“Operators have decided to subject affiliates to predatory and one-sided terms”
Joonas Karhu, the recently appointed CEO of online gambling affiliate brand, Bojoko, shares his thoughts on the industry and his plans for the company now he has been promoted to the top job.
Exclusive interview.- Bojoko is an award-winning online gambling affiliate business on a mission to become the first globally recognised affiliate brand.
The business is live in core markets such as the UK, Finland, New Zealand, Canada and the US (in New Jersey) with big plans for the coming months and years.
Joonas Karhu has been working for the company since its inception but earlier this month was promoted to the top job.
Focus Gaming News sat down with Joonas to learn more about his new role, his plans for Bojoko now that he holds the reins as well as the challenges and opportunities he sees across the industry.
Congratulations on being appointed CEO of Bojoko. What are your plans for driving growth in the business now that you are in charge?
Thank you! I’m excited to start leading the mission to build Bojoko into a globally recognised brand that helps players in markets around the world choose gambling sites. We became profitable after the first year, and now the company is in a financially solid position to go after this goal. Our team has a proven track record of building market-leading products, and I believe our team to be the best in the business. Our growth will come from very simple activities: expanding into new markets, launching new gambling verticals, and investing into advertising.
“Bojoko remains open to changing course and have no sunk costs. We are also very much quality over quantity.”
Joonas Karhu, CEO at Bojoko.
Bojoko competes in a highly competitive sector. What are you doing to stand out from your rivals?
Gambling affiliation is such a competitive field that individual know-how plays an emphasised role. Affiliate organisations must be on top of their game when it comes to recruitment and retention of staff. Management needs to have a continuous hunger for learning, staying up to date, and optimising everything. As Jiro Ono would say, “every day better sushi”. Management ought to train people well enough so that they can leave, but treat them well enough so they don’t want to.
At Bojoko, we tend to scrutinise everything we do from various perspectives, remain open to changing course and have no sunk costs. We are also very much quality over quantity. I believe that these mindsets will help us stand out from, and ultimately overtake, our competitors.
What are the biggest challenges currently faced by affiliates and what are you doing to ensure you overcome them?
The biggest challenge that affiliates face has to do with the contractual framework under which they usually offer services to operators. Operators have decided to subject affiliates to one-sided and predatory terms, which for some reason have become the standard in the industry. In my view, some of the terms that operators have should be illegal as they put jobs at great risk. I would also invite operators to see if good marketing practises are followed when it comes to promoting their affiliate programs.
Affiliates are expected to meet the highest possible standards when it comes to the marketing practices they undertake, but the same can’t always be said for operators and the ways in which they engage with affiliate partners.
We see more and more markets embracing regulation. What is the impact of over-regulation on the industry and also on consumers?
The CEO of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, was asked in a Senate hearing last year what he thought about regulation. Zuckerberg’s answer was along the lines of that with Facebook being a big corporation, it could afford to implement any and all regulation required of it. But regulation would stifle competition and innovation, and create barriers to entry for smaller companies.
“Operators have decided to subject affiliates to one-sided and predatory terms.”
Joonas Karhu, CEO at Bojoko.
Your question is timely for the gambling industry, especially in markets such as Sweden and the UK. A free market allows consumers to have a wide variety of choices as well as to get the most value for their money. We have seen the range of choice decrease with consolidation as well as with smaller companies exiting overly regulated markets.
At the same time, bonus options and value for money for the consumer have radically weakened. This, in turn, is making offshore operators far more attractive to players in regulated markets.
Which markets have you identified as having the most growth potential? What are your plans for these markets?
The US will have the biggest potential in our industry. It’s been three years since the US Supreme Court ruling allowed all states to regulate wagering. Since then, 24 have passed legislation and a total of nine states have made a proposal and/or law for betting legislation in 2021 alone. We have formed a company in the US and will be launching Bojoko in every regulated state. Longer-term, we have plans to open an office in Florida.
Are new market launches the most effective way of driving growth in an online casino affiliate business or are there other ways?
Driving growth for your organisation will very much depend on the people and talent pool that you have, as well as available resources financially and the knowledge and experience of the management team. If, for example, you have only country-specific experience, perhaps you could focus on covering all verticals in that one country – and doing it better than anyone else – instead of looking to enter other markets where you do not understand the culture, etc. It’s really about knowing your strengths and weaknesses and taking the best path for growth based on this.
“The US will have the biggest potential in our industry.”
Joonas Karhu, CEO at Bojoko.
How do you think the industry will change over the next 12-18 months? Has the pandemic had lasting changes?
The industry is still quite young; people, companies, regulators, banks, and other stakeholders are still trying to figure everything out. Some might question if it’s a good industry to enter especially when companies are packed with inexperienced people, banks have no idea what to do, and regulators are scrambling. The biggest continuous incremental change will be in the arrival of professionalism that you would expect to see in more mature industries, and it will impact every part of this industry.
I believe the pandemic will have lasting changes when it comes to how companies organise their workforce. We at Bojoko have transitioned to a hybrid model where everyone can choose when to come to the office and when to work from home, or to completely work remotely. I like to be in the office two to three days a week and work from home the rest of the time.
