Poll: Was Kindred right to ditch the Stan James brand?
This week we ask whether the operator’s decision to pursue a single-brand approach in the UK will pay off
Kindred has revealed plans to shelve its Stan James brand in favour of promoting Unibet as the operator’s leading UK sportsbook.
Over the coming months, Stan James’ customers and sports sponsorships will be migrated over to the firm’s flagship Unibet brand.
On the move, Kindred chief Henrik Tjärnström told The Racing Post: “The brutal facts were saying that from a global perspective, we were large in the small markets but relatively small in the really large markets, like the UK.”
It suggests that Kindred thinks it can benefit by throwing all of its ad spending behind one brand in the UK, rather than splitting it between two firms.
However, the news prompted some industry confusion with a number of professionals lamenting the closure of the Stan James operation.
Superbet director and former SunBets chief Jamie Hart wrote on Twitter: “It is the end of an era for the company that invented 24/7 service and in-play betting. With more belief they should have been where bet365 are now.”
Others questioned whether the Unibet name was really bigger than Stan James in the UK, while pointing out that many customers would be lost for good in the migration.
With this in mind, this week we ask whether Kindred made the right decision in putting Stan James out to pasture?
Have your say below
Poll: Was Kindred right to ditch the Stan James brand? Context: https://t.co/7OEKhIqaaW
— EGR Global (@EGRIntel) October 9, 2017