GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 31 - February 2015

work to build relationships with mem- bers of that community? One of the great things about the Internet is the way it brings together people who have a shared passion. And from what I’ve experienced so far, there are a fair number of sustain- able communities dedicated to online ca- sino and other forms of online gambling. As far as online casino goes specifically, the vibe and the way those communities work are very different from something like video games. Video games tend to revolve more around multiplayer games, where playing alongside your friends is an integral part of the experience. Online casino, however, tends to be more about single-player gameplay (although things like communal chat in live casino is bring- ing a stronger social vibe to it, even if you’re still essentially playing against the house). And naturally, that affects the way communities interact with each other. But I think you can draw comparisons in terms of the passion of those communities for both the subject matter and the communi- ties themselves. And online community is something we take seriously at Royal Panda. We don’t just wait for our customers to contact us with questions or complaints. We have staff members who will check gambling forums and player review sites to see what’s being said and see if there are any questions or criticisms we can answer. You've been the director of Royal Panda for about a year now. What was it about the site that enticed you to take the po- sition? Well, I’d already gotten to know some of the people working on the project through my dealings with the iGaming industry, and their vision for the project looked very promising. Furthermore, as someone who enjoys going over things in detail, picking apart documents, etc., things like the regulatory side of the job, drafting terms and conditions and proce- dural documents, and so forth appealed to me as well. One of your main job responsibilities is ensuring that Royal Panda is complying with gambling regulations in various ju- risdictions. How difficult is it to keep up with the changing regulatory landscape? How much of your time is spent making sure that you have all the company's ducks in a row, so to speak? It really var- ies from country to country, but the key is preparing yourself properly. Obviously, that means enlisting the services of re- spectable legal advisers, but it can also mean printing off the relevant regulations and reading them in bed in the evening. Now don’t get me wrong, that can be a lot of work. When we were going through some of the U.K. regulations, we'd be for- ever rifling through documents that could be 50, 60 or even 100+ pages long — but the good news is that once we are up to speed, it’s just a matter of keeping an ear to the ground for changes. What have you learned from building an online casino brand from the ground up? What have the biggest challenges been? The biggest challenge by far was building a brand that really stood out. First, you need to identify a concept you feel your target audience will respond to, then you need to set aboutworkingoutwhat its strongpoints are and formulating that into a quick-to- grasp message. And then there’s the small matter of putting it all together, testing it, analyzing the feedback, improving it and so forth. And of course, that means put- ting the right people in the right places. It’s certainly been a lot of work, but it’s very rewarding when that hard work pays off. Royal Panda launched in March 2014. What have you learned since your launch? If you could go back in time, would you change anything you did in your first year? I think one of the big things we learned was that you can never do enough testing, whether you’re pre- paring for launch or for new features. We did dozens of usability tests — on the de- posit process, the sign-up process and all of those important functions. You develop them, you test them, you take the feedback onboard, identify where you need to improve, make the improvements — and then the process starts again. In the end, we had features that went through several such cycles before we were happy with them. Royal Panda features a very friendly, cartoonish panda as a mascot. Obviously this is integral to the brand. So why Royal Panda? What was the thinking behind the brand and the mascot? The panda is one of those rare animals whose appeal is close to universal, and in many countries and cultures it’s a “fun” animal, associated with having a good time, while the royalty theme is designed to inspire a sense of playing in the lap of luxury. So that’s the theory behind it. But while it’s a concept that may seem simple, realizing it was actually a surpris- ingly long process. Fine-tuning our mas- cot so he’s the handsome, furry chap you see today actually took more than half a year, as did our crown logo, which also I think our main strength is that we offer a casino that’s designed to retain players as well as attract them. And that’s not just important for us, but for our affiliates, too. Ultimately, we’re all dependent on players continually playing — and depositing — for our revenue.” 63 Affiliate Manager Interview Series