Vernons promotes phone sales in debut TV ad

Vernons launches its first television advertising campaign this week, promoting telephone sales of its pools.

The direct response TV campaign, which will be backed by radio ads, will run nationally for two weeks from March 23.

The ad, devised by McCann-Erickson Manchester, features a man dressed in scarlet, symbolising the “X” in the Vernons logo. It carries a freephone number, and viewers will be able to phone in their entries.

Vernons, like rival operator Littlewoods, has been hit by the launch of the National Lottery, and sales fell by 15 per cent last year.

The company believes it will attract more upmarket gamblers than Littlewoods by pushing its telephone service. Its pools are also sold through 15,000 retailer outlets.

Marketing director Peter Ammundsen says: “This is a test that will be measured for cost effectiveness. Research showed two-thirds of our customers didn’t realise they could place their entries over the phone with a credit card.”

The ads will be run on ITV, Channel 4, and satellite channels. Radio ads will air on Heart Midland/FM Radio.

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