Gambling Insider attended Sportradar’s marketing summit last week, and here, looks through the key takeaways from one of the panels.
Key Points
- Full-funnel marketing is key for business growth
- Branding and acquisition must be seen together
- Data is key in creating differentiation
Event Overview
Located at Emirates Stadium, the home of Arsenal FC, Sportradar Connect brought together industry leaders in the world of marketing in sports, betting and beyond.
Panel Discussions
There were three key panels throughout the day, with acquisition, retention and the future of marketing the focus of the talks. Here, we have delved deeper into the key takeaways and findings from the opening panel of the day: “Winning the acquisition race: the tech and tactics fueling success.”
Perspectives From Industry Leaders
With a mix of operator and supplier backgrounds, the panel provided a range of differing perspectives while, at the same time, they ultimately shared the same common views on ‘winning the acquisition race.’ Included on the biggest panel of the day was Kindred Group Head of Biddable Media and Acquisition Angelo Di Lascio, Betway Head of Acquisition Rahul Menon, LiveScore Head of Performance Marketing Kevin Andrews and Sportradar SVP Marketing Services Niki Beier, while it was moderated by SportsPro Head of Marketing Francesca Greane.
Main Insights
“The talk itself may have been surrounding acquisition within marketing, but straight away the main point coming across from the panelists was that ultimately acquisition itself can’t be something viewed in isolation.”
Branding And Acquisition
The talk itself may have been surrounding acquisition within marketing, but straight away the main point coming across from the panellists was that ultimately acquisition itself can’t be something viewed in isolation. Di Lascio admitted that initially this was an approach that had been taken previously at Kindred, looking at acquisition in isolation, and he underlined that any company operating in this way was limiting the growth of the business, also emphasising how key good branding is for marketing and that the skill set should be beyond simply driving the user.
Holistic Marketing Approach
This was a point agreed upon across the board, with Menon stating that branding and acquisition must be seen together, and that when the branding stops, that’s when the acquisition side of marketing starts. An interesting point made during the talk was that in some ways there isn’t really a need to distinguish between different departments of a marketing team and basically there should just be a marketing team.
LiveScore’s Unique Selling Proposition
Andrews of course comes from LiveScore, which has the USP of its convergence model, combining sports content such as scores, stats and news with a sportsbook. However, despite this, the Head of Performance Marketing still echoed his fellow panellists, that by only investing in the lower funnel in marketing, this will not lead to growth.
Sponsorship Impact On Acquisition
Betway has a number of sponsorships within the world of football. In the Premier League, for example, it has previously agreed deals with Arsenal, AFC Bournemouth, Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Manchester City and West Ham United. Menon asked the question of how much acquisition can be put into these types of sponsorships, explaining that these connections with clubs can then be transmitted through to fans and potentially bring in new consumers.
The Shift Towards First-Party Data
This linked well with the discussion around the shift towards first-party data, especially in this post third-party cookie era. Beier suggested that in the future we may see a time when rightsholders share their first-party data with advertisers, which would be good for brands and their growth. Though it wasn’t mentioned by anyone on the panel, this point did make me think of the significance of a big deal which took place recently that may serve as a good example. The deal in question being that of bet365 becoming the official global partner of the UEFA Champions League, the first sports betting brand to partner with the club football competition. This partnership could play a huge role for the operator in acquiring customers, especially given the global appeal of the Champions League.
The Role Of AI And Data
On data, AI was of course a hot topic, as it is in many spaces at the moment. Rather than just thinking of AI as a means of creating a product, the panel explained how the technology that is currently on offer and to come in the future will be key in enhancing decision making, and the thing that will add value to these decisions will be the data. Di Lascio spoke of the “uncharted waters” on the measurement side of AI, rather than simply trying to engage customers, and it needs to be looked at further how this data can be interpreted to make decisions.
Importance Of Differentiation
“Fundamentally, data drives differentiation.”
The idea behind this was expressed by Andrews, who underlined how within the betting industry it is often seen that a new product is not new for long, with competitors often copying these ideas within six months; it is the job of marketers to stand out. Beier went further on the point of products likely being similar highlighting that the job in marketing is to be “better than others at transporting the message.” What was agreed by all with regards to this topic area was that the data gathered from AI will add value in decision making surrounding products in order to stand out from the crowd. Fundamentally, data drives differentiation.
Customer Churn And Predictive Analysis
Finally, in this very thought-provoking session, another takeaway was around customer churn in marketing. Customer churn rate looks at how many of a business’ existing customers are not likely to return. In looking ahead for predictions within the acquisition arena, Menon suggested the idea of churn prediction, whereby AI could help in understanding those customers who may not come back to a sports betting app for example. Similarly, predictive analysis was another area Betway’s Head of Acquisition touched upon and how AI can help in predicting future behaviour to shape marketing decisions for different customers. But as Andrews explained, a lot of these AI models will contradict and ultimately it is up to the marketing team to test ideas, and this is the most important thing.
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