RED ALERT!
In a crowded casino space, having a distinctive brand can be the key to success. With a radical
relaunch imminent, Maria Casino hopes to stand head and shoulders above the competition.
Saying that the casino marketplace is
crowded would be an understatement akin
to saying that this year’s London Affiliate
Conference might attract a few delegates.
Whilst consolidation and other market
factors are leading to some sportsbook
and poker brands falling by the wayside,
or at the very least operators choosing
to focus on one or two brands in those
verticals, multi-brand is the strategy of
choice when it comes to casino for many,
with a new casino seemingly popping up
every week.
look, with a completely new website
and logotype, and for the first time a
model playing the part of the eponymous
character.
With so many online casino brands
competing for attention, many of which are
essentially reskinned versions of identical
products, it’s becoming increasingly tough
for established operators to differentiate
their offerings and inspire brand loyalty
amongst players.
The current market and media landscape
is extremely cluttered, so in order for us to
The Maria brand has a particularly
interesting history. Having launched as
a female-oriented bingo brand for the
Swedish market in 2006, it was acquired
by the Unibet Group the followin g year
and grew into a market-leading brand
particularly in the Nordic territories.
Having Unibet’s backing enabled Maria to
gradually improve its casino offering, to the
point where it evolved into a casino-first
brand with, perhaps most surprisingly, a
predominantly male customer base.
Now, almost a decade after its initial
launch, the team behind the brand have
decided to give Maria Casino a new
We caught up with the Head of Maria,
Dersim Sylwan, to discuss the reasoning
behind this highly differentiated strategy:
The casino vertical is high margin,
but highly competitive. How do you
go about building market share in the
current market landscape?
that they are being offered when playing
with us.
We are now really looking forward to
revealing to our customers and affiliates an
updated brand and a completely new Maria
Casino site in the coming weeks.
Can you tell us about the updated
brand and the new site?
The brand name will be Maria Casino in
all of our markets and we’ve created a
new brand strategy, tonality and visuals
including a new logotype. With these
updates, we believe that the new branding
“The brand will [...] represent the core values of
the new site which are very much about being
transparent, inclusive and personal.”
stay on top of the competition we’ve tried
to focus on the factors that make Maria
Casino unique. Being one of the first bingo
and casino operators, having a brand with
a clear feminine touch and offering a wide
and exclusive product portfolio has given
us several effective ways to stand out and
break through the clutter in the gaming
landscape.
We strongly believe in innovation and a
key goal for us has been to continuously
improve how our customers perceive the
Maria Casino brand and the experience
will better reflect our identity as primarily
a casino brand, inviting everyone to play
with us.
The brand will also represent the core
values of the new site which are very much
about being transparent, inclusive and
personal. Customers will be welcomed
by Maria herself to a personalised online
casino environment which is exciting and
thrilling for both men and women, offering
them a fully responsive experience on
mobile, tablet and desktop.
The old Maria logo (left) and new Maria Casino logo (right).