igamingbusiness . com
FEATURE
ADOPTION ISSUES
Nevertheless , the take-up in the industry has remained slow , with operators struggling to overcome the technical and organisational hurdles to embracing AI-driven personalisation .
“ I think it is an issue of prioritisation , organisational structure and technical expertise ,” says Epoxy co-founder Jason Angelides . “ The industry is acutely aware of the value proposition , but implementation of personalisation at scale is not an easy undertaking and there are many existing priorities that take precedence .”
Angelides also points out that adopting AI can involve rethinking some deeply entrenched ideas and systems , such as the siloing of sportsbooks and casinos . “ A large majority of organisations are fragmented both operationally and technically ,” he says .
One key question for many operators is how to identify where AI and personalisation are most needed and actually add value to both the operator and the consumer . Experts say this starts at the very first stage of the customer journey and can impact everything from retention to harm reduction .
SHIFTING THE “ SEE WHAT STICKS ” MENTALITY
Alex Kornilov , founder and CEO of advertising solutions supplier Betegy , believes that AI can bring about a shift in the “ see what sticks ” mentality – something that has dominated marketing in the gaming industry .
Cutting his teeth in data and visualisation for sports , Kornilov soon realised that the sports betting industry had a much greater need for new ways to communicate complex data such as odds , stats and schedules .
After transitioning into the betting industry , he discovered that consumers in this space responded much better to personalised , dynamic advertising than the usual one-size-fits-all , static advertising . “ Not just a little bit better – much better ,” he explains .
“ So you have a banner that says ‘ bet now ’, then you have a banner that says ‘ bet now on the Champions League game Arsenal versus Barcelona ’, this will convert much better .”
Betegy ’ s solution leverages data to create advertisements uniquely tailored to the player – from the sports they enjoy to the teams they follow – and then track the success of these advertisements and the value of the player over time .
AI IS THE ANSWER
For this kind of deep segmentation , AI is the only solution , Kornilov says – especially in sports betting , where everything from the type of sport to the match schedule and the pre and ingame odds must be taken into account .
“ The depth of the product is so significant , so it does require a lot of data points to be connected to the system so that the ad you deliver to the audience is relevant and scalable ,” he adds .
With AI in the driving seat , brands should be able to get a far more granular overview of how well their marketing is working for them . In future , it ’ s possible that the old joke – “ Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted ; the trouble is I don ’ t know which half ” – will start to lose its relevance .
“ Currently the acquisition strategy of every brand , especially in the United States , leads from spending money and seeing what sticks , which brings a lot of uncertainty at the brand level and no
54 • ISSUE 136 • iGB L ! VE 2024