Today we are delighted to announce that our media business GiG Media has been shortlisted for two awards for this year’s IGB Affiliate awards. We caught up with our CMO and MD of GiG Media, Jonas Warrer to find out what he has to say about being nominated, what he believes sets us aside from the competition and what the future will bring for GiG Media.
What do you believe sets you aside from others? What makes you different?
We have a very healthy mix of channels and websites targeting a worldwide audience while we target high-value keywords and traffic. I think this is one of the things that stands out when we compare to competitors. We are very diverse, having multiple strong points. Beyond that we have developed strong marketing technology assets that strengthen our go-to-market operations; this also adds an element of uniqueness to our business. Lastly, broadly speaking, we receive very positive feedback from our partners about the high quality of the players we generate, which we can also see in how strong we have grown revenue over the last two years.
In terms of direct competition, is it an easy journey or a constant battle to outperform?
We have been growing the business since Q4 2019 – all organic i.e. without acquiring other companies or website assets. It has been quite a remarkable journey the last couple of years reaching successive all-time highs in revenue, player intake and EBITDA. It might look easy but of course, it is a constant battle to perform well – and especially to outperform previous quarters and months. We are up against skilled competitors and need to keep on our toes to stay in the race (hopefully winning a few heats now and then). As we keep optimising how we acquire traffic, how we convert traffic and how we get value out of traffic converted we will continue to develop the business positively in successive cycles of improvements.
Which of the fellow nominees do you think are the toughest competition in terms of securing the award and why?
We operate in a very competitive marketplace. It is difficult to single out a few specific competitors as “tougher competition”. We have a great deal of respect for both the well-established competitors we are up against, as well as some of the newcomers that have entered the industry in recent years with some force. Deciding who is the strongest competitor I will leave to the skilled award judges.
What do you believe led to the success of WSN and casino tops online?
With both websites, our strategy has always been to provide true value to visitors consistently over time as part of a superior product. This vision informs all our marketing and development efforts. The approach has been awarded by both users, who keep returning to the websites and search engines. Over the years, we have developed and grown two extremely skilled teams that are in charge of both websites. The flexibility and agility with which they react to and often anticipate changes in search engine algorithms has led to continuous growth in visitors over time. With our nationwide approach with WSN.com specifically the true value of the asset has yet to materialise as more and more US states regulate.
With tighter regulations, the industry has changed significantly since GiG Media started, what are the main challenges that you are now facing now and are set to face?
Regulation can both be good and bad for us. It can decrease the player value but it can also open up new channels and it can make the specific market more stable. A key element is to keep diversifying our business so we become less impacted by any regulatory tightening, and conversely, so we can move fast to exploit the opportunities regulation can also create. It has and will continue to be a key element in our strategy to diversify the business in a position for whatever happens.
What new markets are you most excited about over the next 12 months?
We are looking forward to seeing our efforts continue to be rewarded in the US, as more and more states regulate. The recent regulation in Ontario is also something that excites us and we’re eagerly awaiting further regulation in Canada. Latin America is another growth market for us that we expect to continue on this trend in the coming months. As the number of live operators picks up pace in the Netherlands, we expect it to become more and more important for us. What truly excites us, however, is the sum of all the markets together where GiG Media is present as a global player. We will continue to invest in these diversification efforts and expect them to continue to bear fruit for us in 2022 and beyond.
We are proud to have our affiliate experts at GiG Media nominated in the two categories ‘Best casino affiliate’ and ‘Best sports betting affiliate’. Two much deserved nominations for their ability to repeatedly create true value, continuous growth and success for our partners. If you are interested in taking your digital marketing to the next level with our industry experts contact us to find out more [email protected]