Betfair employs ex-Virgin boss to advise on TV ads

Betfair has appointed former Virgin Games managing director Oscar as brand director on an interim basis. He will advise on brand development in time for the introduction of the Gambling Act 2005 next month.

Nieboer will work on marketing strategy as the ban on betting and gaming companies advertising on TV is lifted. He will also drive brand communications internally.

“The Betfair brand is built around integrity,” he says. “We’re moving forward our plans, obviously with a careful eye on the DCMS since Gordon Brown’s appointment, but we have booked our airtime and are proceeding in line with the legislation.”

Betfair’s games portfolio includes Betfair Poker and Betfair Casino. The London-based company also runs a betting exchange where gamblers bet against each other.

Nieboer oversaw the launch of Virgin’s online betting and casino business during his tenure at the company. Before that, he was vice president of marketing at MGM Mirage Online. He began his career as a copywriter at Ogilvy & Mather (now Ogilvy Advertising) and followed this with a stint in account management at JWT, reaching board level. His initial experience in gambling came in 1998 when he joined WCRS, where he led the National Lottery account and was involved in Camelot’s licence renewal. He later took up a marketing post at the National Lottery.

Last week, Betfair was at the centre of a tennis match-fixing scandal. It voided all bets related to a Polish Open match after it spotted suspicious betting patterns and reported them to the ATP.