Back in October, Sportradar hosted the third edition of its marketing summit, Sportradar Connect, at the home of Arsenal Football Club, Emirates Stadium, bringing together industry leaders in the world of marketing in sports, betting and beyond. Given Arsenal is generally known to stand out when it comes to its marketing strategy, particularly when it comes to connecting with its fanbase in a unique way, the setting itself seemed perfect for a day of listening to marketing experts give their methods for standing out from the crowd. In all, there were three key panels throughout the day, with acquisition, retention and the future of marketing the focus of the talks, as challenges and issues facing marketers both now and in the future were addressed.
Winning the acquisition race: The tech and the tactics fuelling success
Opening the day’s proceedings was a deep dive into acquisition, with a mix of operator and supplier backgrounds giving their views. Included on the biggest panel of the day was Kindred Group Head of Biddable Media and Acquisition Angelo Di Lascio, Betway Head of Acquisition Rahul Menon, LiveScore Head of Performance Marketing Kevin Andrews and Sportradar SVP Marketing Services Niki Beier, while it was moderated by SportsPro.
Head of Marketing Francesca Greane
The talk itself may have been surrounding acquisition within marketing, but straight away the main point coming across from the panellists was that ultimately acquisition itself can’t be something viewed in isolation. Di Lascio admitted that initially this was an approach that had been taken at Kindred, looking at acquisition in isolation, and he underlined that any brand operating in this way was limiting the growth of its business.
He also emphasised how key good branding is for marketing and that the skill set should be beyond simply driving the user
This was a point agreed upon across the board, with Menon stating that branding and acquisition must be seen together. When branding stops, that’s when the acquisition side of marketing starts. An interesting point made during the talk was that in some ways there isn’t really a need to distinguish between different departments of a marketing team; there should simply be one marketing team.
Andrews, of course, comes from LiveScore, which has the USP of its convergence model, combing sports content such as scores, stats and news, with a sportsbook. However, despite this, the Head of Performance Marketing still echoed his fellow panellists: that only investing in the lower funnel in marketing will not create growth. Betway has a number of sponsorships within the world of football. In the Premier League, for example, it has previously agreed deals with Arsenal, AFC Bournemouth, Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea, Nottingham Forest, Manchester City and West Ham United. Menon asked the question of how much acquisition can be put into these types of sponsorships, explaining that these connections with clubs can then be transmitted through to fans and potentially bring in new customers.
This linked well with the discussion around the shift towards first-party data, especially in this post-third-party-cookie era. Beier suggested that, in the future, we may see a time when rightsholders share their first-party data with advertisers, which would be good for brands and their growth. Though it wasn’t mentioned by the panel, this point did make me think of the significance of a big deal which took place recently that may serve as a good example. The deal in question being that of bet365 becoming the official global partner of the UEFA Champions League, the first sports betting brand to partner with the club football competition.
This partnership could play a huge role for the operator in acquiring customers, especially given the global appeal of the Champions League. On data, AI was of course a hot topic, as it is in many spaces at the moment. Rather than just thinking of AI as a means of creating a product, the panel explained how the technology that is currently on offer and to come in the future will be key in enhancing decision making, and what will add value to these decisions will be
data. Di Lascio spoke of the “uncharted waters” on the measurement side of AI, rather than simply trying to engage customers. It needs to be further examined how this data can be interpreted to make decisions. The idea behind this was expressed by Andrews, who underlined how within the betting industry it is often seen that a new product is not new for long, with competitors often copying these ideas within six months; it is the job of marketers to stand out. Beier went further on the point of products likely being similar, highlighting that the job in marketing is to be “better than others at transporting the message.” What was agreed by all with regards to this topic area was that the data gathered from AI will add value in decision-making when it comes to standing out. Fundamentally, data can help drive differentiation.
Finally, in this very thought-provoking session, another takeaway was around customer churn in marketing. In looking ahead for predictions within the acquisition arena, Menon suggested the idea of churn prediction, whereby AI could help in understanding those customers who may not come back to a sports betting app.
Similarly, predictive analysis was another area Betway’s Head of Acquisition touched upon and how AI can help in predicting future behaviour to shape marketing decisions for different customers. But, as Andrews explained, a lot of these AI models will contradict and ultimately it is up to the marketing team to test ideas.
Retention's superpower: Real personalisation
In the second talk of the day, Xtremepush Director of Partnerships & iGaming Robbie Sexton, Scooore.be General Manager Olivier Haine and Sportradar Director Personalisation Andreas Hartmann discussed the topic of player retention and personalisation, moderated by Fanclub PR Consultant Director of Communications Tessa Curtis.
