Abstract
This is a pivotal time for the gambling sector and it's important that there is a culture change in companies to take the lead both individually and collectively on corporate social responsibility and customer and employee care. It is not sufficient to await regulation and ensure compliance.
The sector must act responsibly and with pace to use its customer understanding and experience to secure the levels of customer, political, and societal trust it needs to generate revenues, employment, investment, and innovation. As chairman of the Senet Group, but also as a businesswoman whose career has been wholly outside of the gambling sector, including many years in retail businesses and more recently as a chairman in sport and a mentor to CEOs/CFOs in multiple sectors, it is useful to take a broader perspective on the complexity of these issues and how we work in partnership to resolve them.
Time for a culture change. That might sound all too familiar for many. But the challenge is real and there is also a very real sense the sector is living on borrowed time if it does not choose to change.
We have relaunched Senet with a new clarity of purpose based on what we have learnt over the last three years, running “When the Fun Stops, Stop” advertising and messaging. This is a campaign with outstanding results, the best of any public health campaign we have ever witnessed, with 80% recognition among the target audience of all gamblers and 50% in the wider population.
We have learnt through other public health campaigns that scare tactics do not work and can backfire badly, so the way forward is to educate, inform, and encourage moderation and responsible play with a particular focus on young players. In-play messaging is a key focus for influencing player behavior as well as more general public information messages, and Senet is leading a cross-industry initiative to improve in-play messaging and interventions.
It is important to differentiate between trade associations like the Remote Gambling Association, Association of British Bookmakers, BACTA (Arcades), Bingo Association, and the National Casino Forum, which play an important role in representing all their members, both large and small, and a body like Senet.
Senet is a coalition of funding partners, not members, so we are not representing the industry. Instead, we are active facilitators across the sector, seeking to make progress towards higher standards across the industry. It is important to ensure smaller companies have a voice but they rarely have the resources to drive the investment in research and education that is needed.
Through broad partnership and general endorsement of the standards work, there is very considerable pressure on all participants to work to the spirit of the best practice and incorporate their social responsibilities into their core operating practices.
The culture of organizations is critical here and healthy, challenging cultures with engaged people should be better able to recruit and retain players through positive customer relationships. Senet is working constructively across the industry and partnering with regulators, companies, interested parties, and representative bodies to move at pace.
The best-run companies understand the concept that you do not always do things “just because you can.” There is plenty of activity that might be legal but would be seriously damaging to reputation, trust, and long-term market value.
It is useful to reflect on other sectors selling a leisure product that can be abused and cause social harm, such as the alcohol sector. When working to support the Portman Group, leading drinks brands talk in terms of “wanting to be here in 100 years” and, mostly, have come to the recognition that different subsectors such as pubs, clubs, restaurants, and retailers maximize their influence and enjoy most respect when they work collaboratively to safeguard their customers, their markets, and their reputation with government and society.
Does the gambling sector yet have an equivalent vision? I fear not and I suspect this is reflected in the terms in which the government is taking forward its current review of stakes, prizes, and social responsibility. A few companies, in their lack of commitment to a voluntary regulatory framework for supporting research, education, and treatment, may result in a statutory regime that is a blunt instrument rather than the industry having a voice and engaging in decisions over where and how we can best safeguard customers and problem gamblers in particular. It is important not to lose sight of all the stakeholders in this, including around 100,000 people directly employed by the industry in the UK.
What Are the Building Blocks to Getting to a Better Place?
Good companies see the lifetime value of customers, not just their potential as short-term customers.
A change in the culture within all the businesses is necessary—and from top down. It is refreshing to listen to chief executives from operators such as Mr Green and Sky Betting and Gaming talking about the commercial, as well as social, benefit of predictive gaming tools and to see the likes of Playtech invest in the BetBuddy analytics business.
It is critical that operators see responsible gambling and social responsibility as integral to their commercial targets and at the center of their business, not as a semi-detached “if we must” activity limited to a few compliance people.
Listen to players—customers want pleasant social environments, entertainment and fun, and to be treated fairly. They value the offer of a deposit limit and clear account information—even if it tells them of losses. Customers understand operators can monitor their play for risks and are not put off by this or by appropriate interventions.
And talk with players—encourage good sense and moderation as part of regular customer dialogue. Too often “responsible gambling conversations” are ones that happen in response to problematic or harmful behaviors. If players are telling operators they value tools that help them manage the services they use, then it is important to have that grown-up conversation when people join services. Clear and transparent communication with customers is essential, supported by technology which helps customers manage their accounts with clear information.
The sector must take the initiative and work together in partnership, and not seem to drag its feet when it comes to innovations that genuinely raise standards in ways that work for players and businesses. However well-intentioned, it is seldom the case that politicians, civil servants, and regulators are best placed to understand trends, anticipate change, and design forward-looking solutions to issues that may still be crystallizing. The question for all sectors is: “Do you want to be part of the solution, or resist, point the finger elsewhere, wait, and take what's given?”
There is a danger that regulation is the “lowest common denominator,” moves slowly, and encourages companies to comply with the letter of the law. The spirit of the standards is critical here, and a positive corporate culture and motivated employees are critical. The best regulation is engaged and informed customer choice which drives commercial outcomes, supported by active self-regulation. This is demonstrated by the UK advertising industry which has operated this model successfully for many years.
I think there is an issue of ownership going forward. For very understandable reasons we have seen the Gambling Commission and the Competitions and Markets Authority intervene with their regulatory powers. We see understandable focus on those who cannot use services without problems and we need to listen to arguments made by those who think different controls are needed, perhaps in relation to the stakes and games we permit. We should not, however, lose sight of the legislative framework within which we operate. Gambling legislation normalized betting and gaming to a very considerable degree, reflecting the wishes of many in society to enjoy this pastime within a regulatory environment that protects the young and vulnerable and establishes the safeguards thought necessary and proportionate. The vast majority of those who gamble do so without serious harm or problems and it feels important we do not lose sight of the need for operators to have the same responsibilities to and engagements with their customers as other providers of goods and services. It would be a negative and unhelpful step if the government and regulators start to take the view this relationship is one in which customers are in need of safeguarding and where businesses reach the view that external checks and balances should replace the responsibilities they have to their customers and the long-term relationships they should value and foster.