YouGov: Brand building in a tricky month for gambling brands

After another tough month or so for the reputation of gambling brands, YouGov is able to assess the popularity levels of prominent gambling brands.

YouGov Ratings measures the popularity and fame of anything and everything, from Conservative politicians to folk singers, chocolate bars and football clubs, based on millions of responses from the British public. As part of this, we’re able to ascertain which gambling brands are the most popular, which are the most well-known, and which have a way to go to achieve high brand recognition.

Unsurprisingly the National Lottery is the most popular ‘gambling and betting brand’. Close to half (49%) of the public have a positive opinion of the game, 31% have a neutral opinion and just 20% have a negative opinion. The good news is that 100% of people have heard of the National Lottery.

In terms of ‘old fashioned’ bookmakers, YouGov Ratings data indicates that Ladbrokes is in fact the most popular brand. One fifth have a positive opinion of the company (22%), and this score puts it narrowly ahead of perennial rival William Hill (19%).

As we would perhaps expect, there are those with negative opinions on both brands. Over four in ten (41%) have a negative opinion of Ladbrokes, while 34% are neutral. Looking to William Hill, 45% have a negative opinion, while 34% are neutral.

Both brands are more popular with men, and encouragingly for the future health of the brands, millennials are more in favour of the two than those in Generation X and Baby Boomers.

Finishing off the top five are Sky Bet, with a popularity rating of 18%, followed by Paddy Power and Coral – both brands have a score of 17%.

Gala Bingo is the most popular bingo-focused brand. The company has a popularity level of 21%, and negative rating of 32%. This puts it comfortably ahead of Mecca Bingo which has 17% positivity rating.

New market entrants

At the other end of the scale, some brands don’t have the same level of popularity, or levels of unpopularity, mostly because they have low levels of awareness.

For example, SportPesa comes towards the bottom of the popularity rankings, with a score of just 2%. However, only 4% have a negative opinion of the brand too. The reason is that just 14% of our respondents have heard of the company at the moment.

Similarly, despite Fun88s sponsorship of Newcastle United, its awareness score is just 13%. Which leads to a popularity rating of 3%.

Of course, these brands are new editions to the market, and are looking to disrupt the established players, and this helps explain why so many are involved in sporting partnerships and brand tie-ups. Added to this of course, not all have their primary market in the UK. However, it is notable, that of the 48 gambling and betting brands that YouGov Ratings incorporates, 9 have an awareness level of 20% or under.

While gambling brands don’t compare that favourably with companies from other sectors – Heinz has a positive rating of 82% for example – the sector can console itself in the knowledge that its most popular members are more revered than any politician.

The ratings do give the sector something to consider, particularly at a time in which controversy surrounding fixed-odds betting terminals is at a high. Certainly, that there are more people with a negative opinion than a positive opinion of the leading brands in the sector suggests even greater efforts are required from a press relations and marketing perspective.

Amelia Brophy is UK head of data products at YouGov, where she has been working since January 2017. Prior to joining YouGov, Brophy held senior research roles at companies including Nielsen, Repucom and Allianz