The Eastern Shore Community Services Board (ESCSB) launched a data-driven media campaign from May through June 2025 to raise awareness about the growing risks of online gaming and gambling—especially among youth and families. The 2025 Gaming and Problem Gambling Prevention Campaign used targeted messaging across multiple media platforms to reach adults, parents, and caregivers across the Shore.
Why This Campaign Matters
Online gambling is more than just a game. Today’s youth often turn to digital platforms in search of connection and community—yet these same environments can introduce risky behaviors that may lead to long-term harm, including problem gambling.
Research shows that gambling disorder often overlaps with substance use, mental health challenges, and behavioral addictions. Raising awareness and offering local resources is a critical part of prevention—and it starts with reaching families before issues escalate.
Watch the :30 campaign commercial here:
https://youtu.be/-EkJb901yZs
Campaign Goals
- Increase awareness of the risks associated with gaming and problem gambling
- Connect individuals and families to prevention resources offered by ESCSB
Campaign Reach & Strategy
ESCSB’s approach focused on leveraging media channels that align with local viewing and browsing habits. Research reveals that people experiencing or at risk for substance use and gambling disorders are highly responsive to television and streaming media.
Key insights:
- 82% of treatment-seeking patients took action after seeing ads on Connected TV
- 80% responded to traditional broadcast TV
- 50% searched for treatment after seeing an ad
- 133% more likely to trust businesses that advertise
Prevention in Practice
This campaign reflects how local prevention strategies can integrate national data, media analytics, and community-specific insights to reach the right audiences in the right way. By aligning message tone and media format to real-world behavior, ESCSB’s campaign worked to reduce stigma and increase engagement with problem gambling resources.
Learn More & Explore Local Resources
To learn more about this campaign or to explore ESCSB’s problem gambling prevention tools, visit:
👉 escsb.org/linkinbio/
Together, we can continue developing innovative and effective approaches to behavioral health prevention on the Eastern Shore and beyond.