T.A.B. to raise advertising profile

Press, 16 July 1987, Page 30

T.A.B. to raise advertising profile

PA Wellington The Totalisator Agency Board is to raise its advertising profile to battle Lotto for punters’ disposable incomes. The T.A.B. general manager, Brian Murry, said yesterday that the advent of an agressive Lotto media campaign had prompted the T.A.B. to engage in high profile advertising. The campaign will be mainly on television and radio. He would not reveal the cost. Murry said a significant part of the gaming market was made up of occa-

sional betters and it was here that Lotto was a threat. Lotto made explicit use of the television medium, he said, and while the board had steered clear of this in the past it was now forced to compete. The campaign would emphasise the greater involvement, convenience, service, odds and higher percentage payout of T.A.B. betting, he said. Only 18 per cent of the T.A.B. betting dollar was deducted for government duty and the board’s commission compared to 40 per cent of the Lotto dollar, he said.