Casino & Slots
THE NEW TRUTH ABOUT BRANDING AND 3 MYTHS SURROUNDING IT
Introducing our first guest post from Helmet Guy – brand ambassador for PlayAttack Affiliates – stay tuned for more:
The story about Pandora’s box perfectly illustrates the initial meaning of the word myth; that of a traditional tale set to explain a phenomenon which is hard to understand.
The Olympian Gods gave Pandora a box containing unique gifts, or so she believed. Pandora disregarded their warning, opened the box and illnesses and hardships hidden within it gushed out.
At first, people used the myth to explain the misfortunes of the human race. But as years went by, and the rationalism movement gained momentum, the word myth obtained a different meaning; that of a commonly believed, yet false idea.
So today, the term Pandora’s box is metaphorically used to symbolize the source of troubles. The idea behind the term brand has also changed, and it’s the fluidity of the term that makes myths stick.
At first, brands were about features that made a seller’s product stand out. However, as consumerist societies evolved, brands began to be associated with the values and ideas the communities stand for.
Think about it — we often buy something because the values behind a product align with our own. Some people are not buying the famous “Russian Red” lipstick from the beauty conglomerate MAC Cosmetics over accusations of animal testing. The brand has even decided to create a dedicated section on its website to explain the company’s position on the matter.
With the concept of branding evolving as rapidly as it does, it is natural for misconceptions to be born.
Let’s explore them.
1. Branding is about tricking people into buying something
In 1917 Lucky Strike introduced a new slogan hoping to boost their sales. The tagline read, “It’s toasted” (toasting makes tobacco hold its flavor, as opposed to sun-drying).
If you think this was a ground-breaking innovation, you’d be surprised to discover that many other tobacco manufacturers were already using the very same toasting method. But Lucky Strike was the brand that grasped the opportunity and benefited from it. They even made health claims; toasting was good in removing harmful acids and caused less throat irritation.
Today, with tobacco manufacturers being restricted in promoting their products, taglines on cigarette packs read “Smoking kills” (often accompanied by rather unpleasant pictures). So how come cigarettes are still selling?
People buy cigarettes for millions of reasons. For some of them, it’s a cure to unrelieved boredom; for others, it’s a conversation starter. If I wanted to sound romantic, smoking is a ritual that gives people the essence of an imaginary community — the moment you’re inhaling the smoke, millions of people around the world are doing the exact same.
Today you don’t choose one tobacco brand over another because you think it’s less harmful to your throat. And no manufacturer can trick you into buying their product by solely relying on a loud slogan. Modern businesses are not just ruthless agencies trying to trick you into buying their brand – they know better than that.
2. Brands are products, and people only care about your product, not your branding
Well…no.
Places are brands — Paris is the city of romance, Milan is the capital of fashion, and Singapore is the financial powerhouse in Asia.
People are brands too — Michael Jackson is a brand, Madonna is a brand, and yours truly is a brand too. You can’t think of PlayAttack without visualizing the Helmet Guy.
Some brands are indeed products. But they’re not just that — a successful brand has a meaning behind it. Take Coca Cola’s statement on their website, for instance:
“Our planet matters. We act in ways to create a more sustainable and better-shared future. To make a difference in people’s lives, communities, and our planet by doing business the right way.”
Who would have thought some years ago that you can talk about saving the planet when your company sells soft drinks? But in the modern world, brands are not just products; they are also ideas and values shaped by societies. So yes, people don’t just care about your product; they care about your brand too.
You, as a business person might have zero interest in the environment. But with people becoming increasingly conscious about sustainability, you might need to consider replacing your plastic straws with recyclable ones.
3. Branding, marketing, and advertising are the same thing & there’s no return on investment (ROI) on branding
I’ll use the example of PlayAttack Affiliates to explain this one.
Branding is who we are — funny, informative, and reliable. Marketing is the process we follow to promote our brand. Creating a visual identity — our logo, the shameless use of neon, and the 80s vibe of our platform — is part of this complicated process. Finally, advertising is about the means of communication we choose to create brand awareness. At PlayAttack, we heavily rely on video to inform our affiliates on what’s new on our platform.
I get it. It might be challenging to grasp the difference. But think about it; it is not rare for companies with a robust marketing department to resort to advertising agencies to promote their product. There must be a reason, right?
