Great marketing tricks – a study of online gambling commercials

Everyone has seen them. Online, offline and on the television. Advertising is a big part of everyone’s everyday life and it is because marketing makes money for companies. When the consumer sees an advertising that suits them their liking for the company behind them increases. This leads to the fact that the next time the consumer needs a product they will think of the company with the great advertisement first. Therefore, marketing and advertising is key for business growth. It is key all over the world and for any business. It doesn’t matter if you are a cheese company in Sweden or an online casino South Africa – you need advertising to survive and grow. 

This article seeks to show how gambling commercials use marketing and advertising strategies to increase users on their site and how they lure people in. 

Different kind of advertisements 

There are different advertisements techniques used by advertisers of online gambling to lure the audience in and furthermore make them a user on the site. The article wants to explain why and how these work and therefore give you a better sense of why the market has grown so much over the last 10 years. The prognosis of the market is that the market globally will increase by 13% a year till 2027, which means that the market will hit an astounding 647 billion dollars. 

Be like Mike ad 

One of the oldest tricks in the book is having an athlete or famous person be the front person or spokesman for the advertisement. There are countless examples to take from but one of the most popular advertisements is the “Be Like Mike”-ad. The gatorade commercial came out in the early 90’s and was a tour-de-force of marketing tricks. The biggest and what has left the biggest mark is the fact that they made Michael Jordan – arguably the biggest sports athlete of all time – the lead. Everyone wanted to be Jordan – adults and kids alike. Therefore the commercial was a huge success. The gambling industry uses the same tricks. 

One of the most prominent examples of this is Bet365 using Samuel L. Jackson as the spokesman for a commercial. Jackson is one of the biggest film stars and is known by everyone for his countless memorable roles. 

When watching the commercial the viewer sees and often thinks that Bet365 and Jackson is one and the same. If Jackson uses Bet365 I should too. By mixing the two brands together it seems to evolve both brands to something bigger. The iconic voice of Jackson combined with thrilling footage of soccer and other sports make a great advertisement. Consumers like it and therefore it works. 

Recognition and the everyday life 

Some of the most successful ads across history are the one that serve to show something that we know about ourselves to be true. Showing a part of everyday life and making it relatable for the audience to experience. It is seen by countless advertisements for kitchens. Picture a kitchen table. The kids are sitting across from each other with both of their plates set in front of them. A happy song is playing while dad comes home from work and kisses mom, who is behind the stove making dinner for everyone. The scene ends as they all sit happily around the kitchen table, where a slogan for the company enters. 

This was an example of a little scene, where the ad plays the perfect scenario of a family takes place. Everything is just right and you can see that in your life. You want that. So the next time you think of a happy family or what a great kitchen should be doing – you think of that specific kitching company. By tapping into wants, needs and the everyday life gambling ads can become extremely powerful in drawing users to the site. 

By showing people gambling, telling about their experiences – which of course are all good – the betting companies are tapping into the fact that everyone wants to be happy. Why can’t happiness be found when gambling or playing the slot machine? 

Why can the marketing of online gambling be a problem 

A famous theory among social studies professors is the syringe-theory. It is often talked about in relation to advertisements. It suggests that some viewers just take the information given to them by the advertisers to be correct and good with no questions asked. Therefore, if this is correct – which it probably is in some cases – advertisement can be dangerous. It can lead many people to think that the solution to their problems is products and for example gambling services. In most cases it is not. Therefore, stricter rules can be an option to secure that online gambling doesn’t become a bigger problem than it already is.