Pulse
Do you know gaming? ECA promotes industry awareness
By Lewis - 5 November 2019
Did you know that the total economic impact of ECA member casinos is estimated at over €22 billion per year, or that the licensed land-based casino industry plays an important role in preserving the rich cultural heritage of Europe? These are some of the key messages the European Casino Association has been raising awareness for on its social media channels over recent months in a bid to promote a better understanding of the industry to the wider public. Using figures from the ECA Economic Impact Report, the “Did you know” campaign has sought to dispel some of the myths surrounding the casino industry. The campaign raised awareness of how the industry is determined to combat illegal gambling through regulation and of the Responsible Gambling Certification the ECA issues to its most diligent members following a strict third-party audit. The campaign also tackled a number of wider issues, including compliance, anti-money laundering and the industry’s economic contribution to wider society.
The ECA has reported that the campaign, active from May to September on the ECA’s LinkedIn and Twitter profiles, has been a great success. Posts concerning tourism and the array of entertainment available at modern casinos proved most popular, while issues surrounding the total economic impact of ECA members garnered less traction. Overall, the ECA has reported that the campaign obtained the desired reach and engagement from users. Whilst the campaign might be over, the ECA is set to continue its work promoting the casino industry, responsible gambling and gender diversity through its communication activities over the coming months. Explaining the rationale behind the social media campaign, G3 interviews the European Casino Association’s Chairman, Per Jaldung.
Could you tell us a bit about what inspired the campaign?
The campaign is part of the ECA’s strategy to stay relevant and transparent: for a long time, the industry has been surrounded by misconceptions leading to a negative impact for the industry itself and everyone involved in it. Furthermore, with the global growth of gambling, it is fundamental to distinguish the licensed and legitimate industry from the illegal and grey one. We are proud of this initiative and look forward to more.
Why promote the campaign on social media as opposed to traditional advertising channels?
Social media is an extremely powerful tool for businesses and associations: it can be used to inform, drive loyalty and growth whilst promoting the industry they represent directly to a large audience base. On the other hand, traditional advertising channels address a specific audience consisting mainly of companies and suppliers within the industry. The aim of our campaign was not to advertise, but to promote a better understanding of the casino industry. In this regard, it was essential to take into account Brussels’ communication and political landscape: policymakers and other relevant stakeholders make regular use of social media not only to share the latest news, but also to create a buzz around a topic or generate lively discussions. The ECA decided to leverage the reach of social networks to offer a glimpse of the reality of the licensed land-based casino industry and bust some of the myths surrounding it.
What did you set out to achieve with this campaign and have you met your goals? How do you correlate success within the context of social media?
First and foremost, the goal of the campaign was to spread key messages related to the licensed land-based casino industry to a targeted audience. This was to improve people’s understanding of it, but also to demonstrate the substantial efforts of the industry in compliance. The ECA is not very well known beyond the industry’s inner circle and most people ignore the industry’s commitments to responsible gambling, compliance and impact on local communities.
The facts and figures from the economic impact study provide strong support in dispelling some of the misconceptions surrounding our industry. We also aimed to increase the visibility of the association, which is why we measured the success of the campaign with the impressions obtained on Twitter and LinkedIn, that is, how many times our posts were viewed on the two social networks. In this respect, we can confirm the campaign was a great success. It is also worth mentioning that many stakeholders are hesitant to ‘like’ casino industry posts. However, our aim was not to generate likes, but to spread facts and knowledge.
Which messages from the campaign resonated the strongest and which struggled to engage the audience – and why?
Many people perceive land-based casinos as not offering a wide variety of entertainment beyond gambling, whilst the opposite is true. This explains the success of the posts related to tourism, leisure and culture. On the other hand, we had less engagements when it came to spreading awareness about the social and economic impact of the industry on communities. Undoubtedly, it is more difficult to engage an audience while talking about figures and intangible numbers. This is something we will consider for our future campaigns and communications.
Why set a time limit for the campaign? Will we see a continuation of this campaign in the future?
The campaign is based on an industry economic impact study pertaining to a certain amount of facts and figures. We have selected the most relevant messages of the report that relate to our target audience, supported this with an image and distributed them on Twitter and LinkedIn on a weekly basis. In total, we have published 17 “Did You Know?” facts and two factsheets. This content will shortly be uploaded on our official website for future reference. Whilst working on diversifying the way in which we convey these positive messages, we are also working on a new project which we will reveal in early 2020. In addition, we are planning to be active at ICE in February.
Is the ECA membership putting enough financial support behind such campaigns to reach wider audiences and really change the perception of the industry?
The economic impact study provided us with a solid basis on which to build a communications campaign that could leverage the modern methods of communication to change the perception of the industry. Whilst initial investment in the report was substantial, the campaign which followed was carried out at minimum cost leading to increased visibility and engagement, with the full support of our 30 ECA members.
