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LENIN CASTILLO: THREE KEY PILLARS OF ONLINE CASINO SUCCESS IN LATIN AMERICA
from SBC Leaders Issue 17
by SBC Global
AS MORE COMPANIES eye up the new opportunities emerging across the Latin American gaming market, Lenin Castillo - Online Chief Operating Officer at Logrand Entertainment Group - explains why he believes Strendus will have a strong influence across the region
BY ERIN GALLAGHER
SBC: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us! Logrand’s Strendus Casino has very quickly become a leading platform in the Mexican market. What would you say has been the key to its success?
LC: Thank you, I greatly appreciate the time and interest in your prestigious space to be able to talk about Strendus.
There is no doubt that to always achieve your goals, you must be programmed and motivated with great passion to do different, disruptive things and always think in the long term in which you always have a positive impact on your consumers.
We consider that the key to being one of the top leaders in the online casino scene with the greatest acceptance in the industry. It is derived from three main pillars:
The first is the clients. The fact that we have been able to listen carefully to our clients, generating a very solid and comprehensive relationship towards them since we appeared on the scene in 2018.
Second is teamwork. By assembling a high performance team whose members
work to achieve a common and specific goal, acting on the basis of individual and mutual responsibility with an easy adaptation to change, synergy and trust.
And the third is with the conviction, support and consistent involvement of the Council and Board of Directors.
Mexicans love sports, social life, and games. We have been able to adapt this knowledge very well in our industry and today we have been well accepted since we keep on listening to our customers and surprise them with more of what they expect in terms of service and immersive experience.
We will continue to work very hard to maintain our standards.
has been of great relevance to offer to our card game players and tables from its land-based casinos sports betting alternatives “on site” and also digital with a same account, as well as being able to offer them the whole experience with sports broadcasts while they play at the casinos. Following this same trend, digital sports betting players and digital table players receive special promotions to enjoy at the casinos.
It is a fact that sports betting and casino games are widely played, but a big percentage of these players are males and they belong to the 30+ age group. The direct relationship between both verticals is very evident in males of older demographic groups and with middle to high income, they are more experienced in sports betting and card games.
Taking into account that more and more, older generations use digital technology and the challenges of technological conversion are smaller for these groups than what was thought; the benefits of delivering a complete offer in both worlds, the digital and the real; they allow us to serve an increasingly educated market that uses both methodologies constantly. We call this “extended experience”.
SBC: Latin America is a region which is very high on the agenda for a number of betting and gaming companies. Why do you think this is? And are there any new countries which are on the radar for Logrand?
LC: Latin America is a developing region for the industry since it is still very young and with undiscovered and unexploded markets compared with other countries in more mature markets where gaming companies are very strong and seen as a common entertainment alternative.
It is well known thanks to various studies that the Latin American gaming industry has consistently increased its share of the market year after year and that it could compete in the near future with markets such as Europe. This growth is driven by a general expansion of the region, where around 12 countries, in addition to promoting the regulation of the sector, are taking advantage of the technological development that has been taking place, where the use of broadband internet and smartphones already count, with an increase in users close to 50%.
For several years now, plenty of players in the sector have seen the regulation of our industry as fundamental and, above all, the impulse between government and private initiative to offer quality products and a very attractive offer for all the segments we cover.
Of course, we are becoming more and more involved in Latin American countries to achieve this. As for reaching new countries, we definitely intend to grow our brand outside the national territory where the consumer profile matches or is very similar to the domestic one in the short term.
SBC: As we all know, Logrand also operates a sportsbook. Are there any particular markets or demographics that this cross-selling between casino and sports betting has been most evident?
LC: We actually find a direct relationship between sports betting and casino table and card games for both the digital ecosystem and the land-based model based on live dealers. Sports betting as an entertainment activity has shown a steady growth in the past few years but it also impacts the growth in the casino table and card games in frequency and penetration, with a strong preference in blackjack.
For Logrand Entertainment Group it
SBC: For those looking to enter the Latin American market, what would be the key challenges that they should consider?
LC: I consider that competition always makes you better, so we are happy to
have a competitive market since this means an evolution of the region.
