2021 Winner
BronzeBest in Experiential/Special Event/Stunts
BronzeBest Use of Technology
Responsible Gambling Council
"Check your Reflex"
Zulu Alpha Kilo & PHD Media
"Check your Reflex"
Zulu Alpha Kilo & PHD Media
The Responsible Gambling Council (RGC) is a not-for-profit that exists to provide safety in the risky world of gambling. Each year, RGC completes a harm prevention program for young adults.
Their challenge was to develop a campaign to educate young adults about the risks of gambling and encourage safer, more self-aware behaviour and prove the success of the effort (meeting and exceeding previous years’ campaign benchmarks).
Outreach is critical, youth 18–24 are two to three times more likely to develop issues with gambling, and with access growing through online gambling, the risk is heightened. Young adults are predisposed to high-risk behaviour, including gambling. They’re natural experimenters, and it’s part of their psychological development to test boundaries, and they think they’ve got it under control
when they do.
At the same time, RGC’s academic experts emphasize that “control” when gambling is a myth. When gambling, the body experiences a heightened state of excitement that may affect decision-making and brain activity. Their insight: you’re not yourself when you gamble.
Young adults are skeptical of lectures, especially when it comes to telling them what to do. To succeed, RGC’s young adult audience had to learn the truth by experiencing it. Instead of a traditional advertising or educational booth on campus, they created “Check Your (Re)flex”, an enticing video game with a surprising lesson. While students were playing the game to “beat a score” the game’s technology was actually tracking their biometrics to show them how their body took over in the excitement of gameplay, giving them a personalized lesson in the risks that could come with gambling.
As a not-for-profit, RGC relies on relationships with university and college campuses to efficiently open up access for one-on-one interactions with young adults. Touring Ontario, the Check Your (Re)flex experience was set up in school common areas where students were challenged to flex their gaming skills. Each school’s student program promoted the game before and during events to drive traffic.
During the 2020 fall semester, COVID-19 necessitated a reimagining of the program as students migrated online. Program objectives remained the same, so they needed to move their gaming experience to where the students were. Maintaining their relationships with school organizations’ social channels and supplementing with regionally targeted paid social assets to young adults, they migrated the experience online, where students could still be drawn into the emotional gameplay and important lesson.
Check Your (Re)flex was innovative in both its approach and delivery to young adults. Historically, on-campus activities have come through on-campus interactions with pamphlets and discussions. This program turned to breakthrough technology for more impactful engagement by speaking in the voice of young adults. They designed a simple, multilevel, skill-based game, similar to the basic mobile games young adults regularly play. The game’s secret wasn’t in the tough levels but, rather, the joystick. Designed to read biometrics, the game score was actually a ranking of how stimulated the player
was during gameplay.
When students learned their scores, they also learned how competitive gameplay impairs rational decision-making. Knowing their personal risk and armed with tips and tools for safer gambling practices, they will be more prepared should they choose to gamble.
Embracing the very behaviour they were working against proved to be highly persuasive with young adults. The Check Your (Re)flex experience turned gaming skill into gambling education. Driven by technology, the idea delivered the strongest measured performance for RGC Youth Community Outreach programs to date, proving education doesn’t need to be another boring lecture.
These results are from an on-campus survey conducted by RGC with a robust sample of 500 Ontario student participants: 70% learned new information and 76% found the information relevant. There was a 87% main message takeaway average (+5.4%) vs. 2019, and a 91.5% intention for safe gambling practices (+ 8%) vs. 2019.
Their challenge was to develop a campaign to educate young adults about the risks of gambling and encourage safer, more self-aware behaviour and prove the success of the effort (meeting and exceeding previous years’ campaign benchmarks).
Outreach is critical, youth 18–24 are two to three times more likely to develop issues with gambling, and with access growing through online gambling, the risk is heightened. Young adults are predisposed to high-risk behaviour, including gambling. They’re natural experimenters, and it’s part of their psychological development to test boundaries, and they think they’ve got it under control
when they do.
At the same time, RGC’s academic experts emphasize that “control” when gambling is a myth. When gambling, the body experiences a heightened state of excitement that may affect decision-making and brain activity. Their insight: you’re not yourself when you gamble.
Young adults are skeptical of lectures, especially when it comes to telling them what to do. To succeed, RGC’s young adult audience had to learn the truth by experiencing it. Instead of a traditional advertising or educational booth on campus, they created “Check Your (Re)flex”, an enticing video game with a surprising lesson. While students were playing the game to “beat a score” the game’s technology was actually tracking their biometrics to show them how their body took over in the excitement of gameplay, giving them a personalized lesson in the risks that could come with gambling.
As a not-for-profit, RGC relies on relationships with university and college campuses to efficiently open up access for one-on-one interactions with young adults. Touring Ontario, the Check Your (Re)flex experience was set up in school common areas where students were challenged to flex their gaming skills. Each school’s student program promoted the game before and during events to drive traffic.
During the 2020 fall semester, COVID-19 necessitated a reimagining of the program as students migrated online. Program objectives remained the same, so they needed to move their gaming experience to where the students were. Maintaining their relationships with school organizations’ social channels and supplementing with regionally targeted paid social assets to young adults, they migrated the experience online, where students could still be drawn into the emotional gameplay and important lesson.
Check Your (Re)flex was innovative in both its approach and delivery to young adults. Historically, on-campus activities have come through on-campus interactions with pamphlets and discussions. This program turned to breakthrough technology for more impactful engagement by speaking in the voice of young adults. They designed a simple, multilevel, skill-based game, similar to the basic mobile games young adults regularly play. The game’s secret wasn’t in the tough levels but, rather, the joystick. Designed to read biometrics, the game score was actually a ranking of how stimulated the player
was during gameplay.
When students learned their scores, they also learned how competitive gameplay impairs rational decision-making. Knowing their personal risk and armed with tips and tools for safer gambling practices, they will be more prepared should they choose to gamble.
Embracing the very behaviour they were working against proved to be highly persuasive with young adults. The Check Your (Re)flex experience turned gaming skill into gambling education. Driven by technology, the idea delivered the strongest measured performance for RGC Youth Community Outreach programs to date, proving education doesn’t need to be another boring lecture.
These results are from an on-campus survey conducted by RGC with a robust sample of 500 Ontario student participants: 70% learned new information and 76% found the information relevant. There was a 87% main message takeaway average (+5.4%) vs. 2019, and a 91.5% intention for safe gambling practices (+ 8%) vs. 2019.
Credits
Agency: Zulu Alpha KiloChief Creative Officer: Zak Mroueh
Creative Director: Rodger Eyre, Gerald Kugler
Art Director: Elliot Riordan, Craig Huffman
Writer: Marco Buchar, Tekla Nagel
Account Team: Hilary Roberts, Kayla MacDonald, Erin McManus
Planning Team: Heather Segal
Client: Responsible Gambling Council (RGC)
Clients: Elaine McDougall, Lisa Couperus
Media Agency: PHD Media
PR Agency: xposure
PR Team: Jane Wilcox, Dave Bennett
Agency Producer: Marko Stevelic
Production House Producer : Ece Inan
Interactive Agency: Thinkingbox
Sr. Full-Stack Developer: Nicole Rego
Interactive Developer: Patrick Daggitt
Motion Graphics Artist: Kyle Castro
Director, Content: Prajay Mehta
Associate Director, Content: David Holicek
Print Producer: Houng Ngui
Studio Team: Greg Heptinstall, Jeannette Downes, Anna Harju