In an industry that is awash with similarity, carving your own path with something truly distinctive is an unenviable task. However, that is exactly what Axom Gaming believes it has accomplished.
Through the strength of artificial intelligence, the company strives to support operators on a never ending quest to increase NGR per player. This is achieved as a result of smarter customer engagement decision making.
“The key difference is that Axom is not another CRM platform, campaign builder or messaging tool,” says CRM Consultant, Ali Craxton, before delving into the finer details of what makes this proposition truly one of a kind.
Maximising operator objectives
The AI-powered decision engine has been designed and developed specifically for gaming operators.
This works by sitting above an operator’s existing CRM and engagement platforms, and subsequently determines the next best action for each individual player.
Crucially, the technology does not replace existing CRM but works alongside it. While existing systems execute communication, Axom analyses each player before determining what the course of action should be and when that must be communicated for maximum efficiency.
“It brings together each player’s latest data and behavioural signals, considers the full range of actions available to the operator – including taking no action at all – and determines the best next action for that individual,” Craxton begins.
“Each decision is optimised against the operator’s commercial objectives, balancing factors such as expected revenue, promotional cost and longer-term player value.
“The platform then learns from the outcome of every interaction, allowing it to improve its future decisions continually.”
As the industry becomes ever more competitive, room for manoeuver is increasingly difficult to find and the challenge of finding gaps in the market hits unprecedented heights.
Assessing the landscape, Axom’s attention was directed to a lack of evolution in the decision-making process. This is despite operators now having access to more customer data, communication channels and automation technology than ever before.
“Most CRM programmes are still built around segments, campaigns and customer journeys,” Craxton explains.
“Individual teams and models may be optimising different outcomes, while several campaigns can be competing to communicate with the same player. This makes it increasingly difficult to determine the best overall action for each customer.
“The market is already very good at executing activity. The gap is in deciding what activity should be executed.
“Axom provides that decisioning layer. It evaluates the eligible actions available for each player and determines which one is most likely to support the operator’s overall objectives, rather than simply optimising an isolated campaign or channel.”
Becoming one-of-a-kind
‘First-of-its-kind’, ‘unique’, ‘truly differentiating ourselves’ and a whole host of related words and phrases are commonplace in the modern gambling world.
We hear a lot of talk of companies doing things differently across the gambling space, but what makes Craxton confident that this is certainly the case with Axom?
This revolves around the role of traditional CRM technology, which generally helps operators create and automate campaigns that have already been designed.
Whereas Axom makes the underlying decision itself on an independent basis for every player. It considers all of the actions that could be taken, predicts the likely commercial outcome of each and selects the most appropriate option.
“Importantly, that may be an incentive, a non-promotional communication or no contact at all,” he comments.
“The decision is based not only on the likelihood of a player responding, but also on the expected revenue, the cost of the action and its potential impact on longer-term customer value.
“This means Axom is optimising the economics of each decision, rather than simply attempting to maximise engagement or response rates.
“It also learns continuously from the actions it takes and their actual outcomes, rather than relying on static rules or models that are reviewed periodically.”
In turn, this delivers a range of benefits to operators, which primarily revolve around the ability to hone in on players on an individual basis rather than larger and potentially more generic segmentation.
While the latter can prove useful for understanding a customer base, Craxton notes that they are ultimately based on averages, and fail to take into account different behaviours, motivations, values and sensitivities to alternate types of engagement.
“When activity is determined at segment level, operators inevitably communicate with some players unnecessarily, provide incentives to customers who did not require them or miss opportunities because a player does not fit neatly within a predefined group,” he explains.
“Individual decisioning allows the operator to treat those players differently. One may receive an offer, another may receive a non-promotional message and another may be better left alone.
“This can improve the relevance of the customer experience while reducing unnecessary promotional spend.
“It also allows the operator to balance immediate revenue opportunities with the longer-term value of the relationship, rather than treating every player within a segment in the same way.”
Responsible gambling protocols
Despite this, calls to action can come in all shapes and sizes, and player protection is of critical importance and forms an essential part of the decision making process.
Axom works within these rules, constraints and eligible actions as defined by the operator. Where a player has been identified as potentially at risk, the relevant protection signals can be used to restrict or remove promotional activity, and crucially determine which actions remain appropriate.
“Depending on the operator’s policies and systems, this could mean suppressing an incentive, preventing a marketing communication and selecting a player-protection action,” Craxton concludes.
“Axom does not replace an operator’s responsible gambling or risk-detection systems. It uses the signals and restrictions generated by those systems to ensure that commercial optimisation does not operate outside the operator’s player-protection boundaries.”
Axom Gaming may not be a CRM itself, but it’s ambitious in its attempts to change the CRM game for the better, focusing on optimisation and a laser focus on the metrics that matter to each operator partner.
