6th Online Bingo Summit

Speaker Interviews

In the run up to this year’s 6th Online Bingo Summit Bullet Business caught up with 4 of it’s speakers this week for 60 seconds to get their thoughts on the latest trends and hot new innovations in the online bingo industry. We will be holding further interviews with speakers over the next few weeks so watch this space for more insight.

For more information on this year’s event, the full speaker line up and agenda please download the summit brochure by filling in the form on the right hand side of the page or email josh@bulletbusiness.com

p.s Affiliate registration is free this year for more info on how to get a ticket please email josh@bulletbusiness.com

Phil Fraser, CEO of WhichBingo who will be moderating this year’s affiliate marketing panel that will show bingo operators how to create a more effective affiliate marketing strategy.

BB: Where in the Online Bingo Industry does your company sit?

We run a number of portals, the largest of which is WhichBingo UK (http://www.whichbingo.co.uk) as well as free bingo games, with our flagship game being FreeBingo (http://www.freebingo.co.uk). Our sites mainly target the UK audience be we also have Spanish sites as well. We are a media owner in the classic sense, rather than an affiliate.

BB: What are you working on right now and what are your aims for the next 6 months?

We are always working on developments in our sites, and had a major re-design and re-launch of WhichBingo in February. The re-launch of the site not only focused on the re-design but also on making navigation simpler for the user, adding a series of new features including our unique ‘thumbs up, thumbs down’ player reviews, making our news section more prominent, adding ‘Deal of the Day’ and a range of other aspects to help our site visitors. We still have a number of great innovations that we are planning on adding to the site over the next few months.

BB: Who has come up with the most exciting innovation that you’ve seen recently and why?

I think the area that we are seeing a lot of innovation in is bingo in the Facebook market. Whilst the game remains the same, things like levels, awards, limited access rooms, gifting etc are making the game feel new and exciting. The move by Wonder Bingo ‘from’ Facebook ‘to’ online is an interesting one and very different to anything we’ve seen before. Time will tell how successful it will be.

BB: What are the main trends/issues that will impact the industry the most in the coming years and why?

These are not new themes, but player retention and product differentiation continue to be the areas that most operators need to focus their attention. Dare I say mobile? It’s like a London bus, you think it must arrive soon but it never does!

BB: Where do you see the Online Bingo industry in 10 years and what is the most important development that needs to occur to achieve this?

In 2000 there were 10 online bingo sites on the whole of the internet. In 2011 there are more than 320 in the UK alone. What will happen in 10 years? To be honest I have no idea !!! However the (possibly) impending re-opening of the US market will change the landscape hugely when/if it happens.

Mike Braga, Founder of Motive Marketing will be hosting a one hour workshop on how to develop a winning retention strategy

BB: Where in the Online Bingo Industry does your company sit?

We provide the Online gaming industry with digital marketing strategy focusing on the following areas:

• customer conversion and retention
• data driven marketplace position, brand definition, and internal and external site differentiation
• product design based on customer behaviour, and
• team/organisational processes and structure based on marketing strategy and customer goals

BB: Who has come up with the most exciting innovation that you’ve seen recently and why?

At present a lot of the innovations visible in the public domain have been focused on game mechanics or end to end campaigns spanning TV to game-play.

For us the more exciting stuff happens under the covers (outside of the public domain and therefore confidential). Innovation in the players experience is where an operator or software provider can score strong results. The aesthetics and even mechanics of the game can only take you so far, understanding and appropriately meeting the player needs and mindset can take you much further.

BB: What are the main trends/issues that will impact the industry the most in the coming years and why?

Unless we tackle player behaviour and truly put players at the heart of our organisations, product designs and marketing activities, we will suffer from an industry that is diluting margin through bonus wars.

BB: Where do you see the Online Bingo industry in 10 years and what is the most important development that needs to occur to achieve this?

Looking back to when I started in the online gaming space to now; my view for the future remains fairly similar a decade later. Looking ahead my views are:

If we carry on the way we are; we will we become a consolidated industry spread thinly internationally.

If, as an industry, we adopt a differentiated player centric approach on a market by market basis, we have the ability to create and sustain a long term and globally popular online bingo sector.

Feel free to send me your thoughts and or questions to: mbraga@motivemarketingservices.com

Ben Starr, Founder of 15 Marketing who will be speaking about how you can ensure you get the most out fo your affiliates

BB: Where in the Online Bingo Industry does your company sit?

We’re a bit of all 3 actually. We have 4 operator sites sitting on networks across 3 software platforms. We run an affiliate portal called OhMyBingo.com and we also fit into the software category as the portal has a proprietary free bingo platform.

BB: Who has come up with the most exciting innovation that you’ve seen recently and why?

Costa Bingo’s Facebook integration has been second to none but in our fast moving industry, that is old news. I’m looking forward to the new big thing, perhaps it will even come from 15 Marketing?

BB: What are the main trends/issues that will impact the industry the most in the coming years and why?

UK tax legislation and new territories will dominate the headlines for years to come.

BB: Where do you see the Online Bingo industry in 10 years and what is the most important development that needs to occur to achieve this?

Mobile and local – we need to see smart-phones go out to the masses and sites adopting the mobile trend. Liquidity and performance will be teething issues but they are easily overcome. Perhaps the popularity of Foursquare and Facebook Places will spill into bingo – you’ll be able to play a mobile game of bingo with people in your home town.

Jamie Barnett, Head of gaming at Foviance who will be hosting an exlcusive customer feedback panel that will bring together over

BB: Where in the Online Bingo Industry does your company sit?

Foviance are a customer experience consultancy firm who specialise in the gaming sector.

BB: How do you differentiate your offerings from your competitors?

Our core differentiator is our experience in gaming.

To date we have undertaken over 200 projects across more than 40 gaming companies, including sportsbook, casino, bingo and games.

All of our consultants come from a gaming background and have a gaming interest which is absolutely imperative to the success of the projects we deliver.

The second differentiator is our focus on customer experience from a multichannel perspective. We recognise that customers want to engage with a brand and not necessarily with products, channels or technologies which is typical how organisations are structured. It’s our job to ensure gaming organisations gain competitive advantage through improving the customer experience across channels.

BB: Who has come up with the most exciting innovation that you’ve seen recently and why?

That’s a tough one as there seems to be so many at the moment.

At the moment the team like the William Hill/Racing Post mobile app.

BB: What are the main trends/issues that will impact the industry the most in the coming years and why?

Almost certainly the main trend will be the growth and innovation in mobile.

I think in 5 years’ time we probably won’t even be referring to mobile as mobile, because the devices we will all be using will be connected to a wireless network by default.

As a consultancy firm who tend to get involved at the idea stage, not just in gaming but also across some of our mobile clients (i.e. Nokia and RIM Blackberry) we are fortunate to see some of the innovations coming down the track 18 months and beyond. The breadth and variety of ideas that are shared with us at such an early stage blow us away and we can’t help to be excited about what’s coming along in the forthcoming months.

BB: Where do you see the Online Bingo industry in 10 years and what is the most important development that needs to occur to achieve this?

What I like about Bingo is the traditional Bingo halls it conjures up in one’s mind, a social experience for a certain demographic of individuals.

In 10 years’ time, I see that same experience occurring online.

For that to happen the experience online needs to evolve where social interaction with friends becomes almost seamless. Groups will be able to see each other, chat and share banter.

Of course many of these things we can do already today. The difference is that in 10 years’ time the tools, the technology and the networks will be in place to support it and the ease to engage with this experience will be both inviting and effortless.

Of course the demographic that have been brought up on the internet today will be 10 years older and they’ll be more susceptible to using such methods for their pastimes.

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