Toby Oddy, CEO & Founder of Digital Fuel. 

With the recent Supreme Court ruling and Digital Fuel offering consultancy services, please explain what services you offer to the new U.S. market?

Digital Fuel offer a complete marketing solution for operators looking to move quickly in this space. We provide consultation on strategy and budgeting, implementation of a robust marketing technology infrastructure plus the design and execution of campaigns across both acquisition and CRM.

In what way do you think an operator will benefit from the consultancy and management services Digital Fuel is offering?

Experience is the obvious answer here. Our team have been doing this for many years, both within marketing departments at some of the biggest global operators and as an agency working with them. Understanding marketing is one thing but understanding it in the context of betting and gaming is something that develops with experience. More than that however, our team are passionate about the industry that they work in and that shines through in our working relationships and results.

How do you believe Digital Fuel can help operators to stay ahead of the competition?

Every operator that we work with is unique. Product propositions vary and budgets and KPIs are different, so there is no single answer to the problem. Digital Fuel get to know your business and work with you as a part of the team to learn and develop what is working for your brand. Through experience, we can fast track your marketing to ensure that you are not starting behind. We then work together to make sure you stay in front.

Whilst complicated by multi-jurisdictional licensing the iGaming industry is also subject to a wave of consolidation, mergers and acquisitions. How is your company dealing with this changing landscape?

We are a marketing agency looking to stay ahead through a sound understanding of the way we can utilise data, buy media, manage affiliate relationships and ultimately convert that into real money for our partners. We are here to make things simple for our clients, to give sound advice on when and where to spend budget and to help negotiate the ever changing landscape.

From experience, in what way do you believe the iGaming industry has changed in the past years when it comes to the relationship between operator and affiliates?

This is a challenging question to answer without making a stereotype of affiliate partners and operators when in reality there is huge diversity. It is fair to say that the industry has changed significantly over the last 10 years with all of the M&A activity and regulatory changes. There have always been affiliates that work extremely hard to build strong and

transparent relationships and there have always been operators that understand and respect their marketing partner’s contribution. Of course, there are plenty of examples on both sides that have not conformed to this and is why we had a wider mis-trust between partners within the category. Operators can no longer afford to be ignorant towards affiliate relationships as the financial risk to their business is too great and this has resulted in positive steps towards more transparency in both directions.

Do you expect any future changes that both affiliates and operators should be prepared for and in what way can Digital Fuel be helpful here?

As we are seeing in the Australian market where New South Wales recently implemented a blanket ban on inducements in advertising, it will only be a matter of time before other regulated markets take a tougher stance on using free bets in advertising. The UK has already moved in this direction and we will likely see further regulatory changes with more responsibility placed on affiliates. Offering a managed affiliate solution with an experienced team means that new operators or those with limited resource can take advantage of this highly effective marketing channel. On the flip side dealing with a single affiliate manager across multiple operators and territories makes it easier for the affiliate as we are doing the backend work to ensure compliance.

Is it only operators that Digital Fuel offer consultancy and marketing services to?

Our offering is quite broad and while some services may not be required by affiliate partners who have typically grown through expertise in at least one channel of digital marketing, there are certainly other complementary services that we are able to support with from design and development to content and outreach. We are not just restricted to organisations that are categorised as betting and gaming. Our team has experience and expertise across many industries and have worked with sports clubs and organisations to not only drive core revenue streams but also capitalise on the betting and gaming opportunity through sponsorship activations and audience profiling.

Are there any recent or future developments within Digital Fuel you would like to share?

We have now opened an office in the US market with the ability to provide media buying services and affiliate management. As this market develops, it is critical for long term success that a clear strategic marketing framework is in place and with years of experience entering regulated markets, the Digital Fuel team is well equipped to support organisations looking to capitalise on this opportunity.