Social Marketing of a Problem Gambling Awareness Campaign

Background:  This session will present the success and impact the State of Ohio and stakeholders generated for a public health-focused responsible gambling awareness campaign – “Be the 95%”. Ohio experienced major gambling industry growth with 11 new casino-style destinations added in 2012-13. The Ohio Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services Bureau of Problem Gambling worked with the behavioral health system and the state’s gambling commissions to ensure quality array of services. In 2014-15 system stakeholders came together to assess gaps, and the theme, “lack of community awareness and readiness” became evident. Additionally, an outside researcher found a consciousness void in place of problem gambling as a public health issue.

Program background:  Stakeholders worked together over eight months to develop an awareness message and campaign that launched in August 2015. Finding common ground among prevention and public health professionals, clinicians, gambling regulators and gambling promoters was difficult, but Ohio eventually built a consensus message of responsible gambling and how to get help for those in need. Chosen target populations were influencers of at-risk individuals and males ages 18-25, a group at highest risk of experiencing a problem. Focus group testing determined the nationally award-winning message. “Be the 95%: If YOU gamble, be the 95% who gamble responsibly.” The 95% came from the results of a 2012 statewide Ohio Gambling Survey. The multi-modal campaign offers tips on responsible gambling, a “take the quiz” feature to self-assess risk, and information to promote awareness and how to get help for one’s self, friends or family. Key to success is a Community Toolkit with various media and social media posts; all that can be customized for local use.

Evaluation Methods and Results:  Ohio undertook an online pre-survey before campaign launch. Then, with the goal to drive behavioral change and awareness within the community, a microsite (the95percent.org) was developed to engage as many people in the conversation around problem gambling as possible. Through research-driven tactics, this campaign reached groundbreaking results, creating the following metrics from October 2015 through March 2017 (16 months):

• 133,155,293 estimated campaign impressions
• 105,093 site visits
• 249,509 page views
• 15,033 sessions for online quiz
• 2,786 Community Toolkit visits (leading to $320K+ in local media buys from stakeholders in 2016)

Conclusions:  Building community buy-in is a challenge, but success results in maximizing resources towards the broad dissemination of education focused on what the community needs to hear for change to occur. Without extensive work with stakeholders, this campaign would have only made a ripple.

Implications for research and/or practice:  We found marked success in utilizing positive public health messages to better engage the public. Including community partners from the beginning of the research, planning and testing phase of the process, lead to greater participation later in the campaign - building future champions and channels for the message. Lastly, by implementing a number of technologies to deliver the message, we reached audiences on new levels, creating multiple pathways and tools that they could not only interact with, but use regularly.