Martin Calvert: “Ethical marketing isn’t less effective”

Martin Calvert serves as an external judge for the Most Ethical Marketing Approach category at the Casino Guru Awards 2025. Calvert argues that ethical marketing isn’t just about morality, but rather – it has become a practical necessity for companies to adhere to. There are few reasons why companies from the sector should not be pursuing this, argues Calvert, who points out that ethical marketing is dynamic, effective and budget-friendly. Dive into the full interview with Calvert to learn more about the upcoming edition of the Casino Guru Awards!

Q:Martin, when companies talk about marketing, they mostly think about conversions, raising awareness of their products, and generally driving their bottom line. In light of this, can ethics really play a part in marketing?

Even on a purely practical level, ethics are important. So many companies try ‘quick’ solutions that neglect ethics and find they hit roadblocks in terms of getting advertisements banned or lost customer trust due to complaints. Negative views spread faster than positive ones so on a completely objective level companies need to consider the potential risks.

Then we get into the whole aspect of doing the right thing, because it is the right thing. That can be satisfying in and of itself, but as an organization this is better for morale, attracting talent and maximizing opportunities.

Q:How does the visibility provided by the Casino Guru Awards encourage companies to adopt ethical marketing strategies? Do you think this visibility has a tangible impact on industry behavior?

I think the awards definitely help to shine a light not only on effective ethical marketing strategies but also methods that are interesting and genuinely exciting. I particularly like it when brands think about what makes them unique and use ethical strategies to lean into that and differentiate themselves. I think this can be inspirational and in turn encourage ethical marketing efforts from other brands in the industry.

Q: How can this category help bridge the gap between regulators, operators, and players when it comes to defining and delivering ethical marketing practices?

The biggest gap between these three types of organizations is trust. If an affiliate knows that its operator partners deal in unethical marketing practices, how much trust will they have in the commercial relationship, and vice versa?

If there are shared standards and approaches this encourages more collaborative working, less time spent scrutinizing each other endlessly and more of a focus on what works for the end customer, with more sharing of relevant data.

Q: Based on your experience as a marketing specialist, what advice would you give to gambling companies seeking to prioritize player well-being in their approach?

I think the great advantage of starting on this journey now is that there is no shortage of positive examples or sources of advice. Brands can look at previous winners of the Casino Guru Awards for example to get a lots of inspiration and reassurance.

It’s also worth thinking of how much marketing data there is available relating to ethical marketing – looking at the paid advertising strategies of different brands on platforms like Meta and Google who are fairly good at weeding out unethical marketers gives a lot of immediately useful data about keyword and bidding strategies for example.

In SEO, while there will always be people undertaking some kind of black hat methodologies, the most ethical brands are best positioned to carry out strategies like digital PR to earn the most impactful mainstream media coverage – to achieve that kind of success, you can’t risk a murky reputation.

Q: How can a format such as Casino Guru Awards help set a high bar for what ethical marketing should look like?

I think the Casino Guru Awards can give the reassurance that ethical marketing isn’t less effective, and isn’t less dynamic than other types of marketing – just look at the success stories of the brands nominated – many of whom will be using tight budgets to do great things. Ethical marketing isn’t just for huge brands.

Q:Do you have any advice to offer to companies in the sector that are willing to embark on creative ethical campaigns but are struggling to get started, and especially to the applicants in this edition’s category?

Absolutely – taking a good look at the market and carrying out an audit of current activities compared to the baseline of competitors is a great start – and needn’t take forever or cost a huge amount.

It’s also fair to say that most agencies – including ourselves at ICS-digital - will be happy and proud to talk about their successes in ethical marketing, at the very least in an anonymized way – so that’s a free source of info about what works, and (importantly) who can help.

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