Isobel has been appointed by Gala Leisure to its £5-million advertising account right before the relaunch of the brand, which is expected soon. The creative agency Isobel has won Gala Bingo, which Coral owned before joining forces with Ladbrokes in 2016.
Isobel won the business of the bingo club operator after facing the strong competition of Fold7, BMB and George & Dragon in a bidding process which was handled by AAR.
Back in 2015, the private equity firm Caledonia Investments purchased the Gala Leisure brand from Ladbrokes Coral in a £241-million acquisition deal. For some time now, the brand has been aimed to relaunch, with the official roll-out expected to happen later in 2018. apart from the relaunch, the brand could be renamed to Buzz Bingo, too.
The bingo brand has been suffering a decline in its result primarily due to the increasing customer interest towards online gambling. The two websites operated by the brand – galabingo.com and galacasino.com – are still owned and controlled by the gambling operator Ladbrokes Coral, so Gala Bingo name needs to be changed as part of its online push.
The Chief of marketing operations of Gala Bingo, Andy Goram, who has been part of Gala Coral Group since 2006, commented on the upcoming changes for the brand, saying that the year 2018 would be exciting. Goram confessed that the process was not an easy one for the brand, but the fact that Isobel understood its business would be helpful for its further development. Last year, he was appointed at the position of chief brand experience officer.
Gala Bingo Brand Tries to Boost Profits through Advertising
It is the Newcastle-based agency Cravens which has been responsible for holding the account for Gala Bingo online since 2014. Now the creative agency Isobel is to be responsible for all commercials of the bingo brand, including advertising campaigns, adverts content and social advertising. The agency is to also take care of the internal commercials of the brand.
Reportedly, the private equity firm Caledonia Investments was trying to get rid of some of its Gala Bingo-branded halls in 2017 as part of its attempt to boost generated profits. In its latest financial reports for the period from September 27th 2015 to January 4th 2017, Gala Leisure which is currently based in Nottingham revealed an overall profit estimated to £18.1 million. In comparison, the brand posted a £10.2-million loss over the twelve-month period to September 2016.
The TV schedules in the UK, and particularly the smaller digital channels, are still responsible for generating a large part of the profits, are currently flooded with a massive amount of lottery, bingo and betting adverts. For some time now, gambling advertising has become a profitable sector, but its standards have also been hit by harsh criticism. So far, Isobel has been known for its qualitative work, which is why optimism for the Gala Bingo brand is believed to lie ahead.
- Author
Olivia Cole
