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Copyright 2005 Haymarket Publishing Services
Ltd
Marketing
June 2, 2005
HEADLINE: PARTY POKER - 'POKER FACE'
BYLINE: By Caroline Jones Group head, press
buying, Starcom Mediavest
BODY:
The card game of poker is shaping up as fuel for the next dotcom
boom, as more and more people are starting to play
online. With the lack of accessible casinos in this country,
home games are becoming more and more popular - but not as popular
as internet poker, which is in the midst of a worldwide boom,
helped in part by the proliferation of reliable at-home broadband
connections. Party Poker is the biggest of several online
poker rooms competing for a share of this lucrative new market.
To launch itself in the UK, Party Poker chose to use a combination
of outdoor and press advertising. The creative draws on an interesting
consumer insight: in a face-to-face game of poker it is very easy
for a player to give away 'tells' - unconscious signs that you
are bluffing or holding a strong hand.
Expert poker players
can pick up on anything from the way you stack your chips or sip
your drink through to a visible quickening of the pulse in your
neck. Online poker gets rid of all these aspects, because you
can't see your opponent. It also opens up the opportunity to play
against thousands of different people from all over the globe.
The campaign's strapline, 'Got a bad poker face?', combined with
the brilliant picture card creative will, over time, prove to
be its unique selling point. In a young and rapidly growing market
there is the need to differentiate and Party Poker has successfully
done so. It also adapted the creative to run around the election,
with ads featuring the main party leaders, reinforcing the 'fun'
element of the brand.
The campaign broke with a big splash in the national press, running
several different creatives in one issue. Targeting upper-class
men, the work ran across all the quality dailies, as well as in
Metro, the London Evening Standard and The Sun. This was a clever
tactic as it enabled Party Poker to achieve standout in an otherwise
cluttered environment and avoided the annoyance factor, as the
creative executions were all different and enjoyable.
The campaign then moved over to outdoor, where the theme continued,
allowing Party Poker to reach a commuting audience in a big format.
Going forward, Party Poker has developed a great 'entertainment'
base which it can extend into many different media and marketing
disciplines.
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