SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Vanda Silva, Chief Commercial Officer at Clever Advertising, explores the opportunities in Europe as she explains why you cannot take a ‘cookie cutter approach’ to expansion across the region.
Europe has always been a strong market for Clever Advertising. It is where our story began, and where we will continue to add new chapters in our journey for many, many more years to come.
Our European story hasn’t necessarily been straight forward. Like with any region, we’ve had to adapt and evolve to stay ahead of any legislative changes. In the last few years alone, we’ve seen new markets open up, but on the flip side, have seen more mature markets tighten their grip on the gambling industry. But Clever Advertising is no stranger to adapting to regulatory changes. In fact, we embrace them.
An intricate market
As with any region, there are a number of considerations that need to be made before entering the European market. What products do players enjoy? How can you best market to these bettors? What regulations might impact how you interact with your audience?
The European market has always been a pinnacle for gaming innovation, which has provided companies with new and creative ways to boost their brand exposure and deliver differentiated products to their audiences.
Europe is already an incredibly competitive market. Brands are facing an up-hill battle to stand out from the crowd, and as a result, player acquisition costs are skyrocketing.
Add into the mix a number of legislative developments, which have seen governments across Spain, Sweden and the UK introduce measures that have restricted gambling advertisements across their respective markets. Of course, as a gambling operator that operates in multiple markets around the world, it can be incredibly difficult to keep up with these new regulatory developments. But fear not.
If we focus on the Spanish market, this was a huge market for Clever Advertising – one which presented an enormous amount of potential for player acquisition and targeted marketing. We haven’t just focused on one particular strategy of acquiring players in this market either. From influencer marketing and SEO to media buying and AddAPP, we have had all bases covered.
However, back in 2020, the Spanish Royal Decree 958/2020 came into force which aimed to restrict minors’ exposure to gambling adverts across Spain – effectively putting an end to sponsorship deals, daytime advertising and social media campaigns. As you can imagine, this put a significant dampener on the work that we could do.
When the ban was enforced, Clever Advertising was in a very fortunate position in that we had the ability to quickly pivot our marketing efforts on demand, switching off all advertising campaigns that we had running across the Spanish market.
But in April 2024, Spain’s Supreme Court chose to uphold the Spanish Digital Gaming Association (Jdigital) appeal against Royal Decree, thereby overturning the ban on targeting advertising to new customers.
So why am I telling you this? The Supreme Court decision now means that Spanish operators can market to players who have had an account for less than 30 days. It is therefore much more important for gambling operators to ensure that they are making the most of this small window to acquire new customer bases.
Flexible, adaptable, relevant
Clever has always prioritised being adaptable and flexible in the face of regulatory changes, so it also meant that once the Supreme Court decision was made, we got to work on delivering highly-targeted advertising campaigns with our Spanish partners.
But sometimes, creating a highly-targeted campaign is much easier said than done. Firstly, you need a solid understanding of what your players want in each individual market – do they prefer sports or casinos? Is land-based or online betting more popular? What are the local regulations?
When you’re looking to advertise to new audiences, it is absolutely essential that you are serving relevant campaigns. In other words, you don’t want to display adverts for casino products when the majority of players prefer sports betting. This is especially important when you have such a small window to onboard those players, as is the case in Spain.
For Clever Advertising, ad relevance isn’t just a ‘nice to have’ – it’s a necessity. If you can engage with the right audience, and then combine that with an ability to carry out high-precision geotargeting across the relevant channels for your audience, then you are well on the path to succeeding – not just in Europe, but in any market.
This is an approach that has shaped our entire ethos at Clever Advertising. Each individual market that we operate in requires its own unique approach; nowhere is this more evident than our strategy across Eastern Europe.
Eastern Europe is – and always has been – a region of great potential. With favourable regulations, to a population that’s shown a penchant for sports and gambling, it’s no surprise that many igaming companies are turning their attention towards the East.
Particularly over the last few years, jurisdictions such as Romania, Poland and Czechia have emerged as hot beds for igaming development. So, of course, it was a natural step for Clever Advertising to get in on the action in these markets.
Highly targeted
We have worked tirelessly to ensure that every campaign we roll out across Eastern Europe, and around the world for that matter, are targeted and relevant for players. Being able to target those adverts might sound quite complex. But we’ve managed to simplify the whole process and, as a result, redefine digital experiences for players.
In Portugal and Spain, for example, we know that sports betting is the most popular vertical among bettors. More specifically, markets around football. Campaigns that leverage either local teams or high-profile players are more likely to engage bettors, compared to generic advertisements.
But on the flip side, Bulgarian, Czech and Polish players all tend to prefer gambling on casino products, with all three markets showing a preference for slots, live casino and table games. So, offering an advert about Spanish football to Polish audiences wouldn’t necessarily have the desired effect in terms of engagement.
Clever Advertising, who as a team has a collective wealth of knowledge of the igaming industry, uses technology, such as artificial intelligence, to produce highly personalised content that is both immersive and engaging for players. By using a range of exclusive advertising formats, we then distribute our campaigns via our media buying efforts across a number of verticals, including desktop, in-app, social media and influencers.
In markets across Europe, our in-app advertising division has performed particularly well, with players responding well to unique and interactive video campaigns. We have been able to monitor this through our AddAPP solution, which aims to produce and serve highly targeted campaigns that enhance performance and make instant adjustments to suit changing player preferences and regulatory developments.
We have also been delivering highly-personalised advertisement campaigns via the Sportiz App, a mobile application produced and owned by Clever that gives players the chance to test their knowledge of sports with various different quizzes and prize giveaways.
Available in more than 40 markets across Europe, the app has been great at building engagement with new audiences. In fact, it underwent a particular surge in popularity during EURO 2024, topping 100,000 downloads and a rating of more than 4.8/5.
These bespoke products and solutions are becoming a huge opportunity for gambling operators in regulated markets to tap into new audiences, and tailor their campaigns to suit the preferences of each player. And we’re absolutely thrilled to be able to facilitate that.
Europe – a powerhouse?
We strongly believe that the European market is still a goldmine for operators, supplier, and affiliates looking to expand their international footprints. But as mentioned, you do need to be considerate of the different player preferences, trends and regulations across the continent if you want to succeed.
Europe has always been our home, and in 2024, we are very excited to see which markets continue to reach new levels of growth.
