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Competing against influencers, streamers and alternative channels, tips for working with Brazilian players, the process of aligning with new operators and diving into local culture all became key touchpoints as day one of the SBC Summit Rio rolled-on.
As an Affiliate Leaders Panel took to the stage as part of the Rivalo sponsored Marketing and Affiliation track, the 40 minute conversation drew to a close with the five strong panel being quizzed on the best tips for working with players across the country.
Simon Hovmand-Stilling, CEO for South America for Better Collective, urged the industry to show the market respect when looking to capitalise on what is rightly, and widely, hailed as a huge opportunity.
He added that “it’s definitely worth the investment of having feet on the ground”, which became a common theme throughout the session.
Taking a slightly different approach, Thomas Carvalhaes, Senior Business Development Manager for LatAm at GR8 Tech, warned the industry that Brazilians will take your word, and hold you accountable.
“If you say you’re going to be paying them withdrawals in less than an hour, and you don’t do that, they’re going to bombard you with complaints”
“Don’t lie to them. Don’t make any promises, promises you cannot keep. That’s it,” he commented.
“Fastest payments, fastest withdrawals. If you say you’re going to be paying them withdrawals in less than an hour, and you don’t do that, they’re going to bombard you with complaints, public complaints, they’re going to bombard you with social networks, rightfully so, because we should not be stating what we cannot deliver.”
As Anastasiia Gepolova, Head of Marketing at Traffic Balance, reiterated a call regarding the critical nature of undertaking a sufficient amount of research, Vanda Silva, Chief Corporate Officer at Clever Advertising, issued a reminder regarding the need for a localised approach. A key topic that was delved into in the earlier stages of the discussion.
As the quartet of panellists were tasked with looking at what operators need to remember when beginning out in a region with particularly high traffic by moderator Gilda Caldas, Marketing Manager for Brazil at Afiliapub, Hovmand-Stilling reflected on a “steep learning curve” one year after moving from Better Collective’s Danish homeland.
Issuing a reminder that “it’s all about sports”, with football unsurprisingly highlighted, his key advice to operators centred around that of localisation.
“You just need to dive into the culture and do your research on cultural differences so you know how to promote.”
“Remember, Brazil is definitely not just one market. Essentially, every state is very different. Their behaviour is very different. The interest of the people in every state is very different,” he noted.
As Silva echoed the comments of her fellow panellist, Gepolova first touched upon the attractive opportunity afforded to affiliates courtesy of the Brazilian region due to such a large volume of players.
“You just need to dive into the culture and do your research on cultural differences so you know how to promote. But overall, I think Brazil is a great market,” she advised.
Picking up the baton, Carvalhaes gave his own input on what operators, affiliates and media and marketing companies must keep in mind when pondering the decision to enter the region.
“Do your homework, try your best to understand the local culture. What happens a lot of times that I’ve seen that is operators from overseas come into Brazil, launch their business, Google Translate, put a sombrero on Ronaldinho and say, hey, that’s Brazilian enough,” he said.
Adding: “Then they don’t make it. Then you know what? The market’s not good. Is the market not good or you haven’t done your homework? Have you hired local talent that understands the culture and people and makes it relevant to them?”
“…the platforms are ever changing, the audience will move around, you have to adjust if you want to be relevant.”
This saw talk quickly shift to that of acquisition driven by the aforementioned streaming and influencer communities, as Caldas asked about the role of these within the country versus more traditional means.
Silva confidently noted that traditional means still work, however, the importance of relevancy when aiming to appeal to players in each state was noted as critical. “We just have to make sure that we’re not speaking to 220 million,” she said.
Hovmand-Stilling continued: “In this region there is no way around it, you need to be doing streaming, you need to be working with influencers, you need to be in that whole social media sphere.
“That’s where it’s going on very much, the platforms are ever changing, the audience will move around, you have to adjust if you want to be relevant. That’s our approach.”
As Caldas steered the conversation to the process of working with new operators, Gepolova put the spotlight on trust when it comes to affiliate marketing in the igaming industry, while Carvalhaes issued a further warning in jumping the gun when labelling the country as regulated.
“We’re in a fantastic process, everybody here. We’ve been waiting for this for very long … we used to dream of the day Brazil would be a regulated market,” he stated.
“…I believe there is space for everyone, and everybody is going to find their niche to work on”
With Hovmand-Stilling pointing to issues such as compliance, ethics and ensuring a sustainable setup for everyone, Silva reflected on the past when elaborating on the need to adapt.
“It’s going to be another big period of adaptation for a regulated market, which is good for everyone,” she explained.
“It’s good for the brands, good for the affiliates, and even good for the players that will be able to trust the brands. We are going to need to adapt ourselves to the values of the market.
“But everybody sees potential. You have more than 140 brands going for the licences. So everybody sees potential here. And I believe there is space for everyone, and everybody is going to find their niche to work on.”
