Chapter One
Gambling addiction is one of the most common addictions, harming millions. It can affect anyone, at any time, from all walks of life, and it is caused by products that are addictive and marketing that makes you think it’s safe and normal to gamble. Chapter One is committed to its mission ‘to reduce the harm caused by gambling addiction’.
The campaign focused on young adults aged 18-34 in Greater Manchester, the age group that insight showed is most impacted by gambling harms and utilised a range of digital advertising platforms to reach this target audience.

Date
June - July 2024
Client
Chapter One / Gambling With Lives
Scope of work
- Campaign development & activation
- Creative messaging and copywriting
- Digital Engagement
- Evaluation and framework creation

What we did
Using a highly targeted digital strategy and a set of hard hitting campaign films developed by Press Record, our goal was to encourage young people in Greater Manchester to access life-saving information and support through the Chapter One website. We worked with Press Record to ensure that video content was optimised for digital advertising based on our deep understanding of platform requirements and the type of content that works on social media. We employed a multi-platform strategy, including Google Display, Performance Max, YouTube, Snapchat, and TikTok, tailoring our approach to each platform’s unique strengths.
On Google Display, we targeted specific interests such as football fans, mobile gamers, and financial services seekers, ensuring our ads appeared on relevant web pages, apps, and YouTube channels. Through Performance Max, we reached users through a combination of search, display, and video ads; by targeting interests related to gambling, betting, and football news, Performance Max provided a versatile and effective way to drive traffic to the website. YouTube was a key platform for the age demographic and resulted in a high number of views of the video content by targeting people based on a keen interest in sports and football.





TikTok was another platform for the demographic with the majority of its users being aged under 30. Video content is native to this platform, which made it an ideal platform for advertising the thought-provoking film. We targeted people based on other videos they have engaged with, including the specific categories of casinos and gambling. Snapchat is another platform that is key for both video content and a younger demographic. Snapchat’s unique capabilities to target users based on real-world behaviours made it an incredibly effective tool for reaching those who might be at immediate risk of gambling harm. It also allowed us to target based on other phone activities, including if they are playing casino mobile games.
Chapter One were provided with a bespoke Looker Studio dashboard report, a live data visualisation tool that helps us measure digital campaigns and track metrics, so that the current performance could be reviewed at any time. After the ads had been running for half of the campaign’s full duration, we performed a midway review. At this point, we review the messages, platforms and targeting approaches that are performing best and optimise the campaign based on these findings to improve performance and provide the best value for the budget.
Campaign impact
The Chapter One campaign exceeded expectations, achieving 44,481 clicks at an average CPC of £0.34, surpassing our target estimate of 31,000 clicks at £0.37 CPC. This substantial traffic increase to the Chapter One website indicates a successful outreach to the target audience – people at risk of gambling harms. In addition, we achieved over 2.3 million impressions, showing that, through an effective targeting approach, the video content got in front of the target audience. Snapchat performed particularly well for this campaign, achieving over 18.5k clicks and CPC of £0.17.
Through the detailed evaluation of the campaign, we were also able to identify how the ads performed in comparison to industry averages and which platforms were the most effective for the campaign. We could also identify which videos and copy lines were promoting people to click on the ads, as well as demographic insight about who was engaging with them. Furthermore, we analysed the common themes that came up in the comments left on the videos, to gather direct insight from the target audience.
The campaign’s strategic use of digital platforms and targeted messaging ensured high engagement and levels of traffic to the support and resources on the website. The success of this campaign underscores the importance of targeted digital strategies in reducing the harm caused by gambling addiction.
44,481 clicks
This surpassed our target estimate of 31,000 clicks.
Average CPC of £0.34
This surpassed our target estimate of a CPC of £0.37.
2.3 million impressions
Get in touch with us
Discuss how digital marketing strategies can help your campaign message reach a wider audience and achieve your marketing goals.
Contact UsSee more projects:

Healthier breeds, happier dogs
Reducing the demand for flat-faced breeds by giving potential dog owners the knowledge they need to make informed choices. This digital campaign utilises behaviour change strategies to target key audiences.
Read more
Walk Away
A project to support violence reduction in the night time economy. Research showed that using the power or peer-to-peer intervention could help make nights out safer for everyone.
Read more