The new, independent charity that aims to eliminate problem gambling from society turned to SomeOne’s expertise in the charity sector to develop and launch the new brand.
While gaming and gambling contribute to both the economy and to many peoples levels of enjoyment — the UK lags in its understanding of how the sector affects the population.
The Charity, launched in April 2021, sets out to address the lack of data surrounding gaming and gambling positive and negative impact.
We hope that our findings will galvanise research institutions and policymakers into commissioning further work to fill the gaps.
Uniquely — the new charity aims to base its communications and efforts around data, rather than opinion. Keeping a close eye on shifting trends and offering up new levels of clarity for the sector.
The charities first report, was submitted this April to the government, as part of its review of the Gambling Act 2005.
The researchers looked at four key aspects of gambling in the UK and found all lack crucial evidence.
The NHS, local authority social care and wider adult services, as well as prisons, are all being asked to include gambling as part of their remit. They are developing and financing initiatives involving staff training, screening, signposting and support for gamblers and others who are affected.
However, the study found only one piece of UK-based research that attempted to quantify the cost of such initiatives to the public purse, and this was limited to only a small number of areas in which problem gamblers come into contact with support services.
The researchers also found very little evidence on the negative outcomes of gambling among children and adolescents in the UK – although much more research has been carried out into these issues internationally.
The report stresses the need for more longitudinal studies, which track children’s gambling behaviour over time. Such studies are particularly vital, it says, given the extensive exposure of children today to gambling marketing, and the gambling-like aspects of some online games played by children and teens.
The study found there is a historic male bias in research into gambling harms, in part because gambling is often seen as a male issue, which means women are less likely to come forward for treatment.
However, more and more women are beginning to gamble, as the industry attempts to “feminise” gambling products and venues.
Australia, New Zealand, Canada and mainland Europe have done most of the relevant research into the harms of gambling to women, the study says, while there is a clear gap in the UK literature.
Research “may be struggling to keep pace” with advances in gambling on sport, the study warns, as online betting and new gambling opportunities, such as daily fantasy sports, mean the situation is fast-evolving, creating difficulties in assessing any harms caused.
But while research into the wider damage associated with this kind of gambling is scarce, there is evidence of a link between betting on sport and problematic gambling, the study says.
It was important to represent the client as an impartial authority – one that specialises in delivering powerful data that can drive change. As a result we were drawn to the idea of data being behind the brand and even generating the logo. A visual metaphor for how the business behaves. This simple approach has been embraced and amplified to create a new operating system and energetic brand world.