A leading b
ookmaker and gaming brands’ new advertising campaign uses music, nostalgia, and sporting legends to reposition it as a creator of memorable social occasions. The TAB television, online and radio campaign began in August.
TAB is particularly well known among punters in New Zealand.
The adverts feature real sport-loving punters singing Bon Jovi’s 1994 power ballad Always to Australian sport legends Greg Hall, Chris Judd, and Mark Geyer while reliving their memorable betting moments.
According to TAB’s chief marketing officer, Claire Murphy, the advertising campaign tapped into Australian culture and the social side of betting on sports. Murphy said that the bookmaker viewed betting as something that created social currency, and not as financial transactions only.
She hoped the adverts would call to mind good memories that the bookmaker helped create in various locations.
Paul Nagy, executive creative director for campaign creator Clemenger BBDO, said that Australians could be summed up as people who love beer, the beach and betting. This love of the good life, he felt, was expressed perfectly by the bookmaker’s brand.
For more than 20 years, TAB has provided punters with myriad land-based and online betting and gaming opportunities. The bookmaker was listed on the Australian Securities Exchange in 1994, and initially focused on betting.
Diversification began in 1999, when the bookmaker acquired the Star City Hotel and Casino in Sydney. A year later, the bookmaker acquired Structured Data Systems, a developer of keno, gaming and wagering software.
In 2003 and 2004, TAB expanded its operations into New South Wales and Queensland by merging with Jupiters Limited and taking over Tab Limited.
The bookmaker has paid as much attention to its online and mobile platforms as it has to expanding its land-based operations. Its website and apps provide punters with a large range of sport and racing markets such as cricket, rugby, football, horseracing and greyhound racing.
More than 300 000 punters use its pay TV, online and telephonic bookmaker services, while its Android and iOS apps have been downloaded more than 400 000 times in Australia alone.
