With the North American market continuing to evolve rapidly, Nuvei’s Chief Corporate Development Officer Neil Erlick joined the Double Espresso Show to explain how the firm took a different approach when it came to expansion in the region.

Speaking to SBC CEO Rasmus Sojmark, Erlick also underlined just how pivotal it was that the firm had established its own bank and bin sponsorship - allowing it to essentially be the acquirer for the large operators.

The latest episode of The Double Espresso show just dropped, and features SBC CEO Ras Sojmark sit down for a fascinating chat with Adjarabet CMO Irakli Davarashvili in the lead-up to SBC Summit CIS, taking place on the 13th and 14th of October 2021 in Kyiv.

Rasmus tapped into Irakli’s marketing expertise in the CIS region, and particularly in Adjarabet’s two-key markets, Georgia and Armenia. Irakli gets into the importance of leading the way on corporate social responsibility (CSR), despite the comparatively lax regulations on it in their key markets.

The two also cover the packed sporting calendar, using Euro 2020, the Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 Qatar World Cup, as well as the use of free-to-play games to attract, entertain and activate players. Irakli lays out where he sees sports marketing in the CIS region going over the next few years, including social media and the importance of sponsorship agreements.

Finally, Rasmus gets Irakli’s thoughts on new market expansion, marketing’s role in deciding and planning for new markets, and weighing this up against business development needs and priorities.

00:10 - Intro

00:58 - How do Adjarabet manage, coordinate and perfect marketing across their key markets of Georgia/Armenia? How challenging have the last 2 years been? How Adjarabet have adjusted to remote working. How the sporting calendar has and will continue to bring the sports betting world back to normality. Adjarabet having to keep an eye on the regulatory environments in Armenia and Georgia, particularly from a marketing, advertising and promotional standpoint.
04:14 - The development of the markets in the region, Georgia being the only regulated market for a long time. Taking the responsibility to drive forward with CSR, despite the comparatively lax regulations. Wanting to present the betting industry in a positive light, get closer to the people and become a more positive influence. Discussion of Adjarabet’s CSR activities during the pandemic.

06:52 - What’s Irakli’s take on marketing for the rest of this year and for 2022. The importance of sports sponsorships and influencers and getting closer to the players. Continuing to ramp up on CSR, to be at the forefront of responsible gaming in the region. Irakli’s laser-focus on entertainment, providing fun for the players both with the product and the brand’s content.

12:08 - Using the Qatar World Cup and other big events to attract new players, and different types of players. Adjarabet as part of Flutter. The importance of providing good quality content in the region.

15:42 - Expanding into new markets. This being a challenging time to grow and expand in the industry but always an eye on new markets. Irakli’s role in deciding which markets to expand into, and weighing up marketing needs and priorities against Business Development needs and priorities.

18:08 - Outro

Slot gaming remains one of the most prominent sectors in the gambling industry, through both offline land-based and online verticals, and developers are constantly striving to introduce the most up-to-date and engaging game mechanics.

Additionally, as with other segments of the betting and gaming industry, the slots space also regularly encounters hurdles and challenges in the form of regulatory changes, such as the UK government’s review of the 2005 Gambling Act, or recent developments in Germany with the passage of the Fourth Interstate Gambling Treaty.

In a special edition of the Double Espresso Show as part of the Groove Gaming and BetConstruct-sponsored CasinoBeats Slots Festival, SBC Founder and CEO, Rasmus Sojmark, discussed these topics with two experienced leaders in the slot industry. His line up of guests including, Swintt’s Chief Commercial Officer, David Mann and Yggdrasil Gaming’s CEO Fredrik Elmqvist.

Introduction (00.01)
Fredrik Elmqvist (06.40)
David Mann (28.06)
Closing remarks (50.22)

Find out more about the latest slot developments at CasinoBeats and SlotBeats.