Why holograms are the future of brand advertising
James Riley, CEO at 2mee, says that brand ambassadors delivered as holograms on affiliate sites can generate engagement rates that are 8x higher than listings and banner ads.
Opinion.- Make no mistake about it, this is a highly competitive industry where brands have to spend big to engage, acquire and retain players at the scale required to build a sustainable, successful business.
You just have to look at recent headlines regarding Fubo shuttering its real-money sportsbook division less than a year after launch to see that betting brands are locked in a fight for survival. Even those that command significant market share have spent big to do so.
That is why many betting brands look to affiliates to drive new players to their sportsbooks and casinos. Due to the performance-based model used for this, operators pay for what they get by either paying a one-off cost per acquisition fee or sharing the player’s revenue with the affiliate.
But the fight to be heard has spilt over into the affiliate marketing space, with publishers often listing hundreds of competing brands on their pages. Being heard above the noise is getting harder and harder for operators, and so too is the ability to foster a real connection with players.
Most casino listings are stale and generic with the only point of difference being the free bets and sign-up bonuses offered. No real empathy is put into these listings to directly target players and encourage them to sign up while making them feel truly valued.
Some affiliates allow select operator partners to run banner ads on their sites, but even these struggle to break through the clutter of advertising.
“That is why many betting brands look to affiliates to drive new players to their sportsbooks and casinos. Due to the performance-based model used for this, operators pay for what they get by either paying a one-off cost per acquisition fee or sharing the player’s revenue with the affiliate.”
James Riley, CEO at 2mee
It must be remembered that an individual is bombarded with between 4,000 and 10,000 adverts each day so it’s no wonder that listings and banner ads receive such low levels of engagement.
In other industries, businesses and brands have looked to other channels to engage consumers with great success. Influencer marketing in particular has proved to be highly effective and has been embraced across a wide range of sectors.
Interestingly, it has yet to play a significant role in the way that operators market their brands to players and certainly via their affiliate partners. This is likely because of the technical challenges this presents.
But this means the industry is missing a trick. Could you imagine the engagement levels that could be achieved if operators could use their brand ambassadors and deliver tailored messages to players that would appear on the websites of their affiliate partners?
This can be achieved with hologram messages which are the most effective way to get users to engage with a brand or promotion as people are hard-wired for face-to-face contact. We see a face and interact with it. It’s that simple.
By delivering brand ambassadors as hologram messages published on affiliate sites, players get a feeling of interaction with the brand that listings and banner ads simply can’t compete with. The connection the user feels with the hologram drives engagement and traffic to the target destination.
For operators and their affiliate partners, this is mutually beneficial as ultimately it leads to more first-time depositors – so more CPAs or bigger revenues to share. There are other upsides for the affiliate, too.
Holograms can be deployed on any website page or within an app. Because they can be placed in empty spaces or laid on top of existing site content – both editorial and advertorial – they offer 100% added value and an entirely new revenue stream for publishers.
Of course, affiliates can either choose to embrace holograms and offer them to their operator partners, or operators can take the lead and offer them to affiliates. And this is exactly what 2mee provides via our just-launched HoloAdTM – the industry’s first influencer marketing platform.
“This can be achieved with hologram messages which are the most effective way to get users to engage with a brand or promotion as people are hard-wired for face-to-face contact. We see a face and interact with it. It’s that simple.”
James Riley, CEO at 2mee.
We truly believe that influencers and holograms are the future of gambling brand advertising, and when combined with the reach and commercial model of affiliate marketing, allow both parties to engage players at scale and turbo charge conversions and revenues.
In fact, the early adopters of HoloAdTM are enjoying engagement rates that are 8x greater than with banner ads. Of course, holograms can be used for so much more than just brand advertising.
The hologram revolution is coming, and operators, affiliates and other stakeholders should look to leverage the tremendous opportunities it provides when it comes to striking a real connection with consumers.
