Targeted campaigns increase awareness of National Gambling Treatment Service
Marketing from GambleAware sees campaign recognition reach 74% among high-risk male gamblers in August 2021
Awareness of the National Gambling Treatment Service (NGTS) in the UK continues to grow following a series of campaigns led by GambleAware.
The campaign, which is run at under 1% of total gambling operator ad spend, commenced in spring 2020 and was launched with four bursts of media across print, radio, online and out-of-home advertising.
The campaign was mainly targeted at high-risk male gamblers, with an increase in recognition of the NGTS found in this demographic, along with affected others of gambling-related harm.
Campaign recognition reached 74% among high-risk male gamblers, rising to 79% among affected others in August 2021.
The number of high-risk male gamblers that would contact NGTS as a first point of contact also increased from 47% in May 2020 to 60% in August 2021.
The awareness campaign was more heavily targeted in London and the Midlands after previous research from GambleAware showed these regions had higher rates of high-risk gamblers.
The ramped up efforts in these regions saw 40% of all male gamblers aged 16-44 in London stating they would likely contact the NGTS should they need gambling-related support, compared to 31% throughout the rest of the UK.
Zoë Osmond, GambleAware CEO, said: “The National Gambling Treatment Service brings together a network of organisations across Great Britain that provides free confidential treatment and support for anyone experiencing gambling harms.
“It is heartening to see that this campaign is helping to signpost more people to treatment for gambling harms, and also working to drive greater awareness of the provision of treatment services,” she added.
The research was conducted online by Ipsos MORI with nationally representative samples of regular male gamblers aged 16-44 in May 2020 (600), August 2020 (600), February 2021 (1000) and August 2021 (1,000), as well as 1,000 regular female gamblers in March 2021.
The campaign awareness findings come as the UK gambling industry gears up for Safer Gambling Week from 1 November to 7 November with a concerted effort to deliver a responsible gambling message to consumers.
UK Gambling Commission CEO Andrew Rhodes said: “We know that over 20 million people in the UK regularly gamble in some way and for the vast majority this is something they do without any issue.
“However, around 340,000 people in Britain are problem gamblers.
“With this in mind, Safer Gambling Week is the ideal opportunity for operators to demonstrate how they can raise standards and showcase how Britain can become a world-leader in making gambling as safe as possible.”