It is definitely a market in constant movement and with a wide variety of legislations, market segments and technology penetration, in some countries we are still struggling to get rid of lax regulations, others with some taboos regarding this kind of entertainment offer and the need for customers to feel they are in a safe environment.
A mistake that is usually made is to consider Latin America as a unique market, that is as if the entire region behaved and sought exactly the same. This is equivalent to thinking that online gambling in Europe is the same for all countries for the simple fact of belonging to the same continent.
It is important to enter and understand the particularities, habits, uses, interests, etc., of each of the countries and their people, and from there then define an ad-hoc plan for the region or for each country.
Another point to consider is making sure you consider the local payment methods for Latin American customers. There are two key points that influence the way a customer will pay for an online purchase: the penetration of credit cards is still low in Latin America, and the fear of online fraud, which makes so many users avoid generating transactions through these means.
SBC: Logrand navigated the challenges of the pandemic very well, however - as was the case in many countries - landbased casinos were forced to close during this period. How did you ease the transition towards online gambling for your retail customers?
LC: Yes, unfortunately that situation of closing physical businesses due to the pandemic has not only been in our industry but in many others around the world. But for a business to keep relevant and successful it must be in constant evolution and we realised that the digital scene fortunately accelerated and benefited us during the most complicated period of the Covid-19 health crisis, to date. Unlike other operators in the region that are only land-based, we were capable of keeping many of our players with a safer option at Strendus, since they could have all the fun of the casinos at home.
As industry leaders from the beginning, we committed ourselves and took on the task of implementing security protocols aligned with the best international practices, complying with and working hand in hand with local and federal authorities and guidelines for both online and landbased operations. Always with a firm commitment to support the community, governments and industry.
A point that might seem basic but that is highly relevant is the strategic and/or business definition of viewing the client as “unique”, that for Logrand Entertainment Group is that the physical and digital offerings complement each other, always seeking that the customer has an “extended” experience.
If the client is a regular at one
of our physical casinos, the digital offer becomes an extension of his entertainment for when he cannot attend the casino and vice versa. This allowed us to get closer to our clients both, since the launching of Strendus and during the pandemic and by consolidating our relationship as a group through personalised attention and service.
SBC: And what role do you think digitalisation will play in the future of casinos?
LC: I’m sure that digitalisation plays an important role in this and any other industry, now and in the future, as we realise that a hybrid operation is beneficial for our operations, communication and even the safety of our customers - and we are building the path towards it.
The main reason to digitise a business is to understand that digitisation is not a trend, but the way the world is now headed. One of the purposes of digitisation is to enable automation, improve data quality, and collect and structure all that data so that we can apply advanced technology and make business decisions from it.
The impact of digital transformation varies but often results in the following benefits: increased revenue, decreased operating costs, and increased customer satisfaction.
When Covid-19 hit, it forced social changes around the world. Almost overnight, governments issued orders limiting large gatherings of people, restricting in-person business operations, and encouraging working from home as much as possible.
This forced us to seek and consolidate creative digital solutions in order to continue operating remotely and continue serving our customers the best way possible. This shift towards digital operations led us to take on a role both in front of the client and behind the scenes.
During the health emergency at Logrand Entertainment Group, by having leading suppliers in their areas, we were able to adapt to the growing market demand immediately and we are currently looking to unify the data of the group’s clients in order to further personalise their experience in our different formats.
At the same time, clients have expressed an interest in receiving services with little or absolutely no contact with people, requesting or encouraging remote operations or at least with limited contacts from an almost automated client-oriented direction.
SBC: Looking to the future, what does the next 12 months look like for Logrand?
LC: These last couple of years have been very changeable and challenging, for the next few months we do not see that this situation will change due to all the external factors to which we all are still exposed. However, today I can tell you that the first quarter of 2021 has left us all with great and pleasant surprises in terms of results and we remain very positive regarding the growth and penetration that Strendus may have in the region for the next months.
Among our plans, we contemplate continuing to strengthen our operations, expand our range of existing games and services and introduce our presence in other markets, solidify our strategic alliances with leading suppliers of the industry, prop up and enhance our relationship as the official betting site of LaLiga in Mexico, as well as endorse the National Customer Service Award through the consolidation of our strategic differentiator for our clients: “personal service”. •
