Betfair celebrates trailblazing heritage with new brand platform that empowers customers to make the game their own

LONDON 2024:  Betfair, one of the world’s largest international online sports betting providers and part of the world’s biggest entertainment company, Flutter, has today launched a new brand positioning and brand platform developed with their creative agency partner, Pablo.

The new platform ‘Play Different’ was born out of customer insights gathered as part of a multi-part study that measured components such as key motivations and drivers in the market and brand associations.

It celebrates those who challenge the status quo and embrace unconventional thinking – something that in the world of sport is championed and celebrated and resonates well with customers. It is rooted in Betfair’s heritage as the original trailblazer in the category who were born from unconventional thinking and transformed the sports betting industry.

Since its inception in 2000, Betfair has pushed the betting industry forward, always doing things differently, and finding ways for betting to be driven and owned by the bettors. This all started with the birth of the Betfair Exchange, shunning traditional bookmakers with its revolutionary invention, which offered customers a way to set their own odds for the very first time. Betfair’s ground-breaking heritage remains and they have continued to up the ante with first-to-market product innovations including ‘In-Play’,  ‘Cash Out’, ‘Price Rush’,  ‘Acca Edge’ and ‘90-Minute Payout’.

Betfair now has the richest and most varied betting experience on the market, across a Sportsbook and an Exchange and today,  when bettors are looking for a way to get the edge and have more control, Betfair enables bettors to make the game their own, constantly improving the experience by empowering their players with more choice, more options and more ways to safely play – so they can play the game, the way they want.

Play Different debuts with a through-the-line campaign which launches at the pinnacle of this year’s sporting calendar, the UEFA Euros tournament. The campaign comes to life via a one-of-a-kind commercial that is designed to break away from the traditional betting ad conventions, harnessing the roguish charm and contagious creativity of viral trick shot sensations.

Set against the backdrop of a vibrant yellow sports arena, the commercial features a dynamic troupe of skillsters finding new ways to play and delivering jaw dropping feats – from backflip bicycle kicks to somersault slam dunks, they effortlessly pass the ball in a mesmerising sequence.

Filmed by over 28 live cameras, the captivating spectacle showcases real sport trick shots untouched by visual effects, leaving audiences questioning: ‘Did they really just pull that off?” The voiceover declares ‘There’s more than one way to play. Betfair, Play Different,’ to the backdrop of an original composition by Duncan Hamilton.

Richard Hayward, Managing Director, Betfair said: “We’re incredibly proud of our latest campaign with Pablo. We embarked on this project, looking to create a positioning that truly resonated with our customers. Our customers love to play different and use Betfair to do so, it was a natural fit. The Euros is a busy period for customers, so we wanted to lead with a stand-out campaign that feels different from the category. We’re excited to see the new platform launch and the future ahead, this is just the beginning”

The TVC is complemented by OOH, radio, social media and digital activity that has been created in collaboration with Flutter Creative, plus a stream of content and advice from Betfair’s experts and pundits throughout the Euros tournament – all under the umbrella ‘Play Different, it’s what we do’.

The spot was directed by ManVsMachine through Friend London, with post-production and sound from Rascal.

The launch will be followed by subsequent campaigns and activations including a Safer Gambling and Racing campaign.

Tim Snape, Executive Creative Director at Pablo said: “When creating a new brand platform for Betfair, we knew it needed to be something extra special. Something that championed their trailblazing heritage and celebrated how they ripped up the rule book back in 2000 as the original category disruptor. The ‘Play Different’ platform perfectly embodies this challenger spirit and our launch campaign for the Euros is no different. For the centrepiece TVC, we brought together our own super squad of game changers to help us assemble 7 challenging trick shots together to pull off one mega trick shot. The challenge here was to join 7 individual trick shots into one never attempted before super trick shot. It’s fair to say, to create this new campaign we’ve embodied and lived up to Betfair’s ‘Play Different’ spirit; starting with the concept, and all the way through the production, we’ve challenged ourselves and our partners to create something distinctly different.”

Link to 30” TV Asset: https://we.tl/t-haUmbrwKuW

Link to TTL assets: https://we.tl/t-hgxJSFf6Tf

Credits

Brand:

Chief Commercial Officer Betfair UKI & Chief Marketing Services Officer Flutter UKI: Charlotte Booth

Managing Director: Richard Hayward

Interim Head Brand, Campaign & Media: Anna Glyn-Davies

Senior Marketing Manager: Chris Hughes

Senior Marketing Executive: Oscar Solomon

Rich Duke – Head of Art & Copy

Marcus Richardson – Head of Film & Motion

Bernadette Doyle – Head of Creative Service

Niall Murphy – Creative Manager

Rich Lord – Creative Manager

Victoria Tennant – Lead Creative

Gerard Kelly – Creative Services Executive

Pete Dawson  – Motion Designer

Agency:

Executive Creative Director: Tim Snape

Creatives: Martins Miller, David Carr, Adam Reinke, Gustavo Bonzanini

Planning Director: Chris Turner

Planner: Oliver Edridge

Joint Managing Director: Harriet Knight

Senior Account Director: Charlotte Johnson

Account Director: Tom Penrose

Senior Project Manager: Kelly Watts

Head of TV Production: Tom Moxham

TV Producer: Pete Thornton

Production Partners:

Production Company: Friend

Director: Mike Sharpe and Liam Waters at ManVsMachine

Executive Producer: Kat Armour-Brown

Producer: Campbell Beaton

Production Manager: Natalie Uglow

Director Of Photography: Thomas English

Production Service : Marcin Nowak @Lucky Luciano

Editor: Thomas Goldser @Avenue

Edit producer: Amanda Jenkins

Post-Production: Rascal Post

Post Producer: Hazel Gibson

Creative Director: Markus Lundqvist

2D Lead: Jason Farrow

2D: Holly McLean

3D Lead: Daniel Westerlund

Motion Graphics: Matt Osbourne

VFX Producer: Hazel Gibson

Colourist: James Bamford

Colour Producer: Jai Durban

Executive Producer: Matt Towell

Head of Production: James Beck

Sound Engineer: Neil Johnson @Rascal Sound

Sound Producer: Amie Nedwell

Music Supervisor: Paul Brown @Mr Pape

Composer: : Duncan Hamilton

About Pablo

Pablo is an independent, brand-led creative agency based in London, voted Campaign Magazine’s 2022 Independent Agency of the Year and Global Independent Agency of the Year. The ego-free home of the ‘humble radicals’, Pablo is helmed by well-respected industry figureheads with a versatile array of specialisms and is uniquely structured to support continual changes in the increasingly pressurised marketing landscape. Pablo has one humble ambition which is to create talked about ideas that drive brand and commercial growth. They work with a broad range of clients from Carlsberg to DFS and Deliveroo.