Shaquille O’Neal fronts local marketing push for betting app PointsBet
NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has given an insight into his luxurious and busy life in a campaign for online bookmaker PointsBet.
The ads show O’Neal showing off his superior skills woking in a vintage 1970s Camaro, golfing and getting a massage while also using the PointsBet app. Each spot closes with the line ‘It’s Shaq-ing easy to bet anytime, anywhere with the PointsBet app’.
As the winter sports season kicks off in Australia, O’Neal and PointsBet will be up against Mark Wahlberg and his recent appearance in Ladbrokes’ locally-made campaign.
PointsBet’s campaign comes from creative agency Gravity Road, which was appointed to PointsBet’s US account in 2019 and expanded its remit to global creative work in 2020. The creative is not an adaptation of an international campaign, and will only be running in Australia.
“Having a bet on sport or racing is all about fun and entertainment. We wanted our new brand campaign to also be fun and entertaining, and for Shaquille’s larger than life personality to shine through,” PointsBet chief marketing officer, Andrew Fahey said.
“After completely rebuilding our app using the most modern technology and design practices, we get consistent feedback from clients on how fast and easy our app is, which is why ‘Its Shaq-ing Easy with PointsBet’ was chosen as the campaign theme. We can’t wait to get all the ads in the market and are very confident punters will enjoy watching them.”
Gravity Road co-founder, Mark Boyd, added: “The combination of the PointsBet team and Shaq was always going to deliver on that. We’re excited to be launching down under with one of Australia’s great business success stories.”
Running alongside the five TVCs will be a substantial digital marketing push, involving more than 1,000 assets featuring O’Neal, tailored for their digital environments. Half Dome has been appointed as PointsBet’s digital media agency, and will be managing the digital push.
Print and radio will round out the campaign executions.
Half Dome managing partner, Joe Frazer, said: “We are so pumped to work with PointsBet and support the brand’s upcoming campaign. With Shaq as ambassador, we know it’s going to be a sure-fire winner and we are excited to be working with the team as they continue their global expansion.”
Credits
PointsBet
Andrew Fahey – Founder & CMO
Yuta Kobayashi – Head of Brand & Advertising
Jamie Coombes – Director of Digital Strategy
Gravity Road
Mark Boyd – CEO & Founder
Ruairi Curran – Director of Strategy
Seb Royce – Executive Creative Director
Alex Preece – Head of Influence and Publishing
Bill Wright – Creative Director
James Dawson – Creative Director
Veronica Saez – Head of Production
Page Perkinson – Account Director
Oliver Aucamp – Account Manager
Emma Peter – Executive Producer
Robyn Nagorsky – Producer
Harriette MacNaughton – Producer
Claire Clayton – Producer
Nancy Espinal – Business Affairs
Station Films
Brendan Gibbons – Director
Stephen Orent – Founding Partner
Michelle Towse – Partner/Execution
Aaron Rosenbloom – Producer
Maggie McDermott – Producer
