With the birth of the second Royal Baby in April 2015 worth £100 million to the betting industry and providing an opportunity to engage with a younger, female demographic, Ladbrokes challenged Kaper to create a fun story with strong social currency that would capture imaginations and attention.
We needed to generate cut through in digital and traditional media and engage with their target audience.
Ultimately we needed to drive bets and sign ups.
Creativity surrounding the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's first baby included the Guardian's Republican button to switch off baby related news and Asda's Royal parking space at the couple's local supermarket… in other words, a competitive story.
To achieve Ladbrokes' business objectives, we wanted something that would dominate the "and finally" news cycle for 24hrs.
Combining the iconography of the Royal Corgi with a classic betting scenario, we had our unique angle.
The inaugural Ladbrokes Barkingham Palace Gold Cup saw ten corgis, five male and five female, each given one of the prospective baby names.
Lining up in classic dog-track style traps, the corgis raced over a specially created 20-metre track to help punters determine the name and sex of the second Royal Baby.
Video content and accompanying imagery from the race was packaged with the latest Royal Baby odds and spokesperson quotes for digital media and viral sites.
Ladbrokes social channels were also used to promote the race to fans and drive video views.
Going into the race, we knew it was a good bet for pick up. Within minutes of the video content being released, it was clear that bet was going to come in.
The story resonated with global media and consumers alike and delivered strong commercial outcomes for Ladbrokes.
Results included:
Over 570,000 organic views of the race video on YouTube, setting a new record for Ladbrokes as the highest viewed video on their YouTube channel
A branded 15-second edit received over 2.5 million views on Reddit
164 pieces of media coverage of video content, with 11 articles in national UK media including Mail Online, Metro.co.uk, The Huffington Post, Sun Online and The Mirror Online
Strong pick up in global media including Good Morning America, CNN, Today, The Week and Fox News
Other coverage highlights include AOL, BBC London, Vogue online, Time and Yahoo!
Total OTS of 2.5 billion via media and 25 million on social media
Ladbrokes saw 35,000 individual bets placed on all Royal Baby markets in the wake of the story, with 2,000 new betting accounts opened
A strong, simple and quick to activate creative made this odds-on favourite for success from the get go.
Through a creative idea, 10 racing corgis and a brave client, we delivered record-breaking engagement and impressive commercial results for Great Britain's best loved betting brand.
