iGB Marketplace Directory 2015/16 | Page 73

Insurance promotions...illustrating why insurance plays a key part in the future of online gaming. Insured jackpots as part of a wider campaign Insured jackpot prizes are predominantly used as part of wider promotional marketing, loyalty and player reward campaigns in the online gaming sector. The main objectives tend to be to give the brand an edge over the competition and keep players interested in and loyal to the brand. Most existing promotions run by gaming brands are pedestrian and add little value for the player. Running a prize draw on your site offering to give away one holiday to Las Vegas will definitely attract some entries and yes, you will get a winner – but it’s not very exciting and won’t do much for player development, retention or loyalty. However, even big global consumer brands use promotional marketing tactics such as the free prize draw (the industry is unfortunately rife with them!) but having analysed such mechanics in the Promotional Marketing industry for the last 30 years, we know how many entries these tend to get, and therefore know they are not doing much to enhance customers perception of a brand. With a bit of creativity and a similar budget, a prize promotion with an insurance-backed jackpot could offer players multiple chances to win while at the same time creating a way for brands to engage customers and build a relationship. Evolution in the industry Back in 2000 PIMS-SCA took their experience of working with big US gaming brands and integrated it with the online gaming industry. Sponsored by It certainly wasn’t easy to get online gaming companies to accept the principle of using insurance to cover jackpots for both free-to-play promotions and pay-to-play jackpot games – despite the fact that it is now 15 years since we paid out the first £1million prize from a purely online lottery game. Today however, there is a burgeoning interest in jackpot insurance as astute operators recognise the financial benefits that insurance can bring. In 15 years of exhibiting at ICE Totally Gaming we have seen the industry’s