Adline - Gambling                                                                  Ruth Allen/Ruthmedia

Are you a gambler? If you're talking casino high-rollers or race course punters, most people's answer would be 'No'. But widen the net to cover football pools, spot the ball, fruit machines, bingo, National Lottery draw and scratchcards and we're virtually all gamblers. Over the past years, there's been a quiet revolution in attitudes to gambling, and the advertising industry is going to be one of the main beneficiaries.

"It all depends on how you define gambling," says Phil Fraser of i-ludus Consulting, a new consultancy to the online gaming industry. "It has been manoeuvred from the seedy, shady, barely tolerated vice that it was seen as in the 50s and 60s, to an accepted - even encouraged - leisure pursuit in the new millennium."

The changing image has been charted in a flurry of recent reports - the  Henley Centre's 'Gambling Behaviour In Britain : Results from the British Gambling Prevalence Survey' of June 2000;  Mintel's 'Leisure Intelligence' reports in January 2001 (Casinos) and April 2001 (Bingo); and the most recent government Gambling Review - the Budd report, from which a new legal framework will in time emerge.

"I believe that all of the above reports point to an increase in gambling in the UK," says Fraser. "The mix of greater access, particularly via the internet, as well as telephone, WAP and interactive, and a greater social acceptability, plus the increase in soft gambling through the National Lottery mean that the increase is inevitable and will continue."

The Henley Report does indeed suggest that 72% of the adult population are 'gamblers' at some point during the year, the most popular activity being the National Lottery Draw (65%), followed by scratchcards (22%), fruit machines (14%), horse race betting (13%); while bottom of the table is bingo (7%), casino (3%) and bookies (3%).

And while men (76%) are still more likely to gamble than women (68%) - apart from bingo - this trend is beginning to change in this hi-tech era, according to Fraser : "Women are becoming more involved, particularly on the internet. Accepted wisdom has it that online casinos get a 50:50 split male  : female compared to the very male land-based gambling market. The possibility of learning without looking stupid, not getting chatted up, the anonymity of taking part in something that might be frowned upon and not having to dress up are all reasons given for this. 

"Generally the average age of an online sports book punter is lower than the telephone/high street punter, and also from a higher social class. In addition, new types of betting, particularly aimed at the football market, have opened up the sports betting market. This is destined to grow exponentially via in-game betting via interactive television."

Traditionally the role of advertising in the gambling industry has tended to languish at the less glamorous end of the scale. "In part this is due to the way that advertising and gambling are so strictly regulated," explains Fraser. "The casinos are regulated by the 1968 Gaming Act, in particular Section 42 which, in simple terms, prohibits casinos from advertising. The main thrust of gambling advertising to date has been the odds advertisements that appear day in, day out in 'The Racing Post' and invariably at the weekends in the redtops. Sports betting is event driven, and so as high profile events approach, so event-specific advertising appears - FA Cup, start of the Premiership, Grand National, Six Nations Rugby, Cricket test matches and so on. My own personal view is that as the bookies spend most of their time producing run-of-the-mill ads they haven't got the creativity to produce good advertising. Because awareness is so high of brands like William Hill, Ladbrokes, the aim of the ads is to simply generate bets, hence, maybe their lack of creativity."

Gary McCall, Managing Director of Poulter Partners of Leeds - William Hill's agency - agrees that the gambling industry has been operating with one arm tied behind its back : "Advertising by bookmakers is still restricted to press and outdoor - no broadcast media can be used . Restrictions on casinos are even tighter but Bingo operators such as Gala, the market leaders, and Mecca are free to use the full range of advertising media. Gala have advertised extensively on TV to demonstrate the buzz that consumers can expect to get from playing bingo and the social aspects of a visit to Gala. The National Bingo Association have also utilised TV to increase interest in Bingo. The major bookmakers Ladbrokes, Coral and William Hill use national press and sporting press advertising as the main way of promoting interest in the major sporting events. All the major bookmakers see football as a key driver, and the World Cup in 2002 will see a flurry of activity."

William Hill's Media Relations Director Graham Sharpe confirms this : "We're anticipating big things this year, with these major sporting events giving us a great opportunity to make more people aware that they can bet. We have an advantage in being a long-established, leading name in bookmaking, with a reputation people can trust, but we're always on the look-out for innovative ways of promoting and advertising our business."
 
