FCA faces £5m Bingo review

The National Bingo Game Association (NBGA) is reviewing its £5m advertising business out of FCA. Agencies invited to pitch are understood to include those that originally pitched for the business nearly two years ago against FCA.

The National Bingo Game Association (NBGA) is reviewing its &£5m advertising business out of FCA.

Agencies invited to pitch are understood to include those that originally pitched for the business nearly two years ago against FCA. These are Saatchi & Saatchi, D’Arcy, Young & Rubicam, Grey and BMP4.

The review is being overseen by NBGA chief executive Paul Talboys, who was unavailable for comment.

FCA was appointed to the business in February last year. The agency enlisted the help of comedian Paul O’Grady’s Lily Savage character with the aim of boosting the game’s appeal to a new generation of players. The agency’s brief was to extend bingo’s popularity beyond the “blue rinse brigade”.

The review is understood to have been called following upheavals with senior management at FCA.

The bingo industry has suffered since the launch of the National Lottery in 1994. In April 1997 advertising restrictions were lifted enabling the Government and bingo operators to advertise for the first time.

Gala, which endorses the NBGA campaign, currently has its own advertising campaign running on TV, created by J Walter Thompson Manchester.

Media, handled by Optimedia, is not thought to be part of the review.