Personalisation was the main theme here, but as Hartmann pointed out early on, the most important element is whether the customer actually likes the product in the first place as that will be the thing that retains a customer. The key is to build a product then get the personalisation right. AI was once again a topic of discussion here, and Sexton pointed to how this can help in understanding the preferences of customers with real-time insights, something Xtremepush offers, and avoids the need for samey CRM messages. He also pointed that with the technology that there is the opportunity for companies to go a level deeper into knowing their player interests with 100’s of micro segments to look in to, in order to increase engagement. Overall, he summed up that AI can help in delivering the right message to the right person.
Haine from Scooore.be talked about the need for personalisation to be viewed within a much broader light with, for example, information expanded beyond just sports betting, but also including sport content as a whole. Hartmann agreed with this sentiment, speaking on the potential use of sports content in gamification, referencing the success of Dazn; a sports streaming and entertainment platform that also offers other features such as live betting and gaming. Hartmann went further, looking into retention, speaking about how data may be used to predict the reactivation of a player using a betting site, and that an option in the future could be player-specific markets based around the customers’ preferences and interactions. The three on the panel agreed overall that any broad reactivation message doesn’t really work and that the messages sent out need to be more specific to the customer.
A key takeaway from the panel was that personalisation isn’t just about preferences, and is a balance between what is known about someone and pointing them towards other areas they may be interested in. Hartmann also discussed the benefits of cross-selling between sports betting and casino, even talking about how in the future personalised banners may be created by AI models to help retaincustomers. Likewise, it was stated by the panel that anticipating churn will define retention.
Fireside chat: Maximising
Ending the day, Sportradar EVP Global Marketing Adam Azor was in conversation with Mount Anvil CMO Lisa Ravenscroft. Before we really got into the bulk of the conversation, it was stated early on that rumours of marketing’s demise were overstated. This was of course a unique chat since Ravenscroft comes from outside of the betting and sporting industries, but the consensus between herself and Azor was very much on the same page concerning the issues touched upon.
The disruptive nature in marketing over the years was discussed, such as the advent of digital, social media and programmatic, reflecting on the “marketing bravery” that is needed to be more experimental, by taking risks especially in the face of the potential of new technology. Mount Anvil’s CMO spoke on the excitement of AI, but more so beyond this initial phase we are in at the moment. According to her, it is when we get away from the sameness that AI’s potential will really be seen. While hyper-personalisation and automation are hot topics at the moment, Ravenscroft did interestingly highlight that even now with the technology available, most humans don’t want maximum convenience in everyday life, citing an example of some people preferring to go to a book shop than buying from Amazon. She also explained that ultimately what is needed in marketing is to find out what is not being met, because a lot of companies will have the same tools, and it is up to human skill to learn faster than the competition; underlining that human traits may go full circle to old-school ways, such as the demand for vinyl rather than listening to Spotify at the moment, which human analysis can understand.
Summing up, Azor expressed that “marketing at its heart is a growth driver,” and that it is up to marketers to be experimental and innovative, with Ravenscroft concurring that in general there needs to be more cross-functional teams being more open to insights and new ideas
Adam Azor exclusive
During the event, Gambling Insider was able to sit down for a chat with Azor, delving into a number of topics, such as the future of marketing, third-party cookies, hyper-personalisation, among other things. As touched upon in the early session surrounding acquisition, Azor underlined the importance of first-party data in the years to come, calling it “the real currency of the future,” and explaining how key it is for both acquiring customers, but likewise in retaining them and in creating hyper-personalisation for players.
Sportradar’s EVP Global Marketing also delved into generative AI and how it is likely going to play a role in the changing nature of marketing, especially with regards to the creative aspect and the relationship between clients and agencies. But for now, those within marketing should be understanding “what is the best way to navigate those waters and: how do I make sure I’m beating the competition? Am I maintaining market position and driving the most effective marketing I can in a sea of change?”
Personalisation was delved into a lot throughout proceedings and, when asked about how far it can go with regards to a single person’s preferences, Azor pointed to how far the data can allow for it and what other data points can be combined to paint a personal picture of someone, which again comes down to the importance of first-party data.
Finally, Azor explained:
The two trends that are not going to just be the big ones for next year, but realistically, for the next three years are going to be hyper-personalisation and AI
Concluding
This summit really opened my eyes to the magnitude of potential there is for data and AI, especially when looking at marketing within the sports and betting industries. This potential can become even greater with the introduction of new technologies and developments surrounding AI and machine learning. “Fundamentally, data drives differentiation.” This was probably the statement that stayed with me the most from Sportradar Connect and ultimately it is this statement that should be at the forefront of all marketers’ minds, whether they are acquiring or retaining customers, as the shift to first-party data and move away from third-party cookies takes place.
The sheer volume of opportunities on offer within the marketing landscape makes for an exciting time in the space, and if people are allowed to be experimental with their methods, it can only be beneficial in the long run, creating experiences and products with every player in mind.