GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 10 - Sept 2009

37 :: GPWA Times success story within these regions, with Europe–and specifically theU.K.–being a very sustained focus for us right now. Currently, our main competitors fall into two categories, what I call the “bricks .n. mortar”brigade–Ladbrokes,WilliamHill, etc. – and the “new breed” – Stan James, bet365, Paddy Power. With gambling being a major form of entertainment, I don’t think it will be too long before we add some mass-market entertainment brands to the second category. Whataresomeofthemainchallenges youhavefacedorexpecttoface inthe future as Bodog continues its global expansion? I know theBodogBrand.com licensing group has significant plans for the brand, andmany of the opportunities I’m told areoutsideof the iGaming space. From Bodog Europe’s iGaming perspec- tive, though, Europe is an extremely competitivemarket and there are a lot of inconsistencies from a regulatory stand- point from one EUmember state to an- other, and those regulatorydevelopments are something wemonitor very carefully. From amarket penetration point of view, our challenge is clearly to establish a sol- id foothold in the markets we can serve best, and then to continuously evaluate key product areas and territories that we feel will give us the most opportunities while ensuring regulatory compliance. However, with the crack team we’ve as- sembled, and the dynamic culture of the Bodog Europe business, one of our com- petitiveadvantages isourcapacity to react extremelyquickly tonewopportunities as theyemerge. What isyourrolewithinBodog.co.uk? Howdoes it fit into thebiggerBodog Brandpicture? I amManaging Director ofBodogEuropeandassuchhaveultimate responsibility for theentireBodogEurope business.We’recurrentlyoperatingBodog. co.ukasourdomain fromwhichEurope is serviced, though as we start to introduce new languages or enter newmarkets we expect additional sites under the Bodog Europeumbrella.Wewill ensure the right peoplegetaccess to the right sites through geo-IP location technology. How do the iGaming brand licenses helppromoteeachother?What does thismean for affiliates? Of course, the brand licensees all share a common asset – the Bodog brand itself – and we’re all required to adhere to certain brand standards that promote and ensure a consistent global brand. Also, all of the brand licensees have acquired the right to advertise www.bodog.com as their portal domain,whichmeans that this is theURL that is marketed and anyone, anywhere onEarth, can type this intoabrowser and be directed to the correct brand licensee site, depending on their location. As one of the brand licensees, what this means is that any marketing done locally will benefit other licensees if those activities have potential for global exposure, either through the Internet or international broadcasting. How does this benefit affiliates? All of the brand licensees have already agreed that the objective will be to ensure that an affiliate that develops a relationship with any of the brand licensees will have the opportunity to benefit from all brand licensee affiliate programs. So, if I have a relationship with Affiliate X in the U.K., but she identifies a customer that is, for example, in Haydock’s territory, then that affiliate partner will have the opportunity to be compensated under Haydock’s program. Theprimary concern is that customers get the Web site and products that are most likely to appeal to them. Once this happens, the affiliate will be compensated based on the terms associated with that Web site. Again, we will ensure this happens through geo- IP location technology although some affiliates will be able to reinforce this by also having their own geotargeted ad serving. Tell usmoreabout thenewgeotargeting system that Bodog is putting into place.Howwill itwork?Howwill ithelp affiliates?Howwill ithelpplayers? The ultimate objective of the geotargeting is ultimatelyabout thecustomerexperience, and is designed to ensure that customers find the product offering that is best tailored to them, and find it with an absolute minimum of effort. By tracking the IP address from which customers access the www.bodog.com domain, we will ensure they are directed to the most appropriate brand licensee site. These selectioncriteriaarebasedon thesporting interests of their country alongwithother product synergies, as well as the brand licensee territory restrictions (I couldn’t take a customer fromAsia, for example). From an affiliate point of view, helping customers find the site that offers exactly what they’re looking for will inevitably lead to higher conversion rates, improve retention, and ultimately increase long- term revenue, which in turnwill result in increasedpayment terms for them. Makenomistake: everything–absolutely everything – follows from awell-serviced and delighted customer. This is our fundamental, driving ethic and any of our competitors that don’t believe this had better step back because we’re about to eat their lunch. Bodog is the only brand that has a presence across all channels. How important is this to affiliates and players? The simple fact is that Bodog is theonly trulyglobal iGamingbrandunder which poker, casino and sportsbetting channels are offered. We also know the benefitof cross-sellingchannelsandusing specific channels to acquire certain types of customers. This has been a core part of the Bodog success story over the years and iswhyBodog is amarket leader in its appeal toaffiliates. Where are you located? I’m based in the U.K. but spend a lot of my time in our European operation inAntigua, from which the operation is actuallymanaged. Fromabusinessdevelopmentperspective, many of Bodog Europe’s partners are in London and so I spend a lot of my time there also. At this point there are no plans to open an office in theU.K. as our operation is headquartered in Antigua – and it’s always very nice to grab a bit of sunand seawhile I’mout there. The Bodog poker network has plans to open up to non-Bodog branded sites in the future. Can you tell us moreabout theseplans? At this point, the existing brand licensees have collec- tively identified a few key new features of the existing poker offering that are really going to take it to thenext level, andwe’re aligned on a development path that’s ex- tremely exciting. We know for a fact that ourcustomersaregoingtobetremendously pleased with these critical improvements. Weknow that theBodogBrand.com licens- ing enterprise is also evaluating a poten- tial arrangement that would see the poker technologyevolve to thepointwhere itwas network-ready, and both existing brand licensees and third-party licensees would be able to avail themselves of the network and increase liquidity.Therearesomevery forward-thinking discussions happening regarding ensuring the sanctity of licensee databases, as well as rakeback, so I think a Bodog-branded network of this kind would seeagreatdeal of interest very, very quickly.There isstillagreatdealofwork to be done but I would anticipate quite a lot of interest from themarket should Bodog elect togo thenetwork route. Bodog shooting for the stars