INSIGHT
IT’S TIME FOR MAD MEN
The industry’s focus on pricing as its lead customer incentive has also impeded the development of
effective brand propositions by operators and affiliates alike. It’s high time for this to change, argues
Silvia Hoppe from Viks.com.
MATTHEW WEINER’S ACCLAIMED
TV drama Mad Men details the birth of
America’s Golden Age (1950s-1960s)
through the commercial conception of the
nation’s first giant corporations. Through
the bright but flawed minds of the staff of
fictional marketing agency ‘Sterling Cooper
& Partners’, Weiner shrewdly depicts this
defining period in American history.
Agency Sterling Cooper helps new
US corporations define their products,
audiences and brand values, mirroring the
nation’s social adjustments during an era
which still impacts modern society. For
better or worse, Weiner tells his audience
that modern America and its values were
built by its corporate brands.
Writing this article for iGB, I can think
of no better way of highlighting the power
of creating effective brand principals, a
“As a key player channel,
affiliate marketing
has suffered from not
recognising the integral
value of brand marketing
as a vital practice.”
factor which I feel has been neglected in the
existing relationship between affiliates and
iGaming operators.
It is an issue that I have been
contemplating of late as we launch our
own brand, aiming to provide the market
with a fresh-looking casino which appeals
to a new audience and working hard to
engage the customer in a new way.
For a number of years, this industry
has debated how marketing and player
acquisition conditions have become more
challenging for both affiliates and operators.
These conditions are well known by
industry marketers and therefore need no
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iGB Affiliate Issue 55 FEB/MAR 2016
introduction. We are all aware of market
saturation in iGaming, of channel costs
being driven up and that we are now
dealing with a more sophisticated audience
which is harder to retain.
This current marketing context,
combined with a real lack of differentiation
by industry operators’ product offerings,
has led to the market being primarily driven
by pricing differentials.
At present, our industry’s focus on
pricing as its lead customer incentive
has to some extent become an unhealthy
obsession which impacts all operations
within the sector’s value chain, regardless
of whether a stakeholder works as a
publisher/affiliate or an operator.
As a key player channel, affiliate
marketing has suffered from not
recognising the integral value of brand
marketing as a vital practice.
In 2016 operators must look to begin to
redevelop effective brand propositions to
feed to all of their channels, not just their
player base.
At an operator level, this should begin
with devising effective brand messaging
through content creation and editorial, a
factor that has been strongly undervalued
by the sector. If we assess content output
through multiple social media channels, we
see that iGaming operators really drive the
same messaging and promotions, which are
all underlined by price incentives.
I must highlight that the current industry
context with regards to brand proposition
is an organic predicament created by the
industry and its day-to-day functions. We
must remember that iGaming was one of
the internet’s original boom industries; in
order to service its growth and expanding
player base, operators were rushed to
market focusing on price/value incentives
as the lead device for acquiring users.
As marketers we will have different
“An operator’s brand values
are much harder to readjust
or redevelop in order to
make them impactful to the
consumer.”
opinions in how far we have progressed in
our marketing operations. But the legacy of
the industry’s early engagement functions
has no doubt left a mark on current trends
and practices.
As the industry enters its conference
season, a key period for all stakeholders,
I urge affiliates and marketing partners to
assess the brand values of the operators
they choose to promote.
Let’s remember that in iGaming,
supplier content partnerships can be
changed, operator platforms and devices
can be improved and affiliate terms can
be renegotiated. However, an operator’s
brand values are much harder to readjust or
redevelop in order to make them impactful
to the consumer.
Put simply, in 2016 it would benefit all
industry marketers to become a bit Mad!
A former underwriter for commercial
risks in the insurance sector, SILVIA
HOPPE has been working in online
gaming since 2006. With a strong
background in acquisition and affiliate
marketing and a special gusto for startups, she has worked at Expekt.com,
Genesys Tech N.V., and now Cyberplay
Management Ltd, where she is Chief
Brand Officer for Viks.com.