investment in products and technology so that we have the right mix to generate ROI and revenue very quickly.
Additionally, there are future amplifiers and enablers to future strategy growth that will allow us to move into other adjacent markets and open up new opportunities. It's the mentality of one small decision can open up many others, as opposed to looking for that one big opportunity. So, there are many layers and nuances in terms of budgeting to ensure that we get the right mix, which is a constant dialling up and dialling down process.
You’ve said previously that Aristocrat was formely known for: the math, the game and the software. To which you added, a fourth factor - form. How important does the cabinet remain in the overall success of Aristocrat’s slots products? And how do you continue to innovate in this area given that bigger screens, touch-panels and dynamic LEDs are ubiquitous right now?
Te speed with which the industry has moved to bigger and brighter has been quite phenomenal. We went from 19ins. screens to 23ins. monitors and then 27ins. in just a short few years. As I said earlier, I believe cabinets are important. I believe they're important to the consumer experience and they're important to our customers. Everyone is looking for new and different, whether it's something tall to draw people to a specific area or something big and bright. Whether it's low so you can open up sight lines and see through the casino; it's important for us to have that diversity of cabinet offering.
In terms of how do we continue to innovate? We've got the best industrial design partner and an in-house team that supplements and augments them. We've got advanced R&D teams spending a ton of time understanding the technological changes happening elsewhere in the world. And when the time’s right time, we’ll bring those technologies into the mainstream slot cabinets. Aristocrat’s King Max cabinet has a unique shape and lighting from an untraditional screen. It's taller and narrower than anything you’ll find off-the-shelf - and it’s the kind of innovation you’ll be seeing more of from us.
You'll also see innovation that's harder to imitate. And I think that's exciting for us because it’s an area we're really focused on is ensuring that we continue to build into our product strategies to ensure we’re far harder to imitate in the future.
Speaking recently to VP Sales and Operations EMEA, Marcel Huetmekers, Aristocrat continues to create games for the arcade sector in Spain and route markets in South Africa and is just about to enter the UK sector - how do you manage resources to be able to produce product for such a wide spectrum of markets and sectors - and continue to be successful and profitable?
Marcel is a great guy. His experience and contacts have been transformational for us in EMEA. It’s a region that continues to be increasingly important for Aristocrat. We not
only have important customers in the market, but our move into real money gaming with Anaxi means that the UK, and Europe, is a huge market for us. We are still finalising the deal with NeoGames, but if all comes together as expected, we'll have a huge presence in terms of our employees in a region of the world that has grown dramatically in the last few years.
To stress the point I made earlier, EMEA is an enabler to a future strategy. It’s an important part of our investment that while not the biggest market, is very important and an enabler for our bigger strategy. It's about driving scale, about driving efficiencies, and
The NFL is an amazing organisation and brand to be
connected with Aristocrat. We're really excited by it and as the saying goes, the NFL season never ends. So while March madness was an amazing experience, especially in Las Vegas, the NFL is just an
absolute monster. It's 365 days a year in the news cycle, with people's connection to their teams and players never
ending. It’s a huge, huge brand
for us and while it’s also been a massive undertaking, it’s also been a ton of fun.
ensuring that we are investing in the right places, not just for today, but for the long term. How do we drive shareholder value? How do we drive value for our stakeholders, our customers, and our consumer partners as well? Tat’s the goal.
How involved have you been in the high profile - NFL slots from Aristocrat - how has the roll-out been welcomed, especially as March Madness dies down - and what can tell us about the future of this product line?
Te NFL is an amazing organisation and brand to be connected with Aristocrat. We're really excited by it and as the saying goes, the NFL season never ends. So while March madness was an amazing experience, especially in Las Vegas, the NFL is just an absolute monster. It's 365 days a year in the news cycle, with people's connection to their teams and players never ending. It’s a huge, huge brand for us and while it’s also been a massive undertaking, it’s also been a ton of fun. Our teams have really enjoyed the experience. We spent around three years making those games and the rollout has been the fastest ever.
Te response from our customer base has been phenomenal too. Our partners have seen a very different player starting to migrate to these slots, a younger male clientele. So again, it’s about ensuring we understand the strategies for our casino partners and build the right products so we can deliver upon that. Plus, the NFL has been really helpful in enabling us to deliver products that bring traditional casino players across to the NFL brand. In this respect I think that's where the NFL sees us as the market leader.
Our talent, scale and the breadth and depth of experiences here at Aristocrat ensures that we can deliver great value for the NFL in terms of international growth and the opening up of new markets and segments. So it's been a huge win-win across all areas.
Tere are six NFL games live in the field right now, each offering 32 games in one, which was a huge undertaking for the technology and product teams. Te number of videos that our teams watched to put together the in- game clips was astounding. Luckily, we have diehard NFL fans who really enjoyed the process. So, it's been a lot of fun and really gratifying. Our customers are really happy with the games and the studios are excited to continue to innovate and see where they can take the brand.
Do you think land-based games are in a good place compared to online and mobile?
I'm bullish about all areas of the business right now. My personal opinion is that the land-based gaming business remains strong. Post COVID we’ve seen there's a want and a need for social engagement and tactile experiences. Our casino partners are doing a great job in continuing to modernise the offering and we and our peers are continuing to innovate and invent to elevate the slot experience.
So, I believe there are compelling reasons to visit casinos for that out-of-home experience. Sitting at the Neptune Double with its 49ins. monitors is unlike anything you can play on your phone.
I also think that as we see further changes to regulations, this will accelerate the innovation of content in different genres. We're seeing this in the social casino space, but also in mobile games as they focus on community engagement. I believe a convergence of this style of gaming into land-based will occur over time and our creatives are excited to be able to spread their content to more channels more quickly.
For us, we think there’s a huge opportunity to continue to entertain and delight more customers with our content. Tere's a lot more we can do in different areas adjacent to the land-based business. We see huge potential for the organisation to be more creative than ever. So, I think I've got the best job in the business. I’m looking forward to continuing to provide those opportunities for our teams and watching what they come up with, because the products that they deliver continue to blow me away.
WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS P119
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