The hardest part of Digital PR isn’t getting coverage. It’s creating an idea that makes someone want to write about your brand.
The campaigns that succeed rarely lead with the product. They start with something people already care about — a surprising fact, a useful tool, a familiar name, a cultural moment or a conversation already happening.
Here’s five examples we’ve spotted from across betting, casino and bingo brands that earned real coverage. Different campaigns, different approaches, but the same underlying lesson: the idea comes first, and the brand earns its place in the story.
Watch the pattern as you read. Almost none of these campaigns lead with the product. They lead with something people already care about. In a regulated industry, that is also the safest way to earn coverage without tripping over the rules.
The data study that never mentions gambling: Buzz Bingo, “Profanity on Film”
Buzz Bingo scraped the scripts of more than 3,500 films and counted the swear words, then ranked the sweariest films and actors. Jonah Hill came top, with 376 swear words to his name. The Wolf of Wall Street was the sweariest film, at 715. That is the whole campaign, and it has nothing to do with bingo.
Variety and IndieWire covered it. It was picked up worldwide, and shared by the sort of people who make coverage travel further. A bingo brand, writing the film story of the week.
Why it worked. It handed journalists a finished story, with a number in it, on a subject everyone knows. No specialist knowledge needed, and no reason to mention gambling to run it.
The lesson. Do not lead with your product. Lead with culture, and let the brand be the source, not the subject. For any regulated business this is also the safest route, because the story stands on its own.
The same brand kept going, with “Insta Wealth” and “Movie Mortality” in the same mould. Once a format works, you repeat it until journalists expect it.
The tool that keeps earning: Casumo, “Youvs Sporting Stars”
Casumo built a simple calculator. You enter your salary, and it shows how fast Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo earns the same amount. Seconds, usually. It stings, so people share it.
Years later, it still earns links, because any article about football wages, top earners or the gap between rich and normal can point to it.
Why it worked. It is useful and endlessly citable. A good tool keeps working long after launch, while a one-off story fades in a week.
The lesson. Build something people use, not just read. A tool earns for years. A press release earns for days. For a games company, it is the obvious asset to build.
Casumo also rebuilt the London Monopoly board at 2026 prices, using a Monopoly slot game as the hook. A casino brand did that with someone else’s licensed game. Worth remembering if you happen to own the real one.
Borrowed fame, run as a system: DAZN Bet’s ex-footballer interviews
When DAZN Bet launched across Europe, it did not buy its way in. It filmed exclusive interviews with a rolling cast of ex-players, including Michael Owen and Paul Ince, then released the quotes into the weekly football news cycle.
The reported numbers: more than 350 pieces of coverage, 311 links, and the site’s domain rating rising from 26 to 58 in about a year.
Why it worked. Tabloids will always run a strong quote from a name their readers know. The talent does the job the brand cannot. It makes the story worth covering.
The lesson. The right voice turns ordinary content into coverage. You do not need the most famous name. You need a relevant one, and a plan to use them across a whole season rather than once. One shoot, mined for quotes week after week, becomes an always-on link engine.
Odds as a newswire: William Hill and Betfair
This one is pure sportsbook, and it is the cheapest earned link in the sector.
William Hill cut Arthur Fery from 50/1 to 6/1 for Sports Personality of the Year after a good Wimbledon, then issued a spokesperson quote written to be copied straight into a news story. Newspapers ran it word for word.
Betfair takes the same idea somewhere sport cannot reach. Its betting odds on by-elections get cited by political journalists at national newspapers. That is coverage from the politics desk, earned by a gambling brand.
Why it worked. A market moves, a quote goes out, and journalists lift it. It needs only a trading desk, a named spokesperson and a same-day sign-off. And odds can be applied to anything people are already arguing about.
The lesson. You do not always need a big creative idea. Sometimes you need a fast one, ready the moment the news breaks. Build the habit and the calendar does the work for you.
Turning the rules into the campaign:PlayOJO’ssafer-gambling work
Most brands treat responsible gambling as the small print. PlayOJO made it the campaign.
It ran comedy sketches about staying in control, including a player who hides in a fridge to “cool off”, alongside celebrity-fronted “Safe Bets” work with Olivia Bowen. It won industry awards, earned trade coverage, and built the reputation that regulators and review sites reward.
Why it worked. Responsible-gambling content that people share is rare, so it stands out. And it builds trust with the audience that decides which brands get recommended.
The lesson. In a regulated category, the compliance message can be the campaign, not the disclaimer at the bottom. The constraint becomes the differentiator. This matters more than it looks, because trust is what gets you into the “best of” lists that both readers and AI now rely on.
What the five have in common
Look back and the same three things show up every time.
None of them led with the product. They led with films, football wages, ex-players, odds and safer play.
Each handed journalists a finished, easy story: a number, a tool, a quote or a clear stance.
The best were built to last, as tools, rolling programmes or an annual position, not one-week hits.
That is the difference between a campaign that earns a handful of links and one that earns hundreds. Budget rarely decides it. The idea does, and whether it gives a journalist a reason to care.
There is a second reason these campaigns matter now. This is the coverage AI reads when it decides which brands to recommend, and no gambling brand owns that answer yet. We mapped who AI names, and why, in a companion piece. Earning the coverage that changes it is the job of digital PR; making sure your own site backs it up is AI SEO.
See how it is done, live
Our webinar, Digital PR: From Idea to Headline, takes you from spotting the story in your brand to landing the coverage, pulling real campaigns apart along the way, including what they cost and what they returned.
Free, 30 minutes, two sessions with the same content:
- Tuesday 28 July, 11:00–11:30 (BST)
- Thursday 30 July, 14:00–14:30 (BST)
