A strong portfolio of deals with football clubs, including Fulham and Scottish champions Celtic, saw Dafabet win the Sponsorship of the Year category at the SBC Awards 2018. Ahead of the nominations deadline for the 2019 awards, SBC caught up with Dafabet’s Head of Sponsorships and Marketing Operations John Cruces to find out about the latest developments in the sportsbook’s sponsorships.
SBC: Dafabet won the Sponsorship of the Year award in both 2017 and 2018; what is it that makes your sponsorships so effective?
John Cruces: First and foremost we believe in a true partnership, so we work together with our partners on every level.
Asset wise, we aim to ensure our ‘brand’ coverage is as clean and noticeable as possible. Not being a high-street brand this is our shop window, so to speak, so we have to be seen.
Then we aim for fan engagement, as word of mouth can be far more effective than many ‘paid’ campaigns. As well as giving back, where possible.
In general we try to stay unique, maximise our assets and become synonymous with our partners.
SBC: How has Dafabet’s sponsorship portfolio developed in 2019? And have you done anything new in terms of activation and fan interaction?
JC: The main addition has been becoming Principle Club Partner with Norwich City FC. It was a priority of ours to maintain a Premier League presence (following Fulham’s relegation).
In terms of activation, we’re a big believer in ‘if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it’, but are aware we cannot stand still in this industry or you can effectively go backwards. With this in mind, for every Celtic and Norwich game we have a no-strings predict the score offer, where if correct all users win a fiver free bet.
SBC: You could clinch a hat-trick of SBC Awards wins this year; are there any rivals who have caught your eye over the last 12 months who might provide strong competition for the honour?
JC: While we tend to look after our own interests primarily, it would be a bit foolish not to have a look at our competitors. There are a few one-off campaigns we have seen that we have thought were very good, that you have to doff the cap to, so to speak.
In the main though it’s the worldwide brands who don’t just target one country or territory we have to compete with. So it’s the usual suspects, who don’t need naming who are the main rivals.
SBC: Why would you recommend entering and attending the SBC Awards?
JC: There are a number of awards evenings that are known, but we find SBC to be impartial and cover the whole range of the industry. That’s the reason we enter and attend, it’s also a very good networking opportunity on what is always is a good night.
Nominations for the SBC Awards 2019 are open until 27 September 2019. View the full list of 41 operator, affiliate and supplier categories, and find out how to enter.
The awards ceremony takes place at Battersea Evolution, London on 3 December 2019.