SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Coming from a busy commercial period having signed new UK bookmaker Sun Bets as a client, Toby Oddy CEO and Founder of industry ‘full services’ marketing agency Digital Fuel, speaks to SBC about the changing marketing dynamics as stakeholders face tougher business conditions (increased competition, higher costs and new external factors).
With industry marketing stakeholders now demanding greater operational independence and intelligence, Oddy details to SBC how Digital Fuel has evolved as an industry agency emphasising effective long term client growth.
___________________
SBC: Hi Toby great to catch up again…Can you detail to SBC readers how you have tailored a ‘full-service’ digital agency for online gambling operators, what does this exactly entail for industry stakeholders?
Toby Oddy: We have put together a team of industry veterans that cross over every product and major regulated and unregulated territories. Digital Fuel offers a complete gaming and gambling marketing team that covers strategy, consultancy, marketing above and below the line, marketing technology and operations.
Whether an operator is looking to enter a new market, launch a new product or optimise their media spend across a single channel or multiple channels, we can help, and the client is able to have as much or as little involvement as they wish.
We deliver unparalleled knowledge in the space thanks to our exposure in multiple territories and of multiple marketing channels. With teams in every corner of the world, we operate 24 hours a day, so quick turn arounds are achievable.
SBC: Last time you spoke to SBC, you detailed the changing relationship between operators and agency. How is this partnership developing as operators seek greater data and intelligence competencies?
TO: The ever growing need to reduce cost and drive more efficiency from marketing budgets has led to greater reliance on intelligent data. It’s important to marry up both industry intelligence and first party customer data to make smart decisions about how to market to both existing and potential customers.
Essentially, we have people and processes in place to be able to use data led strategy. We work with several data providers and also operate and manage for clients our own Data Management Platform (DMP); this allows us to use targeted customer and prospecting data to tailor the customer and acquisition journeys to save money, but mainly to drive a constant improvement on the lifetime revenue from customers.
SBC: Amid drastically changing market conditions and forecasts, with regards to industry marketing practices what legacy values do you feel have or will be tested by future growth impacts?
TO: We are seeing new methods come into play such as advances in programmatic media buying across traditional channels such as OOH (Out-of-home media), Content etc.
In Australia, for example, above the line advertising is being challenged from a number of angles. One such obstacle is the possibility of a ban on gambling advertising on television. There are also limits and standards on how you can promote a gambling/gaming offer to the general public. For instance, you can’t promote free bets in certain Australian states, and only advertise trading offers to logged in customers. This causes major issues when trying to advertise to a wider audience, and attempting to reach new potential customers.
SBC: Entering 2016, Digital Fuel has won a number of new clients including The Sun (sunbets.co.uk), with regards to online betting and marketing what industry concerns have your new clients highlighted?
TO: Intense competition – inflation of media costs means that optimisation is key, and even more importantly, we need to ensure customers being acquired are valuable. It’s crucial that our digital agency has industry specific knowledge, not only for forecasting and optimising spends, but for understanding why particular strategies are effective or not, and what the impact would be of changing the various customer facing levers, such as offer, creative and messaging.
In regulated markets such as the UK and Australia, the political landscape means that there is a need to ensure all marketing communications are compliant with various regulations.
SBC: Acting as an agency, with outside influence on an operator’s day-to-day operations how do you create best practices and efficient standards to ensure continued client growth within a complex industry marketing framework?
TO: In short, the agency role is now more of a combined consultancy role. As the gambling business continues to grow worldwide, our role as an agency has to cover all aspects of our clients’ evolution.
At Digital Fuel, we are very successful with bringing new brands to market, plus establishing existing brands in new markets. This role is not a simple media buying agency model, but a complete partnership that lends itself to longer term commitment, and pulls on all aspects of business management and change management.
The Digital Fuel squad has been cherry-picked from the marketing teams at some of the leading betting and gaming operators around the globe. With team members in every corner of the world, we operate 24/7, and we have the necessary industry and jurisdictional expertise to deliver data-based performance led marketing campaigns to our clients, and to react accordingly to obstacles or issues that may arise throughout a campaign’s life cycle to ensure success.
SBC: Amid a now uncertain future, what debate and discussion should the industry be gearing up for in terms of marketing services and long-term values?
TO: With the merger of major brands in the UK will come some form of instability, and this will resonate to benefit mid-tier brands if they capitalise on the opportunity in capturing market share. I also think that bigger brands that do not look to innovate and acquire other gambling-related businesses will also suffer and get left behind.
Gambling operators now need to move towards owning the supply chain, including marketing partners and software providers. Ladbrokes would not lease a shop if they could buy one. Why would a gambling brand work with games platform providers when they could work directly with the developers or brand management company?
There is of course a case to say that diversity is required when it comes to content to give your customers variety and keep them engaged with your brand. But as the industry is in consolidation, and the cost of operations, taxes, and the cost of retaining customers etc.… are still on the rise, operators and suppliers now have to think about how they can work together to gain better margins. One way is to work towards a strategy that removes links from the supply chain; by buying products and services directly from the source, operators can improve efficiency to the business and deliverability to the consumer.
As in the case of discount retailers e.g., global powerhouse Walmart, gaming operators must establish strategic partnerships with suppliers, offering the potential for long-term ‘purchases’ in exchange for the lowest possible prices and some exclusivity in content that can be passed along to the customer in terms of added-value promotions and greater range of games unique to the operator. In addition, communication networks, relationship management, and collaboration with the suppliers will be a big part of what will make one operator more successful than the next.
___________________
Toby Oddy – Founder & CEO of Digital Fuel
