At this stage, we do not have a clear view on what economic impact this coronavirus will have, although it certainly will be big. We still intend to follow our expansion plans, so we are looking into other markets, for example the Netherlands. Looking beyond the crisis, I think it is too difficult for anybody to say because we have not seen the full impact.
home working is an option. Whilst we will not switch fully into home working and abandon our offices, we are working on a long-term solution that manages the balance between remote working and being at the office. Tis could help solve other economic or social problems like employees being stuck in traffic jams and pollution so I think that not only us but all companies that are able to strike a balance should consider it.
If I have to quantify our operational efficiency compared to the weeks before the lockdown, I’d say we are at 95 per cent. Whilst there are inevitably some exceptional circumstances, such as employees with young children which might make it a little more difficult for them to organise their work, I've been extremely pleased with how our employees have dealt with the situation and this has made me a proud manager. Our recruitment policy has always been to employ people with a proactive mindset who take initiative, and this has really shown with how they have coped with the situation.
FILLING THE SPORTING VOID No operator has been able to replace the void
left by the cancellation of all sporting events. Were it just a particular sporting event that was cancelled then players might have looked for other sports. but it's ultimately down to player
preferences and oftentimes they cannot just replace their products or the feelings they associate with a particular sport with something else on our website. We see this in the number of active players who are now absent. Of course, we keep our players informed on our alternative products, but it is not our priority to switch them as fast as we can just to get revenue. We offer enjoyment and entertainment and if a player is looking for that in sports betting, he might not necessarily be searching for it in virtual slots and other products. We communicate these alternatives, but when they do not want to, we are not pursuing it. I would not feel at ease with how it would appear if we were to force players into something they did not enjoy.
Tere are players that have looked elsewhere during the lockdown, such as the virtual Formula One races and virtual cycling events. We have filled the void as best we can, but by no stretch of the imagination does it compare with when we have a normal sporting calendar.
MARKETING DURING LOCKDOWN From an advertising perspective, we have never
used social economic, religious or political themes in marketing. Napoleon’s mission and role is to offer entertainment to people. Tis is the same during the lockdown. We do not use any reference to lockdown and have aligned
ourselves with other Belgian operators, the Belgian Federation and the International Federation on not using the crisis in advertising. As an extra step, we have also limited our advertisements even more than we are required to by regulators. From a responsible gaming standpoint, because that responsible gaming environment is something we’ve built before and have always maintained. We know it works and at this stage I believe that we have struck a healthy balance between what we have to offer and how we are marketing out products. Nonetheless, we added extra monitoring in Live casino chat, customer feedback and communication to warn our players for the potential dangers.
POST-PANDEMIC ROADMAP At this stage, we do not have a clear view on
what economic impact this coronavirus will have, although it certainly will be big. We still intend to follow our expansion plans, so we are looking into other markets, for example the Netherlands. Looking beyond the crisis, I think it is too difficult for anybody to say because we have not seen the full impact. I really hope that not only for our industry but for the whole world, first and foremost the health situation might stabilise, and the economy grow fast again after this crisis. My biggest fear is not for us or the industry overall, but for the global economy.
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P115
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