Which One Of The Gang Are You? Find Out In BBH's 'The Ladbrokes Life'

On Saturday 26th April Ladbrokes, one of the world’s leading betting and gaming companies, launched a new campaign which aims to stand out from the category by celebrating the bettors who lead ‘The Ladbrokes Life’. The work is the first from BBH London since the agency was appointed in January following a competitive pitch. 

The new campaign is a real step change for Ladbrokes and the category as a whole. BBH has created a unique positioning which takes Ladbrokes away from the bet (screaming odds/shouting prices), and focuses on the bettor - celebrating the admirable characteristics that having a bet signifies. 

‘The Ladbrokes Life’ heroes five characters who each represent a different quality and type of bettor. The Professor symbolises knowledge, he leaves nothing to chance, calculating everything down to the last detail. The Gut Truster is known for his intuition, whereas Mr Brightside’s glass is always half full as he believes that betting’s just for fun. Generous John’s friends are what he treasures most, and when he wins, he wants to share the win, whilst there’s no challenge the Believer won’t take on. He’s the guy who loves the underdog, the big accumulators and the long odds. 

The characters are championed across all aspects of the campaign including press, outdoor, social and TV. The campaign launches with a 60 second film shot by Gary Freeman of the Glue Society - a group of directors and artists based in Sydney and New York. The Glue Society have directed an extraordinary array of award-winning work including Doritos Dip Desperado and are currently ranked number 2 in the world by The Gunn Report. Five 30 second adverts which hero the individual characters will roll out over the year. 

Sam Oliver and Shish Patel, Creative Directors at BBH London said: “It's not a very PC thing to say these days but betting is fun. When not taken to excess of course. It's exciting, it's social and it's full of interesting characters. Ladbrokes has been around for over a hundred years and knows the betting man better than anyone. We wanted to show that in the work and to speak out for all of us who like a flutter.”

Andy May, Brand, Research & Retail Marketing Director at Ladbrokes commented: “Our challenge was to rise above the general noise in the market.  We’re already delivering dramatic improvements in our products and services, and it’s time to make a real statement and say to customers that Ladbrokes understand you, knows what you like and how you bet.”

Dan Staples, Head of Brand & Advertising at Ladbrokes and Guy Tal, Head of Offline Marketing at Ladbrokes Israel confirmed: “We knew we had to be bold. The sector approach is to be loud and brash with a single focus on the moment of the bet. We’ve created characters based on real customer behaviour and we’re portraying the betting man in a positive light.”

Credits

Client: Andy May, Brand, Research & Retail Marketing Director 

Dan Staples, Head of Brand & Advertising 

Guy Tal, Head of Offline Marketing at Ladbrokes Israel

BBH Creative Teams: Simon Pearse & Emmanuel Saint M’Leux, Drew Haselhurst & Dan Dehlavi

BBH Creative Director: Sam Oliver & Shish Patel

BBH Deputy ECD:  David Kolbusz

BBH Producer: Rachel Hough

BBH Team Manager: Katie Vine

BBH Team Director: Tim Harvey

BBH Strategic Business Lead: Neil Yoxall

BBH Strategy Director: Ben Shaw

BBH Global Director of Engagement Planning: Kevin Brown

Film Credits:

BBH Producer: Rachel Hough

BBH Assistant Producer: Karen Fung

Production Company: Independent

Director: Gary Freedman - The Glue Society

Production Company MD: Jani Guest

Producer: Jason Kemp

DoP: Stéphane Fontaine 

Post Production: The Mill

Editor/Editing House: The Playroom

Sound: Sam Ashwell @ 750 mph

Illustrator: Jimmy Turrell