“In the ‘age of the influencer’ personal brands are essential, and we’re using our combined firepower to showcase key business professionals as the go-to experts and thought leaders in that field.”
These were the thoughts of Siobhan Neligan, Director and Founder of Minty Creative, who spoke to CasinoBeats as the firm approaches its one-year anniversary of the investment of GameOn into Minty Creative, providing an update on the cohesion, how the companies have navigated any challenges and what to expect in the future.
CasinoBeats: It’s been a year since the announcement of the investment of GameOn into Minty Creative, can you give us an update on what each team has been working on?
Siobhan Neligan: Over the past year, our partnership has become even stronger. We offer a comprehensive, fully integrated social media management service, as part of the GameOn portfolio, and we’ve implemented a number of processes that makes our collaboration smarter, slicker and more effective for our clients.
Aside from that, we’ve welcomed new clients and used the funding round to build out the team and its capabilities. We are proud to have increased our headcount across both businesses with a dedicated team of talented professionals to further support our clients. We’ve also invested our technology to offer best-in-breed solutions to optimise and track social media performance with laser precision.
It seems like social media marketing has risen up the brand agenda too, as even smaller companies are recognising the importance, and are looking to upskill and bring the responsibilities in-house. We know this from the number of recent enquiries for training. In response to this, we are currently building a bespoke iGaming social media marketing course to help businesses that want to better harness the benefits of social media, while retaining autonomy over the delivery.
Of course, this approach doesn’t work for everyone, as social media is both a skilled and volume task, meaning that for many smaller businesses, it makes sense to outsource this to industry specialists.
CB: What advantages does your partnership offer to gaming businesses, particularly those looking to stand out in an increasingly crowded market?
NS: Effective PR and marketing are even more important to differentiate your brand in an increasingly competitive market. How you tell your story and connect with potential clients or customers could be the deciding factor in purchasing choices, when other aspects, such as technological capability or product types, are matched. It’s also what makes companies unique and makes for a really varied day job when building and executing marketing strategies.
In the “age of the influencer” personal brands are essential, and we’re using our combined firepower to showcase key business professionals as the go-to experts and thought leaders in that field. My favourite quote is a modern twist on the old adage: “it’s not what you know, it’s not who you know; it’s who knows you.” Great PR is vital for creating that narrative, and social media works incredibly well as a vehicle for communicating it and multiplying those brand touchpoints.
From embracing the metaverse and new technologies, to collaborations with celebrities or streamers, to incredible new game categories or mechanics, we’re continually inspired by the creativity and innovation we see from our clients, and it’s our job to amplify that.
CB: It’s been quite a tumultuous year – are there any shifts or trends you’ve noticed as a result?
SN: It certainly has! Just when we thought we were over the pandemic, war broke out in Europe and that has directly affected us and some of our clients. We’ve been working hard to support them as best we can, but there is no blueprint for the types of challenges we’ve all faced in recent years. It’s not something any of us have experienced in our lifetimes, so it’s been a case of doubling down, communicating carefully and addressing topics sensitively.
The global gaming industry is a remarkably resilient one though, and there has been a sense of “blitz spirit” in the face of these challenges. We’re definitely seeing an appetite for deeper connection, whether it’s virtual, or face-to-face. Social media is the ideal channel for this, as users can celebrate, commiserate, or show their support for their peers together, in an authentic and acutely “human” way. We see this regularly on social media platforms, especially LinkedIn, and interestingly, these are the types of posts that often perform best.
CB: How have you navigated those challenges?
SN: We’ve had to be responsive to changing circumstances and priorities, and as a team, we’ve risen to this. Working with subject matter experts offers some reassurance in the face of the unknown, and it’s all about working together to come up with innovative solutions.
When pivoting plans or directions, marketing is all about testing and optimisation, and social media is no different. Part of its intrinsic power is the volume of data it generates – from audience demographics to granular KPI metrics.
We’re able to offer our clients detailed insights as to the impact of their activity and campaigns, and that provides valuable business intelligence to inform future priorities and strategy. That can really help when businesses are considering where best to deploy their marketing spend to achieve ROI if a new direction is pursued.
CB: What can we expect moving forwards?
SN: Regulations are ever-changing, with the Gambling Act Review due out in the UK imminently set to impact some of the traditional major brand marketing channels. Player behaviours are evolving even quicker, influenced by wider consumer and technology trends. As an industry, we’ll need to be more creative than ever to be able to market our services and products in a responsible and sustainable way.
Remote working means the world has got bigger – and we need to consider cultural differences in how we communicate. Even down to something as obvious as time zone variations necessitates consideration for how and when we publish information, to generate maximum coverage and impact.
The burgeoning North American market is also a major focus for us. Many of our existing and prospective clients are increasing their footprint in the continent, as more states welcome online gambling. We’ve adopted a global outlook and reach, to help power our clients’ growth, wherever they or their customers are based.