Canada
New Approaches to Mitigating High-Risk Play: Responsible Marketing
Guardrails are often put in place to keep people within safe boundaries and to prevent harm. Can the notion of player-health ‘guardrails’ help evolve how gambling products are marketed to mitigate high-risk play and improve player-health outcomes?
Three panellists recently joined Dr. Jamie Wiebe, BCLC’s Director of Player Health, to examine this question during BCLC’s New Horizons in Responsible Gambling pre-conference session, Responsible Marketing: Establishing “Guardrails” for Safer Play.
Panellist Floris van Driel, Nederlandse Loterij Responsible Gaming Specialist for Sports Betting and Casino, shared Nederlandse Loterij’s approach to integrating responsible marketing into online gambling, which became legal in the Netherlands on October 1, 2021.
The Nederlandse Loterij team scores and advertises each game by risk level. Games rated with a very high-risk score are not promoted at all in television or social media advertising and similarly, high-risk players are excluded from receiving any marketing materials. Additionally, van Driel’s team looks at player behaviour and classifies players into different risk categories to better understand how to market games to each segmented group.
“We are looking at high-risk players, and the types of games they prefer, to understand if we should be more restrained when promoting these types of games,” van Driel explained during the New Horizons session. “It’s really about using specific customer data to customize the campaigns to mitigate risk along with utilizing marketing tools to stimulate people to moderate their gameplay.”
Part of Nederlandse Loterij’s new marketing strategy entails reframing the tone of their player health advertising, reflecting a more fun, light-hearted approach. Its recent TOTO campaign promoting responsible participation in online sports betting was recognized as the Safer Gambling Campaign of the Year at the 2021 Global Regulatory Awards.
“We are finding that keeping it lighter and more fun ties in better with the tone of the other communication that we give to the player. The intention is to make it easier for players to accept the message and to get player health behaviour normalized.” The campaign resulted in a very positive behavioural change: 82 per cent of players thought that the tips were very useful, and 44 per cent considered changing their behaviour.
Ryan Persaud, Director of Insights and Player Experience at BCLC outlined the organization’s integration of marketing guardrails operationally. In 2021, BCLC completed a study whereby it included Problem Gambling Severity Index (PGSI) scores with online customers, connecting survey results with actual behaviour.
“It allowed us to understand: How do [players’] personal stated risks relate to their behaviour? We used that information to help us craft what we are calling…high-risk indicators,” said Persaud.
BCLC is building on these findings to develop high-risk indicators centred around variables such as deviation, deposits, wagering, time and player-health risk alerts.
“At BCLC we are focusing on the player side of assessing risk and using high-risk indicators to dig into the behavioural components as opposed to just the product risks,” Persaud explained. “This player-health data is being used to better inform the conversations we’re having around marketing.”
Finally, Richard Wood, President, GamRes Limited, outlined during the discussion that in order to responsibly market a product, it’s important to identify and understand the impacts and unintended potential risks for each player. Wood and the GamRes team created Gamgard, a game risk-assessment product used to help prevent high-risk play, while also supporting operators in their end game: to deliver a fun, interesting product.
“With Gamgard, jurisdictions are able to identify high-risk elements and then choose to either not advertise the game at all to high-risk players or to use the data to integrate player health guardrails into their marketing approaches,” Wood explained.
Wiebe concluded the session by asking each panellist to look forward 10 years and share their perspective on gambling marketing:
“Focusing on integrating more fun and entertaining player-health messaging into the marketing experience will help to mitigate risk,” Wood said. “We’ve found that the most responsible players are the most satisfied players… so player health and marketing aren’t polar opposites; at the end of the day, they have a similar goal of ensuring that players have a good healthy experience.”
Hosted by BCLC, the full New Horizons in Responsible Gambling Conference is celebrating 10 years of industry leadership and bringing together hundreds of industry-leading researchers, policymakers and representatives from around the world to tackle some of the most challenging topics related to gambling and player health. The conference will occur virtually in early March 2022.