This confusion behind these terms often leads businesses to forget about branding and its impact on ROI. Marketing and advertising deliver ROI, but the effect of branding on ROI is undeniable too. It’s just more difficult to calculate it.
Let’s take Nike as an example. Their brand is #1 in the sporting goods industry. It’s not a coincidence that the company has chosen to promote its products by having celebrities and professional athletes represent them. They don’t just rely on their product to sell; they rely on their brand too.
And then there’s the word of mouth which influences people in their buying decisions. According to a study by Google, TNS, and Ogilvy, word of mouth affects consumers more than print media, TV, movies, and brand websites. It’s the brand experience that people remember; if people are preinclined towards your brand, the likelihood of a conversion increases significantly.
Some of you might be thinking — my company has been operating for years, and we’ve been doing just fine without branding, so why invest in it now?
Businesses are evolving, which means your competition is growing. If your brand does not adjust to this new reality, you might be in trouble.
Entain, the global sports betting, gaming and interactive entertainment group, has announced exclusive McLaren Racing content for Formula 1 fans.
The partnership between the team and Entain’s PartyCasino and partypoker brands launched at the start of this year’s F1 season with the Monaco Grand Prix in May. The company will now be running international TV adverts until the end of the season in late December, and is promising customers “special access to the McLaren F1 team” through the two gaming brands.
“We want Party to be a destination for customers around the world who enjoy games and sharing experiences around the sports and activities they love,” said Paris Anatolitis, Managing Director of Party Brands and Commercial Director of Entain. “This is about creating recreational content which encourages people to take a look and explore new ways of enjoying themselves with our brands.”
A range of new offers are also being launched to coincide with the new campaign, including Super Fan competitions, videos giving fans a look behind the scenes at McLaren Racing, and an exclusive free-to-play McLaren F1 game.
Further exclusive content and experiences are also planned for 2022.
Dive deeper into the world of @McLarenF1 with Entain and even more exclusive content this #F1 season.🏁
To mark the next stage in our partnership, we’re unveiling new and exciting experiences to our customers that are exclusive to our brands.
Read👉https://t.co/211KBf9e4j pic.twitter.com/lDa0OfBk32
— Entain (@EntainGroup) October 28, 2021
Pragmatic Play, a leading content provider to the iGaming industry, is back with another instalment to its iconic John Hunter series in latest release, John Hunter and the Quest for Bermuda Riches™.
As the title suggests, the 7×7 slot title invites players to hunt for hidden treasure in the pink-sand beaches and deep waters that encompass the territory of Bermuda.
Thanks to the Tumble feature, symbols that have been part of a win will disappear, and the symbols above will tumble down and take their place. The game will then play with this new collection of symbols as a new game with no cost to the player. This process may be repeated until there is no win.
Regular golden Wild symbols will occasionally turn into Cursed Wilds. Cursed Wilds are upgraded with an x2 multiplier, or extra wilds will be randomly placed on the grid.
Money symbols with random cash values will land on the grid in the base game, and if players land a Collect symbol at the same time, all the values are collected. The only catch is that there are four different Collect symbols, each with its own unique requirements and rewards.
Landing three or more Scatter symbols can trigger wins worth up to 100x the player’s stake and will unleash the Free Spins feature, along with 12 free spins. Players willing to buy this feature can, but it will cost them 100x their total stake each time they want to access it.
The Quest for Bermuda Riches™ is the latest instalment in the wildly successful John Hunter series, following his adventures in The Mayan Gods™, The Book of Tut™, The Tomb of the Scarab Queen™, Aztec Treasure™ and Da Vinci’s Treasure™.
The new release arrives in the wake of recent hits Cash Bonanza™, Mystic Chief™, and Piggy Bank Bills™, which reside amongst a collection of over 200 HTML5 titles in Pragmatic Play’s award-winning games portfolio.
Yossi Barzely, Chief Business Development Officer at Pragmatic Play, said: “The John Hunter series has become a staple of our portfolio, and we’re thrilled to inject new life into it with the launch of John Hunter and the Quest for Bermuda Riches™.
“We’re always looking for new ways to entertain our customers with exciting content, and the John Hunter series presents us with the perfect opportunity to continue an epic narrative with equally thrilling mechanics.”
