GPWA Times - Issue 21 - May 2012

Af filiate Manager Interview Series ADNAN MASLO ComeOn! earn Your program was recently named the best newcomer affiliate pro- gram at the iGB Affiliate Awards. What does that award mean to you and to the program overall? It actu- ally means a lot. I knew we had the caliber, but we found ourselves up against a couple of global brands that recently introduced an affiliate pro- gram, so I did not know what to ex- pect. You have no idea howmuch work and effort went into setting up the pro- gram, establishing presence and most of all, catering to all of our affiliates with limited re- sources. We did not go to work, we went to a battle- field every day. As new affiliate programs pop up like mushrooms, this helps us prove the point that we are serious and know what we are doing. ComeOn! offers sports betting, casino games and poker. What is your most popular gaming vertical? And do the bet- tors at ComeOn! tend to cross gaming verticals? Or do they tend to stick to just one type of betting? We gave focus to the casino from the start, and that has been our most popular prod- uct so far. The majority of our poker players and sportsbook bettors have tried our casino and they do stick. Until now, we have been somewhat reserved with sportsbook promotions during the time we prepared it for the masses. At the moment, we are giving sportsbook the same attention we gave to casino, and I believe that it will grow into the largest product over time for us. Our name, ComeOn!, can be ap- plied across markets and all sports as we can really appeal to that exciting feeling during sports. We can’t wait to scale up our sportsbook promotions and develop that vertical as well. You offer in-play/live betting in a number of sports. What percent- age of your sports bettors make in- game wagers, and how much of the overall handle is made up of in-play bets? I don’t have the exact numbers but 50 to 60 percent make in-game wagers and the in-play bets are around 35 to 40 percent of the overall handle. It’s one thing to bring in a new play- er. It’s another thing entirely to get them to stick around. What does ComeOn! do to retain players sent by affiliates? In the conventional school, you are absolutely right and it is really no secret what the fundamen- tal methods to retain players are. At ComeOn!, we have added a new element: attention to detail and ex- tremely high focus on the user expe- rience. We use both technology and graphics as tools to increase the user experience. For example, we were the first to actually have a fully functional single wallet, and people simply loved it. Another example is that we keep our site fresh by continuously updat- ing the content and graphics, which gives people a new experience when they return. We do not segment the users by the channel they came from, e.g., through an affiliate; we segment them rather by their behavior so that we can give them the right attention and promotions. What do affiliates need to know about ComeOn! in order to effec- tively market the brand to their players? What distinguishes ComeOn! from other affiliate pro- grams, both in terms of the player experience and what you offer af- filiates? I want to touch upon a few things that everybody should know, all equally important in my opinion. The first thing that many are not aware of is that we have an amazingly fast payments team in place. Second is that our customer support does not say, “I have a ticket here . . .”; they say, “One of our players has a question.” Basically, we treat our players as real people and our support brings amaz- ing feedback. These two elements complete our user experience that I touched upon earlier and players are very happy. A more traditional selling point is that we have four casino providers under the same roof, and they are all seam- lessly connected. We feature games from NetEnt, Microgaming Quickfire, CTXM, as well as the new Sheriff Gaming, so the portfolio is filled with games people love to play. Another point is that we have in a very short time joined the high-level jackpot pool, so there are some big dreams to promote. When we compare ComeOn! earn to other affiliate programs I would like to think that we have a balanced mix of good commissions, good terms, as well as great products to promote. Add per- sonal service and good marketing tools to this and you have a winner. ComeOn! earn offers a unique com- mission structure. Affiliates earn commission based on the net rev- enue each month, and can earn a bonus of up to 15 percent based on the number of new depositing cus- tomers they bring in each month. How did you arrive at this commis- sion structure, and what feedback have you received from affiliates re- garding the structure? Well, we spent time focusing on what is fair for the af- filiates and beneficial for us long-term. The idea is to reward activity as well as value. Some affiliates have less traffic but great value and some are the other way around. Our commission structure is made so that good affiliates can reach high commissions even in the short- term. As an affiliate, the longer you actively promote us, the more you will make with time. So the affiliate has con- trol over how good a commission they get by choosing how much traffic they send us. We have gotten great response to our commission structure and we are proud that it has already been copied by several big-brand affiliate programs. While most affiliates understand that any bonuses players earn will be de- ducted from gross gaming revenue numbers, they don’t like complicated administration fees. “Affiliate marketing will get even tougher as the Google Pa ndas turn into Po lar Bears, and t he Polar Bears t urn into mean Grizzlies.” Affiliate Manager Interview Series