Australia’s oldest gaming and wagering brand, TAB was once synonymous with ‘having a punt’ (placing a bet). In recent years, however, global brands like Sportsbet, Pointsbet, Bet365, Betfair, Neds, and Ladbrokes have aggressively expanded in this market, dining out on the growth of betting in digital channels and its expansion into new types of sport.

TAB had lost its leadership of the market and was a distant second in app usage. We needed to get back in the conversation, back into Aussies’ hearts and minds, and back on their phones.

Objectives: Reassert TAB’s brand leadership and become Aussies’ preferred app for betting on sports and racing.

Australia's national identity hinges on sport. But strangely for a sport loving nation, we don’t have a ‘national sport’. There’s Aussie Rules, but half the country prefers Rugby League. We played Cricket first, play Soccer the most, and play Netball the best. The world would say it’s swimming, but we surf more than we swim, and ski almost as much as we surf…

So, we brought this debate to the masses, in a TV show on Fox featuring debate from Australia’s favourite sports stars, in social influencer content and street interviews, and in our own films, revealing the answer all sports fans could get behind: Sport is our Sport.

The idea allowed TAB to align itself directly with Sport. And, by its nature, encouraged audience participation. Everybody came together to, well, argue – and share their passion for our collective national pastime. Knowing TAB was on for all of it.

The betting category had been taken hostage by locker room in-jokes and over-the-top individual celebration that missed the inclusivity of sport in Australia. In contrast, our strategy was rooted in the reason we really bet – a sense of anticipation, better the more people you share it with, that enhances our shared experience of sport. We positioned TAB to champion that shared anticipation, reflected in our new brand line, ‘We’re On’.

To rebuild brand leadership and preference, we needed fame. With a big idea that had social engagement ingrained within it, we approached fame in two ways: Fame Up, to generate talkability and excitement by engraining our brand in culture, building awareness from a new audience. And Fame Down, to create salience fast with a heavy reach and impact. We put entertainment first to serve these objectives, engaging relevant influencers and media partners to expand our audience.

When an Aussie news anchor casually calls Cricket our national sport, he sparks an argument that spirals out of control across the country – with fans from all walks of life and athletes heatedly adding their two cents. From Soccer, our mot played sport, to swimming, the sport with the most golds, to iconically Aussie cane toad racing. Finally, the distinguished and probably fictional ‘Australian Research Centre’ attempts to settle it once and for all. They decide that maybe Sport is our sport – a realisation that makes it’s way back into the news studio, on air, and then placates the nation. For a second anyway.

TAB’s new campaign smashed it against category leader, Sportsbet.

We reached 5.1M people, delivering all-time high recall and TOMA.

It sparked a national conversation (argument) in the press, radio, among sport personalities and within TV sport shows, as well as social media.

Aussies said they were now ‘more likely to use’ TAB than competitors. And 65% of viewers said they'd be likely to use the TAB brand, exceeding benchmarks by 25%

The campaign cut-through and proved memorable, setting a new record for recall of any TAB ad tested and exceeding benchmarks by 42%

66% of punters found the advertising relevant, exceeding benchmarks by 22%

55% of punters now felt that TAB was better than other betting brands, exceeding benchmarks by 20%

All leading to TAB reaching a new all-time high at 31% in the key metric of "Digital First Choice" over the quagmire of other betting brands available to Australians.