PlayOJO pips Netflix to win UK Social Media Award

PlayOJO, the UK online casino powered by SkillOnNet, has emerged victorious in this year’s UK Social Media awards, beating the likes of Sky, Now TV and Netflix UK along the way.

Nominated in the “Best Use of Social Media for Entertainment” category, PlayOJO’s “Safe Bets” campaign featured Love Island’s Olivia Bowen and took the form of a spoof of a safer sex promotional video.

The primary ad-reel shows Bowen in a lab coat, giving various safer gambling tips in a manner akin to a 1970s or 80s safe sex educational film. The risqué approach was filmed and designed to capture players’ attention through humour and safer sex innuendos, making it easily shareable via Instagram and Facebook. The Love Island star then outlines the myriad options to “tame your sessions and enjoy safe bets”, including Deposit Limits, PlayOJO’s Safe Mate (the 24/7 virtual assistant that helps players track their gambling activity) and the Take a Break functionality. Players could then put what they learnt to the test through a quiz, which gave away unique PlayOJO condoms with packaging that had different play on words connecting safer sex to safer gambling.

Judged by a leading panel of marketing experts, the UK Social Media Awards celebrate the creativity and innovation that is involved in achieving outstanding social media campaigns. The judging process is a rigorous two-step process that includes pre-scoring to determine shortlists and judging meetings where entries are discussed and evaluated in detail.

Peter Bennett CMO at PlayOJO, said: “It is an absolute privilege to once again be recognised by the UK Social Media awards. Having picked up two awards at last year’s event, we are proud to have been able to continue our great work in engaging our audience via social media.

“In a continuing theme, this year’s campaign was also focused on responsible and safer gaming, something we, as one of the UK’s top online casino and bingo operators, are striving to lead the pack on. Player safety is at the forefront of everything we do as a business and is an important part of our advertising and social media strategy.

“I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank not just the amazing team and agency Cubaka, but also the judges for recognising what we set out to achieve with our Safe Bets campaign.”

This award joins other major industry recognition for PlayOJO, including Best Use of Instagram and Best Use of Social Media in last year’s Social Media Awards and recognition in the SoundOut Index in 2021 for having one of the most recognised sonic logos in the UK.