Marketing advertisement critique

Individual IMC critique

Contents Contents ............................................................................................................................................... 2 Overview of the Business .............................................................................................................. 3 IMC challenge .................................................................................................................................... 3 Communication strategy ............................................................................................................... 3

Message ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Source .............................................................................................................................................. 6

Creative strategy ........................................................................................................................... 10 Appeals ......................................................................................................................................... 10 Execution ..................................................................................................................................... 12

Media Mix ......................................................................................................................................... 13 Recommendations and conclusions ...................................................................................... 14 References ....................................................................................................................................... 15 Appendix A – tomwaterhouse.com social media pages ................................................. 16 Appendix B – Various facebook Advertisments ................................................................ 18 Appendix C – Google Advertisement ..................................................................................... 19 Appendix D – Spoof Ad ............................................................................................................... 19

Overview of the Business Tom Waterhouse is a fourth generation bookmaker (Waterhouse, 2012), he was first exposed to the industry in 2001 helping his father Robert on race days at Rosehill (Elliot, 2012). From there Waterhouse acquired his bookmaking licensee for greyhounds and soon after thoroughbreds and in 2003 under his fathers supervision began working ‘on the rails’ himself, initially building a VIP cliental (Elliot, 2012). By 2008 Waterhouse had become one of Australians biggest on track bookmakers, during the 2008 Melbourne spring carnival (which includes the Melbourne cup) Waterhouse’s on track betting agency held $20million worth of bets, a figure larger than all other on track bookmakers combined (Elliot, 2012). In 2010 Waterhouse launched tomwaterhouse.com, an online betting agency that extends bookmaking services to all sports and all bet types.

IMC challenge Launching the website involved several IMC challenges. The website represents a brand extension, Giddens (2010) outlines difficulties in launching brand extensions such as intra firm competition and damaging other products within the brand. Furthermore Desai and Hoyer (1993) point to the high failure rate of new products, due to this it is important of a strong IMC campaign to raise awareness when launching a new product. Further challenges to overcome in the launch of the website which have IMC considerations include attracting new customers to the brand from established rivals such as Centrebet, Sportingbet and Betfair. Finally due to the nature of the gambling industry it can be categorized alongside the alcohol and tobacco industries (Griffiths, 2005). Social implications such as problem gambling must be carefully considered in the IMC activities as Grant and Won Kim (2001) found that 46% of problem gamblers are triggered to gamble via advertising. Additionally Gainsbury (2012) estimates that 16% of all online gamblers are problem gamblers while King, Delfabbro & Griffiths (2012) point out that new media and access to online gambling has seen increases in the take up of gambling by youth and young people. The Interactive Gambling Act (2001) prohibits advertising to persons under the age of 18.

Communication strategy

Message

The key message of the launch campaign is ‘Bet with me’ using the new online channel. According to the hierarchy of effects and messages strategies model consumers pass through various stages before a purchase is realized, the first being awareness which involves cognitive strategies (Clow and Baack, 2012 p.192). Cognitive strategies present rational arguments and pieces of information. Reflecting the need to raise awareness for the website the ‘Bet with me’ message is delivered via cognitive strategy techniques. Waterhouse uses a preemptive message as a cognitive strategy to raise awareness of the website. Preemptive messages claim superiority of a feature or benefit with the intent of preventing competitors making similar statements (Clow, Poy & Hershey, 2002). Bookmaking agencies rely on significant databases as predictors for the odds they offer. Waterhouse is the first to ‘share’ such knowledge, this would prevent competitors making similar claims, as they would not want to be seen as copying as as a ‘me too’ brand (Laskey, Day and Crask, 1989). Figures 1.1 and 1.2 are a show example of the message. The statement has elements of hyperbole also, as Waterhouse himself doesn’t have ‘four generations of betting knowledge’. Figure 1.1 ‘In the blood commercial’

‘In the blood’ commercial featuring preemptive messages ‘with four generations of betting knowledge in my blood I was born to bet, bet online with me and that knowledge could be yours’. Figure 1.2 ‘Example Facebook advertisement containing preemptive message’

Facebook ad containing a variation of the preemptive statement referred to in the ‘In the blood’ advertisement (see figure 1.1)

The launch campaign also contained another cognitive strategy using unique selling proposition (USP). USP is defined as a unique and objective attribute or benefit that can be verified or proven objectively (Laskey, Day & Crask, 1989). Figure 1.3 shows the campaign USP of ‘first past the post’ offering a payout on both the first past the post and recognized winner of a race. Figure 1.3 ‘Unique selling proposition’ - First past the Post.

