GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 34 - February 2016

An affiliate by accident, Phil Fraser made WhichBingo.co.uk a go-to destination for online bingo players You helped William Hill build its online casino. What in your previous experi- ence gave you the skills necessary to build an online casino? I was recruited by William Hill back in 2000 specifically to launch their first online casino, on Cryptologic software. Oddly, I do remem- ber thinking at that time that we were late to the party. My background before join- ing William Hill was as an account direc- tor in an ad agency, and before that my career had been in magazine advertising sales. At that time I was working on the agency’s nascent digital arm, servicing clients. This was probably what sold me to William Hill, along with my business skills honed on client work and ad sales. What made you decide to move from helping an operator build a site to be- coming a bingo affiliate? To be honest, it was an accident, rather than an overt decision. While at William Hill we came across online bingo as a market. At the time there were only around a dozen on- line bingo sites, all in the gray U.S. market, and unsurprisingly William Hill didn’t fancy it, but I did. I left Hill with the in- tention of launching the U.K.’s first pay- to-play online bingo site. Unfortunately I couldn’t raise the capital for the project, but I did launch a bingo comparison site to pull together some research to support the (failed) business pitch. That site was WhichBingo.com , and after a while bingo sites started approaching me to advertise and almost by accident it became an affili- ate business. Can you talk about the impact that the UIGEA had on the online bingo market? The UIGEA is long-gone history and re- ally has no relevance to the U.K. and European market. At the time it was a dreadful shock, killing around 80% of our business overnight. Looking back now, it was arguably the best thing that ever hap- pened as it kickstarted the U.K. market — a market we were already poised to take advantage of. So, odd as it sounds, the UIGEA was great . . . but not at the time. I see no relevance in it even being a topic of discussion nowadays, outside of U.S.- facing companies. It’s much harder to find a “whale” in on- line bingo than in casino games or sports betting. What is the average player value for bingo compared to casino games or sports betting? Is there enough volume in bingo to make it a worthwhile gaming vertical for new affiliates? It’s difficult, if not irrelevant, to compare bingo play- ers to either casino punters or sports bet- tors. In general terms the demographic, age, gender and reasons for playing are diametrically different. As an affiliate we don’t get to see figures from clients, but I would guess average lifetime value might be anything between £150 - £500, depend- ing on the player and the site they’re on. I always say that there’s “enough to go round” in the online bingo market. With new bingo sites launching all the time, there are always opportunities for new affiliates. The problem any new affiliate might have is that, generally speaking, most of the big bingo brands have signed up a large majority of players, so inevita- bly it will be difficult for new affiliates to find new sign-ups for big brands. What types of promotions do bingo players find the most attractive? Do de- posit bonuses matter? Free games? Or do big prizes like trips to New York or a Caribbean cruise tend to draw the most traffic? Different players look for different types of offers. In terms of recruitment, the key is to get players to at least sign up and “test drive” a game or site. In that sense, free money and free games are the best at getting players through the door but may not be best for conversion. Deposit bonus- es and loyalty gifts are the best way to get players depositing, playing and hopefully coming back. I think players are savvy enough now to go into “big” promotions with the view of “I probably won’t win, but I’ll give it a go.” In that sense I’m not sure that they are huge player drivers. GPWA AFFILIATE INTERVIEW SERIES WhichBingo Phil Fraser AGE 52 HOMETOWN Leeds, U.K. LIVING IN Leeds, U.K. FAVORITE FOOD Gambas pil-pil, chorizo in red wine and pulpo Galicia MUST-READ BOOK The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People , by Stephen Covey SITES WhichBingo.co.uk freebingo.co.uk justslots.com managerstats.co.uk WhichBingo.com GPWA Affiliate Interview Series