Betway CEO on leveraging Responsible Gambling Week

The recent Responsible Gambling Week, held across the UK in casinos, betting shops and via online sites, brought industry efforts in preventing gambling addiction to the fore. At a time when perceived trust in the gambling industry is in a precarious position, these sorts of initiatives play a crucial role in winning back consumer trust and showing the positive work being done. Anthony Werkman, Betway CEO reflects on the week that was:

EGR Compliance: What did Betway do for responsible gambling week?

Anthony Werkman (AW): Betway leveraged some of its major sponsorships in sport as well as its online platforms to deliver a strong and supportive message about the week.  West Ham United players wore bespoke Responsible Gambling Week t-shirts before two home matches, and we donated a substantial amount of our in-stadium LED ad space, big screen ads and match-day programme advertising to the cause. In addition to our partnership with West Ham, we also used our All-Weather Championships horseracing sponsorship to promote the week-long initiative.

Race titles at Lingfield, Southwell, Wolverhampton and Newcastle included a Responsible Gambling Week message over the course of the seven days. Internally we also ensured our staff were engaged on the issue through several different activations such as talks and competitions.

EGR Compliance: What responsible gambling tools and programmes does Betway operate and how were these developed?

AW: The most important responsible gambling tool is to know your customer (KYC).  If you know them, their background, their betting patterns, and their likes and dislikes, then you can quickly identify when a customer deviates from their normal behaviour. You can then start asking questions as to why, and if something needs to be done and that is where your customer intervention programme kicks-in.

Our processes are developed in-house where we invest significantly in our people and systems and we bolster this with some external input from charity partners such as BetKnowMore.  As former problem gamblers now working on support and education, they provide us with first-hand experience of the issues we’re looking to prevent and help us with in our development.

Moving forward, we believe that marrying our internal systems with more overt responsible messaging is going to be important to the way we develop.  By having responsible gambling become part of our overall tone in advertising, marketing and communications and not just a percentage of spend or a one-off commitment, it will become intrinsic to the way Betway operates across all our markets throughout the year.

EGR Compliance: In your opinion how important are initiatives like responsible gambling week in changing consumer perceptions about the role that the gambling industry is playing in preventing problem gambling?

AW: We urge all our customers, regardless of the frequency of their sessions or the height of their stakes, to familiarise themselves with the help that is available to them should they ever require it. It is vitally important that we put the safety and security of our customers above all else, and while our focus on ensuring that gambling remains responsible is constant, events like Responsible Gambling Week are a good platform for us to showcase our commitment and the tools available.

EGR Compliance: In your opinion are operators doing enough to promote a responsible gambling ethos?

AW: As the industry develops greater understanding of the issue, we can collectively improve the promotion of the solutions.  You might argue that with less than 1%of people categorised as problem gamblers that the message has got through to the clear majority of customers, but with such a public focus on the issue there is clearly more to be done. Responsible Gambling Week gave us a glimpse of what a powerful collective force industry can be, and we believe that all licensed operators in the UK will do more over the coming months and years to drive down the 1% even further.

EGR Compliance: What for you is the cornerstone of a responsible gambling corporate philosophy?

AW: The aim is to ensure that our customers’ activity is always entertaining and sustainable for them. As such, the cornerstone of Betway’s policy is to educate our users as comprehensively as possible on the potential risks that they face because of gambling, and to act swiftly to intervene when they show signs of being vulnerable to gambling-related harm.

EGR Compliance: Do you believe that Sky’s commitment to one gambling ad per advert break will help to prevent problem gambling?

AW: Yes, there were too many adverts and it has become an issue that the industry cannot ignore.  Advertising around live sporting events is hugely condensed and while there is no evidence base to show a link between advertising and problem gambling there’s clearly a lot of disenchantment out there and something needed to be done.  Content and volume of advertising will therefore continue to be important factors in establishing trust with our audience and every operator needs to take note of that and respond appropriately.