Why can’t responsible gambling advertising be fun?

Please remember to gamble responsibly. A phrase, or variation thereof, we’ve heard ad infinitum over the last few years, and for good reason. However, for such an important message, its delivery has been decidedly ‘wallpaper’ for a while now and there’s a huge opportunity for operators to use their marketing clout to do something that cuts through to the consumer beyond corporate messaging for a subject matter so vital for the industry.

With the exception of Sky Bet’s groundbreaking ad almost a year ago, you’d need to go back to the heady days of ‘Woah bad betty’ for the last time there was any meaningful explanation to the general public what ‘gambling responsibly’ actually meant and how the man or woman on the street might chose to do so. In that time, most parties have simply paid lip service to the cause, treating it as a public affairs and lobbying matter, fighting the battle at party conferences and in Westminster via press releases alone.

There’s a huge opportunity for an operator or two to step up with a marketing campaign that if clever enough, would go above and beyond the social responsibility objective and might even offer a point of differentiation for new and existing customers to boot, given the likelihood of such a campaign standing out from a creative point of view – especially if Budweiser’s drink driving campaign is anything to go by.

There’s no reason to shy away from humour and entertainment too. We’re all far more likely to listen to what’s good for us if we don’t feel like we’re being lectured to and the joke is about not necessarily needing to bet on the Fijian under 23’s handball write themselves.

The key is speaking in plain terms that a customer can relate to. An advertising strapline dreamt up by the ‘mad men’ might have a zing to it in a pitch, but explaining how to restrict your stakes and cool off if required is the sort of clarity which cuts through a more abstract sounding call to action.

Open goal

Also, if you pardon the pun, there’s a huge open goal in football. Clubs make one-off changes to their shirts to support charitable initiatives all of the time, so why couldn’t the same happen for a responsible gambling message. There’s no shortage of potential deals to make use of and it might be seen as the first step in defusing a hot potato that threatens to derail the sponsorship category entirely.

Every partnership comes with access to both players and ambassadors too, so who better to make the case to fans without preaching than a player or ex-professional they know and trust, especially if they can speak from the perspective of someone who enjoys a bet but knows when enough is enough, or has had to manage their gambling in the past.

On that subject, the industry could also be braver in harnessing some of the most compelling stories, which again would lend themselves to marketing which resonates with the customer and, most importantly of all, is tangible and relatable as opposed to a more corporate-sounding responsible gambling message which has quickly become wallpaper.

With Labour pledging a ban on gambling ads and gaining ground in the polls, with talk of a snap general election intensifying (currently as short as 6/4 to take place next year at the time of writing) the window of opportunity might be smaller than ever, or taken away entirely before an idea has the chance to get off the ground.

However, should the political winds not turn as quickly as some would hope, there’s still time for an operator to attempt to buy itself and the industry a bit more time by raising the stakes with its responsible gambling marketing activity, before the fun stops for good.

Alex Donohue is the founder of Alex Donohue PR, which provides public relations services for a range of betting, gaming and media clients.