However, I believe it is also an opportunity. Firstly, we
can use this as a chance to build greater trust with our
customers and improve relationships, and secondly we
can improve advertising and communications as we
move further away from an emphasis on products and
offers towards pure brand building. By creating strong
brands, we can increase customer loyalty in the process.
We can see some parallels with the alcohol industry
which has used regulation and concerns about excess
consumption to its advantage. By actively supporting
and working with the authorities to tackle any issues, as
well as innovative advertising, the UK alcohol industry
has gone from strength to strength. Online gaming
can take lessons from this and, even in the short term,
realise benefits.
Sreeram Reddy Vanga,
Managing Director,
Cozy Games
The widespread use of
handheld devices such as
mobile phones and tablets
have resulted into tremendous
growth of online gambling
companies. There is a rising shift in player traffic
towards mobile gaming. According to the Gambling
Compliance Research Services (GCRS), online gambling
revenues, alone, will probably soar to GBP 3.22 billion
in 2016 and mobile revenues would definitely add
considerable amounts, as well.
With HTML5 doing wonders, service providers are
slowly feeling the pressure of going responsive or
launching their own mobile app. With both browserbased and downloadable app versions of our bingo
websites, we currently receive 40% of our player traffic
from mobile devices and expect this number to rise
considerably in 2016.
The bingo market is in flux and it’s make or break. To
be able to capture the target player base, you need the
skill to understand player habits and the acumen to
integrate technology to entice them to your offerings.
What would prove the mettle of the operators, in the
coming times, would definitely be their ability to adapt
and improve.
22
Adam French,
Bingo Operations Manager,
WilliamHill Bingo
The change in TV advertising
rules will have a big impact on
what companies push above
the line and due to this we
will see a change in TV spend
strategy and also the offers promoted.
With sign up offers continuing to be fairly generic
across the online bingo industry, I think we will see
even more variation, in terms of the offers available or
towards giving players a choice of sign up offers.
The increase in new lower ball variants will continue
to play an important role in the market’s direction.
Products focused on lower call rates lean favourably
towards the mobile market and align with strategies of
mobile first which is common practice. This and other
developments will be driven from networks but also on
a site level with the continued emergence of bespoke
development.
Omni-channel will continue to be a key feature of site
and product development. Responsive designs to
ensure consistent user experiences, as well as products
being available across all platforms, will help shape
development plans for 2016.
“The introduction of regulation in the
UK has already had considerable impact
on the gambling industry and will
continue to do so.”