‘I know what punters want’ offering a USP: promising to payout straight away (all other betting agencies require the jockey to weigh in before correct weight is declared and dividends are paid out) or in the event of a protest will pay out on both the first past the post and eventual winner.

Research suggests that consumers tend to use cognitive response approaches and evaluate rationally appeals in advertising when they have existing knowledge of the product and the product is less innovative (Lee & O’Conner, 2003. P10). Consumer of online gambling services would have extensive knowledge of the online platform as well as the Waterhouse name due to their long-standing involvement in the industry (Elliot, 2012). The website launched

into a competitive market of online gambling providers as such it is fair to assume consumers of these services would not consider the new offering highly innovative. Target consumers of the website would tend to respond best to cognitive rational appeals according to Lee and O’Conner (2012), the message strategy reflects this by using preemptive messages and unique selling propositions.

Source

Selecting the correct source and spokesperson is critical in advertising (Clow and Baack, 2012). Waterhouse in his role as managing director appears in or uses his name in all communication relating to the launch (see Figures 1.4 and 1.5). Waterhouse can be considered as a CEO spokesperson for the brand, CEO’s are a persuasive source, especially when they appear in news items or popular media as advertising is perceived as less credible than the news (Straughan, Bleske and Zhao, 1996). Waterhouse has an extensive media profile appearing on free to air television and commercial radio regularly as well hosting public relations events such as the #top1030 lunch shown below in Figure 1.6. Firgure 1.4 Email campaign featuring Waterhouse’s image

Email to ARU members offering a $25 refund on Wallabies v South Africa. Figure 1.5a and 1.5b

Examples of Facebook advertisements featuring Waterhouse’s name and image.

Figure 1.6 #top1030 lunch

#Top1030 lunch featured celebrities such as Jarrod Hayne, Steph Rice, Jacinta Cambell and the Prime Minister Julia Gillard. CEO’s as a message source are generally regarded as trustworthy in relation to the brand. However gambling can be categorized alongside tobacco and alcohol advertising and because profit is derived from customer loses the industry suffers from credibility issues and is considered less trustworthy (Griffiths, 2005). Waterhouse seeks to mitigate issues with the industry by using his celebrity profile as the human brand for his organization. Human brands refer to a well-known person who contributes to the marketing communication of the brand (Rindova, Pollock and Haywood, 2006). The use of celebrity impacts consumers’ attachment to the brand, Thompson (2007) suggests consumers’ attachment is important because it operates independently of other source qualities such as trust, which is problematic for the company due to the industry. Furthermore by appearing in the advertisements himself Waterhouse uniquely positions the company from others in the industry where communications tend to use typical persons in their advertising (see figure 1.6). This allows the brand to be associated with the Celebrity of Tom Waterhouse rather than the industry the company operates, making attachment to the brand easier. Figure 1.6 ‘This is the life – Oz Lotto Ad’

Oz Lotto uses a typical people source to sell dream of comfortable lifestyle.

By using Waterhouse extensively in the launch campaign the brand can successfully mitigate the problematic nature of their industry via attachment of the celebrity of Waterhouse to the company. The use of Waterhouse’s celebrity in conjunction with the IMC campaign makes him a human brand. In doing so helps to build brand loyalty, important because customers who are strongly attracted to celebrities are less likely to defect from the brand (Thompson, 2007) which is crucial because of the industries low switching costs (Ozgit, 2005). The source of information in the communications is appropriate for a product launch.

Creative strategy

Appeals Creative strategy requires a ‘big idea’, which refers to the central theme of the IMC campaign translated into attention getting, distinctive and memorable messages (Belch & Belch, 2012 p.290). The big idea of ‘Bet with me’ is conveyed through rational and emotional appeals, combining rational and emotional appeals is common place in advertising even purely functional products can offer an emotional benefit (Belch and Belch, 2012). This is because cognitive and affective components of the brain can operate simultaneously (Ruiz & Sicilia, 2004). The launch uses rational appeals because they follow the hierarchy of effects model. Advertisements in the initial stages of the effects model will focus on informing consumers (Clow and Baack, 2012). To reflect the need to inform consumers of the website advertisements contained basic information such as the tagline ‘Any Sport. Any Bet Type. Any Time.’ in Figure 1.7. Figure 1.7 – In the blood commercial featuring tagline.

Tagline featuring the basic information of the new service offered by tomwaterhouse.com. The concise message provides consumers with the information that it is now possible to bet on any sport, with any bet type at any time with this new service.

