SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Game Lounge has redeveloped its Japanese website’s UX and brand to better engage with local audiences and to become a leading information portal for Japanese igaming consumers.
The affiliate publisher has rebranded Japanesecasino.com to the new name of ‘JAPACASI’ as a “commitment to Japanese users’ tendency towards word blends.”
Japanesecasino.com was first launched in Japan in 2016 as a standard European online casino review portal embedded in Japanese.
However, due to unprecedented growth, Game Lounge stated that it was apparent that the European UI/UX of the website had to undergo an extensive redesign to improve engagement with native audiences.
The redesign was led by Game Lounge’s Japan Team, consisting of seven Japanese nationals, who felt the new design should capture the overwhelming sensory experience that Japanese consumers are accustomed to.
UX upgrades saw the website refreshed with animated banners, clashing colours, vivid images, and a more central focus on the current Kawaii characters.
Jonas Cederholm, CEO of Game Lounge, said: “Localisation is crucial for any international company operating in a variety of countries. While this has always been at the forefront of our approach, we felt we could go further by rebranding and redesigning.
“At Game Lounge, we are privileged to have seven Japanese working for the company, and it made sense for us to listen to the team and work on how we should adapt to attract more local punters with our understanding of the nuances of the market.”
The website already has an established collection of Kawaii characters, which have become recognisable mascots for the brand in Japan.
With the new JAPACASI, these characters are further developed with more affluent personalities and more prominence to resonate with the local culture.
Rika M., Game Lounge Site Manager for Japan, said: “I received much intimate feedback from our partner casinos about the type of advertising they want for their brands in this unique market, which has allowed us to create a new website that has better conversion elements in this market.”
