CASUMO
SPONSORED EDITORIAL
CASINO FOCUS
Different
With the industry becoming increasingly crowded, Razmus Svenningson of Casumo explains how the power of innovation and brand can help new businesses to stand out from the crowd
The online gambling industry has seen exceptional growth over the years, but maybe that’s why an industry which prides itself on its ability to innovate hasn’t really been that innovative at all? From a quick glance we can quickly conclude that it might be tempting to lower prices, add more games, in?ate bonuses or increase commissions in order to get a competitive edge. The problem with this approach? It’s short-sighted. Tomorrow someone else will be willing to cut prices or add more games than you have, stealing your market share. In the words of Seth Godin: “The problem with the race to the bottom is that you might win”. Don’t try to become the commodity of choice by racing to the bottom and driving prices to zero. Create more room. Create value and relationships. Create art and meaning for your customers. Emotions and relationships cannot be stolen. Casumo.com, a casino startup incorporating social gaming elements, was launched a few months ago and we believe that our success has come from creating the best player experience there is. We will achieve this through disruptive technology, a strong brand and game mechanics that make each session into a meaningful accumulative, entertaining and social experience. Let me explain. Tame the technology monster Industrialism is fading as the engine of economic growth and is being consumed by technology – something which could either work for or against you. Do you have an old platform, a legacy codebase or can you foresee a technical pivot point where you will need to update your systems? Deal with it. Now. To stand out in the future this is paramount. Technology can work as an enabler to create a great brand, meaningful experiences and great relationships with your customers. We addressed this by developing our own platform that allows us to do whatever we want, and not settled for an off-the-shelf solution employed by numerous companies before us. Your brand is everything you do Bill Cosby once said: “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” In order to be relevant, your brand needs to say something and stand out. Create something remarkable. Your brand is not the logo you carry. It is the collected thoughts, emotions and feelings that people have and express about you. Your customers are empowered with tools of communication and collaboration that force you to become more transparent and authentic in order to develop genuine engagement. Your brand is the whole experience a customer has with you. It is the people in your organisation as much as the text in your newsletters. Casinos are about fun, excitement, surprise and anticipation. Yet most online casino sites do not evoke such emotions. At Casumo we strive to create this sense of excitement and anticipation. Our web application is designed to surprise and delight our players, and is not just another webpage with some ?ash games embedded. Create a brand that stands for something, not everything. Build meaningful experiences and relationships With technology as an enabler and with emotions, personality and values from our brand we can create relationships. Unsurprisingly, social is very powerful when it comes to establishing these connections. However, it is important to understand that this should not be seen as a new department in your organisation. It touches every aspect of your business and should be seen as an extension of good business ethics. It’s about connecting you with your players, and your players with each other, and about not tweeting bonus codes. We use game mechanics to build what we call the world’s ?rst casino adventure. It’s a journey for the player to join, goals to complete, trophies and valuables to earn. Not only does it help increase customer lifetime value but also gives us a marketing toolbox to create meaningful experiences that builds over time.
Razmus Svenningson is a marketing strategist and one of the founders of Casumo, a new social real money casino startup. With a strong and experienced team, and by using game mechanics often found in free-play gambling, Casumo has created the world’s first casino adventure.
www.egrmagazine.com
77