In profile: Yoni Sidi

Sidi talks to eGR Digital Marketing about the latest industry trends and why he made the bold move to leave Winner and launch his own digital marketing agency, Market Box Media

After nearly three years as chief marketing officer (CMO) of Winner, Yoni Sidi’s decision to leave and launch his own digital marketing agency took many people in the industry by surprise. During his time at the Playtech-powered operator Sidi led all the operator’s marketing efforts – with a particular emphasis on affiliates – and his team was successful in driving player acquisition and helping turn the operator into a strong UK brand.

“I had a lot of people approaching me offering me opportunities and it made me realise that there was a need for my services,” Sidi recalls. “I think I would have found it hard working for another company aſter being with the same group for 13 years and I have enough confidence in my own ability to be able to provide an invaluable service to the industry.”

Out of this confidence came Market Box Media, where Sidi currently holds the role of marketing director. The egaming-focused marketing agency, which was launched in January, was created in partnership with his long-term friend and colleague Tsahi Shmuel to provide full conversion, retention and marketing services to the egaming industry.

And business since launching seems to be booming, with clients including BetVictor and ClickSure already signed up and many more on the way. eGR Digital Marketing spoke to Sidi about his new business venture and to discuss the latest trends affecting egaming marketing.

eGR Digital Marketing (eGR DM): How did you first get involved in the egaming industry?
Yoni Sidi (YS): It was back in 2002 when I was working as a barman and someone showed me a job advert for a UK account manager at a casino company. I had no idea what it was but went to the interview and got turned down. During the interview, once I got an idea of what the role was, it made me really want the job so I didn’t leave the office and begged for a chance. They said I could start as customer support and I did. Slowly I worked my way up and 13 years later I can’t seem to leave.

eGR DM: Do you still enjoy working in this industry as much as you did when you first started?
YS: It has changed a lot since then and so have I. The industry is more mature; sadly I am not!It is very different. I think back in the day I didn’t see the industry as a lifelong profession and just went with the flow without a care in the world. I think as you move up the ladder it changes your perspective. Every morning has been a pleasure to go to work, and for that I am very grateful. The major plus has been the great people I have met who are now dear friends that I have shared many great moments with. That is what is important and I would say what I enjoy the most.

eGR DM: Are industry events still as important as ever from a business perspective?
YS: All those years ago the events were different or at least I saw them in a different light. Now with the ease of communication and travel I get to spend a lot of time meeting or talking to people I need to meet. I still think that they are great and the way they have grown is a testament to egaming and the maturity of the industry. I think the events are beneficial because they are a great mixture of effective business and socialising.

eGR DM: What have been some of the biggest industry marketing trends you’ve seen since you’ve been involved in the industry?
YS: Over the past 13 years I think I have been part of all of them. We have had the fall of the US, which at the time was the end of the world, but we have also had Google dances, regulations, mergers and acquisitions, and innovation. I think that every trend or milestone is part of the evolution of the industry. I think that the most enjoyable has been the innovation because it is a direct reflection of the great work of the people and not something forced upon us by people who don’t live and breathe this industry 24/7.

Yoni Sidi

eGR DM: How do you think marketing within egaming compares to other ecommerce industries?
YS: I think egaming has come a long way in terms of marketing. The size of the budget has helped brands be very aggressive in targeting their audience and I think the metrics used to judge success makes us stand out above the rest. We have been around for a long time and have managed to use regulations to help strengthen our message. I think that the tech side of the business and ability to offer promotions and bonuses to fit an audience type and also send them to the correct landing pages, for example, makes us stand out from the rest.

eGR DM: What did your role entail when you were at Winner?
YS: It was all aspects of marketing from online to offline and also internal. Because of our background, the affiliate side of the business came easy and was our bread and butter, but turning Winner into a UK brand was a challenge and we managed to do it successfully with some very clever tactics.

eGR DM: How was it working for a Playtech company?
YS: To be honest our interaction with them was very professional and we were just another licensee to them. They provided us with a great service and they used us very well when we were helping improve the product.

eGR DM: Why did you decide to leave the firm and launch your own venture?
YS: I had been with the group for well over a decade and it wasn’t an easy decision for me to take. The guys there were like my family and it is never easy to leave home. The business was in a great state and only getting better and there were some good guys under me driving the business so I felt that the time was right for me to explore what else was out there.

eGR DM: What is Market Box Media?
YS: Market Box Media is a marketing and operational service company mainly. My business partner has also been with us for
13 years and always handled the internal side of the business whereas I have always been the external guy. So the match was perfect. We help people get traffic via all media channels and then also help with the monetisation. We have a few brands that we are running ourselves at the moment, which are going very well.

eGR DM: What makes Market Box Media stand out from the competition?
YS: Our experience makes us stand out. We have seen and done it all 10 times over. We know this business like the back of our hands and we love it. We are aware of the competition in the industry and we are not trying to compete with anyone. We know what we know and so far it is going very well; our clients are happy and that is what is important. Market Box Media is here to provide a service; we don’t try and educate anyone because each situation is different. It is having the ability to realise that client Y may need help with something that client X won’t need but client X has another issue that needs to be resolved. All these changes have a knock-on effect to the ecosystem that the brand is trying to create.

eGR DM: How’s business been going since launching in January?
YS: So far it is great. We have four casinos on board and we are also working with a large affiliate network and doing a little
bit of work in the world of binary. Casino and sports betting are our main focuses because they are what we know best. We don’t pretend to be anything else. For us to explore other verticals we would really only look to do it with a partner who has experience and that we can bounce ideas off.

eGR DM: What does your day-to-day role look like?
YS: Every day is different. I spend a lot of time travelling to meet clients and affiliates but when I am in Israel it is very rare to find me sitting at my desk. I have to be walking round talking to people, or else I go mad.

eGR DM: Are you focused only on specific markets?
YS: The markets are limited per client. Regulation is changing the way we work but we have great experience in the markets that are open to us. It depends on our clients’ needs but I would say that anywhere that is regulated, we are working in at the moment with clients including Bets.com, BetVictor, Clicksure, CW Option and Del Rio Casino. I still see great potential in the UK market in particular. As it consolidates itself I think there will still be room for operators to come in, but the issue will be at what cost. If you have the budget then building a regulated UK business has its advantages but will take time before you can see a profit.

eGR DM: How important is technology to Market Box Media and what trends are you seeing in this respect?
YS: The importance of innovation is something we learned at William Hill. They really opened our eyes with the vision of the future. Before then we were always too focused on the here and now. Since then technology has been vital to our growth and being able to adapt quickly to this innovation and changes in trends is key to our success.

eGR DM: What do you see as being the major issues impacting the egaming industry over the next year or two?
YS: I still think that regulation is the thing that is having the biggest impact on the industry. Indirectly I think the mergers that are taking place should be watched in anticipation, but for me I am more concerned about the regulators.

eGR DM: What does the future hold for Market Box Media?
YS: So far it has been a great year – I know everyone says it but it really has gone much better than we could have thought. What I have learned is that you can make all the plans you want but they will always change. I hope that the future is bright and fun and the rest will sort itself out.