Industry News
“Against All Odds” – Will sound be the key to future winnings for betting and gaming brands?
Max De Lucia, Co-Founder and Client Director of specialist sonic branding agency DLMDD.
There are few brands and businesses across the world that haven’t been in some way affected by the current global climate. But as lockdown restrictions are eased and marketplaces begin to return to their “new normal”, betting brands and their marketers now have an even greater issue to navigate.
With momentum gathering in the UK Parliament for a “total ban” on all gambling advertising, brands need to think fast about the role they play in consumers lives and how they can communicate if traditional media channels are further plastered with red tape.
However, as many of you reading this will know, these aren’t new challenges. A ban on gambling advertising during live sport came into effect in the UK from August last year, restricting advertising within a “whistle to whistle” period beginning five minutes before the start of a match and ending five minutes after. These limitations will have already forced marketing departments to think very carefully about how to gain competitive advantage and win attention in these moments. However, and somewhat surprisingly, no brand has dominated when it comes to sound.
Think about it – I can reel off the names of every betting and gaming brand out there in the market, and you’ll instantly be able to tell me what they look like; what colour the logo is, what the slogan says and which celebs they use in their ads. But what do any of them sound like? Well, nothing.
This seems bonkers to me. Earlier this year, Marketing Week highlighted a powerful learning from IPSOS’ marketing study ‘The power of you’. Put simply, the research shows that the use of distinctive sonic cues can have 8.5x the power of visual stimuli. So why is sound so untapped across the sector?
Let’s be frank, underneath the visual brand and the corporate slogans of any betting organisation are odds and chance. You might get slightly better odds and slightly better chances by shopping around but at the end of the day, odds are odds.
As punters, we make our choices on the brands we associate with based upon how we feel about them. And music and sound offer the world’s most powerful shortcuts to human emotion if we know how to handle them right. If expertly managed, they can fulfil every part of our pleasure and reward psychologies garnering effects that can only be rivalled by good food, love and drugs.
What is particularly unique about betting and gaming is that their audiences want and demand to feel something about the brand they’re playing with. This is quite unlike most other sectors and industries. Do I want to feel something about Shell? I’m sure their Brand Director wants me to but no, quite frankly I just want to fill my car up with petrol from the nearest station to me and get the hell out of the forecourt as quickly as possible.
Conversely, emotion is at the forefront of the experience of all bettors and gamers and it’s the responsibility of the brands and their audiences to manage and control how that emotion manifests itself in a safe manner. If all parties get it right, music and sound have the ability to heighten the entire consumer experience at every moment that an audience interacts with their chosen brand.
Historically, the betting and gaming industries have looked at sound through a fairly primitive lens; famous psychological studies have highlighted the use of music and sound in slot machines that reinforce the sensation of ‘winning’ with jubilant sound effects, flashing lights and winning coins dropping down on metal surfaces.
It doesn’t take a genius to work any of that out and along with questionable morality, this doesn’t exemplify the true power of music and sound. When it’s done right, we allow music and sound into our minds. They can stay with us forever and evoke our emotions at the flick of a wrist.
In a world and an industry where the way the consumer feels is the difference between them choosing to play with brand X over brand Y, the first player in the market who can cement their identity in music and sound will have the odds sounding firmly in their favour for many more moons to come.
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ICONIC21 has rolled out three limited-edition Football Cup-branded casino games and launched its first network tournament, ICONIC Showdown Football Cup, running from 9th of July to 19th of July.
The new titles are Football Cup Roulette, Football Cup Blackjack 360, and Football Cup Gravity Blackjack. ICONIC21 said the releases showcase different customisation approaches, including green screen production for the roulette environment and an updated visual rebrand for its RNG blackjack table.
For Football Cup Gravity Blackjack, ICONIC21 said it used its latest LED technology and applied the Gravity Series multiplier mechanic, with a custom felt, a football gate, and bespoke 3D-printed decorations.