Pragmatic Play currently produces up to five new slot titles a month, while also delivering Live Casino and Bingo games as part of its multi-product portfolio, available through one single API.
Rush Street Interactive (RSI), operator of the BetRivers, PlaySugar House, and RushBet online casino and sportsbook brands, has unveiled RushArena™ – a new multiplayer tournament engine.
The new platform was created to offer peer-to-peer promotional games that extend player experiences, allowing players to compete head-to-head on their own time, and builds off RSI’s success with its popular bingo games.
RSI’s initial execution of RushArena is RushRace™ which offers the following:
- Permits players to join at any time in the tournament window
- Tournaments are designed so players can choose from a wide number of game selections
- Players can switch games during the tournament to try their luck at a different title
- Players can start with different balances and win based on a wide range of different outcomes
- Players can adjust wager amounts based on desired strategy
- Leader boards and player positions are updated in real time and can be viewed while competing
- Tournament entries may be awarded by a wide range of methods, including purchases from RSI’s proprietary bonus store using bonus store points
“Enhancing the player experience remains our top business strategy,” said Richard Schwartz, CEO of RSI. “We listen to our customers, and by owning, building and innovating the framework, we can tailor our games to deliver what our casino players, or insights obtained from them, have told us they want. We use these ground-breaking game mechanics to create new experiences, which is consistent with our goal to increase retention, loyalty, and business KPIs.”
The engine used to create RushArena and its RushRaces will also soon be employed to create peer-to-peer competition events, which will allow BetRivers.com, PlaySugarHouse.com, and RushBet patrons to challenge each other in fun and rewarding battles.
Renowned content provider, Betsoft Gaming, once again shows its provenance as the market leader for true cinematic iGaming slots with stunning release Return to Paris™. Following the smash hit A Night In Paris™, the Thief with an eye for an antique is back – and so is the Cop, looking to hunt him down! Loaded with frequent wins, Multipliers, explosive Wilds and an engaging Free Spins round, this five reel 20 payline slot is the cartoon crime caper of the year.
Welcome to Paris by night: the romantically lit boulevards and shimmering Eiffel Tower are the backdrop to the museum, full of priceless artwork – including the Mona Lisa – and the crown jewels. On duty is the Cop, ready to protect Paris’ artefacts from the light-fingered Thief. Each piece of stolen artwork has its own Multiplier – the more you recover of each symbol, the higher the Multiplier! It’s a race against time as the Thief must put his loot in the unique bar-counter under the grid and build up the Multipliers before the Cop catches up with him.
Studded with fabulous graphics, Return to Paris™ showcases Betsoft’s trademark cinematic skills. Jewels and statues are the high value symbols and a Monet-inspired painting is the WILD. The Thief steals a nearby symbol and stashes it in his collection whilst taking its place on the reels. Each theft increases the on-screen MULTIPLIER COUNTER by one and a random symbol will replace the stolen one as the Thief moves on. Spin the reels to find the Cop. With a screech of tyres and a wailing siren, he will chase the Thief around the grid to put him behind bars and return the stolen goodies. The player gets a win PLUS the built-up Multiplier. The Multiplier is then reset to 1 and the chase starts all over again.
The big draw is the Mona Lisa and this fulsome lady is clearly loving her starring role as the SCATTER. Appearing only on reels 2, 3 and 4, when THREE Mona Lisas appear, the FREE SPINS round is triggered. You’ve seen the Mona Lisa but we bet you have never seen a FREE SPINS round like this!
The open-ended round starts with the Cop and the Thief in opposite corners of the grid. Each spin moves them vertically or horizontally in a random direction. The Thief continues to steal everything in his path, adding constantly to the Multiplier as the Cop chases him down.
Until they meet on adjacent squares, Free Spins will keep triggering – with up to 1,000 FREE SPINS to be had!
The trusty law enforcement officer will return all the stolen art at the end of Free Spins and the player will receive a Five of a Kind equivalent payout PLUS any built up Multipliers from the symbols. The Multiplier is then reset to 1 and the chase is back on!
