How did the 2016 ICE turn out for the Intralot team?
We are very pleased with our presence in this year’s ICE exhibition. For us, it represents an important milestone every time and this year we had an extra reason to be impatient towards the exhibition’s kickoff due to our newly designed Iconic Pavilion. It vastly contributed in welcoming our guests and visitors and achieving our goal to showcase our products through a complete customer journey held throughout five areas covering all visitors’ demands. The show itself has been very busy yet fulfilling for our delegation even before travelling to London; the delegation was full of confidence and excitement, deriving from our new product portfolio. Our warmly received solutions confirmed our belief that we are marching towards the correct path.
What were the most discussed trends at the show?
We are happy to witness that things are moving towards regulating the iGaming market. An increasing number of governments around the world faced the necessity to set a regulatory framework that completely justifies our strategic decision to operate only in regulated environments. In terms of technological trends, virtual reality seems to be the main attraction not only for iGaming, but for the technology industry as a whole.
This new and exciting technology is still lavish to the end customers, however hardware commoditization and intensive software development, will result in realization of VR technology’s potential in the near future. Exploring the opportunities of the mobile channel is a key factor to an operator’s success within the industry nowadays. Emerging markets are rapidly adjusting to this necessity, whereas the western world has already embraced this medium and is now experiencing a constantly increasing turnover originating from personalized offered content. New mobile trends need to be encouraged and further enhanced.
““A show of such scale like ICE 2016 is a living organism and triggers opportunities that demand effort and ongoing work to be transformed into real business cases
”
How has the growth of iGaming influenced the development of ICE 2016?
iGaming is moving towards finding ways to increase customers’ satisfaction thus leading to more a concise and highly personalized gaming experience. Keeping the end customers happy and reaching them across devices and channels is of great importance to the industry’s stakeholders. Cost optimized and yet amplified sports betting content plays a significant role in encouraging interested operators to enter the industry.
New companies are penetrating in the betting arena every day, claiming to have a part of the solution to offer, thus increasing the number of participating brands. Intralot focuses on iGaming as an integral part of its complete Customer Journey materialized through the product development procedure. We are keen on delivering the full solution to our partners and customers, and we always work with the vision to create and develop innovative concepts that will apply to the fast moving pace of our industry.
Which of your products attracted most attention from visitors?
The next generation Retail Store was put under the microscope during ICE 2016. We have successfully transformed the traditional in-store digital betting signage to an engaging and compelling Cinematic Betting experience that differentiates operators with premium and attractive content display. Tapnbet, a brand new betting concept, stood out, with everyone agreeing on its innovative approach. The concept is about the simplification of betting for non-regular punters, inviting sports fans to participate in sports betting. We are of the strong opinion that it will broaden an operator’s customer base, due to its innovative concept along with the unparalleled ease of use.
The success of our new Self-Service terminals was also driven by the Intralot Canvas platform for both Lottery and Betting verticals. Intralot Canvas platform was the result of our continuous commitment to delivering an end-user experience that always considers first the customer’s journey. The audience was impressed by the ability to centrally manage dynamic content distribution and achieve consistent customer experience across all sales channels that were demonstrated at the booth, including apart from the Self-Service terminals, web and mobile environments as well.
The “Betting Entertainment” product family also caught the attention of our visitors. Apple TV driven BetriderTM and 1-2-Go! are two new game concepts, powered by licensed pre-recorded sports content and utilization of innovative participation channels and platforms. Visitors have acknowledged that the above mentioned game concepts, increase player’s life time value by offering entertaining and engaging content to their players.
What hapened after the conclusion of the exhibition? Are you seeing any results yet?
A show of such scale like ICE 2016 is a living organism and triggers opportunities that demand effort and ongoing work to be transformed into real business cases. The volume of information and ideas on display is such that in combination with our visitors’ feedback, represent a valuable asset for us to assess and materialize the product journeys we have designed in the near future.
We are glad we attracted a great number of visitors, making our life after the show busier but more exciting. Feedback and information analysis on new trends, products and potential business partnerships are just some of the tasks we need to undertake after ICE 2016.
Clarion Events expects that by 2020 ICE will see the exhibition fully occupying the entire site at ExCel. Will there be room for start-ups, small companies and next-generation operators at the international trade show?
We wouldn’t be surprised if that goal was met earlier than 2020. iGaming is always open to new ideas, broadening the number of potential new exhibitors and operators in the years to follow. There are no secret recipes to success for new operators and success cannot be left to random acts of luck. iGaming is an extremely competitive field and it takes a dedicated and experienced, strategically chosen partner for new operators to trust and work with to achieve their goals.
This is where Intralot and its people come in. We’ve been successfully working hand in hand with our partners for years helping them achieving their goals and consulting them in every step of the way. As far as start-ups and smaller operators are concerned, they all have their chance to excel mostly through differentiation and their ability to achieve great levels of flexibility. Our eyes are pointed to them, as we firmly believe that ideas and innovations flourish in such environments. Human resources is also a key element to success in a dynamic and constantly growing resource-consuming environment, such as the gaming industry.
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