The PHA Group's entrepreneurs and business team will be working with Virgin Experience Days while the group has also been appointed to run the communications campaign for Responsible Gambling Week, a national cross-industry initiative to promote safer gambling.

The objective of the responsible gambling campaign, the biggest of its kind, is to raise awareness amongst customers and the wider public about how to gamble responsibly and where to find support for those who need it. The event is organised by the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling (IGRG), which brings together all sectors of the gambling industry, and will take place from 7-13 November, involving more than 12,000 venues and online sites.

The PHA Group led last year’s communications campaign, working with the IGRG and gambling operators to promote a national conversation about responsible gambling. The campaign generated almost 20m impressions of the hashtag #RGWeek18 and responsible gambling messaging messages were shared across social channels and at football grounds and racecourses, thanks to partnerships. The campaign generated more than 160 pieces of media coverage.

Tim Jotischky, head of consultancy at the PHA Group, says, “We are delighted to be working again with the IGRG to promote this important event. Responsible Gambling Week highlights the work done throughout the year by operators to promote safer gambling and we want to communicate this work to the widest possible audience, using both traditional media channels and other publishing platforms.”

Following the competitive pitch process, the PHA Group secured a consumer press office and strategic communications brief to amplify Virgin Experience Days’s offering to people across the UK and support the growing business.

At a time when ‘experiences as gifts’ are becoming even more popular among people looking to share quality time with loved ones rather than give physical gifts, the partnership will enhance Virgin Experience Days’s reputation as the industry leader in this space. 

Virgin Experience Days’s appointment of the PHA Group follows its recent CMO appointment of Dan Pearce, ex-marketing head at Ticketmaster, and the news the company will be working with Atomic London ahead of the brand's first-ever TV campaign, planned to air later this year.

He says, “The team at the PHA Group have shown real enthusiasm for the business and sector, and the ability to support our combined corporate and consumer communications goals. We’re confident that the team will deliver the results we need to promote Virgin Experience Days and its products, as well as supporting on our TV advertising campaign and key gifting periods.