Telegraph deal Betting
Ladbrokes on the defensive as OddsOn! comes under fire
LOYALTY L
adbrokes executives have been defending the book- maker’s OddsOn! project as analysts continue to ques- tion the value of the LBO
industry’s only loyalty card scheme. In a sometimes fractious analyst presen- tation for its interim results, Ladbrokes product director Richard Ames came out in support of initiative. “We are committed to OddsOn!” he
said. “We are committed to the benefits that the OddsOn! programme gives us. Free bets can be targeted very accu- rately and we’re very confident about the way we are spending those free bets and the returns we are getting on them.” Ames conceded that the company only had the right to directly contact around 40 per cent of those customers with OddsOn! cards, but suggested that it was an area the firm had been working on.
“Over time [the percentage] is growing because we’re becoming better at signing people up with con- tactability,” he said. “That’s contin- ued to improve across the lifetime of the scheme. But we have lots of methods of encouraging that con- tactability in terms of promotions that we can deliver in-store, so the absolute contactability is not a block to us talking to these customers and being able to improve that ongoing relationship and it’s something that we work on very hard.”
Some analysts were concerned that would be extended.
“OddsOn! capability is enabled in around 10 per cent of the machine estate and it’s been in there for some time,” he said. “The whole of the Global Draw estate is enabled with the functionality so it can be turned on should we choose to do so. It’s on test at the moment.”
ANALYSIS
The Ladbrokes board appeared to take a bit of a siege mentality when asking questions about these interim results, with one analyst asking why they were being so defensive given a question about whether the firm did business in Singapore was totally stonewalled. The fact is that the company is playing catch-up, something chief executive Richard Glynn is only too well aware of, when its shareholders have in the past been used to a market leading position so the board is understandably trying to buy some breathing space for their new projects to come to fruition. But the pressure is mounting.
the firm’s expenditure on free bets could increase even further if the OddsOn! scheme was fully rolled out to its gaming machine estate, but Ames didn’t provide any indication that it
Although it was revealed that OddsOn! accounts for just over 40 per cent of turnover and transactions of the over the counter business, chairman Peter Erskine also had to voice his support for the scheme. He commented: “OddsOn! has been with Ladbrokes a fair while now and given we were the first in the marketplace we probably spent a little bit too much on free bets, but I think we’re now getting real returns from it. We’ve moved from a score of four out of ten to nine out of ten.
“Given we have it and our competi- tion don’t, there’s always the feeling about whether it is wise and I think that Tesco, Sainsbury’s and everybody else who’s dealing with customers can’t be wrong in wanting a loyalty card, so we’re getting a lot of benefits.” Erskine said the scheme wasn’t about yielding extra revenue, adding: “It’s about continuing to make the Ladbrokes customer more and more loyal and getting a great percentage of their spend in our space. The trends are encouraging but we have a long way to go.”
Betfair signs up sporting expertise B
MARKETING
etfair has launched a new initiative to promote its ‘sporting ambassadors’ in a spoof recreation of the old Ferrero Rocher advertisement. Cricketer Michael Vaughan, rugby union’s Will Green- wood, footballer Lee Dixon, and trainer Paul Nicholls have been signed by the betting exchange to offer their experience and expert- ise to help Betfair customers make more informed betting choices. Each ambassador will provide informative and
of the most respected names in world sport, so it is fantas- tic to welcome them to Betfair. Our customers are set to benefit from their valu- able insight and experience over the coming months. Such an illustrious roster of ambassadors demonstrates again how punters are better off with Betfair.”
TWO OF BETFAIR’S AMBASSADOR’S LEE DIXON AND MICHAEL VAUGHAN
insightful tipping content, monthly podcasts, hard hitting reaction to breaking sports news, and unique
12 BettingBusinessInteractive • SEPTEMBER 2011
video content. Betfair’s Andy Lulham
said: “Vaughan, Greenwood, Dixon and Nicholls are some
Meanwhile Cash 4 Clubs, the charity scheme run by Betfair and SportsAid, has granted £13,569 to 18 sports clubs across the UK. The Cash 4 Clubs programme is
funded by Betfair, the
world’s biggest betting exchange, in partnership with SportsAid. The scheme’s overriding aim is to provide much-needed cash directly into grassroots sport in the UK and has donated £156,149 to 217 clubs since inception in 2008. Clubs from Glasgow to Dover, playing and teach- ing sports from handball to judo were selected by an esteemed judging panel to be awarded their grants, with many of them using the
money to invest in better equipment and training courses for their members and volunteer staff. Betfair’s head of corpo-
rate responsibility Georgina Corbett commented: “The benefit these clubs bring to their members and their wider communities is vital. At a time of falling participa- tion levels and increased pressure on local authority sports funding, I’m delighted that Betfair has been able to support a further 18 groups through Cash 4 Clubs.”
Online games developer Soccer Millionaire has secured an extension to its partnership agreement with The Daily Telegraph, providing the paper’s Fantasy Football with pools betting products and skill games. Soccer Millionaire CEO David Galan commented: “We have worked hard to design a new suite of products and advertising collateral to match the new and improved Fantasy Football which The Daily Telegraph remains at the forefront of.”
Mobile betting spreads offshore
MARKETING
PETER ERSKINE: ‘THE TRENDS ARE ENCOURAGING’
Ladbrokes has come out in support of its loyalty scheme OddsOn! which has yet to convince investors of its worth.
recent survey by bookmaker Blue Square has shown people are now placing bets in some strange places through their smartphones. The firm said that customers con- fessing to placing bets at weddings was not entirely unexpected due to some big events clash- ing with summer Satur- days, but the survey also uncovered wagers placed from a boat in the middle of the Mediterranean and a field at the Glastonbury Festival.
A
Comparing the first weekend of the Barclays Premier League season with last year, Blue Square saw 168 per cent growth in bets placed via mobile phones on the top-flight matches. The ability to bet at football grounds and during the game saw in- running bets grow by 44 per cent through customer handsets.
The survey was part of the new marketing cam- paign the bookmaker has launched to coincide with the opening weeks of the new domestic football season. The ‘Experience It’ campaign highlights how customers can benefit from placing their bets with the company, outside of the normal winning and losing transactions between punter and book- maker. The firm will be offering a wide range of
sports experience tickets and giveaways as well as a strong free bet offer for new account registrations. Marketing director Phil Gates commented: “We love sports and we love going to sporting events with our customers. I’ve now met many who have won some of the thousands of tickets we’ve given away. Days out have ranged from International Rugby and The Open golf to racing and football matches. I look forward to meeting many more. Over the next few months we will continue to give away thousands of tickets.” The campaign highlights that a large part of Blue Square’s sportsbook busi- ness has moved towards mobile transactions and that was a key part of this new proposition. Gates explained: “Up until now, as a mainly online book- maker, although we wanted to entertain clients, the doubt was always there that you are taking them away from their computers and there- fore limiting their involve- ment with you that day. That’s all changed now and with our award winning mobile product those cus- tomers can take our markets anywhere. It also gives us a chance to get first hand comments and intro- duce them to this side of the business in an enjoy- able setting.”
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