Egaming's changing demographic mix

Online gambling’s public image has shifted far beyond recognition in the past 10 years and this new-found social acceptability is presenting smart operators with a new avenue for growth.

The Advertising Standards Agency’s review of gambling advertising, published in October, found that the large majority of participants in a study considered gambling to be a perfectly normal leisure pursuit and were largely relaxed over the presence of gambling advertisements across media channels.

Only a slim minority were uneasy with the concept of gambling advertising and while participants felt they were being subjected to more gambling advertising than they had previously anticipated, there was a noted “resistance to the idea that gambling advertising should be targeted for constraint”.

While the study found that the majority of gambling adverts were targeted at younger men and older women from lower socio-economic groups – traditional audiences for egaming firms – there had been a concerted trend for other societal groups to gamble.

Female-oriented casino brands such as Unibet’s Maria and Mr Green’s Garbo are two high-profile examples, while Gala Coral’s launch of “soft” sportsbook Flutter was an interesting addition to its product portfolio.

Gambling companies, particularly multi-vertical operators who can tailor traditional products such as casino and sports betting to non-traditional audiences, are not just advertising to the masses for the sake of it, but delivering growth from social groups that had not been previously been associated with gambling.

Figures released by the Gambling Commission earlier this year showed that 11% of women had taken part in online gambling in the month prior to questioning, compared with 21% of men, while there was a four percentage point increase in participation from 18-24 year olds to 19% – the largest increase in all of the age ranges and just behind the 35-44 demographic on 21%.

Changing attitudes

Gambling is undoubtedly a more socially respectable pastime than before and for Andy May, brand, advertising, research and marketing director at Ladbrokes, the “key change in attitudes” has been driven by a number of landmark events, particularly in the UK market.

The introduction of the National Lottery in 1994 was a milestone for the UK gambling market in the sense that it placed the idea of having a gamble to a mass market without the added stigma that had become attached to betting shops. “Everyone did it, everyone talked about it and it became socially acceptable,” May says.

This explosion was then furthered by the advent of online betting and gaming sites that according to May introduced gambling to a new demographic of “younger, well-educated and IT literate early adopters” that expanded upon the traditional betting audience.

May says mobile has been the next step in introducing yet further customers to online gaming, allowing operators to forge a link with their customers that is almost always on. Not only can customers bet without the need of a desktop computer, but operators can communicate with them on an almost constant basis.

“The betting customers of today have more choice, more access points and more betting opportunities than ever before. Betting is now firmly established as an important hobby for millions of adults in the UK,” May says.

The fight for these new customers is taking shape and it’s a battle well worth winning. With other sources of growth so keenly contested, operators able to reach out to previously untapped demographics will be left well placed to profit from an expanding marketplace.