Alongside the three new games, ICONIC21 pointed to its previously launched slot Soccer World Championship, plus The Kickoff and Top Card, which it said received football-season branding and UI/UX updates.
The ICONIC Showdown Football Cup tournament covers 11 games in total and is positioned around the quarter finals, semi-finals and final period. ICONIC21 said 1,000 winners will share a €50,000 prize pool, and operators can enroll via their account manager or by contacting the company directly.
Edvardas Sadovskis, Chief Product Officer at ICONIC21, said:
“What I’m most proud of with this project is the turnaround. We built three fully branded, technically distinct games, enhanced existing ones with promotional branding, and launched our first-ever network tournament around them, all timed to coincide with peak player interest and traffic.
That kind of speed doesn’t happen by accident, it reflects how this team works. ICONIC Showdown is a meaningful first step for us as a provider, and launching it during the Football Cup, with this much energy around the game, feels like the right way to do it. We’re genuinely excited to see how the leaderboard shapes up and even more excited for the finals.”
The post ICONIC21 launches Football Cup-branded casino games and debut network tournament appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Brand Ambassador
Ronaldinho visits CreedRoomz Yerevan studio to front Marble Cup and Kickoff Roulette
CreedRoomz has brought footballer Ronaldinho to its headquarters in Yerevan, where the company filmed an “exclusive interview” with the former player in connection with two new live casino game shows, Marble Cup and Kickoff Roulette. CreedRoomz said Ronaldinho is the global ambassador for both titles.
In the interview, Ronaldinho said: “For me, it’s a great joy to be a part of this partnership. Since arriving here at the office, everyone has treated me with great affection. I already feel at home, very happy.” Asked to choose between the two games, he added: “Honestly, it’s difficult to choose one, both are wonderful, I loved them, so it’s very difficult to choose one, I think everyone will really like them, I think the whole world will really enjoy them.”
Ronaldinho also described his first impressions of the studio and gameplay: “I was surprised and very happy, everything is very beautiful, everything is very innovative, so I believe that’s why everyone will really like them, so I’m looking forward to everyone starting to enjoy them a lot.”
On why CreedRoomz expects the titles to gain traction, he said: “These are different games. I think that will attract attention, the fact that football is a global passion also helps, so I believe everyone will like it for those reasons.. and for the innovation of everything that is happening.”
CreedRoomz linked the interview to upcoming “World Cup and R10 Tournaments,” with Ronaldinho closing by telling fans: “A message of gratitude for the continued affection. I’m very happy and excited. for the next competitions for the next games, the games are all ready, I hope everyone enjoys them and everyone be very happy and have good times together.”
The post Ronaldinho visits CreedRoomz Yerevan studio to front Marble Cup and Kickoff Roulette appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Soft2Bet has launched MEGA Shoot, a football-themed gamification engine designed around the 2026 FIFA World Cup, aimed at helping sportsbook operators retain players during the tournament.
The product will be deployed across selected Soft2Bet brands including Betinia, Swiper, Campobet, ToonieBet and Elabet, with availability spanning markets including Denmark, Greece, Mexico, New Jersey, Ontario, Romania, and the rest of Canada, according to the company.
MEGA Shoot uses a player-versus-player best-of-five penalty shootout format. Players alternate between striker and goalkeeper, with the striker selecting where to shoot and the goalkeeper selecting where to defend. Each round resolves as a goal or a save before roles switch.
Soft2Bet said early internal results show 31.9% engagement among active players across selected brands, with 71.2% of MEGA Shoot players going on to play a second match. The company also claims a 13.5% player retention uplift.
Yoel Zuckerberg, Chief Product Officer at Soft2Bet, said: “The World Cup runs from 11 June to 19 July, so retention has to work across the full tournament calendar. MEGA Shoot gives operators a football game that players can understand quickly, with head-to-head competition tied to the sport they already follow. With almost 32% engagement among active players and about 71% converting into a second match, the early data shows how tournament-led gamification can strengthen sportsbook engagement during major football events.”
The post Soft2Bet launches MEGA Shoot World Cup gamification engine appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
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