Online bingo gains popularity over traditional bingo clubs
The top 4 online bingo operators – Gala Bingo, Foxy Bingo, Sun Bingo, and William Hill Bingo have allegedly spent more in their advertising over their twenty biggest online bingo competitors put together in 2008. This increased trend in spending on advertising comes as a surprise owing to the fact that online bingo in the UK became popular on account of land based bingo clubs being outmoded. The report by a marketing research company, Mintel, states that the advertising expenditures are entirely due to the fact that more and more people in the UK are endorsing online bingo as a popular alternative to the traditional form.
According to the report, the said four online bingo companies spent £10 million on advertising campaigns. Their competitors have spent a half of what these companies have spent, and the report puts the figure at a humble £5 million.
Out of the four online bingo companies, William Hill online spent £1.6 million in advertising revenue. While Gala bingo had a total advertising budget of £3.8 million, it spent a meager £2.3 million in advertising. Next in line was Foxy bingo with a budget of approximately £3 million. The Lion’s share of the advertising spend however, came from Sun Bingo. The report places the figure at £3.2 million.
The Mintel report goes further to state that there is a distinct shift in the bingo market, toward the online mode. While the traditional bingo clubs are suffering from fewer people attending every year. The report places a finger on recession, the tax hike and smoking ban among other things to explain why fewer people are now visiting the traditional counterpart of the now popular online bingo.