GambleAware chooses M&C Saatchi for £14m safer gambling campaign

GambleAware has appointed creative agency M&C Saatchi to help deliver a new two-year safer gambling ad campaign.

The new initiative, ordered by the DCMS in October, will have a budget of between £5 and £7m per year.

GambleAware has created a new board to oversee the campaign, which includes representatives from Public Health England, the Welsh Government’s public health community, and leading academic experts.

An advisory panel has also been formed to secure input from treatment providers, related charities, faith groups, sport, the gambling industry, and, most importantly, those with lived experience of problem gambling.

GambleAware said M&C Saatchi were chosen based on their previous experience in public health, and the quality of their pitch and team.

“We are delighted to be playing our part in the creation of a more mindful gambling culture in the UK,” said Giles Hedger, CEO of M&C Saatchi.

“This is a new and important chapter in the ongoing balancing of market freedoms and public health.”

Professor Sian Griffiths, the deputy chair of Public Health England (interim), and chair of the Safer Gambling Campaign Board said: “GambleAware is committed to reducing harms associated with gambling and to taking a public health approach.

“Advertising is an important part of raising awareness and we hope the campaign will play its role, in collaboration with other sectors of society.”

M&C Saatchi will be supported by Atlas Partners, GambleAware’s existing communications agency, who will design and deliver a complementary PR campaign. In addition, 18 Feet and Rising have been retained as GambleAware’s agency for other ongoing advertising requirements.