SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
William Hill is to launch a new advertising campaign this week featuring the unified world heavyweight champion Anthony Joshua with a new style of ad for the gambling industry which has come under fire for the aggressive tone in a typical betting advert.
The multimedia campaign is the first of its kind for William Hill as it is brand-led, with the campaign weighted towards more post-watershed mainstream TV spots as well as cinema and outdoor, rather than the traditional bookmaker concentration around live football.
Charlotte Emery, Global Brand and Marketing Director at William Hill, said: “Our current brand narrative is ‘enjoy the moment’ and this new creative shows AJ landing a knockout blow before enjoying the moment as everything freezes while he dances around the stadium before returning to the ring to the adulation of his fans. The story emphasises how William Hill want all our customers to enjoy their betting with us and celebrate the moments while staying in control. We opted for black and white and a highly stylised creative to really separate this creative in tone and quality from the rest of the sector.”
?? Coming soon… @WilliamHill #Ad pic.twitter.com/5Uk40NcrTE
— Anthony Joshua (@anthonyfjoshua) April 19, 2019
Joshua became a William Hill ambassador in 2018 but this is the first time he has been used in an advertising campaign by the company. The company has also used the creative to promote safer gambling messages – the first time it has integrated its marketing creative in this way.
The sign off strapline of the creative – ‘Heavyweights since 1934’ emphasises the bookmaker’s scale and heritage rather than the traditional odds or offers seen in most advertising from betting companies. Four safer gambling treatments will be used on social media and integrated into customer comms messages include:
- Know where you stand
- Keep it fun
- Control is everything
- Take a Break
The campaign launches on Easter weekend with the full 60 second treatment reveal first appearing on multiple networks at 9pm on Saturday 20th April. The 30 second versions will run the following week. Initially the campaign was meant to run over six weeks, culminating in Joshua’s world title defence against Jerell ‘Big Baby’ Miller on 1st June in Madison Square Garden. However given the Miller has now been pulled from the fight given ‘adverse finding’ from a drugs test, Joshua will be facing another opponent.
Emery continued: “Joshua is himself growing into a global brand so he is an ideal fit for William Hill as we become more global and this campaign will continue to build all the way up to his first fight in the US on 1st June at Madison Square Garden.”
