GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 15 - January 2011

How did bet365 do during the World Cup? How does World Cup betting compare to something like Champions League betting? The World Cup went well for us in terms of the levels of business we saw and customers seemed to enjoy the increased markets, both pre-match and In-Play, that we were offering. The main difference is that World Cup games are live on television in most countries, which makes it more accessible. bet365 is known mostly for be- ing a sports betting site. From a branding standpoint, what diffi- culties do you run into in terms of publicizing the poker, casino and bingo sides of your business? I believe it to be positive that bet365 is associated with being a leading sports brand. I strong- ly believe in overall branding, especially in regard to Web sites for whom trust is a key factor from the con- sumer perspective. I feel that once you build a strong brand you have already achieved trust, and that trust transcends product boundar- ies. Customers are comfortable being with the strength and stability of the market-leading sports brand. In terms of the size of business, how do the poker, bingo and ca- sino units compare to the sports betting at bet365? Sports con- tinues to be our biggest product, representing around 65 percent of revenues. However, because of the size of our operation the 35 percent that gaming represents would still make these products bigger than those of most of our competitors. What are three facts about bet365 that you think would surprise most affiliates? The company is still family owned, with Denise and John Coates as the Chief Executives. It means that the company has a culture of ensuring a huge amount of passion for every- thing that we do, as the ethos transcends the fairly lateral layout of the company from the very top. We are the U.K.’s seventh-larg- est private company. The owners of bet365 also own Stoke City FC (a Premier League club, for affiliates unfamiliar with the Premiership). What’s more difficult —attracting players or retaining them? If you retain players well, the activities related to attracting players be- come a whole lot easier. The av- erage value of a player is directly linked to the amount you can in- vest to acquire him or her. If you enjoy high average player value you can afford to bid for top positions on paid search, secure prime media placements and re- ward your affiliates with net higher revenues. If your affiliates are earn- ing more promoting your product than they yield from the same ef- fort for a competitor, they will work harder to drive your players and recommend your program to other affiliates. The focus of our product team’s efforts is to continually drive player retention and yield. We know you’re very passionate about bet365’s casino product. What differentiates the bet365 casino from others in the market? To compete for direct casino cus- tomers our casino product has to be good. The directly accessed casino landing pages need to convert and the variety and quality of games needs to stand up against the best casino-only operators. To turn the visitors into customers the promo- 1. 2. 3. tions need to be exciting and com- petitive, while being balanced well between acquisition promotions and retention promotions. For crossover customers from our other products, our casino needs to be convenient (single wallet), provide value and deliver an ex- citing experience. For both types of customers we need to have all of the latest branded slots (including Tomb Raider, Superman, Hulk and Gladiator) and games (Deal or No Deal, Monopoly, X Factor, Gold- en Balls and more) to keep them playing with bet365. Our dedicated casino team has delivered on these objectives and we are seeing results in stronger conversions, higher average play- er lifetime value and increasing numbers of active player days. What are the three most impor- tant attributes an affiliate man- ager must have in order to be successful? Being personable, pro- fessional and attentive to your af- filiates are baseline requirements for the job. To be truly success- ful, however, an affiliate manager needs to be: Results-driven. This is a game of numbers and for both the busi- ness he represents and the affili- ates upon whom he relies, it will all boil down to results at the end of the month. Organized. When allocating his time he needs to be conscious of the likelihood of those actions yielding results. Toomany oppor- tunities are lost due to a lack of follow-up or a missed deadline. Analytical and have a solid un- derstanding of the various rev- enue models of each product, the recent conversion statistics, the average player values, the profitability of each acquisition channel, the contributing fac- tors to lifetime value, etc. 1. 2. 3. JAMES WOODS bet365 “If your affiliates are earning more promoting your product than they yield from the same effort for a competitor, they will work harder to drive your players and recommend your program to other affiliates. ” 60 Affiliate Manager Interview Series