FUTURE OF DIGITAL MARKETING
Q&A: ANDREW SHARLAND,
FRESH8 GAMING, ON THE FUTURE
OF MOBILE ADVERTISING
Mobile is now the lead channel for sports betting operators, but how is mobile advertising adapting to the
demands of this new generation of bettor, and how can we expect to see it evolve in the years ahead?
We discussed the mobile future with Andrew Sharland of next-gen ad-serving platform Fresh8 Gaming,
winner of Best Innovation at this year’s iGB Affiliate Awards.
Gamification, personalisation,
engagement... why are these
themes or elements becoming
so integral to the future of digital
(and mobile) marketing?
I think marketers have always strived for
engagement and personalisation in their
marketing efforts but the mechanics and
technical capability to enable true one to
one communication has historically been
the part that’s missing. Computational
power and data processing have come
They’re spoilt for choice. Less important
for me is the type of format (video,
banner, native etc.), but the actual
personalisation of the message that goes
into that format. Mobile very much brings
this into the spotlight.
For example, native advertising is getting
a lot of attention right now from content
marketers, but it doesn’t really get to the
core of the problem in addressing how
technology can generate and stimulate a
user’s interest. It tricks the user in my mind.
“Native advertising is getting a lot of attention right now
from content marketers, but it doesn’t really get to the
core of the problem in addressing how technology can
generate and stimulate a user’s interest.”
along way in the last two years and you’re
seeing first mover executions hitting
the mainstream. The major challenge
for marketers is making personalisation
scalable – programmatic ad buying (or real
time bidding) allows for that, at least in
theory. Ad retargeting is probably the most
recognised way of personalising ads at an
impression level, but it’s only scratching
the surface. In-app push messaging is
another, but the next problem will be
having multiple CRM messaging platforms
catering for different platforms.
Consumers have become
very good at recognizing and
disregarding typical ad formats.
How does mobile and in-app
advertising/marketing need to
evolve to overcome this studied
indifference on part of the
consumer?
Consumers are excellent at disregarding
messaging that means nothing to them.
The beauty of mobile and the benefits of
what it can bring marketers is the closeness of
a user to their device. If it’s not in their hand,
its in their pocket – so as a marketer you are
as close to the user as you can possibly get.
If you get the messaging truly personalised,
you have amazing opportunities to build
transactional relationships with new and
existing customers.
Broadly speaking, if you can create
experiences that emphasise utility over
spammy messaging, they won’t see
it as an ad passé, they’ll view your
messaging as a service.
Let me give you an example. Say
as an operator, I know that one of my
customers regularly bets on Arsenal,
their favourite market is the final score
market and high propensity to place
his bet on a Saturday morning on his
Android device, our platform identifies
this and makes it actionable. We’ll
push dynamically built adverts to
them (as the user browse the web),
promoting Arsenal to Beat Man City 2-1.
His propensity to respond to that message
will be high. As a marketer, you’d be
able to record the fact that the user either
viewed or clicked on your message and
you can attribute that marketing spend to
the bottom line. Now imagine being able
to market to your entire customer base
in this manner, across any device, across
any website. That’s the granularity and
segmentation that next-gen marketing
platforms can bring.
The shift from banners to video
is seen by many as essential to
ensure the continued growth
of the mobile ad channel,
but how realistically close is
this transition, given mobile
users’ expectations of speed,
convenience and instant access?
I totally disagree. Again, if you can’t make
the message relevant to that individual user,
why should they engage with it? Video
iGB Affiliate Issue 52 AUG/SEP 2015
39