888sport repositions brand in new ad campaign
Operator pits punters against sports stars in new UK-facing TV advert screened across Sky Sports
888sport has performed a “complete repositioning” of its brand with the launch of a new UK-facing TV advertising campaign pitting punters against sports stars and teams.
The new campaign, which was devised by creative agency Recipe London, launched last night during Sky Sports Monday Night Football with the tagline âTake âem on’.
According to 888, the advert encourages punters to test their knowledge, skills and ability against the athletes rather than the bookie.
If a customer backs Chelsea to beat Tottenham Hotspur, for the example, the punter would find themselves not only behind Chelsea but up against Tottenham, putting them at the “heart of the action”.
Sivan Finn, 888 marketing director, told EGR: “Our research showed that our audience were longing for ways to express their suppressed competitive urges – something that modern society has made them feel less comfortable doing.
“And we discovered that sports betting is the perfect way to do that.
“So we decided to reposition sports betting as a sport in itself – moving our customers from being merely spectators, to being players in the heart of the action.”
Finn also said the firm would make the most of the fact it has âsport’ in its brand name, which meant it was “uniquely positioned to position ourselves around the sport of betting”.
888 has been aggressively pushing its sports brand in the UK over the past two years and recently posted 63% growth in sports revenues to approximately £19m.
The firm’s sportsbook is powered by Kambi, however the firm is on record as wanting to own its sportsbook and in the past 12 months has failed in attempts to acquire both bwin.party and William Hill.