William Hill: Going from Bookie to Broadcaster

Client: William Hill

William Hill was losing its appeal among younger betters who were flocking to flashier competitors. Faced with tightening advertising restrictions, economic pressures, and aggressive rivals, our challenge was to transform William Hill’s image and appeal amongst 18-34-year-olds without relying on traditional advertising methods.

Our solution? To stop trying to be a bookie that does content, and instead become a content creator that happens to be a bookie. So, we created our own premium podcast and YouTube show “William Hill Presents Up Front with Simon Jordan” - hosted by the respected sports journalist and former club owner. We produced 40 hour-long episodes featuring high-profile guests and tackling bold sports topics, and we implemented a comprehensive distribution strategy, releasing full episodes on YouTube and podcasts, while also creating shorter, shareable clips for social media platforms that led directly to YouTube. The results were astounding. We reversed the trend of losing younger audiences, brand consideration shot up and the podcast saw incredible engagement. We topped the sports podcast charts, amassed millions of views and downloads, got a spin-off show and a Sky documentary series, and it’s now being evolved into a full content platform. We didn’t just create a show, we created a phenomenon.