SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Following last month’s move by the Senet Group to waive copyright restrictions on its ‘When the Fun Stops, Stop’ campaign, the independent body has released a new video extolling the virtues of the responsible gambling promotion.
The video, which sets out the rationale behind the main message ‘When the Fun Stops, Stop’, includes commentary from industry thought leaders giving their reasons as to why the campaign has been an unprecedented success.
Appearing in the video, Philip Bowcock, Chief Executive Officer of William Hill PLC, said: “I think the campaign has worked because of the simplicity of message and because all of the industry has been behind it.”
Joining him in the video was Richard Flint, chief executive of Sky Bet, who noted: “The most pleasing thing about the campaign is hearing people use it in general conversation. There have been quite a few examples where I have heard people say to their friends, or on TV, ‘when the fun stops, stop’.”
Adele Duncan, chief executive of the Gordon Moody Association, which runs residential treatment programmes for gambling addicts, said: “I think [the campaign is] getting [a] message across that isn’t too doom and gloom, a message which is quite thought-provoking, without being scary. If people are joking ‘if the fun stops’, I don’t think that’s a bad thing. A bit of humour doesn’t hurt.”
The campaign is almost a ubiquitous part of the gambling landscape in the UK and is already carried by about 40 per cent of UK gambling companies. And there’s potential for that to grow more according to Gillian Wilmot, chairman of the Senet Group, who said: “Since the launch, advertising space devoted to the messaging has had an equivalent advertising value of £16m each year. This figure could double under a more widespread use of the campaign material across the gambling sector.”
According to independent research conducted last year, the When the Fun Stops, Stop campaign has reached an estimated 82 per cent of regular UK gamblers, with 33 per cent, or an indicative 5 million adults confirming that it has helped them gamble more responsibly since it was launched in 2015.
The Senet Group has held the copyright to the: When the Fun Stops, Stop campaign since 2015, however it announced last month that it was waiving certain of these rights to ensure the entire gambling industry can make use of the material. Wilmot said: “We are now making the material available to everyone without copyright restrictions, and with that we hope to dramatically increase the scale of consumer engagement.”
