GPWA Times Magazine - Issue 35 - June 2016

You have been working with bet365 for seven years, and have been a perfor- mance marketing manager for a little over a year. Tell us about your first po- sition with the company and how you’ve transitioned into an affiliate manage- ment role. I’ve been working in many different roles since I first began work- ing with bet365 seven years ago. I have mainly been involved in operations, fraud and risk management, and administra- tion. These experiences have given me a great overview of how various business branches support the world’s leading online gambling company, along with knowledge and knowhow in each of the differing areas. This wider knowledge has certainly helped me in my current role, where I can use it to the benefit of bet365’s  affiliates. Before working with bet365, you were a marketing manager for an upscale department store. Describe what your work entailed for this company. Did this role help prepare you for your current work with bet365? Despite the product and the industry being totally different, they do have some similarities in their marketing philosophy and mentality. My previous job involved relationship man- agement with media such as local news- papers, magazines and websites. It re- quired solid relationships to obtain extra exposure for the brand in addition to reg- ular marketing campaigns with a budget. These fundamentals are similar to affiliate marketing, in that it’s vital to have good relationships with affiliates and partners. Additionally, I had to manage seasonal marketing campaigns in different time- lines, including the planning, implemen- tation and summary. Sports events mar- keting is also very seasonal and therefore quite similar to my previous position in many ways. You work with a huge team of perfor- mance marketing managers who work with affiliates. Do you have a particular focus in terms of region or gaming verti- cal? Our performance marketing manag- ers specialize in different verticals: sports, casino, games, poker and bingo. My pri- mary focus is bet365’s sportsbook, and I have been working with affiliates from all over the world. What’s it like to be part of such a large team? It is a big team and we all get along very well. More team members means more opinions, more ideas, and ultimate- ly more information and knowledge that can be shared. We often share our expe- riences both externally with partners and internally with reports. It helps us im- prove our performance as a collective and view things in a different light. What’s the best thing about working for bet365? bet365’s culture seems to af- fect everyone who is involved with the business. Since working with the bet365 group, I have really picked up a true sense of unity and common purpose that exists among everyone here. I believe that this is possibly because bet365 has its origins as a family business, but regardless, there’s a certain sense of magic and belonging just from being a part of it. In practical terms, it means that everyone has completely bought into the business and is therefore a contributing factor in bet365’s success. As a result, bet365 re- ally does have the best product, the best brand, the best technology, the best mar- keting and, of course (need I say it?), the best affiliate program. bet365 has been a Platinum Sponsor of the GPWA for eight years now. (Thanks for that, by the way!) Why do you feel it’s important to support the GPWA? And how does a sponsorship help bet365 achieve its goals? Everybody knows the GPWA is a well-known portal in the gam- bling industry. Affiliates and operators alike come to the forums seeking advice and support. For bet365 to be a part of this community has always been important. Here’s to the next eight years! How do you ensure that payments are sent out on time? It’s pretty easy and straightforward to request a payment via our affiliate back end. bet365 has a dedicated accounts team that processes payments for partners. They are very ef- ficient and try to send out the payments as quickly as they can. Affiliates can request that payments be paid via their bet365 player account or bank wire. What does bet365 do to retain players sent by affiliates? bet365 player values are among the highest in the industry. A combination of the best product out there, fantastic retention promotions and a bril- liant retention team behind the scenes ensures that bet365 is extremely com- petitive when looking at lifetime average player  values. Describe your typical workday. It’s quite difficult to describe a typical day at work as it varies so much from day to day. Some days, I need to sit down and analyze stats and reports, with the aim of highlighting key issues with affiliates to improve their results. Other days I’m focusing on new campaigns we’re rolling out, while at least once a month I might be on a business trip to visit one of our partners in their home  country. We all have the freedom to manage our own time and work in our own way to produce the best possible results for both our partners and the business. Describe the office culture at bet365. If we were a fly on the wall, what are some of the topics of conversation we’d hear about at the water cooler? As I said ear- lier, the culture at bet365 and our associ- ated companies is fantastic. The day-to- day office culture is quite dynamic, and we all get along with each other very well. The topics are generally work related, helping each other perform more effi- ciently and sharing knowledge and ideas. What is your favorite gambling indus- try conference? The London Affiliate Conference will always be my favorite. London is such a vibrant and exciting city for me, and with how popular that con- ference is among our partners and the AFFILIATE MANAGER INTERVIEW SERIES QI (JEFF) CHEN bet365 Affiliate Manager Interview Series