2MEE A new way of advertising


James Riley, founder and CEO of UK-based company 2mee, spoke to GIO about its innovative approach to advertising and engaging new audiences.


GIO: Please introduce yourself and your background in the industry. James Riley: I’m James Riley, CEO of 2mee, a company based in the UK that has developed a technology that is massively disrupting the adtech sector. While our platform is very much sector agnostic we knew from day one that it was particularly suited to the gaming market. As we have been developing our product set, we have leaned on some of the industry’s big-hitters - from CEOs to product directors and CTOs - to understand their pain points when it comes to acquisition, retention and conversion, specifi cally within the sector. Some have been so impressed with our product that they have actually invested in 2mee.


The gambling industry is under incredible pressure when it comes to responsibility and compliance with ad and marketing channels being shut down all the time. 2mee allows operators and affi liates to send humans, infl uencers and brand ambassadors as holograms, an entirely new way of reaching and engaging audiences. Holograms really cut through the noise being made by rival brands and help all operators and affi liates - whether tier one power players or smaller organisations - connect directly with their audiences at scale and, importantly, cost-effectively.


GIO: Can you tell us about your infl uencer messaging platform? JR: The digital landscape is constantly evolving. As we move from web2.0 to web3.0 we are seeing tremendous developments across nearly every touch point of the internet, and mostly for the better. However, one area I feel has been lagging for a long time is the paid media adtech world. We are all happily bombarded with banner ads, creating a


landscape of clutter that makes it very diffi cult for brands to break through. There has been little innovation for a number of years now, just tweaks on the display format. Alongside this we have seen the rise of the infl uencer


marketing landscape which is already proving its tremendous potential in reshaping the social commerce and advertising sectors.


2mee, working alongside the faculties at a leading UK university, has developed a platform a that allows casino and sportsbook operators to quickly and simply send infl uencers as advertising short- form video clips to their own sites and apps, as well as those of affi liates and content publishers. This is provided via two products, one for acquisition (HoloAd™) and one for retention (HoloMessage™).


HoloAd is our acquisition product and is designed to amplify brand awareness and deliver double-digit fi gure uplifts in lead generation. Seeing a known face has huge psychological impact; it creates bonds of trust, amplifi es message reception and delivers engagement levels that are simply unrivalled. It’s the ultimate brand


narrative and traffi c driver tool.


HoloMessage is our retention product and it delivers infl uencers as messages directly on to operators’ own web and app collateral to retain, educate and convert customers. It can even be used to help guide customers through the KYC process and for responsible gambling messaging.


GIO: How effective is this form of


advertising? Has it been widely adopted by the industry? JR: It is incredibly effective. Where your traditional text-based messaging has engagement rates


in the low single digits, infl uencer holograms sit between the 20 and 40 per cent mark. These higher engagement rates are vital for driving acquisition and retention, as well as improving responsible gambling standards. Feedback from operators using HoloAd and HoloMessage is that they provide the ultimate call to action and this can be seen in the engagement rates being delivered. In terms of adoption, we are just starting to ramp up the roll-out of HoloAd and HoloMessage


with more operators and affi liates, and we have some big-name brands set to go live over the coming months.


GIO: In March last year you announced the completion of your latest round of funding to accelerate your expansion plans. What have you done since? JR: We have been incredibly busy. We have continued to roll-out HoloMessage with operators such as Sportsbet.io and Heart Bingo and we’ve developed and beta-launched HoloAd with the likes of RacingTV, SkyBet and BetVictor while also making major platform advancements. We’ve grown the team with a number of signifi cant hires, and have increased or marketing activity and visibility within the gambling industry and beyond.


GIO: What are your plans for 2023? Any new innovations, product launches or partnerships? Will you be attending any industry events? JR: Our main focus is the full launch of HoloAd which is set for Q2. We are currently engaged in exciting conversations with major affi liate networks and content publishers and have operators and brands lined up ready to use the technology to super-charge their acquisition efforts. We will continue to deploy our international markets expansion plan with our fi rst LatAm operator set to go live in Brazil in the coming months. We are also looking at additional funding so that we can further ramp-up sales and marketing activity and continue our growth trajectory.


GIO MARCH 2023 7


GIO: Your offering is unique and innovative. How will you evolve your platform? JR: HoloAd and HoloMessage are set to compete and defeat the traditional banner ad paid media model. HoloAd, for example, is an all-encompassing platform that delivers automated ads to different advertisers. But we are only just getting started with the platform and what it can do. Both products have exciting roadmaps ahead, from channel growth to real-time bidding systems. At 2mee, we are keen to ensure we stay ahead of the curve, particularly when it comes to web3.0 and developing our blockchain, NFT and user- centric democratised privacy models for brand, advertiser and the infl uencer. Evolution is also being guided by our customers - our platform is so innovative and fl exible that they are identifying new ways of using it.


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