The last few months have seen a number of betting and gaming companies cross-sell on new opportunities such as virtual sports and casino games, and this must continue if the sector is to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 explained Tommy Kearns, CEO & Co-founder of Xtremepush.
In addition to taking advantage of the digital meeting rooms at next weekโs SBC Summit Barcelona – Digital, Kearns explained that the event will give Xtremepush the opportunity to showcase their customer engagement, personalisation and data platform and to gauge further understanding of what the situation is โon the groundโ in the betting industry.
What are you looking forward to at the SBC Summit Barcelona – Digital?
Firstly, Iโm looking forward to catching up with our clients in the industry. Weโll talk business of course, but Iโm also interested in hearing how they are doing on a personal level. I think weโd all prefer to be doing this in person, but the digital meeting rooms that SBC have put in place are excellent.ย
Over the next day or so Iโll find time to get a full look through the agenda and then Iโll earmark some of the must-attend talks. As a company in general, we pride ourselves on staying up-to-date on the latest developments and trends within the industry. So events like this are essential to really get an understanding of what itโs like โon the groundโ so to speak.
What would be your biggest bit of advice for betting and gaming businesses trying to mitigate the impact of COVID-19?
In the short-term, itโs all about player reactivation. So the immediate priority is to segment your player base, focusing on the high-value bettors who might have disappeared completely during the lockdown, and begin nudging them back on-site and in-app with personalised, relevant offers. Weโre working with our own clients to warm up their player base ahead of the new European soccer season, for example.
Side by side with this, Iโd say that a bigger push needs to be made on cross-sell opportunities, whether thatโs casino games or virtual sports, which all saw a significant uplift in recent months. Weโve seen a lot of focus in the last few months on increasing wallet-share post-bet with personalised on-site and in-app messages promoting casino games, which have proven really successful.
In North America, the NFL season is about to kick-off which is very exciting and will tell us a lot about what to expect from the US betting scene in the coming years. The priority here should be gathering player data on favourite teams and bet types so that vendors can really hit the ground running from week one.
What are you promoting at SBC Summit Barcelona – Digital?
Xtremepush is the sports betting & gaming industryโs leading customer engagement, personalisation and data platform. Iโll be meeting with brands to discuss how we can help them to drive additional revenue and increase player retention through personalised, automated, multichannel experiences.
We work with most of the top brands (300+ globally) in the sector, including the likes of Oddschecker, 888 Holdings, Rush Street Interactive, Fortuna Entertainment Group, Funstage, and SportPesa. We understand the unique challenges that regulation presents for vendors, for example, and we are increasingly seen as the go-to provider in the industry. We also took home the 2019 SBC Award for Best Marketing & Services Provider, so we are certainly well-established.
What industry innovation will capture the most attention in 2020?
One of the big trends weโve noticed is with regards to how operators are rethinking their technology stack. Right now, the average sports betting brand probably has 10 or more different tech partners, between CRM systems, email and other channel suppliers, analytics platforms, personalisation engines and so on.ย
All of these capabilities themselves are essential, but the number of vendors involved is getting out of hand. So the big focus from here on will be around reducing the number of suppliers to just a small handful offering integrated solutions that provide a number of these capabilities in a single, unified product. That will allow vendors to keep their OpEx and CapEx down as well as improving efficiency when it comes to engaging with their players.
Additionally, I would say that thereโs also some really exciting work being done with gamification, using rewarding, fun experiences as a means to capture first and zero party player data in an open, ethical way. Better player data is the key to long-term retention and growth, and thereโs plenty of room to innovate while staying compliant.ย
Which operator has impressed you the most in 2020?
It wouldnโt be fair to choose, seeing as we work with so many of them!ย
What I will say is that the industry as a whole has shown remarkable resilience this year. I think that the experience and expertise that operators have developed was really on show when you look at how quickly they pivoted towards some of the niche offerings like eSports and Virtual sports. Sure, there was a week or so of uncertainty, but when it became clear that sports were off the radar for the foreseeable future, they took decisive action and kept the train moving. I donโt think that any other industry, en masse, could have done that.
What partnership has stood out in the past 12 months?
Youโll have to excuse my bias here, but I canโt not mention our recent partnership with SG Digital, as part of their outstanding OpenMarket. The impact that this will have on our mutual clients is phenomenal, with a seamless integration in place that will allow operators to take full advantage of the benefits of both technologies with fluid, real-time transferring of data between the two systems.ย
Which parts of the conference agenda have caught your eye?
I have huge interest in the LatAm betting industry, as I lived and worked in Mexico for a number of years. I have noted a few talks related to regulation and diversifying beyond soccer, so Iโll certainly be keeping a close eye on those. Itโs a region with phenomenal people and professionals, and I think that the potential there is massive.ย
Further details, including the agenda, full line-up of 200 speakers and list of the 100 virtual exhibitors, are available from the official SBC Summit Barcelona โ Digital website.ย
To join the 10,000 delegates from around the world, click here to register for free.ย