Maria Bashkevich: “The main lesson from the Covid-19 pandemic was the necessity of online presence and diversification”

Maria Bashkevich, Head Of Marketing at Uplatform, sat down with Focus Gaming News for an exclusive interview to talk about the importance of the in-person shows and the main challenges the Covid-19 pandemic brought for the industry.

Exclusive interview.- For the first time ever, Uplatform will join SiGMA Europe, the annual iGaming conference in Malta that gathers the most interesting exhibitors of the iGaming world. 

This is one more achievement in the life of a company that has been growing by leaps and bounds and has a lot of plans for the future.

Maria Bashkevich, Head Of Marketing at Uplatform, spoke with Focus Gaming News to talk about the Covid-19 pandemic and how it impacted the industry, their expectations regarding SiGMA and much more.

How important is the return of live events for Uplatform, and how are you preparing for SiGMA?

Since we entered the market just before the pandemic, we didn’t have opportunities to attend events and spread the word about Uplatform. As a result, exhibiting at expos is important for us in order to communicate more about who and what Uplatfrom represents and offers, make new connections, increase brand loyalty, and showcase our team.

iGB Amsterdam showed us that there is a demand for “new” players in the market. If you are planning to attend, be sure to make an appointment via https://uplatform.com/contact-us/maria-b/ and find me there – I’ll tell you more about Uplatform and how it can help you to boost your business.

What do you expect for the first SiGMA since the Covid-19 pandemic began?

In Amsterdam, the days were quite intense – there was no time to rest or to take breaks for a drink because we had so many appointments:) I think it will be the same in Malta; having checked the floorplan and the agenda, I’m expecting SIGMA to be twice as big as usual (if Covid doesn’t interfere with our plans).

What do you think online gaming operators have learned from the Covid-19 pandemic?

I’d say that it’s a very complex question. However, I think the main thing that every business, not only gaming operators, learned from the pandemic is: flexibility. Everything needs to be flexible, from internal processes and HR policies to marketing strategies and operations in general. The possibility to adapt quickly to the fast-changing reality was the key in the first quarter of the pandemic. 

If we are talking about operators, for some operators, the main lesson was the necessity of online presence and online channels of communication with the players. 

“In some regions, the pandemic led to significant changes in the market, making the transition to online much faster.”

Maria Bashkevich, Head Of Marketing at Uplatform.

Another point is diversification. For example, when sporting events were cancelled, those operators who had just sportsbooks or only regular sports in their offering understood the necessity of diversification. 

Betting on esports, virtual sports, and live casinos showed fantastic results during the initial months of global lockdowns. And those companies who didn’t have it in their portfolio had to quickly integrate those solutions into their projects. 

The same is with the casino portfolios. Players were more willing to explore different slots, as they were stuck at home and wanted more entertainment.

There’s a whole lot more, but to keep it short and sweet, let’s stop there. 

What kind of interest in Uplatform’s solutions have you seen from Latam?

We’ve seen an interest in general – to the “new” player in the market with different products and tools. As well as each country in LatAm has its unique requests as the gambling culture, playing preferences, and infrastructure is completely different, so the interest from Latam is with the flexibility and adaptability Uplatform presents. 

“A huge plus for our platform is we have an all-in-one solution that can cover all aspects.”

Maria Bashkevich, Head Of Marketing at Uplatform.

Whether it’s local 2,3 tier leagues, must-have slots providers, or a multi-level agent scheme for Brazil – we have everything covered. This makes our solution interesting for all the regions in Latin America. 

How does Uplatform plan to expand its reach and exposure in the future?

We have a lot planned for the 2022 year – valuable updates to our platform, team growth, obtaining new licences and certifications and entrance into some new markets for us, and of course, participating in all must-visit industry events and contributing to the community. 

We expect great numbers next year, as we can already see a very positive trend in the past two. I think our tech solution, together with well-thought-through content, team experience, and success-oriented approach in customer care, is a very appealing prospect for clients. 

It helps face all the challenges – fully equipped and supported by the competent team and increases the effectiveness of the project on every step of their player’s journey. Together with our new marketing strategy, all this will lead us to even better results in all metrics.