Rational appeals are successful in this situation because they require consumers to actively pay attention to the message for them to be embedded in their cognitive map (Clow and Baack, 2012). According to Griffiths (2005) gamblers have a 90% recall of gambling advertisements, making rational appeals such as the tagline in Figure 1.7 a highly effective way to raise awareness and provide information to potential new customers about the website. Such appeals in this industry are problematic as Grant and Won Kim (2001) found that 46% of problem gamblers are triggered to gamble via advertising. The launch advertisements also contained emotional appeals. Leading up to this tagline are a series of emotional appeals which aim to promote positive feeling toward the brand. Advertisements feature imagery designed to evoke patriotic

feeling such as the inclusion of the baggy green (see figure 1.1). Furthermore almost all of tomwaterhouse.com advertising features references to the ‘family’ business, which are included as a subtext of emotional appeals to humanize the company in an industry with significant image problems. The creative strategy for the launch required both emotional and rational appeals to overcome respective challenges as outlined above. Rational appeals are used to overcome the challenge of raising awareness whilst emotional appeals are used to distract from the negative aspects of the gambling industry. The message cleverly combines both appeals into an attention getting message and memorable message.

Execution Reflecting the need to raise awareness of the new product the communications for the launch use an informative execution strategy. Consumers who are highly involved in a product respond well to informative advertising, as discussed earlier gamblers have a 90% recall of gambling advertising (Griffiths, 2005) which would suggest high involvement. Correct placement of informative advertising is crucial (Clow and Baack, 2012) as such the campaign primarily advertised during sporting events that are complimentary to the service offering. For the company it is prudent to advertise to this particular audience as it ensured the message was reaching the right target market. Advertisements during the launch also feature an authoritative executional framework, appealing to the family association with racing and his personal experience (Waterhouse, 2012). Waterhouse adds to his own personal authority by including his renowned mother Gai Waterhouse and mentioning his family history in the industry stretching back four generations (Waterhouse, 2012). Launching the new service platform and expanding the offerings has required Waterhouse to position himself as an authority across many sports. To overcome this new challenge Waterhouse has closely aligned himself with the Wallabies and Sydney Swans Waterhouse is an official partner of the wallabies providing live betting market updates during the broad cast and the Sydney Swans appear in his ‘In the blood’ commercial (Waterhouse, 2012). Sport sponsorship is an important component of communication for commercial gambling providers and provides them with a large mainstream audience (Lamont, Hing & Gainsbury, 2011). Due to high consumer involvement and the need to raise awareness an informative execution framework is appropriate for the launch campaign. Coupled with well planned advertising placement and the authority the company has established in the market prior to launching the execution of the brand is appropriate.

Media Mix The media strategy for the launch was extensive and is detailed in table 1.1. The extensive nature of the campaign is consistent with the launch of a new product (service) as being critical to its success (IBM, 2006). Table 1.1 IMC media mix for tomwaterhouse.com Type Channel Vehicle Mass media

Television During sport e.g. AFL, NRL, racing coverage, Wallabies matches etc.

Interactive Website Tomwaterhouse.com is the service platform Interactive Social

media Facebook pages and twitter account (see appendix A)

Interactive Social media

Facebook ads (see figure 1.5a, 1.5b and Appendix B)

Interactive Website Beat the Barron competition an opportunity to win betting credit

Interactive Search engines

Google ads (see appendix C)

Direct Email Offering $25 refund on Wallabies bet to ARU members (see figure 1.4)

PR Television Appearing on sporting programs such as the Wide world of sports, during channel 7 coverage of Wallabies matches, Wimbeldon and as co-host of Sportsline (Sky Business)

PR Radio Regular guest of Alan Jones, radio 2GB PR Television Host #top1030 event which received significant

television coverage As established Waterhouse is the human brand for the company, allowing significant PR opportunities. PR for the company complements the advertising messages because appearances by Waterhouse as an expert tipster are favorable to the organizations brand image. The extensive IMC media mix is appropriate to launch a new product, providing significant reach and frequency to consumers. Targeted message channels such as during sport matches deliver the message to the relevant audience, limiting excess reach. Most importantly as the website is an interactive platform there is an emphasis on interactive marketing. The need for the company to be careful regarding reach can be attributed to recent spoofs appearing on YouTube (see appendix D) where the frequency of the advertisements is likened to a brain invasion. According to an Upstream (2012) report 28% of customers would respond less favorably to customers and 20% would stop using products entirely. It is therefore crucial the company carefully consider the future advertising ventures so as not to harm the brand identity in the future.

