Whether you’re slapping down a Lady Godiva, a cock and hen, a pony, a ton or a monkey, you can bet your house on the fact that it’s mug’s game. Naturally, you do win some, but you nearly always end up on losing most.
At the extreme end, gambling can cause huge pain but, like it or not, the sector is a major investor in advertising and marketing and we can’t ignore it.
Of course, there are some agencies who wouldn’t touch a betting client with a barge pole, but not many. After all, there are plenty of advertising restrictions in place and, let’s face it, revenue is revenue. There are also plenty of opportunities to show the fun side of the business.
Enter the latest campaign from Coral, “We’re Here For It”, the first by Wonderhood Studios since it was appointed as the firm’s lead creative agency in September following a competitive pitch.
Featuring a series of new TV ads, the campaign champions all the different types of racing, sports and gaming fans, and will use broader culture to help bring their world to life, starting with the Cheltenham Festival that commences on March 12.
The first TV ad, entitled “We’re Here For It – Racing Fan Derby”, is a 30-second spot, filmed at Newbury racecourse. It opens in the middle of a race, with mud flying and the ground shaking as the riders go past at speed. As the camera zooms in, it is revealed that these are no normal jockeys, but a cross-section of horse racing fans, including “dapper gents”, “glamorous ladies”, a ‘stag do’ and even a “glorious gran” all racing towards the finish line.
A second ad is set in a Chinese takeaway where we see a man playing one of Coral’s free-to-play games on his phone, while he and his friends wait for their food. The spot introduces Coral’s in-play proposition, Rewards Grabber and Coral Coins.
The ads will run on TV, video-on-demand and radio, and will be boosted for the Cheltenham Festival through out of home media, print advertising and broadcast sponsorships with Racing TV and Sky Sports Racing. Coral will stage a branded takeover of Cheltenham Spa station over the four days of the Festival reaching thousands of travelling racegoers. Media for the campaign has been planned and bought by the7stars.
Entain interim chief marketing officer Jeremy Hemmings said: “Coral is a brand with an incredible heritage and with legions of fans. Our new ‘We’re here for it’ campaign platform is in recognition of this strong customer relationship and serves as a reiteration of our rock-solid market position.
“This first work in the new campaign represents a gear change for the brand as we project a richer, more entertaining personality, establishing a distinctive new territory within the category.”
Wonderhood Studios joint executive creative director Guy Hobbs added: “We’re super excited to be delivering this fresh brand platform to inject some energy into an iconic British brand.
“While the category often lacks authenticity, we set out to celebrate the real racing and gaming lovers of the UK. So to all the fans out there, whether you’re an armchair expert or a stag do legend, we hope you see yourselves in the work.”
So, what is the consensus around the Decision Marketing office?
Well, no doubt Coral’s “legions of fans”, as Jeremy Hemmings claims to have, will need little convincing, so we only think these ads are designed to appeal to newbies. And, to be fair, the horseracing one does romp home nicely; the mobile gaming one, however, falls at the first.
Whether this campaign will be enough to convert the wider British public from the once a year punt on the Grand National to regular gamblers remains to be seen but the odds appear firmly stacked against it…
Decision Marketing Adometer: A ‘win some, lose some’ 7 out of 10