The Cop is no pushover however: not content with just chasing the Thief and returning his ill-gotten gains, when they both appear adjacently on the reels – horizontally or vertically – things get hot. A bundle of dynamite rolls on to the screen and BOOM! All symbols become Wilds in the WILD EXPLOSION feature bringing even more big win chances your way.
With high frequency hit rates in the base game and super high frequency hit rates of 82.97% in the Free Spins round PLUS 1056x your stake to be had, it’s not surprising that everyone will Return To Paris™ this autumn!
Anna Mackney, Head of Account Management, Betsoft Gaming, said: ‘Betsoft Gaming has surpassed even its own legendary cinematographic skills with Return to Paris™. The incredible attention to detail makes this release fresh with every replay. The atmospheric soundtrack, with its Parisian street music, sirens, explosions and humorous mutterings, reinforces the theme fantastically well. This release sets a new bar in iGaming content and we anticipate a very positive response.’
Scheduled for release 28th October 2021, Return to Paris™ will join Betsoft’s constantly growing and award-winning portfolio of desktop and mobile video slots.
Fast Track has revealed a first-of-its-kind product that enables iGaming operators to deliver 1:1 experiences to players.
The Singularity Model features an engine that observes every action the player makes in real time and uses advanced machine learning and computations to establish a comprehensive player profile. Once this is established, the Singularity model hand picks the content, times and channels that are best suited to the individual player and creates a relevant, timely engagement.
“We have been working towards delivering this solution since the early days of Fast Track. Within the iGaming industry we have spoken about creating 1:1 experiences with our players for many years but have not had access to the right tools to make it a reality. I am excited and proud that Fast Track is making 1:1 player experiences possible for the first time with the Singularity Model,” commented Simon Lidzén, CEO and Co-founder of Fast Track.
Operators are given full control of the data, decision-making framework and tech stack and can customise every aspect according to their unique needs. According to the company, this technology marks the beginning of the next generation of player engagement within the industry, fundamentally changing the way operators interact with players.
To further support 1:1 experiences, Fast Track is also rolling out a completely new data analytics platform: Fast Track Data Studio. Sitting on top of Fast Track’s real-time data feed, the Data Studio will allow users to carry out complex queries in lightning-fast time, assisting users to make more informed decisions about their business with easily digestible and customisable dashboards.
Fast Track’s partners will also have access to the Singularity Project, a comprehensive intelligence hub managed by a dedicated data science team. The team will be publishing the results of relevant experiments and sharing insights that can be used with the Singularity Model.
Scientific Games has announced the sale of its lottery business to Brookfield Business Partners in a deal worth up to US$6.05 billion.
Under the agreement, Brookfield Business Partners will pay $5.85 billion in cash, and a further performance-based earn-out of up to $225M. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022, subject to applicable regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions.
Scientific Games Lottery currently has long-term partnerships with around 130 government and non-government run lotteries in more than 50 countries. The business provides turn-key solutions covering the entire lottery ecosystem, including instant and terminal-generated games, sports betting, lottery systems and retail technology, and the iLottery market. The company says it powers around 60% of all instant product retail sales globally.
Regarding the news, Barry Cottle, President and CEO of Scientific Games, said: “This transaction is transformative in accelerating the delivery of our stated strategy to optimize our portfolio, aggressively de-lever our balance sheet and position us to invest in future growth. We conducted a thorough review of paths to divest the Lottery business and we are confident that this transaction maximizes value and certainty while minimizing complexity and execution risk, and positions both Scientific Games and SG Lottery for continued success along their unique growth trajectories.
“The significant near-term proceeds from this transaction as well as our previously announced sale of Sports Betting will transform our balance sheet and provide the financial flexibility to invest organically and inorganically to accelerate our strategies. This marks a major milestone and puts us on a clear path to achieve our vision to become the leading cross-platform global game company and unlock our full value for shareholders.”
David Nowak, Managing Partner, Brookfield Business Partners, added: “The Scientific Games Lottery team has built a leading business, which has innovated its industry, at the convergence of games, technology and services, across retail and digital channels for its global customers. With our capabilities and global reach, we look forward to supporting management in the continued growth of the business.”
Just last month, Endeavor Group Holdings, the NYSE-listed global sports and entertainment company, agreed to acquire content, platform, and service provider OpenBet from Scientific Games Corporation for US$1.2 billion.
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