Gamble Aware - Championing support over shame
Background
The UK boasts one of the largest gambling markets globally, with 31.2 million individuals engaging in gambling activities. Approximately 6.9 million people face gambling-related issues, and up to 1.5 million are classified as 'problem gamblers'. The repercussions of gambling harm extend beyond financial losses and strained relationships, impacting employment, mental and physical health, and, tragically, sometimes leading to suicide.
Stigma is one of the biggest barriers to people seeking help, realising they may be experiencing harms from gambling, and talking openly about their challenges. Often they feel worried they’ll be judged by others about their experiences. Gambling harm stigma often intersects with other forms of discrimination, leading to intensified and cumulative stigmatisation for individuals facing gambling-related challenges.
Objectives
Our objective was to reduce the stigma of people experiencing gambling harms by:
- Changing societal perceptions and understanding
- Normalising support seeking for gambling harms
Strategy:
OOH allowed us to target contextual environments where gambling operators and harms were prevalent, tailoring media and messaging to behavioural signals and triggers in a way that would grab attention and nudge them into action.
We needed our comms to bring real people’s experiences of gambling harms to life and encourage open conversations around how gambling makes you feel using lived experience and the feelings of real people at the heart of the strategy.
New animated DOOH was created that communicated feelings of ‘emptiness’ with liquid seeming to drain out of a billboard with the tagline “Gambling was making me feel empty”. Another execution had moving eyes that seem to follow passersby reflecting the pervasive nature of gambling advertising. Finally a special “cloudy” billboard represented the fog that many experienced – that “Gambling clouded everything I did”.
Execution:
We placed our OOH campaign in harms way.
OOH was the ideal lead channel to achieve scale and create huge cut through with D6s and D48s strategically placed in high footfall triggering moments. Contextual relevance was key and all sites were in close proximity to betting shops to intercept those most at risk.
The hero creative grabbed attention, utilising speech marks to make it clear that the words featured were from real people. The co-creation and testimony of those with lived experience was designed to resonate with the at-risk audience, encouraging individuals to really open up about their own struggles, and it also was expected to build empathy amongst the wider public.
Supported by contextually targeted AV, Radio, Community Partnerships and Social, the OOH was upweighted in key cities where gambling harms are most prevalent - with London getting a disproportionate share considering an enormous 1M Londoners will experience negative effects from gambling in their lifetimes.
To add extra impact to our OOH campaign, a smoke filled special build billboard in Birmingham ran alongside PR activity which highlighted that those living in the West Midlands have a 25% higher chance of experiencing ‘problem gambling’
The special build was inspired and co-produced by those who have experienced gambling harms first-hand, and emphasises the emotion that gambling can make you feel with the message ‘”Gambling clouded everything I did”. The campaign captured the imaginations of influencers such as ex-Stoke City footballer Tony Kelly, The Football Supporters Association and Fans For Diversity.
Results:
Our approach paid off, genuinely driving positive change by encouraging them to seek help:
- 67% of 18-44s who had gambled in the last 4 weeks agreed that the campaign showed the importance of reducing stigma.
- 72% of them agreed that the campaign showed the importance of opening up about gambling harms.
- 68% agreed that the campaign helped to increase openness with them reporting that they feel it is okay to talk more openly about gambling harms.
- Visits to the website during the campaign increased by 12%
- During the week of the special build, there was a 44% increase in mentions, and an organic post on Gamble Aware's Facebook covering the activation achieved 1.5m impressions.
The release received extensive media coverage securing over 1.4k pieces including outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, ITV News, The Independent and The Daily Mail.