, he had to provide entertainment to keep them there, often at a moment's notice.
"One day we could have a big group of lads on a stag night coming in, the next a busload of OAPs," he explains. "So how do we persuade them to stay for more than one drink?"
The solution was Mediatheme's multimedia entertainment system, the Entertainer Pro. It was installed in December and Keith noticed an increase in business almost immediately.
"The reaction from customers has been brilliant," he says. "We've now got a public entertainment licence until midnight and we're using the Entertainer almost every night.
"We put on karaoke every weekend and make the most of all the gaming and music features. It's made a clear difference to my sales - now customers will stay in the pub all night."
Keith has trained his staff to adapt the atmosphere in the pub to suit different types of drinkers. "I took them all through the system and they find it very easy to use," he explains. "They can now look at the type of customer we've got in and make sure the music is right. So we can put on chart stuff for younger customers or 1950s classics for OAPs. If they're enjoying the music they'll keep spending."
Keith recently used the Entertainer (pictured) as the basis for a week-long beach party, using a different feature to entertain customers each night. The pub was decorated with sand, deck chairs and seashells and entertainment included a race evening, a quiz, bingo, karaoke and a reggae night with rum punch and jerk chicken using the Entertainer's selection of reggae tunes to set the mood.