Recommendations and conclusions The launch of the website has been very successful (Elliot, 2012), that would imply a successful IMC campaign raising awareness and providing consumers with information. The frequency and reach of the media mix is impressive for a product launch. It has however meant the brand has been ridiculed on YouTube (Appendix D). Scaling down the advertisements, especially mass media television during sporting matches may prevent further attention from disgruntled sports fans. As King et al (2010) highlights adolescent gambling via online channels is a serious social. Due to the extensive coverage on popular sporting events and Waterhouse’s own media exposure it would be impossible to argue the advertisements would not be appealing to those under 18. To mitigate any attention from interest groups it may be worthwhile considering including messages say you must be over 18 years old to place bets. As discussed above Griffin (2005) argues gambling advertising has serious social ramifications, it may be worthwhile considering including a message regarding gambling responsibly. To further address this issue it would be prudent to cease offering refunds on bets such as those contained in figure 1.4. The launch of the website was successful from an integrated marketing communications perspective. In differentiating the brand from other online bookmaking companies by appearing in the advertising along side clever messages balancing emotional and rational appeals Waterhouse mitigated the worst of the negative attention often experienced by such institutions. It would be recommended as discussed above to consider including messages surrounding responsible gambling and reducing frequency to minimize harm in term of youthful audiences.

References Belch, G., & Belch, M. (2012). Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Perspective. California: McGraw Hiil.

Clow, K., & Baack, D. (2012). Integrated Advertising, Promotion, and Marketing Communications. England: Pearson. Clow, K., Poy, D., & Hershey, L. (2008). A comparison of the Incidence of Advertising Strategies in Business-Related Magazines. Services Marketing Quarterly, 23(4), 65-80. Desai, K., & Hoyer, W. (1993). Line Extensions: A A Categorization and an Information Processing Perspective. Advances in Consumer Research, 20, 599-606. Elliott, T. (2012). Some say bookmaker Tom Waterhouse is too young, too rich and too lucky. Will his wager on online gambling pay off?, Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/celebrity/a- serious-man-20120521-1yzqv.html Gainsbury, S. (2010). Response to the Productivity Commission Report into gambling: online gaming and the Interactive Gambling Act Gambling Research, 22(2), 3-12. Giddens, N. (2010). Building Your Brand with Brand Line Extensions. Missouri Value-added Development Center, University of Missouri, C5-52(July).

Grant, J., & Kim, S. W. (2001). Demographic and clinical features of 131 pathological gamblers. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 62, 957-962. Griffiths, M. (2005). Does Gambling Advertising Contribute to Problem Gambling? International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, 3(2), 15-25. Interactive Gambling Act (2001). Commonwealth Government of Australia. IBM. (2006). The Perfect product launch: innovation drives growth in the consumer products industry. New York: IBM.

King, D., Delfabbro, P., & Griffiths, M. (2010). The Convergence of Gambling and Digital Media: Implications for Gambling in Young People. Journal of Gambling Studies, 26, 175-187. Laskey, H., Day, E., & Crask, M. (1989). Typology of Main Message Strategies for Television Commercials. Journal of Advertising, 18(1), 36-41. Lamont, M., Hing, N., & Gainsbury, S. (2011). Gambling on sport sponsorship: a conceptual framework for research and regulatory review. Sport Management Review, 14, 246-257.

Lee, Y., & O'Conner, G. (2003). The Impact of Communication Strategy on Launching New Products: The Moderating Role od Product Innovativeness. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 20, 4. Ozgit, A. (2005). The Bookie Puzzle: Auction versus Dealer Makrets in Online Sports Betting. Department of Economics, UCLA, Septermber. Rindova, V., Pollock, T., & Haywood, M. (2006). Celebrity firms: The social construction of market popularity. Academy of Management Review, 31(1), 279-292. Ruiz, S., & Sicilia, M. (2004). The impact of cognitive and/or affective processing styles on consumer responce to advertising appeals. Journal of Business Research, 57(2), 657-664. Straughan, D., Bleske, G., & Zhao, X. (1996). Modeling Format and Source Effects of an Advocacy Message. Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, 73(1). Thomson, M. (2006). Human Brands: Investigating Antecedents to Consumers' Strong Attachments to Celebrities. Journal of Marketing, 70(3), 104-119. Ustream (Producer). (2012, 10/09/2012). The consequences of digital ad bombardment. [Report] Waterhouse, T. (2012). The Story. Retrieved 06/09/2012, 2012, from http://tomsplace.tomwaterhouse.com/#/story Waterhouse, T. (2012). Sports betting. Retrieved 06/09/2012, 2012, from https://www.tomwaterhouse.com/default.asp?mode=sports

Appendix A – tomwaterhouse.com social media pages

URL: https://www.facebook.com/TomWaterhouseSportsBetting

URL: https://twitter.com/TW_Bet

Appendix B – Various facebook Advertisments

Appendix C – Google Advertisement

Appendix D – Spoof Ad

URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FISOY8iO4sA