Julia Nemtseva, AdConsul: ‘No bad advertising at the World Cup’

Betting and gambling advertising uses a rather restricted set of tools, but it does not affect the quality. That is the opinion of Julia Nemtseva, the managing partner at AdConsul. We talked to her about the specifics of the gambling advertising, the influence of the Russian advertising legislation on the gambling business and prospects of the industry offered by the FIFA World Cup.

Julia is a highly skilled lawyer. In 2008, she became a co-chairman of the lawyers section at the Association of Communication Agencies of Russia (ACAR). Currently, she is providing expert international consultancy services on advertising and media law in Russia. Julia is a member of the Expert Council on application of advertising and competition law of the Federal Antimonopoly Service, a board member of the Advertising Federation of Regions. Author of MBA programs in advertising law of MIRBIS Institute.

Interviewer: Russian Gaming Week (RGW)
Speaker: Julia Nemtseva (J.N.)

RGW: Hello, Julia! Your agency AdConsul focuses on the advertising of restricted products such as gambling, alcohol, pharmacy, umbrella brands, etc. Why have you chosen such a difficult path?

J.N.: Our agency carries out legal review of ads: we check whether they comply with the Russian legislation. It is a difficult and very precise characterization of an advertising object, being a basis for any advertising campaign. Such complex objects as gambling, alcohol products, etc. have higher risks in case of the incorrect characterization of an object, and the work of experts is more difficult and interesting.

AdConsul offers the expert review of advertising materials aimed to determine whether they comply with the advertising law, program policy of mass media, advertising market’s practices, and placement of advertising campaigns in a single package.

RGW: What percentage of your customer base accounts for bookmakers and organizers of gambling?

J.N.: Approximately half of our partners are customers from the betting and gambling industry.

RGW: Bookmakers have access to different advertising tools: television, radio, Internet, printed media. How do you think which channel of communication with the target audience is the most efficient?

J.N.: Efficiency of the channel or split channels depends on the goals of the advertiser and the budget. Sometimes Channel One gives good results, and sometimes – the website of a sports media.

RGW: In one of the interviews, you said that advertising was getting more personalized. How can Russian bookmakers customize advertising taking into consideration that they have a restricted set of advertising tools?

J.N.: Even with a restricted set of advertising tools, one can build efficient targeted campaigns and communicate the message to the specific group of potential or real customers to incentivize them to make certain actions. Advertising is an excellent manipulative tool if you know how to use it.

RGW: What has changed in the gambling advertising laws in 2018?

J.N.: Article 27 of the Federal law on advertising has not been changed during this period. We can rather see a wider interpretation of its provisions by bookmakers when they create and place advertising campaigns. Time and practice will show to what extent this interpretation complies with the law.

RGW: The law about contributions of betting companies to sport has been valid for a year. Could you summarize, please: what has changed?

J.N.: Having received an additional source of income, clubs, leagues, and federations are learning to handle commercial money. In our opinion, this is a rather complicated and interesting process for both parties – sport and its commercial partners. Sports institutes will gain benefits:

• create a high-quality product for sponsors quicker;
• sell the product;
• provide comprehensive customer support over the time of the deal;
• enhance their product without any harm to the quality of communications.

RGW: Did you monitor the advertising campaigns of bookmakers during the FIFA World Cup? In your opinion, which betting houses have used the event to the full? Could you name the most successful and disastrous concepts?

J.N.: The strongest advertising campaigns, in our opinion, were run on television. These are advertising campaigns of such bookmakers as Fonbet, Winline, Liga Stavok, and Leon. Millions of people watched the Russian TV channels during the FIFA World Cup. We already know the figures and they are impressive.

We think that disastrous stories are impossible at the World Cup in terms of media. Betting companies face a rather difficult task now – to retain the audience gained during the information attack and transform it into the category of active customers. Wish them good luck!

Read more interviews with the main experts of the gambling business on the website of Russian Gaming Week.