GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 7 - January 2009

46 GPWA Times | Cheeky Power PADDY POWER THROUGHTHEYEARS But somehow along the way it was mis- read that Paddy Power was offering odds on whether or not Obama would be assas- sinated. The concept of “It must be Paddy Power” was used against the company this time. Once again, media from all over the world picked up on the story and re- ported that Paddy Power was indeed of- fering assassination odds and after many complaints decided to take them down. But the real story was that those odds were never offered. “That got a bit nasty because we were mis- represented,” Mr. Power said. “We’ve built a reputation of being quirky and irreverent, but we’re not that sick. We don’t even have the odds of Osama bin Laden being killed, so why would we post them on the most popular man in the world?” Ironically, Obama helped Paddy Power gain global attention on two occasions dur- ing the election cycle. Well before both the primary and general election were decided, Paddy Power announced that it would pay off any bets onObama to win. In both cases, Paddy Power proved to be correct in pre- dicting an Obama win, and in the process it gained more acknowledgment in the press. “We do that from time to time,” explains Mr. Power. “It’s a statement to our punters. We’re saying, ‘Hey, you guys take a chance every time you place a bet with us so we’re going to take a chance too.’ I think our cus- tomers appreciate that kind of thinking.” Brand loyalty The zaniness of Paddy Power has helped it gainmore than justmedia attentionor draw complaints from those who are insulted. It has also played a major role in the expan- sion of the company from street bookie to major player in the world of Internet gam- bling. In addition to sports wagering, Pad- dy Power also offers poker, bingo, lottery, games, and financial trading online. “I think that by offering bets on basically anything under the sun we have built a brand so strong that when people think of gambling, they think of Paddy Power,” Mr. Power says. “Our philosophy is that if people like to come to us to bet all the quirky stuff, they’ll also come to us for the serious stuff.” “Think about it,” adds Lambert. “When you find a brand you like, don’t you tend to stay loyal to it? The same goes for this in- dustry. Our punters like our brand so they are loyal to it no matter if they’re looking to bet on something crazy, or if they want to play poker or bingo or anything else. They’re going to think of us first whenever they want to place down a wager.” And it is that kind of loyalty that has helped Paddy Power not only survive the current economic state of the world, but continue to prosper. “We look at [the economic crisis] as an opportunity,” Mr. Power explains. “Ev- ery bookie has to fight tooth and nail to get customers through the door or onto their Web site because now the punters have all the power. Value really matters to the punters now and we really feel that in this kind of environment we’ll only get stronger. We figure this is as good a time as any for us to take away customers from