Emmie Faust – MC&C Media – Finding growth during times of squeezed margins

Ahead of the Betting on Football Conference – Team SBC caught up with Emmie Faust, Business Director of MC&C Media,  to discuss igaming and sports betting marketing trends and impacts.

Emmie is an igaming marketing veteran, who set up the first dedicated igaming marketing agency in 2005 – Jack Media London. Jack Media recently merged with MC&C to create MC&C Media, specialists in providing growth to clients via data direct response media.

Emmie has worked with numerous igaming operators on marketing and acquisition projects and has helped bring many new igaming brands to market.

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SBC: Emmie pleasure to meet you. Many of readers will know you from Jack Media London, can you tell us why you merged your agency with MC&C

Emmie: MC&C are a perfect partner. It is  passionately focused on generating new sustainable growth for its clients by exceptionally smart use of data and media. Many of its clients have been with them for a considerable length of time, which says loads about the great service levels and results they generate. MC&C have also made considerable investments in analytics and modelling which has helped JML clients achieve even better results.

SBC; The UK igaming sector is set to undergo some stringent new regulations and legislations, how will this affect you as a marketing agency with many clients in igaming?

Emmie: Given our expertise in direct response we expect the changes to have a positive impact on us as an agency.  In each of our campaigns we make every single penny count, with measurable, sustainable results.  This approach has seen us perform strongly in the tough times, where clients have trusted us throughout the journey too – and we expect this stability and efficiency will remain an attractive proposition for gaming clients during more turbulent times.

SBC: In terms of marketing and player acquisition what should operators look to prioritise in order to prepare for taxes that will no doubt have an impact on their performance?

Emmie: As an agency we are regularly tasked with finding growth during times of squeezed margins.  In preparation and as the support to any DR campaign, we strongly recommend a renewed emphasis on CRM, with our in-house specialists or otherwise, for clear percentage gains in LTV.  This will become even more vital with the new taxes looming – improved efficiency should lessen the burden on paid media.  The smart operators will spot this as an opportunity, quickly being able to take advantage of lower media premiums and incremental volumes due to lower competition.

SBC: Your team has helped many new brands market their products successfully in the saturated igaming market. How have you achieved this and what competencies’ and learnings have you gained from these projects

Emmie: We’ve been in the industry of launching new gaming start-ups since the inception of Jack Media.  While the channels used to launch new brands haven’t changed significantly during the last 10 years, the techniques within them have had to be finely tuned to ensure cut-through.  Having been on the forefront of these advances now means we know we can always offer market-leading launches via the two key paid media channels – DRTV and PPC – for many different types of igaming product.  Our approach for gaming brands is very different from other verticals where we take a very consultative approach.

SBC: As an agency director are you worried that saturation combined with new regulations and legislations will put off new ventures from emerging in the igaming market – will the market become a closed field?

Emmie: We can never be sure what the eventual impact will be on the industry, but we firmly believe that gaming businesses require a mix of specialist expertise and fresh thinking.  The industry continually develops at a rapid pace, meaning that to continue working with gaming brands over the next 5 – 10 years will require constant innovation, sound industry understanding and an excellent value offering, standing MC&C in good stead.

SBC: There has been much debate regarding restricting advertising of gambling products especially on broadcast mediums – what are your thoughts on the matter and how would that impact acquisition channel for your clients.

Emmie: We have a huge amount of experience in operating in crowded media market places.  Working with a considerable number of charities we face the challenge of operating in an area that is seasonally restricted as well as congested in sought after day parts. This is where smart negotiations and strong media owner relations are vital as well as working with creative agencies/in house creative to produce “stand out” commercials.  We also have developed the ART^TM system which allows us to put a value on each individual TV spot based on its effect on driving new players online. By being able to focus our schedule on spots that work we’re able to do more with less.

SBC: How do you visualize direct response marketing changing in the coming years, what technologies, social factors and trends will have the biggest impact on this method of advertising.

Emmie: Direct marketing is timeless and we agree with Rory Sutherland ex-President of the IPA when he says part of the reason for this robustness is that it has always recognised a few fundamental and important truths about human behaviour. The first is that not everyone is the same. The second is that even the same individual varies in their tastes and propensities from one moment to the next – that, as well as target audiences, there are target moments, and even at those moments’ people often need a trigger to act. The third is that context matters: that people do not decide in isolation. The fourth is that behavioural change often takes place in steps – sometimes the only way to get people from A to B is via Z. Finally direct marketing has always been an adaptive discipline. It does not try to be “right first time” but, through the use of feedback, constantly tests, varies, refines up weights and abandons different approaches in a logical process. Technology and social media channels allows for “ mass personalisation” and real time dialogue which enables companies to take advantage of the huge benefits of taking a direct marketing approach.

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Emmie Faust – Business Director MC&C Media

 

Sports betting marketing strategies and best practice will be discussed at the upcoming Betting on Football Conference – May 8 Stamford Bridge