Gala Group, the bingo club operator, is to create a new casino brand for most of the 29 Ladbrokes Casinos it bought from Hilton in December.
The project will be overseen by Gala marketing director Richard Sowerby, working with Interbrand Newell and Sorrell and J Walter Thompson Manchester, to devise a new name, logo and brand identity for the venues.
Ladbrokes Casinos' marketing director, Kate McClennan, has lost her job as a result of the casino chain's change of ownership. Sowerby said there was no requirement for two senior marketers within the group, and he is also reviewing the size and shape of the newly combined marketing department.
Gala paid pounds 235m for the casinos, which includes six London sites, 21 regional venues and a further two in Gibraltar and the Isle of Man.
Most of the UK sites will be rebranded, although a few of the better-known venues, such as Maxim's and Barracuda, would retain their current names.
'We are reviewing the whole way that casinos in general, and Ladbrokes in particular, have marketed themselves and we are putting together a clear marketing strategy over the next 12 months,' said Sowerby. 'We think there is enormous potential.'
Ladbrokes has traditionally used Frame Cunningham for its advertising, and Sowerby said if he needed any skills that Frame couldn't provide, he would call on one of Gala's existing roster agencies, WWAV Rapp Collins, JWT Manchester or Poulter & Partners.
Sowerby admitted that the progress of the casino division hinged on the outcome of the government's gaming review in 2003 or 2004, which is expected to relax the laws on casino club membership and casino advertising.
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