| Title | BLOCKER THE PSYCHIC ROACH |
| Brand | TAB |
| Product / Service | TAB |
| Category | A05. Best Use of Digital Media in a Direct Campaign |
| Entrant | ANALOGFOLK Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| Entrant Company | ANALOGFOLK Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| Advertising Agency | ANALOGFOLK Sydney, AUSTRALIA |
| Name | Company | Position |
|---|---|---|
| Gabor Zins | Analogfolk | Creative Technologist |
| Jack Brown | Analogfolk | Creative Technologist |
| Jenn Aspinwall | Analogfolk | Senior Creative |
| Pia Chaudhuri | Analogfolk | Senior Creative |
| Stephen Levin | Analogfolk | Senior Producer |
| Tom Hull | Analogfolk | Client Partner |
| Matt Grogan | Analogfolk | Executive Creative Director |
| Matt Robinson | Analogfolk | Managing Director |
New South Wales betting agency TAB wanted to increase bets on first try scorers during Australia’s 2013 State of Origin rugby league series, an interstate battle that pits the Queensland Maroons vs. the New South Wales Blues. We targeted males who love rugby but don’t bet with TAB or any other agency. They were familiar with TAB, but would need some kind of external motivation to put money down. Simply mass-advertising a retail offer wouldn’t cut it. We needed to create a personalised experience to draw fans in and get them excited about supporting their team with a bet.
Blocker the Psychic Roach was a real, live insect fans could engage with directly online, making personal predictions for individuals in real time. These live predictions were made possible by cockroach-tracking technology we built in-house. Participants got to see their name in lights around Blocker’s model stadium and walk away with a personalised webpage and video to share. TAB needed something fresh and innovative if they were going to appeal to a new audience and get them to do something they wouldn’t normally do. Blocker combined a unique concept, technology and personalisation to refresh a decades-old brand and sporting event.
Our idea was to get individual fans excited about betting on their team through a psychic cockroach (the Blues’ mascot) named Blocker. The cockroach would help fans choose a player to bet on through live, personal psychic predictions streamed online. Participants could compare Blocker’s pick for them with the real TAB odds on the same website, and click to place a bet. We aimed for 75% of live prediction slots to be filled and to raise social engagement with TAB content, all with an eye on increasing first try scorer bets over the previous year.
We exceeded our goal of filling 75% of live personal prediction slots, filling 100% of them. In just the first week of the campaign, TAB’s Facebook page earned 5,000 new likes. The Blocker campaign represented just 10% of TAB’s total budget around State of Origin, yet drove an increase in bets as well as earned media over the previous year. All this with a cost per interaction of under 20 cents and zero paid media placement.