Opening up about gambling harms

Client: GambleAware

The UK is facing a different kind of public health crisis. Gambling affects 59% population in any given year, and gambling harms are becoming more and more prevalent. However, the shame and stigma associated with gambling issues often prevent those affected from identifying their problem and seeking help. The ‘Let’s Open Up About Gambling’ campaign aims to tackle this by bringing to life people’s experience of gambling harms to challenge societal perceptions and normalise help-seeking behaviour. We created a multi-faceted campaign that cleverly and sensitively spoke to at-risk audiences as well as wider society.

Utilising broadcast channels to educate at scale, we maximised awareness through the smart use of contextual AV, Audio, Print & Partnerships, with Community messengers engaging our most vulnerable cohorts in trusted places and spaces, as well as intercepting gambling operators’ advertising and owning moments that they are not allowed to access. Timely interruptions based on behavioural signals provided the final nudges needed to seek help, resulting in making a real difference to people’s lives with 160k people to the website (43% increase), 22k using our self-help tool, and 6,547 calls to the helpline.