Leading gambling operator Paddy Power announced it is to team up with Chime Sports Marketing, one of the fastest expanding sports and entertainment marketing companies in the world. The announcement follows the news of Paddy Power’s split with Lucky Generals after a four-year partnership. Its new one-off advertising project is being handled by the creative agency WCRS.
The split with former advertisers Lucky Generals has resulted from the agency’s refusal to repitch for the operator’s account. From this moment on, the advertising duties are officially a responsibility of the UK-based marketing services company Chime which has its headquarters in London. Chime Sports Marketing will be in charge of the new advertising strategy of Paddy Power. The creative agency WCRS is entrusted with the task to create a one-off project for the next year.
Former advertising partner Lucky Generals is to remain in charge of the advertising of Paddy Power’s sister brand Betfair, following the £5-billion merger of the two companies, which took place last year. It was then that the company appointed Jonathan Devitt as its Chief Marketing Officer to replace Gav Thompson, who had been Paddy Power’s chief marketer since 2015. Earlier this year, Paddy Power also parted ways with its Chief Executive Breon Corcoran, replacing him with Peter Jackson.
The announcement marks the third advertising partnership for the leading Irish bookmaker, which previously worked with BMB and Crispin Porter & Bogusky. It was in 2015 when the betting operator decided to end its partnership with BMB in favour of now-former partner Lucky Generals.
Over the past years, Paddy Power and Lucky Generals have produced a number of attention-grabbing advertisements which reflect the sense of humour that is inherent to the operator’s advertising campaigns. One example would be the 2015 “Jostle” advertisement which was launched as part of the promotion of the betting brand’s mobile application. The operator and its former partner also introduced the “You Beauty!” ad as a means to reassert the brand’s position on the UK market.
Partnership Follows the Crackdown on Inappropriate Gambling Ads
The change in Paddy Power’s advertisement outfit follows the crackdown, which the local regulatory authorities launched on underage gambling back in October. The regulators reached out to over 450 operators and insisted they must change or fully remove all content from their ads that may appeal to children. The regulators consider any cartoon characters inappropriate and asked some of the licensed gambling operators to do away with such content. The same applies to certain colours, comic book characters, animals and references to children stories, like Jack and the Beanstalk for instance.
The new advertising requirements reached the operators in the form of a letter, signed by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), the Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP), the Remote Gambling Association (RGA), and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Among those to receive it were big names like bet365, William Hill, and Royal Panda.
The regulatory authorities advised the operators to amend their ad content immediately if it is likely to appeal to children. Royal Panda, in particular, immediately complied with the new advertisement requirements and removed the panda mascot from its website’s banners. The new guidelines for gambling ads’ content make sense, especially after the results of a recent survey conducted by the UKGC revealed that gambling is growing in popularity among underage persons. According to the survey, around half a million children and adolescents throughout Wales and England engage in gambling activities on a weekly basis.
- Author
Olivia Cole
