Foursquare Teams With Bravo TV

Bravo Foursquare Badgesfoursquare.com Some of the new badges available to Foursquare users through a new partnership with Bravo TV.

Bravo TV and Foursquare will announce a new partnership on Monday that will integrate Bravo TV shows with the game aspects of Foursquare, a social networking site that encourages people to interact in the real world. The partnership hopes to engage viewers long after they turn off the television, close their laptops and stop watching Bravo’s TV shows.

Starting Monday, Bravo will begin offering Foursquare players “badges” and special prizes when viewers visit more than 500 Bravo locations. The locations will be picked by Bravo to correspond with select Bravo shows including “The Real Housewives,” “The Millionaire Matchmaker,” “Top Chef,” “Kell on Earth,” “Top Chef Masters” and “Shear Genius.”

“We really want to tap into the power of Foursquare by engaging their audiences and bringing our Bravo viewers these unique experiences on a national level,” said Ellen Stone, Bravo’s senior vice president for marketing. Mrs. Stone said Bravo would start creating on-air TV promotions telling viewers how to play the Bravo-enhanced features of Foursquare.

“We saw the Foursquare phenomenon taking off and we wanted to go along with them as they shoot into the mainstream,” Mrs. Stone said. “Our audiences is always looking for new and unique engagements and this is perfect for them.”

Lisa Hsia, senior vice president for digital media at Bravo, said, “The amazing part of Foursquare is the incentive of the game itself and we’re going to offer a variety of badges for our viewers.” Mrs. Hsia explained that Bravo hosts had helped tag show-related locations with tips and the chance to win these new badges. They also plan to offer a sweepstakes and other awards as an incentive for viewers to play. Advertisers may also offer their own incentives, including coupons.

Although this deal will help put Foursquare in front of millions of mainstream television viewers, it also offers the company a chance to try to blur the lines between traditional television media and mobile experiences. Although some television executives have been successful integrating TV and the Web, merging TV with mobile has proved to be more difficult.

Dennis Crowley, Foursquare’s chief executive, said the company was excited to work with Bravo and push some of these boundaries further. “Bravo’s shows really overlap with our users and a new mainstream audience that we want to reach. I don’t think check-ins are a nerd-only experience. It’s about sharing content and experiences with others.”

“With Foursquare people leave content behind for others to find, like tips of the best drink at a bar,” Mr. Crowley said. “With shows that are tied to real locations in real cities enhancing this with content from contestants and judges on Top Chef or another Bravo show is going to make it even more interesting.”