Bally’s Interactive, the digital and sports betting division of Bally’s Corporation, has launched the all-new Bally Bet Sportsbook & Casino app in Ontario, Canada. This latest release marks another significant milestone for the company, following the recent app update in New Jersey and a series of successful app launches in the past year, including the introduction of Bally Bet Sportsbook across multiple states and Bally Casino in Rhode Island.
The updated Bally Bet Sportsbook & Casino app represents a major step forward, as it combines the functionalities of the existing Bally Casino app and Bally Bet Sportsbook app into one comprehensive platform. Powered by White Hat Gaming, this new app allows players residing in or traveling to Ontario to conveniently place wagers on both sports and casino games using a single app, account, and universal wallet.
“We are thrilled to introduce the new Bally Bet Sportsbook & Casino app, marking a significant milestone for Bally’s. This integrated platform merges the features of our previous apps, providing players in Ontario with a seamless experience for both sports and casino betting. Our commitment to enhancing the player experience remains at the forefront as we strive to personalize the enjoyment of playing Bally Bet,” said Robeson Reeves, CEO of Bally’s Corporation.
BCLC reminds adults to gift responsibly this holiday season
With the holiday season in full swing, BCLC is reminding British Columbians to gift responsibly and scratch lottery products from their shopping lists for kids.
“Scratch & Win tickets can make great stocking stuffers for the adults in your life, but they’re not for kids,” said Ryan McCarthy, BCLC’s Director of Player Health. “The research shows that children who have early encounters with gambling are four times more likely to develop riskier gambling behaviour as they grow up. While people are out shopping for those last-minute gifts, BCLC wants adults to be aware of the potential risks associated with gifting lottery products to children and to consider safer alternatives.”
While Scratch & Win tickets are among the most common ways kids can be introduced to gambling, children are increasingly exposed to various online forms, such as gambling streams.
“With the convergence of gaming and gambling, youth are becoming more exposed to gambling content in online spaces like streaming sites, where creators are able to live-stream their own gambling, usually while playing online slots and instant games,” said Dr. Luke Clark, Director for Gambling Research at UBC. “Our research at the UBC Centre for Gambling shows that a higher frequency of watching online gambling streams is associated with a more positive attitude towards gambling and a high intention to gamble in the future.”
In B.C., it is illegal to sell lottery products to anyone under the age of 19 and BCLC encourages adults to have conversations with the kids in their lives about the risks associated with gambling.
“Open and honest conversations are crucial when it comes to navigating childhood exposure to gambling,” said McCarthy, who shared the following tips to adults:
- Monitor for gambling-related lifestyle changes. For example, developing a positive attitude towards gambling or a preoccupation with video games or streaming sites.
- Be a positive role model. Exhibit safer gambling behaviour and talk about the risks.
- Limit exposure. Monitor kids’ online activities and discourage engagement with gambling content. Explain how gambling is based on chance.
Jackpot Digital Inc., a leading provider of innovative dealerless electronic poker gaming solutions, has announced that the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) has approved the Company to be licensed as a registered Gaming Related-Supplier (the “Supplier License”) under the Gaming Control Act in the Province of Ontario.
This significant achievement allows Jackpot Digital to enter one of the most dynamic and rapidly growing regulated gaming markets in North America. The Supplier License authorizes Jackpot Digital to supply its electronic table games to Ontario’s gaming venues, including casinos and other regulated gaming facilities.
Jackpot Digital’s flagship product, the Jackpot Blitz electronic table game system, offers a modern, dealerless, player-friendly solution that integrates traditional multiplayer poker games with cutting-edge digital technology. The Supplier License will enable the Company to offer its innovative gaming solutions to operators throughout Ontario, driving new revenue opportunities and enhancing player experiences.
“Receiving AGCO’s approval is a major milestone. This approval provides us with the opportunity to offer our top-tier electronic gaming systems to operators throughout all of Ontario, positioning us for further growth in one of the world’s most robust gaming markets. We are excited to bring our innovative products to Ontario’s gaming community and continue our commitment to providing exciting, technology-driven entertainment experiences,” said Jake Kalpakian, CEO of Jackpot Digital.
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