Ladbrokes Launches Scandinavian Campaign

British betting giant Ladbrokes has launched a major television advertising campaign in Scandinavia despite its continuing legal battles against the Norwegian and Swedish gaming monopolies.

The commercials feature English actor Ed Stoppard from Roman Polanski's film The Pianist and will run until May on leading televison channels in Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway.

Ladbrokes revealed that the television campaign was developed in-house in conjunction with director Jesper Andesson from Stockholm-based TV-Dinner and will be accompanied by radio and in print advertisements.

The campaign will inform customers in Scandinavia about the prices and range of products available from Ladbrokes and is part of the bookmaker’s continuing efforts to open up the Norwegian and Swedish markets, which are both dominated by State-owned monopolies.

Ladbrokes revealed that the advertisements would inform customers in Scandinavia about the benefits of a competitive market and build on the successful campaign it ran last year that led to a rise in awareness of its brand.

“The 2009 campaign focuses on the wide range of betting options available with Ladbrokes and provides a vision for what could be available to consumers in the Nordics were Ladbrokes able to establish a physical presence in the region, something not currently allowed under local monopoly legislation,” read a statement from Ladbrokes.

'The Nordic region is an important one for Ladbrokes and we believe this strong and hard hitting creative communicates the benefits of betting with Ladbrokes as opposed to the State monopoly and other betting operators,' said Ed Andrewes, Managing Director of eGaming for Ladbrokes.