The 22 immutable laws of marketing for igaming: The law of the mind

“It’s better to be first in the mind than to be first in the marketplace.”

Last time I talked about ‘law of category’, which says “Aim to be number one in your market category. If you can’t do that, pick a low competition growth category or start a new category. Why? Once habits form and clear winners emerge, it’s very difficult to displace them.

This time, I want to talk about the importance of being seen as number one for your category, even if you’re not. And how brands carry associations which ‘fix’ perceptions in the mind of consumers.

Who is the biggest brand?  888casino.com, Casumo.com or LeoVegas.com? I assume you believe 888 is the ‘king brand’ for online casino.

888 was founded in May 1997. It was one of the first major online casinos. Over the decades it has spent fortunes on brand marketing. With its 22-year history, this brand is justifiably perceived as the number one casino brand in the world.

However, 888 is not even a contender brand, depending on what casino experience you want.  LeoVegas.com gets 50% more traffic than 888casino.com. And amazingly, Casumo.com also gets more traffic than 888casino.com

Sidenote: Average traffic volumes are a very good indicator for the overall popularity of a casino brand.

There have been hundreds of brands which have tried to overtake 888. However, once a brand is enshrined in someone’s memory, it’s extremely difficult to displace.

Changing behaviours

Why do LeoVegas and Casumo have more traffic than 888? Each of these brands emerged due to a change in consumer behaviour:

– 888: the emergence of online casino

– LeoVegas: the emergence of mobile casino

– Casumo: the emergence of social casino

888 hasn’t taken the crown of top mobile or social casino. It missed its opportunity. Consumers identify brands within segments. That’s why 888 doesn’t dominate the whole of online casino.

LeoVegas became embedded in people’s minds as the number one mobile-friendly casino.

The truth is, most big operators have excellent mobile experiences today. If consumers were logical, LeoVegas would not stand out as a winner brand. There are numerous operators that offer an excellent mobile experience. Consumers have cemented an idea: I want a mobile phone-friendly casino, I go to LeoVegas.

Truth and perception are not necessarily the same.

Countless brands have been tripped up by this ‘law of mind’. Someone believes their revolutionary gambling application can build mind share and ultimately market share.

Unless there is a big driver for change, it’s hard to get prominence in the mind of the consumer.

To be successful, you have to make a big impression in the consumer’s mind. Slowly ramping up prominence in the consumer’s mind doesn’t work. For you to be prominent, you’re displacing somebody else. That takes effort.

Once they think of you, they’ll think of you in one way. That’s why 888.com became 888casino.com,  888poker.com and 888sport.com. They created three distinct brands so they could expand their customer base beyond ‘casino’.

Making a mark

What about huge marketing budgets? Surely brands can ‘blast’ their way into the minds of consumers? Not necessarily. If a brand resonates with its audience, it can grow rapidly with minimal marketing spend.

For example, we know in 2018, 888 spent around $155m in marketing and sales costs.  Across the whole group they generate revenues of around $529m in revenues.

Yet, there’s a gambling brand you’ve probably never heard of which has two million visits a month: hellcase.com. This isn’t a big revenue business but it is very popular among its gambling audience: gamer gamblers.

Consumers want to ‘mentally file’ a brand. Get the right fit in a consumer’s mind and marketing spend will go a long way. This is the power of a coherent ‘brand story’.

If 888 tried to market to the ‘gamer gambling’ audience, it would probably fail. Conversely, if hellcase.com tried to market themselves as a regular casino, they would also fail. Brands have their ‘home’ in people’s minds.

Consumers don’t change behaviour easily. It’s hard displacing their number one brand in whichever market category. If you don’t get the right mental associations with a brand, no amount of marketing spend or innovation can easily displace the incumbent winner.

This article was inspired by the 22 immutable laws of marketing by Al Reis and Jack Trout.

Nick Garner is an igaming specialist, marketing strategist and founder of RIZE Digital, an agency which specialises in web development for marketing applications. He writes prolifically and has worked within igaming for many years.