Veikkaus to suspend advertising amid marketing revamp

Finnish gambling monopoly Veikkaus is to suspend certain advertising activities until the end of September while it undertakes a major review of its marketing strategy.

Veikkaus has faced criticism in recent months about the content and focus of its marketing efforts, both in traditional advertising formats and on social media.

The monopoly admitted to making mistakes with marketing and will now look at how it can prevent similar issues in the future. This will include working with an external operator to review its current marketing processes, policies, interpretations and operations.

In addition, while this review takes place, Veikkaus will suspend all purchased advertising, with the exception of marketing based around the lotto, Eurojackpot and Vikinglotto products.

The decision applies to all purchased advertising space on television, radio, print, online, outdoor advertising and social media. Veikkaus will begin to withdraw its adverts this week.

“Some of our ads have been such that they do not comply with the company’s approved marketing guidelines,” Veikkaus chief executive Olli Sarekoski said. “We take responsibility for them, we are really sorry for the anger we have caused, and we will learn from our mistakes.

“Once the overall evaluation of our marketing is completed and the results are obtained, corrective action will be decided. Only after these decisions will we return to the new normal.”

Veikkaus currently faces mounting pressure to make itself more appealing to consumers in Finland as it looks to fend off competition from offshore operators.

In April, a survey found a majority of Finnish citizens would support abolishing the country’s gambling monopoly and replacing it with a licensing regime, which would in turn open up the market to more operators.

In an effort to enhance its service offering, Veikkaus has in recent months struck new content deals with the likes of NetEnt, Yggdasil, SBTech and IGT.

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