2. RAF KEUSTERMANS
Co-Founder, CEO Plumbee
Director Bonza Gaming
(Interim) VP Marketing Kobojo 2011
Independent Social Gaming Consultant 2010-2011
Global Marketing Director Playfish (EA) 2009-2010
Marketing Director EMEA Pogo.com (EA) 2008-2009
Head of Marketing Western Europe Unibet.com 2005-2008
Strategic Planner at BBDO, Grey and Publicis 1998-2005
www.plumbee.com
raf@plumbee.com
@raf_keustermans
3. • AAA video slots, persistant meta-features
• 280K DAU, 1.3M MAU
• iOS global launch imminent
• 50/50 joint-venture Plumbee and Unibet
• 3rd real-money app allowed on Facebook, after
Gamesys and 888
• Standalone business with its own management
team, engineers, marketing team, etc
• UK only, AGCC-licensed
• Offices in London and Guernsey (Channel Islands)
• Team of 15 today
• Early results very promising!
Free-to-play slots
Launched March 2012
Facebook and iOS (beta)
Real-money social gambling
Launched February 2013
Facebook
Social Casino Startup
Started July 2011
• Founded by 3 former EA Playfish execs
• Mission: become ‘the leading next-gen digital casino
company’
• Team of 43 in London
4. $35bn
Gambling: a large
market in transition
$391 billion global gambling market
Source: H2 Gambling Capital, SuperData Research, Morgan Stanley Research, 2012
DigitalOffline
Growth of mobile gambling
2011
$13bn
2017
$100bn
Source: Gross Wagers, Juniper Research Mobile
Gambling, Casinos, Lotteries & Betting 2012-2017
Growth of free-to-play social casino
$0.8bn
$1.1bn
$1.7bn
$2.0bn
$2.4bn
$2.6bn
$0.0bn
$0.5bn
$1.0bn
$1.5bn
$2.0bn
$2.5bn
$3.0bn
2010 2011 2012E 2013E 2014E 2015E
SocialCasinomarketsize
Source: SuperData Research, Morgan Stanley Research
6. • Product commoditization
• ‘Old World’ thinking about UI/UX, tech,
audience
• Disconnected from the broader
entertainment industry
• Very slow adopter of key consumer web
trends, i.e. social, apps, free-to-play
• Lack of entrepreneurial spirit – no more ‘fire
in the eyes’
7. Product Commoditization
• Most gambling operators are essentially ‘publishers’
– They don’t create content – most content (slots, blackjack,
bingo, poker, roulette) comes from 3rd party suppliers.
– Operators focus on the ‘platform’ and brand side:
payments, account management, analytics, finance
• The same 4-5 suppliers deliver the same content to
90% of the big players
– You will find the same slots, bingo, blackjack on William
Hill, Ladbrokes, Bet365, PaddyPower, SkyBet...
• Imagine a game studio that sells their FPS to both EA
and Activision...
8. • Marketing 101: if (digital) companies don’t compete on
product, they can only compete on price or brand.
• Gambling brands are not ‘love brands’.
– Not many people associate themselves with Bet365 in the same way
they do with Diesel, Apple, Spotify, BMW, Red Bull, Angry Birds, Star
Wars.
• Price competition is already happening: increase in
bonusing, affiliate rev share, ‘rake-back’ in poker, aggressive
loyalty systems.
– Price competition is a race to the bottom...
Social casino companies are still very much ‘game studios’ and can teach
gambling operators to re-focus on product development, importance of
unique, fresh content.
9. Old World thinking
• UI/UX: typical user flow for someone who wants to play a
fun slots game
– Real-money: open browser, go to website, log in, go to ‘casino’ tab,
go to ‘videoslots’ in sub-navigation, then you will see a list with the
titles of around 150 slot games, start clicking and opening games
until you find something you like. You can’t bookmark, like, review,
share or gift.
– Social: destination-within-destination (Fb or mobile), curated
experience with selection of unique, quality slots in a lobby with
clear visual representation of each slot game, click game icon to play.
You can share, like, gift, chat, ...
Players today want an easy-to-use, bite-sized, fun and curated experience
that is social and relevant.
10. Old World thinking bis
Online gambling industry needs to look beyond its current business model
(pay-to-play) that only works for 5% of its potential audience, embrace the
new world, expand reach in clever way.
People who love casino games
People serviced by
online gambling
industry
11. How (online) gambling execs see the universe
Entertainment
industry Offline gambling
industry
Online gambling
industry
12. How consumers see the universe
Stuff I like to
spend time &
money on to
entertain myself
13. Disconnected from the broader
entertainment industry
• Consumers have a finite amount of time and money to spend on
entertaiment.
• Gambling (offline or online) is not a ‘silo’.
• Gambling competes with other forms of entertainment for time and
money.
– bwin, Pokerstars compete with Bet365, 888 but also with Angry
Birds, Candy Crush Saga, the new Tom Cruise movie, Call of Duty, after-
work pints in the pub, cat videos on Youtube, ...
• Offline, land-based gambling seems to understand this better: most
casinos offer a wide entertainment range:
resort, shopping, nightclub, shows, restaurants, bars...
– The online ‘translation’ of the offline world is fairly poor, in general.
14. How can social casino help?
• Re-discover importance of
– Product (unique, fresh, fun)
– Tech innovation, engineering culture
– Audience, reach
• Re-connect with broader entertainment world
– We make games! Poker, slots, bingo, ... are all games.
• Understand the New World
– Social is the new normal
• Bring back the entrepreneurial spirit
– Let’s put the lawyers and accountants in the back
seats, and the producers, engineers, visionaries in the
drivers seat!