Time for betting brands to try something new on advertising

Luck is beginning to run out for the gambling industry. From the next football season on Sky you’re only going to be able to see one gambling ad per commercial break, and possibly not even that under provisional plans revealed today. Clearly, not many people will be shedding a tear over that news. But I might – for the missed opportunity alone.

I’ve always felt that, despite the taboos, there’s so much energy in the gambling space and plenty of good material from which you could build amazing brands and edgy, funny, entertaining ads. Paddy Power did it. We valiantly tried with Betway. The rest is blah. Or, to put it more precisely, BLAH. Because this is an industry that likes to SHOUT.

Since the TV advertising laws for bookies were relaxed in 2007, enduring the ad break in the game has felt like hunkering down in a trench during an all-out bombardment. But now, following Sky’s decision and far tighter new BCAP rules, the big guns of betting will fall strangely silent. The gambling industry has to try something new, but it won’t be easy. Because even though it’s an industry that likes to encourage risk-taking, it can be peculiarly conservative.

It’s a business that’s fearful of white space and doing anything different from the competition. There’s a well-worn formula to gambling advertising: shout loudly, shout often, and do it on TV. The bookies’ use of TV has always been a little awkward. Obsessed with driving short-term action like in-play bets, full of deeply granular detail, ‘me-too’ promotions and seemingly only concerned with reaching a niche core of regular sports bettors, it’s the worst use of a medium since Derek Acorah on Most Haunted.

TV builds brands, tells stories, makes you think and makes you laugh. It’s not the place to convince a bewildered population that now’s never been a better time to wager your free £10 in-play bet for H/T goals to be over/under 7.5 (no, me neither). Now BCAP has removed the teeth from in-play promotions, gambling advertisers just don’t know what to do with the airtime. Well, for starters, let me offer up a couple of creative bets a smart bookie could make.

Make a play

Bet one: Now sports advertising is restricted, find a new place to play. TV shows like Bake Off and Strictly capture huge audiences and people seriously care about the outcomes. But hop on the Paddy Power site and it’s a nightmare even trying to find where to place a bet on a TV show. This is an open goal in terms of opening up a new audience. It could also even lead to the kind of nerdy trend spotting you see on sports betting blogs.

For example, loads of BBC stars have been Strictly winners. Also, contenders with a dancing background never win. What creative department wouldn’t leap on the chance to play with the living, breathing memes that are Bake Off uber-nerd Rahul or dancing love rat Seann Walsh?

Bet two: When the fun stops, stop, they say – but gambling brands have not done a great job of convincing the population that the occasional bet can actually be fun. Chocolate or beer aren’t good for us either, but a drumming gorilla and Peter Kay convinced us otherwise. The first betting brand that tells the nation a story of the joy of the occasional flutter could galvanise millions of once-a-year bettors to go their way during the Grand National.

These aren’t even risky bets. They’re just following Byron Sharp’s principles on ‘How Brands Grow’. So, maybe the odds of success are better than you’d think. Whatever happens, we are witnessing a new dawn. Maybe one day soon Ray Winstone could actually be handed a gambling ad script without the words “BET NOW” all over it. Time to roll the dice.

David Billing is chief creative officer of independent creative group, The Beyond Collective, a micro-network of specialist companies unified around the common goal of helping clients grow their brands in the age of the audience