iGaming Business magazine In-Play Focus 2018 | Page 22

In-Play Focus 2018
COLOURING
THE WHITE LABEL
Standing out from competitors who are using the same off-the-shelf in-play functionality
as your own company requires you to be creative and add a layer of your own branding
and features, writes Aspire Global’s Morten Hauge
The first question you need to ask is whether you really
need to stand out with your in-play offering. For many
brands, the answer is “no”. Most acquisitions are done
pre-match and the majority of recreational gamblers
engage with only a tiny percentage of your offering. And,
let’s face it, most of you simply want to acquire customers
cheaply through sports and to monetise them in casino.
But if you have a white-label brand and want it
to stand out, how do you make your in-play offering
different? You probably have little or no say in the
in-play product roadmap, and if something new
comes along, every operator using that solution will
also have it. That’s a solid foundation, but you’ll need
to add a layer on top.
Where to start?
First, look at every other brand using the same white-
label solution as you and see what they’re doing – these
are the competitors you need to stand out from. Think of
this as the little leagues; if you can’t stand out from these
rivals, focus your efforts elsewhere.
You have to take what’s at your fingertips and work
with it to maximise its potential, looking at every element
of your mobile interface – not desktop.
Question everything. Can the betting slip look different?
Can you move the banner? Can you change the match
highlighting when a goal is scored? Can you access more
data and build notifications based on it? Can you create
your own content? As you do this, you’re branding the
entire experience – it’s the foundation of standing out.
All features must be branded – you need to take each
function and make it yours. Give it a new name. This
applies to your entire interface, but it’s just as important
for a good in-play product. You must have gifted
designers and marketers who can create a complete
brand concept to achieve this.
50 | iGamingBusiness | Issue 109 | March/April 2018
Once you’ve branded your white label from top to
toe, consider in-play plug-ins to add quality to the live-
betting experience. An intuitive and easy-to-understand
live match-tracker with live statistics is vital, and again,
you’ll need to brand it as yours.
What’s next? Boost the odds?
You don’t stand out with high odds for in-play – it’s just
silly, since only a fraction of your desired customer base
will compare odds during the match. Customers know
what they want to bet on before the match starts and what
they will bet on during the action. If none of their desired
scenarios are happening, chances are they won’t bet.
To really stand out, you need to be innovative, add an
extra layer or functionality and do it on your own.
You need to know the product, become an in-play
player and place real bets – on mobile. Little by little,
ideas will start popping into your head: add-ons to make
the in-play experience better.
Then you find an eager, smart and driven developer
who can translate your ideas into something that can be
integrated easily into your system.
You brand it, add the experience to your product, test
it and hope your customers like it.
When you tell the world that your brand is different,
you might not stand out immediately, but you’ll be
well on the way. Continue with more added-value
experiences and tweaks to your product.
Standing out isn’t easy. It takes time, expertise,
plus hard work – and most brands will never achieve
it. You really don’t have to stand out to be successful
but in the current market, if you want to stand out
you will be able to. The in-play betting market is
hungry for clever innovations and there’s plenty of
room for that little extra function that catches the eye
of the customer.
Morten Hauge, head of
sport at Aspire Global,
joined in 2017 and
brought with him a
12-year track record
in sports roles at
some of the largest
igaming operators.