The idea that all gambling advertising lacks dynamism is challenged by Phil Fraser : "Blue Square have built an online gambling brand from a blank piece of paper. Because they started from square one they've not had historical creative limitations placed on them and they've needed to offer something different. Also Paddy Power, the No1 bookie in Ireland, have had a history of off-the-wall bets, and ads promoting them. They very much epitomise the 'gambling as a leisure activity' stance rather than the 'bet to win' view of the main bookies. The current 48 sheets that they are running have a picture of two Zimmerframe totting grannies on a Zebra crossing with odds next to them. They've also had a 'Will the Pope ever play for Rangers?' 48 sheet bet campaign, with an image of the Pope wearing a Rangers shirt tackling a Celtic player."

To Pritpal Bains, Media Manager of Littlewoods Bet Direct, creativity is not solely concerned with the execution of a campaign : "It can also manifest itself in the form of a strategy and tactical activities that provide a platform to distinguish a betting service from its competitors. As a new player in the fixed odds betting sector, we aimed to grow and broaden through promoting the ease of betting by phone, with successful campaigns in the broadsheet and mid-range tabloids, alongside more traditional redtop tabloid and 'The Racing Post' route, innovating and challenging the status quo in a staid betting sector."

Gary McCall is optimistic that the Budd Report may free up further advertising opportunities : "As interest in the lottery falls, the major gambling companies, such as Gala - with their bingo and recently acquired casino interests - William Hill and Ladbrokes see a very positive future, and the likely legislative changes can only benefit operators and consumers. Certainly the Internet will continue to be a growth area, but the more traditional shops and telephone betting channels offer growth opportunities."

At Gala, Group Sales and Marketing Director Richard Sowerby is confident that any legislation that follows the Budd report will fundamentally change the world of gambling over the next six months to three years : "Currently gambling is probably the only major legal leisure pursuit that can't advertise. I'm sure that won't last, and there will be a great chance for new opportunities in the future as companies review how they will promote themselves. That's the next challenge - to modernise this industry. It's what our customers want."

Phil Fraser also sees the gambling industry opening up in the future, through technology : "The biggest change in gambling-related advertising has been on online products, particularly online casinos. Because online sports books are regulated in the UK the advertising for them has stayed fairly 'conservative'. However, because online casinos are hosted offshore they do not, strictly, come under UK law. Most players, though, have stuck to the rules whilst pushing the boundaries. The basic law says that a casino ad can tell the consumer where the casino is and what it offers. It cannot encourage people to bet. So with the main aim being to generate awareness and establish brand positioning, some of the ads for online casinos have pushed creative boundaries, although which way in some cases is debatable.

"Ladbrokes went down the lines of an early 70s pastiche with their advertising. William Hill launched their casino last year with a series of excellent ads, that made people think, but allowed them to get the joke - 'fish and chips', a plate of fish with a pile of casino chips at the side, a roulette table with a pile of jammy dodgers piled up as a bet, all with the strapline, 'The casino in your own home'. Very simple. Very effective. The only direction from here on in is upwards. The opportunities for the ad industry will come from the relaxing of the laws via the implementation of the Budd Report, the greater social acceptability of gambling and the younger gambling age group." 

The only note of concern about the potential boom in the gambling industry comes from Camelot. "We are by no means opposed to the modernisation of gambling laws in the UK," says Chief Executive Dianne Thompson. "Many rules are outdated and fail to allow for the growth in new e-commerce platforms such as the internet or interactive television. But the Report fails to measure the impact of liberalisation on the National Lottery and our ability to raise money for the designated Good Causes. We look forward to commenting further on particular proposals as they emerge."

Signs of the coming boom are already in evidence however, with a recent report from advertising monitors LemonAd pointing to a 50% increase last year in online advertising in the gambling sector. "Competition is hotting up in this sector," says Simon Bright, MD of LemonAd's operator NetCrawling. "With the abolition of UK betting tax last October, this is set to increase."

So are the odds on gambling to be the next big thing in advertising? Place your bets, please!