The Pools unveils relaunch and major marketing campaign

The Pools has delivered a major relaunch, including a new brand identity and significant out-of-home (OOH) marketing push, as part of an “exciting new chapter”.

The rebrand includes a new visual identity, featuring a fresh logo in the shape of ‘The Play Maker’.

A teal cross, the brand mark, represents a fusion of “contemporary techniques and sensibilities with a deep respect for historical and cultural legacies”, the operator said.

The teal cross also links back to the company’s heritage as traditionally customers who used to play the pools would mark up their choices on a coupon with an ‘X’.

The Pools, formerly known as The Football Pools, will also push ahead with its “The Parents” campaign as part of its growth efforts.

With a range of taglines such as “Your parents probably did it more than once”, the tongue-in-cheek ad features photos of couples from the 80s and 90s smiling, hugging and holding hands.

The OOH campaign will go live in Manchester and Liverpool, the latter being where The Pools first launched in 1923, with a core focus of tapping into nostalgia.

The firm said: “The Pools’ transformative relaunch leverages its nostalgic place in British cultural heritage, while establishing a unique digital igaming experience for 2025 and beyond.

“The theme of the campaign being a light-hearted and nostalgic celebration of the brand’s long-held position in football fandom.”

Alongside the OOH push, The Pools will also go live with a radio campaign across North West England. A TV and video on-demand campaign is planned to come to screens in March.

The rebrand and new marketing efforts come after The Pools tapped Gaming Innovation Group (GiG) for sports betting and igaming supply deals.

To coincide with the relaunch, a digital membership for its traditional pools games, with customers able to choose a monthly spend level and access various benefits and bonuses, will be available to players from 1 March.

The business partnered with London-based creative agency Amigo Partnership for the rebrand. Amigo has previously worked with LiveScore and Virgin Bet, as well as Rolls Royce and the Financial Times.

Speaking exclusively to EGR, The Pools CEO James Arnold said during its research for the new campaign, two clear target segments of potential customers were identified: the over 35s, who have some knowledge or affinity of The Pools products via memories of their parents playing the game, and the under-35 cohort that has no knowledge of the brand.

Arnold said: “The theme ‘The Parents’ came from working with our agency, Amigo, that came up with this concept in order to unlock the power of the brand.

“This brand affinity that exists and reminds people of those experiences and memories with their parents was a really strong way to go.

“We’ve been incredibly pleased with the results of the campaign and are really excited to see how it performs.”.

Nick Withersby, Amigo Partnership executive creative director, added: “As a child of the 1980s, The Pools holds an iconic place in my heart. With our rebrand and relaunch, we’re knocking on the nation’s front door again.

“Designed to disrupt and engage a new generation, the campaign confidently stands apart from category tropes. The humour is sharp but inclusive, never laddish or macho.

“To amplify its authenticity, we’ve used real-life, family album photography of our team’s actual parents from the 1980s and 1990s.”

The firm also named ex-Reebok head Sharon Wright as its marketing director in October.

Arnold explained that while there is a fair amount of gambling expertise across his senior exec team, he made “the conscious decision that on the marketing side, we wanted to bring in somebody with fantastic experience but not necessarily with gaming experience to give us a broader view on what can be done”.