You seriously have to wonder where the brains department of Betfair have disappeared to. A TV campaign based around the theme 'cut out the middleman'. Look it up in the dictionary - Betfair are the irrefutable definition of the word:
mid·dle·man
[mid-l-man]
–noun, plural -men.
1.
a person who plays an economic role intermediate between producer and retailer or consumer.
2.
a person who acts as an intermediary.
So what else do Betfair do then??
The Advertising Standards Authority yesterday banned the ad after a series of complaints, stating that the advert was misleading and conveniently forgot to mention they take out a commission.
mid·dle·man
[mid-l-man]
–noun, plural -men.
1.
a person who plays an economic role intermediate between producer and retailer or consumer.
2.
a person who acts as an intermediary.
So what else do Betfair do then??
The Advertising Standards Authority yesterday banned the ad after a series of complaints, stating that the advert was misleading and conveniently forgot to mention they take out a commission.
Despite what the Advertising Standard Authority says, I think it's a great ad. It showcases Betfair's strength with consumers - letting you bet directly against another punter, at odd you think are fair.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who has no stake in the company but knows it a fair deal, I can say that Betfair is a great company, full of innovative ideas and with great people, including the marketing department.
ReplyDeleteTo their main credit, they provide a very lively betting market place as alternative to the high street betting shops which create their own odds. Thus, they bring punters directly together and this market place is what creates the odds.
Of course, Betfair somehow has to make money from this. A commission based business model is fairly standard - just look at eBay, Google, etc.
Thus, the criticism against these ads is hardly justifiable.
by the same logic, every murderer would get let off in court because Grandma said 'he was a nice boy'. Character references mean jack shit. Betfair can claim to be everything else under the sun, and they have revolutionised the betting industry for the better.
ReplyDeleteBut the fact of the matter is they claim not to be the middle man, when they most blatantly are. It is that simple.