How do you turn the arguably dry topic of “contactless payment technology” into a trending news topic that inspires such headlines as, “We Want It. We Want It Now!”

You create something that never existed before.

We discovered the average wait-time for drinks in a pub is 35 minutes per-person, with 25% of bar-goers admitting they actually considered abandoning a purchase because of long queues. (Bad news for pub owners.) So we invented “Pay @ Pump,” the world’s first contactless beer tap using Barclaycard’s innovative contactless technology. The invention allowed customers to “order, pay and pour” a pint in just 60 seconds.

Barclaycard was responsible for launching the UK's first contactless card. So the Pay @ Pump concepts allowed us to re-ignite conversation around the brand’s contactless cards innovations and how they offer better and easier ways to pay.

Adopting a collaborative approach to campaign execution we used a third party creative tech agency as a strategic partner. Working alongside Barclaycard’s acquiring team, they created a sleek, futuristic prototype with inbuilt contactless payment technology.

Working with a wet-trade partner of Barclaycard, we showcased the innovation in a London-based bar. Coinciding with the busiest week before Christmas we held a sneak preview of the category-disruptive innovation to media days before the official launch inviting national wires, tech and consumer affairs press to order, pay and pour their own pint. The Barclaycard spokesperson explained the insights which led to the building of the pump and how it could offer a potential customer service solution. The event was supported with a full media launch targeting national, lifestyle, tech and regional media.

Working with Barclaycard we also created highly visual and engaging multi-purpose social media photography and video for multiple channel use.

T1: 192 pieces of UK coverage reaching of 1.4 billion people

90% of coverage featured Barclaycard’s payment technology and how it makes paying in pubs/bars easier, quicker and more convenient for customers.

Social conversations about the pump on Barclaycard’s corporate Twitter and LinkedIn news pages was 70% higher than the industry benchmark for “excellence”.

T2: Month-on month contactless sales at Henry’s Café and Bar—the first bar to feature the Pay @ Pump devise—increased 16%.

Customers spent 93% more on contactless cards in pubs/bars in the week following the activity (YOY).

T3: Triple the average number of customer acquisition inbound calls in the week after launch.

Days after our premier launch at Henry’s Café and Bar, eight additional pubs/restaurants requested the innovative pump at their venues.

Conversations are now under way with UK football stadiums/sports clubs to install Pay @ Pump at their locations.

The high level of interest in Pay @ Pump has initiated a scramble to secure patents for a device that began as a news hook but is turning into a viable industry sales tool.

Pay @ Pump was a category disruptive device rooted in a clear consumer insight that has delivered a wide breadth of coverage, totaling 192 pieces of coverage with a reach of 1.4 billion. But beyond just media coverage Pay @ Pump has also delivered against the commercial objective of driving customer uptake and, most critically, already provided tangible business outcomes as well as future commercial opportunities.

In 2016, Barclaycard launched the UK's first contactless card. But following the initial launch, media and the public interest began to wane. So we invented an entirely new form of payment technology to fuel pique interest in the story once again.

Our Target: owners of bars and pubs.

Our insight: Sales are impacted at bars and pubs during Christmas festivities because the average wait-time for drinks is 35 minutes per-person during. (One-in-four bar-goers consider abandoning a drink purchase due to long ques).

Our Hook: Invent and introduce “Pay @ Pump,” the world’s first contactless beer tap, allowing customers to “order, pay and pour” a pint in just 60 seconds.

The timing: the busiest time of the year for drinks sales: Christmas-time.

An intriguing insight + a completely unexpected concept + a perfectly timed launch = a 16% increase in sales.

Situation:

Barclaycard identified a previously untapped new business audience for its payment services - the wet trade (bars and pubs). Its marketing team originally planned to do a simple trade publication media partnership. Instead, we convinced the client that a bigger idea, backed with a relevant news hook, would gain more attention and better drive home our messaging.

Brief:

We were tasked to raise awareness of Barclaycard’s payment solutions with wet trade customers to ultimately drive customer uptake.

Industry research showed that demonstrating insight and expertise amongst this notoriously hard-to-reach group was a critical driver of consideration when selecting a payment provider.

Objectives:

Create an insight-led topical hook to solve a customer-related problem in the pub industry – capturing our target audiences attention.

Mastermind a high-impact creative to position Barclaycard’s innovative technology as the customer-focused solution.