Title	FORGIVEN PRIDE
Brand	RAY
Product/Service	IMAGO CAMPAIGN
Entrant	AVAUS MARKETING INNOVATIONS Helsinki, FINLAND
Idea Creation	AVAUS MARKETING INNOVATIONS Helsinki, FINLAND

Name	Company	Position
Jyrki Poutanen	Avaus	Creative Director
Tuukka Paikkari	Avaus	AD, Concept Designer
Tiina Kaakkunen	Avaus	Copywriter, Concept Designer
Maarit Pohjanpalo	Avaus	Motion Designer
Heini Ruuskanen	Avaus	Graphic Designer
Mia Rusila	Avaus	Media Strategist
Mia Luostarinen	Avaus	Project Director
Anna Hakkarainen	Avaus	Account Director

The Campaign

RAY’s Forgiven Pride image campaign awakened Finns to rediscover our country’s special feature: a unique gambling system promoting the well-being of Finns, in the eyes of foreigners. We found a way to tell of RAY’s great uniqueness, through the eyes and mouths of foreigners. Finally, Finnish people woke up to the virtues of our gambling system and embraced them as a source of pride. We made the impossible possible. Our gambling system is unique in the world but Finns could only see their own excellence when a foreigner told them about it.

Creative Execution

The campaign started by asking what real people in Las Vegas thought about a system where all the gambling profits are given to charity. In the following campaign phase, the contradiction was brought to Finland. For this purpose, a fictitious Las Vegas millionaire was created and brought over to wonder at the Finnish gambling system. Through foreign eyes, the millionaire, a.k.a. “Richard Diamond”, got acquainted with RAY's supported aid organisations, and at the same time, opened the eyes of Finnish people to the greatness of our own system. The year-long campaign was comprised of 19 films, several social media advertisements that were optimised weekly, and dozens of printed materials. We also got on more than 12,000 slot machine displays and the campaign was implemented in more than 100 gaming halls around Finland. The campaign was also visible at Casino Helsinki, ray.fi and on the ad surfaces of partner companies.

For the first time in more than a decade, RAY’s image campaign elevated the acceptance curve of gambling to a clear upswing. During 2003, the result of the acceptance curve was 7.05 and in 2005, it was 6.3. In the year 2016, the result is now 6.7. RAY’s profit development has been on the rise during the campaign period. The profits of the current year exceed last year’s profit by about 5 million euros (+1,0 %), ending up at 529.6 million. The profits specifically improved for digital games, and in RAY’s own gaming rooms. The advertisements created an image of responsibility. The amount of money given to charity by RAY was a surprise to many, and an increasing number of people were informed of where RAY’s profits are directed. When asked which kind of image the advertising gave them, the highest results were received for the words “responsible”, “good”,“positive”.

The campaign was executed across multiple media: TV, print, social media, display, slot machine screens and posters. All these were needed to make the main character of the campaign, Richard Diamond, to come alive and ensure the impact the campaign gained.

The campaign aimed at achieving broader acceptability of gambling in the entire population. Occasional gamblers and individuals gambling elsewhere were considered an especially challenging target group. With the campaign, RAY also strived to increase general knowledge on the Finnish gambling system, usage of RAY’s profits, RAY’s responsible gaming program and its beneficiaries. These values were measured in various studies during the campaign period. lnsight was born out of strong understanding of the Finnish character: how we see ourselves. We are a people who only see our own uniqueness when a foreigner says it out loud.