7 minute read
Events
by SBC Global
FACE-TO-FACE MEETINGS AND NEW PARTNERSHIPS ON THE AGENDA AS IN-PERSON EVENTS RETURN
SBC SUMMIT BARCELONA
will represent another step back towards business as usual for the industry, as operators, affiliates and suppliers gather at Fira de Barcelona on September 21-24 to exchange ideas, network and talk business
BY MARTYN ELLIOTT
During 18 months without major international conferences and trade shows, businesses supplying the betting and gaming industry were forced to find new ways to reach and engage with prospective customers.
Many were rewarded for their inventive approaches with very healthy sales figures, yet they still warmly welcome the return of in-person events.
What is it about these shows that people have missed? Why, when technology has made the business world so much smaller, do companies still see them as so important?
For Susan Moran, Head of Marketing for player engagement and retention platform XtremePush, it’s all about the personal approach.
“Events are a huge part of our sales and marketing efforts. We believe that there is nothing better than meeting people in-person at events and really getting the chance to understand them and their objectives,” Moran explained.
“It’s always great to have a chance to meet clients and partners, who drive the success of our business, and dig deeper into their strategies to see how we can help them even more.”
And it is not only customers that Moran is excited about meeting at the Xtremepush booth in Barcelona.
“Personally, I’m looking forward to meeting up with members of our team
for the first time in far too long. We’re a global business, with colleagues across different countries and time zones, so it’s great to be able to catch up at these events,” she said.
Vasco Vaz Rodrigues, Marketing & Comms Manager of Aurum Solutions, is also animated about the prospect of moving out of the virtual world for a few days when the reconciliation software specialist takes part in SBC Summit Barcelona.
“For us, in-person events are the best tool to get in front of the audience and market we are targeting,” said Rodrigues. “But more than that, in-person events allow us to create connections right there with potential partners that, otherwise,
would be very hard to interact with. So they are a big part of our strategy, mainly since we believe more in human, face-to-face interactions than virtual ones.”
The ability to meet in-person is not just a more sociable experience, it also has real business benefits, according to Digitain’s Chief Business
Officer Simon Westbury. He described exhibitions as “intrinsic” to the sales process and suggested that all parts of the platform and content provider’s commercial team would welcome their return.
“In-person events are key for the account management team, as they get to meet up with existing partners face-to-face, get feedback on our performance over a coffee and to discuss any issues or future opportunities,” said Westbury.
“For the sales team, they get to develop their network, demonstrate our great range of igaming products with interested parties and, hopefully, set a few deals in motion.”
He added: “SBC Summit Barcelona will be one of the first trade shows that new members of the Digitain sales team will be attending, so it is exciting for me to see how the new team members progress from working solely in a digital world. It’s important for them to build their network, as so much of sales is about long-term relationships and trust.”
That sentiment was echoed by Sam Wright, B2B Marketing Specialist with Pinnacle, who said: “There’s really no substitute for in-person events when it comes to showcasing our brand to the audiences we’re looking to reach.
“Events facilitate constructive conversations with potential new partners, with all parties in attendance generally pursuing the common goal of creating new partnerships or improving on existing ones.
“There are so few opportunities across the year to engage in these discussions in person. Often the day-to-day operational challenges of running successful 24/7 businesses take precedence and developing conversations can take a while. That’s why events, like the SBC Summit Barcelona, are so important to get right from a supplier point of view.”
Wright added: “Face-to-face, we can talk in more depth to understand clients’ trading challenges and esports strategies, come back with quick answers to the queries they may have, and generally expedite better conversations so we can start executing on mutually-beneficial partnerships sooner than we would otherwise over multiple Zoom calls and email chains.”
While generating sales is obviously the number one goal for every exhibitor, most also see real value in
the conference element of events.
According to Moran, conferences are vital for Xtremepush “in terms of keeping our finger on the pulse of industry”. She added: “The panel discussions and expert-led sessions are invaluable. We pride ourselves on understanding the challenges and the goals that operators have.”
Westbury is also keen to hear the insights and experiences of the senior executives and product specialists on
the 250-strong speaker line-up at SBC Summit Barcelona.
“From a knowledge leadership perspective, it’s always useful to take the opportunity at trade shows to hear the views of industry experts. SBC is excellent at putting an interesting roster of speakers together with a cutting-edge agenda,” said Westbury.
“From the agenda, the parts that caught my eye included the leaders panel on innovation - I’m very much looking forward to that. Also, the session on media companies and betting company partnerships should be good too.
“In the US, a lot of operators have gone all-in with this strategy, and it'll be good to hear how this has gone, given there's only ever been one real success in Europe with this approach.”
The combination of interacting with operators at networking sessions and on the exhibition floor, together with the ideas of the conference speakers, is also set to prove valuable for Pinnacle.
Wright said: “I’ll be intrigued to hear what the industry’s take on esports as a betting priority is, come September. We’ve seen more tier-one operators treating it with the importance it deserves in the last year, in no small part due to the abrupt halt in traditional sports in 2020.
“It seems that the esports betting revenue numbers are slowly convincing the doubters. We’re excited to showcase our own learnings and expertise at SBC Barcelona, when it comes to building a successful esports product.”
Part of the attraction of conferences and trade shows for delegates is the chance to view and try out the next generation of products that have the potential to drive growth in their businesses.
Between the presentations on the Product Innovation Showcase stage and the exhibition, there will be plenty of opportunities to do just that at SBC Summit Barcelona, with Xtremepush, Digitain and Pinnacle among the companies participating.
Describing what delegates can see at the Xtremepush booth, Moran said: “We will be exhibiting our award-
winning player engagement and retention platform. We’re looking forward to showcasing our realtime data and in-play engagement functionality. In particular, we’ve made some incredible enhancements to our journey builder, allowing operators to do even more through automation, which is the key to scaling player engagement.”
Digitain will also be using its booth to showcase upgrades and additions to its established range of sportsbook and online casino products.
“As always, we'll be promoting our ‘hero’ product, our award-winning sportsbook, and I’m also looking forward to demonstrating our latest sportsbook bet types and our new bonus tools,” said Westbury.
“We’ll be showcasing our new portfolio of in-house developed Fast Games, including our new Blackjack game. We're very pleased how our new games have been adopted by our partners and their customers.
“We think these games could be of interest to operators outside our network too, as they offer both boosted revenues and a low-cost recruitment solution for recreational customers. The games are positioned in a sweet spot between casino and sportsbook, and are an excellent cross-sell opportunity too.”
Pinnacle has also made significant strides in product development since the last major industry trade show, so many delegates will be seeing its latest range for the first time.
“We’re excited to showcase exciting new advancements in our brand and product range in Barcelona, having developed our iFrame solution and esports product to ensure we meet the ever-changing challenges and provide the most value to our sportsbook partners going forward,” said Wright.
“The past 18 months have seen us proactively engage with existing clients and prospective partners looking to level up their sportsbook performance. We’ve listened to how their strategies have evolved to account for a postpandemic era and we’ve acted on that to ensure we continue to be a firstrate partner, delivering the revenue gains and hold improvements that they demand.
“As a risk management pioneer, Pinnacle Solution has a fairly unique position in the market. So at the Summit, we’ll be looking to demonstrate how our expertise in managing the fundamentals of the trading function will deliver the consistent growth and performance that we take such pride in delivering.” •
