For the Washington DSHS Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Jones Advertising is making a big impact with a small budget. Our research showed that gambling addiction increases the younger a person begins to gamble. To address this trend, Jones created a campaign for youth gambling prevention, but parents were unaware of the risks involved with youth gambling and worse yet, didn't feel gambling addiction was a legitimate concern. After focus testing ads that compared gambling with better-known addictions, we hit the mark with mothers of kids 12-18 creating award-winning spots and a dedicated web site. With a small annual budget we generated a phenomenal 55 million high-quality media impressions and tens of thousands of unique hits on the Notagame.org web site.
Not a Game
DSHS: PSA "Not A Game"
Washington DSHS
Relaxed gambling laws and broader cultural acceptance have been contributing to an increase in the number of adult problem gamblers. The Washington Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) had a limited budget to reach the entire state of Washington on all problem gambling awareness issues. Past advertising efforts had been limited to reaching adults on low-cost transit advertising, promoting the problem gambling helpline.
To respond, we created an award-winning television campaign targeted at mothers of kids in the at-risk age groups of 12 to 18 years of age. We also created and promoted a new education website dedicated to the issues of youth problem gambling. With startling creative, we highlighted to parents that gambling is a risky behavior just like drugs and alcohol. An unprecedented advertising and PR effort got the story out to millions of parents.
With a small public-service budget, we created more than 55 million high-quality media impressions (in a state of only 5 million people). More than 7,000 concerned parents visited the website in a single month, and traffic averaged more than 3,000 unique visitors per month during the two-year campaign (compared to the benchmark of 90 monthly phone calls).
“The work that Jones Advertising did for this campaign was well-researched, original, and certainly creative... Thank you for what you have done to promote problem gambling awareness and for surpassing our expectations in your creative work and contractual agreement. DASA appreciates your dedication and diligence.”—David A Dickinson
M.A., Director Washington Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse